linedrive

The bullpen was my biggest concern coming into spring training, and it still is. I was hoping we could add some solid arms in the off season, but that didn't happen. So I'm glad the offense scored 24 runs the first two games. If our offense wasn't on fire, then these could have been frustrating losses. Yes, it's still early, and there's plenty of time to right the ship, but our bullpen appears to be a weakness at the moment. They're not scaring anyone. But it's a long season, so I hope we make some dramatic improvement before the regular season ends. I'm not worried and I'm not panicking. Just concerned about what we've seen so far. In the end I think we'll be fine, especially if Elias makes some moves and the coaches help some of our players improve. Honestly, I'm looking forward to seeing what the pen looks like when the regular season comes to an end. Will it be good enough to help deliver a Championship? Or should we not think about that yet?

Yes. We went from the 24th to the 22nd because of luxury tax penalties on the Yankees and Padres, then we have the 32nd pick for Gunnar Henderson winning the ROY Award, and the 34th pick in the Competitive Balance A round.

The Orioles get the 22nd overall pick in the 2024 Draft. Better yet, the Yankees get the 26th pick! https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/mlb-2024-draft-lottery-results

You can never have enough pitching. Hopefully we can get at least one dominant arm for the starting rotation this off season, and get some legit bullpen arms to boot. I think we're good everywhere else, although I wouldn't mind getting a qualified DH for the middle of the lineup.

Call me greedy, but I want to see the O's win another World Series. Hope these young players are hungry enough to do it!

You make some valid points. I was just musing, but I don't think such a scenario is that far fetched. Sure, Hernaiz doesn't have the talent of a Jose Canseco or Mark McGwire, but may be more comparable to Walt Weiss (with a lesser glove). But it's certainly plausible the A's could give him a chance to win a job out of Spring Training, and if he does, then we'll see how he does. He may not get a single vote for ROY, but he'll still be fun to follow and see how he does. As for Holliday, I don't expect him to make the team out of Spring Training, but I don't think that's so far fetched either. Both scenarios are unlikely, but worth musing over. At least I think so.

I never got to see Brooks play. He retired before I became an O's fan. But I still became a huge fan of his, and I was fortunate to have lunch with him one time. Of course it was a great experience, listening to him talk baseball and engaging all of us around the table.

Who knows, maybe Hernaiz will be battling Holliday for the ROY award next season...

We need pitching. If we can trade him in a package for a solid starter, that would be best for him, us, and the other team. He has very good value right now, so it makes sense to trade him, especially if he's talking about it.

I see Johnson made his first start since having Tommy John Surgery last year, and he had a nice debut to his 2023 season Friday night, pitching just one inning, giving up one hit, no runs and struck out two. Hopefully he'll stay healthy, make some good progress, and give us something to talk about in the off season.

Kind of reminded me of John Lowenstein's catch in the 1983 World Series, but Cedric's catch showed a little more athleticism.

Yes, of course the O's should retire Mussina's number. I thought it was a no-brainer, and I always blamed the ownership for failing to resign him when they had the chance. But now they should do everything they can to bring him back and retire his number.

Nice to see Beck promoted to Aberdeen. And even better, he threw three more hitless innings! He hasn’t given up a hit in his last 7 innings, only 1 hit over his last 11 innings, 2 hits over his last 16 innings, and only 1 run in that span.

I notice we drafted a first baseman according to this list. I'm assuming that's a typo, unless Elias plans on converting a pitcher. We drafted 13 pitchers, not 12.

When teams say they draft the best player available and not for need, I think they're saying that because they're supposed to. I think Elias means that for the most part, at least until this year. In previous years I was lead to believe position players were weighted higher than pitchers simply because pitchers are a much bigger gamble, so I think that was a big factor, and it paid off. But I do remember an Elias interview where he discussed how thin the pitching was in the farm system, and they were going to have to address that in this year's draft, so I think pitchers were weighted higher this year out of need, making them the best player available. That's how I'm reading it.

This is definitely a new draft strategy. Not just drafting at #17, but being thin on minor league pitching. I like that we're restocking the pitching talent, as that is a serious need. But that probably means we're not drafting the best player available. Hopefully we can strike gold and find a top-of-the-rotation starter with one of these picks. No one really stands out in that respect, but this is where our player development crew will earn their paycheck.

This is the trick. The Brewers are only 2 games out, so they're not going to trade Burnes, and the White Sox are only 8 games out of first place, so I doubt Giolito or Graveman are available. I want a starter for the stretch run, so what teams are selling? Looks like we've got the Royals, A's, Mets, Nationals, Rockies and possibly the Cardinals. The Pirates and Padres are only 9.5 out of first. But with the Wild Card, realistically, I can only see 5 teams who are sellers: Royals, A's, Mets, Nationals, and Rockies. Daniel Lynch is the only starter on the Royals I like, but I doubt he's available. Is J.P Spears available from the A's? He could be an intriguing trade option that we wouldn't have to give up a premium prospect for. Or what would it take to get Kodai Senga or Verlander from the Mets? Probably a Kjerstad and Ortiz. The Rockies might have some pitchers in Kyle Freeland, German Marques, Ryan Feltner, Austin Bomber or Connor Seabold, none of which should be too expensive. Now the Nationals have some nice arms in MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Patrick Corbin, Trevor Williams and Jake Irvin. Not sure how many of them would be available, but one of them might make for a nice addition. There may be other pitchers available, but these are the names I think we have a shot at. But what intangibles are we looking at? Do we want good leadership and clubhouse presence? I don't know who qualifies in that respect. Verlander? For me, I'd want to target Senga. I like him a lot and would see if we could get him for Kjerstad and Ortiz. Might have to depart with Basallo or Hall too. But I would do that trade. I'd also want to explore getting Spears. Those are the two I'd like to get.

After a rough stretch, we've won four in a row and are in a nice position to start the second half. Would be even nicer if we enter the All-Star break with a sweep of the Twins on Sunday!

Nice to see Jared Beck having some success. This 7-foot-tall left-hander threw four hitless innings today, and has only given up one run over his last three games, a stretch of 13 innings. He's a long shot to make the Majors, but I'm rooting for him!

12 K's and no walks. Looks like he's ready.

Should be Adley Rutschman and Felix Bautista. And then Austin Hays. Possibly Wells or Gibson if they get hot. On a side note, I'm not impressed with very many players in either the American League or National League. Batting averages, home runs and RBI look way down. Anyone concur? Considering they banned the shift, I was expecting a lot of players to top .300 and knock in the runs. I haven't analyzed it, but this seems to be a bad year for most hitters, and I've been having trouble deciding on All Star picks that aren't Orioles.

We're at the point where we need to try and win the Championship. We have a good team, but we'll have to trade for a TOR starter if we want to advance in the playoffs and win it all. I don't want to part with the talent we have, but that's necessary if we want another WS win. We're in a good situation, and if it makes sense to make a blockbuster trade, then we should do it. We're definitely out of the rebuilding phase.

Regarding how things have changed, I think another thing to consider is that there are fewer minor league teams and fewer rounds in the draft. So the talent is less diluted, and the play is more competitive.

He got off to a pretty good start, but then had some kind of injury and was out for a bit. Glad to see he's back and getting it going again. Would be great to see him have a good season and see what kind of player he could develop into.

One of the things I really liked about his at-bats was his ability to foul off borderline pitches, raise kluber's pitch count, and wait for a better pitch to hit, or draw the walk. Kind of reminds me of Derek Jeter.