Moose Milligan

GFD, Archer to the Twins for a 1 year 3.5 million dollar deal. I'm not surprised, just continuing to being annoyed by Elias sitting on his thumbs.

Yep, he does need all of his pitching prospects to hit. At least the two big ones in Rodriguez and Hall. If you can drum up a Means-like talent from the rest, you're in good shape. I'd feel better about the rebuild or whatever it's called that we're doing if there were more pitching prospects in the Rodriguez/Hall levels and not in the Akin, Lowther, Kremer types. IMO, those guys are a dime a dozen.

They should implement this again immediately. Would make everything more interesting. C'mon, let's put some lives on the line.

Yep, this is where I'm at.

Okay big guy.

Everything has to break right.

I know exactly what they're doing. But let's not pretend that the international program was non-existent for a few decades and let's not pretend that didn't play a big part in where this franchise is today. Have you ever taken a look around at international talent in the majors and wondered "What if the Orioles had been active in the international markets? Could we have had a guy like Ronald Acuna or Juan Soto?" I'm not criticizing Elias for his international efforts, it's weird that you think that I am. On the contrary, he's done a bang up job down there, there's nothing to criticize him on from that perspective. But that doesn't mean he can't sign a good free agent or two at the ML level.

I beg to differ, I read almost all of your posts.

It absolutely is hubris. He’s essentially saying, “these guys I’m selecting are going to be great and our development system is so strong that we will be able to build a competitive club completely on our own. I can get this organization to 75-81 wins without spending a meaningful dime in free agency.” Alright, Harvard guy. Let’s see it happen.

Nor should they. I wasn't advocating any fans to support this team or others who are in a similar boat. I think mid to small market MLB teams have it wrong. Tanking makes sense if you're in the NFL or NBA. In the NFL, you get a top 5 pick, get a great quarterback and you're set for 10+ years. Your team will most likely be competitive if you have that position locked down. The NBA is similar, you get a top 10 player and one or two complimentary pieces and you're in the hunt. Baseball isn't designed to work that way, witness the Angels and Mike Trout. They have the best player in the game and never sniff the playoffs. Mid to small market teams should be focused on competing in the South American markets. Pinning hopes on the draft is too much of a crapshoot in MLB. It's weird that they think tanking is the only way.

Agreed. Again, I refuse to get mad at water for being wet. That said, I will say that I think Elias is pretty stupid to put all his eggs in one basket. His plan assumes that a lot of these guys are going to contribute positively before spending any money. That, IMO, is hubris. Once again, I'm not mad at him for doing what he saying he'll do...I just happen to disagree with the refusal to spend and have good players on the roster once these guys come up. But this is the year, no more excuses. These guys do have to come up this year or it's a complete waste.

I'm not sure what the pearl clutching here is all about. Let's not pretend that Bradish, Hall and probably even Diaz are going to be in the majors sooner or later. And, yes, of course he prioritizes development. Nothing new.

I used to do the MLB.tv and VPN thing for a few years and it was just a pain in the ass after awhile. It would work a fair amount of the time, other times it wouldn't. But the times it did work, I got that good feeling that I was sticking it to the man. I signed up for DirecTV last year, it works well.

I'd be alright with Archer as being another body for the rotation. I don't think he'd be as bad as Harvey was last year.

It still amazes me that people get excited about spring training performances. (Or too depressed about spring training performances)

Is Urias having a big spring training or something? Not paying attention.

I would root for a team full of convicted felons if it meant the Orioles won a title. I do not care who is in the jerseys. I’d prefer it if it were a team of choirboys that won but it doesn’t matter anymore.

SG!! Tell us that he needs to go to San Diego! Agreed, I thought something was cooking. Kinda disappointed that something isn't cooking, but whatever.

@wildcard, dude, you are the glimmer of hope around here.

As my post said...if you want to look at everything in strict black and white and leave no room for gray areas....

Still giving it time for them to put some of the matching green padding on it to see how it looks. And of course, seeing how it plays.

Also, in regards to the thread title...it's fun to bash the O's. Lord knows they've given us plenty of material to do so.

I'm not saying they shouldn't have a shot. Again, they should. But for every Keuchel or Means you get, there are literally dozens that don't pan out. Even then, what's throwing in the towel mean? Trading a few of them to perhaps fill a need elsewhere? It's not the end of the world. Signing one or two respectable starters this year would still give plenty of innings to the guys we've discussed here.

I'll give Elias his credit, he's done a great job of building the farm system, drafting, setting up the international market. But it remains to be seen if he's the guy that go out and sign a good free agent (let alone a game changer). He can sign a guy like Lyles, that's not hard. But dude, signing any one of those guys would not prohibit us from "seeing what we have." Personally, I've seen enough of Akin, Kremer, Lowther, Wells, Baumann, etc, to have an idea of what they are. Maybe one of them figures it out but I don't feel the need to watch 4 of them this year struggle to make it an entire season in the ML rotation.

I'm willing to bet that what we have in the minors right now in regards to pitching isn't enough to staff a rotation 1-5 and stock a dominant bullpen. Just a hunch. Their approach worked fine...for them. I get where you're coming from but Elias was the director of amateur scouting, not the GM. So he was there for it, but he wasn't the brain behind it all. Can he replicate it? Remains to be seen. Still don't see a downside in signing Ed-Rod this offseason. Could have signed Pineda (9-8 with a 3.62 ERA 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA in his final five games last year) to the one year deal he got from the Tigers. Could have signed Drew Smyly to the one year deal he got from the Cubs (although I'm not a giant fan of his, but he'd be better than what we have). Boxberger. Stroman. Kluber. All deals we could have done, all would have most likely made us better in 2022. None of those deals would have crippled this franchise for years on end had they blown up in our face. Agree, disagree?