Moose Milligan

Yeah, also a good point. Only thing I can think in regards to that is that there probably aren't many people out on Eutaw Street during BP to report it. Maybe someone did during BP and no one was paying attention? Would be a shame.

If guys like Davis, Ortiz, Mo Vaughn, Griffey Jr couldn't do it...and if no one did it in the steroid era, rabbit ball era....I doubt it's happening. There have been a lot of balls hit out that way in the 29 years the stadium has been in existence....if no one's done it by now, chances are it'll never happen. 81 games a year, 29 years...2,349 games. Not counting the small amount of playoff games, exhibition games, etc. Round it up to 2,400 games played at OPACY. That's a lot of baseball. That's a lot of opportunities for a big time power hitter to get the right launch angle on the right pitch with the right exit velocity to hit the wall. And right now, the game is tailored for someone to be able to do exactly that and it still hasn't happened. I'm not saying it CAN'T happen, I'm just doubtful that it will. Even Griffey Jr's home run derby blast didn't hit up too high on the warehouse.

I'm not sure. Haven't spent enough time there to check it out.

There's a record store in Shepherdstown, WVA that has a lot of bootleg vinyls. They had a lot of bootleg Metallica and I got one...it's pretty good, it's from 1989. FM radio broadcast, but it's pretty clear. I didn't get these albums there, but this Motorhead bootleg looks like it was officially distributed by the band, but it's definitely from a bootleg tape in 1995. The sound isn't perfect, but it's certainly not from some dope in the audience holding up a microphone.

We can listen to CoC prattle on and on about the CBA like he's been doing for a year and a half. I typically hate the offseason, too. But this is going to be a really bad, boring, long one. Picked up some good vinyl the other day. Lynryd Skynyrd's first one, Led Zeppelin's first one, a Motorhead bootleg and War On Drugs "A Deeper Understanding."

I guess they've been superballing the **** out of us for a few years, now.

I'll try to find it, I should have saved it but I was on the pooper. But as SG pointed out, he gave up 38 dingers last year.

From what I saw on twitter, someone posted a graphic that he gives up a lot of flyballs/line drives. Should play well in OPACY.

I figured you'd be having an epic meltdown that Stroman went for a very friendly deal that the Orioles could have done.

Elias, you sly bastard! You were waiting just before the lockout to start to make your big free agency move!!!

Sure, and I get that. But I think the Orioles are going to have to overpay regardless. And you're right, a 20 win improvement would be huge, and it'd still be 90 losses. But IMO, you've gotta get to that 70-75 win mark some how, some way. Might as well try to do it now. You're going to have to get pieces at the .500 level no matter what, just a matter of time.

I understand the reasoning behind this, but I'm getting fed up. I don't want to see where we are at the end of 2022. I'm tired of seeing this franchise do the bare minimum each and every offseason. Hell, we probably don't get a Rule 5 pick this year, how else are we going to add ML talent to the roster? Depending on what the new CBA is, Rutschman could be here on the Opening Day roster. If not, then he'll be up after a few weeks once the Orioles are done playing the roster game. G-Rod should be up at some point this summer, too. It's time to get some good players on the roster to compliment them. I was vocal about Ed-Rod and Matz, I also wanted Robbie Ray headed into this offseason before he won the CYA and priced himself out of what this team would spend. Didn't even realize that Kluber was a free agent until he signed with Tampa, but that would have been a good move for us, too. We've got the #1 pick in the draft this year. We've finally got a farm system that's working in the international markets and it looks like that work is starting to pay off. We've got the best position prospect in the game and the best pitching prospect in the game and our system is as deep as it's ever been, probably the deepest system that I can remember. Speaking for myself, I don't need to see where we are at the end of 2022. I know where this franchise is right now and it's time for them to start adding good talent to the ML roster.

I've kind of come down off the initial hatred of this move. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like it...but after reading a lot of the posts here, it's a few things. First, it's an obvious stopgap move...our middle infield prospects might not be beating down the door right now, and that's okay. Hopefully some are ready to come up halfway through 2022 or be on the opening day roster in 2023. Second, it could be Yolmer Sanchez version 2.0. Might not even make it out of Spring Training. That's a very real possibility. Now...I will straight up hate this move if it takes away at bats from Urias. Most of my initial reaction was not necessarily about Odor himself, but the idea that we're heading down a typical Elias/Orioles path of an offseason, which is low-cost retreads. Low risk, low upside placeholders. The juxtaposition of high quality free agents flying off the market compared to our signing of a player who'd probably not be invited to anyones Spring Training is, to me, a signal of where the front office's headspace is and what they're focused on. That's the most irksome part of this whole thing...how are you spending your time? What are you focused on? Who else is on your board of free agents that you want? So...how this plays out remains to be seen from an Odor perspective. But from a strategy perspective, from a perspective of seeing what this front office is focusing on and has been focused on for years...this still sucks.

Well, historically, this is the only type of FA move he's made. The past can't predict the future, but it can give a decent indicator of what's to happen. I'd love it if Elias actually did something different but I'm only judging on what he's done so far.

Next year never comes.

This. This is exactly what I was expecting. I was hoping to be proven wrong, though. I was hoping with the fact that Rutschman is going to be on the team next year and that G-Rod would make his debut too, that this might be the offseason where the Orioles untuck their balls from between their legs and actually do something positive.

I agree. It's a placeholder, uninspiring move. SG says it's dumb, and I'm certainly leaning that way. And there is more offseason ahead. But as I just said, based on what he's done in previous offseasons, this is pretty much par for the course. I'd like to be wrong this year, though.

Try to follow: Franco was a signing we made in Spring Training when it was apparent that didn't have a lot of great infielders to pick from heading into the season. And, as SG noted, he was decent in 2020. I wasn't up in arms about Franco but it was a decent flier to take because...there weren't many better options available at the time. I'm annoyed with this signing because it's taken place early in the offseason and Elias gave him an ML deal. Sure, you're right, we could cut him. I don't care about the financials here, that's not the focus. So Elias has practically 75% of the offseason left in front of him and this is the move he makes? This guy? I hope there's more to follow but judging by past offseasons, probably not. I'm also annoyed with this signing because this is becoming par for the course for the FA types that Elias tends to bring on. Yes, let's get Odor, Harvey, King Felix and hop in the DeLorean back to 2015. Maybe then we could be winners.

Well, okay. I hope he can reclaim something close to that .692 OPS he's been carrying since 2017. Yes, I know one of those seasons was a short year...man, that would have been the year he busted out if they played all the games, I bet!

Are you banking on Odor "bouncing back?" Simple yes or no.

Right. So he's not been good in six years. Maybe this will be the year, right? With that logic, the Yankees should have jumped on him for a one year deal.

So why would the Yankees let him come here? Wouldn't they be hot to re-sign him?

Sure, that's the worst that could happen. We could cut him. What are some of the positives? Sure, he could rebuild his value and help attract future FA. He could mash. He could be a trade chip. But what are you banking on that happening? You're missing the point though...this move didn't make the Orioles better.

Because Odor hasn't been good for several years. His best season was 2016 when he was 22 years old. .798 OPS. Since then he's cracked .750 exactly once (.751 in 2018). He's been below .700 for the past two seasons. Pro-Franco last year because it was in Spring Training and, IIRC, it's not like there was a lot of great competition to go up against. I think people here (I know I am) annoyed by this signing because it's so early in the offseason. Franco was somewhat of a last ditch effort, a Hail Mary. While we have some MI talent in the minors that's a year or two away, Odor is a placeholder. Doesn't make this team better. That, juxtaposed with the flurry of moves that have been made by a lot of other teams who are actually trying to get better makes this a tough one to swallow.

I agree with that. I meant in terms of...like, what are we betting he does something other than that. I fully expect more re-treads to be signed. I will not be surprised, however, if Odor is the most recognizable "name" of the bunch.