Moose Milligan

RIP Doug Jones.

But you get to keep your job because of that.

Oh man, this is exciting! What hypothetical trades can we dream up?!?!?!?

Eh. I wouldn't say they were horrible answers. Pretty much a fluff piece overall though. Nothing to be gleaned from it. Though that won't stop people from trying.

I agree, no Wynns or Sisco. I'd like a new backup catcher to be annoyed with, not some re-tread we already have seen enough of.

Well, he hasn't traded Mancini. Granted, it would be bad PR to have traded him this year but he could have in 2019. He hasn't traded Means. Or Santander. I'm not dipping into the "blockbuster" debate, whatever that means. He's traded some pieces that have had some value but he hasn't traded his best pieces yet.

IMO, I think Elias is trying to architect this rebuild - or whatever you want to call it- by doing it from the minor leagues and prospects stockpiled by our own resources (draft and development) and minor trades. I don't get the feeling that he's going to move a star player for additional pieces. He's traded guys like Bundy and Villar and Cashner, guys that are somewhat decent but he's not traded someone who some could consider a cornerstone piece in order to diversify talent. This kind of ties in with the narrative here about wondering if Elias can really be an MLB GM. I don't think anyone here would want to argue with the work he's done in setting up a South American presence and his drafts are pretty positive from where I sit But is he a guy that can swing a trade of a major piece in order to pick up additional pieces? Remains to be seen.

Well he's right. I mean, support your claim dude. It's basic sports message board arguing 101. Make a claim...if you get challenged support it. Don't get pissy pants because someone asked you to back up a statement. Sheesh.

My gut says it's a great time to sell high on him. I don't think any of us think he can replicate what he did last year. Wouldn't be looking to move him, but would be listening.

@Tony-OHhow good is Grenier's glove? If you had to comp him to a big leaguer, what do you think could be fair? Or, I guess...is the glove special?

Seemed like a good guy. Good luck to him in Milwaukee.

With the emphasis on the bullpen in the era we find ourselves in, I'm fine with him being in the bullpen.

This doesn't jive with my narrative and therefore I'm ignoring it.

And we bounced their asses right out of the playoffs in a clean sweep.

No one's blocking AR. No one's blocking G-Rod or Hall. Sign a guy, trade him if you don't want to block someone coming up.

No reason not to fill as many holes as they can. I don't agree with his logic.

Julio Lugo died a day before his 46th birthday. Heart attack, apparently.

It pains me to say it, but CoC was right. A lot of guys regressed. IIRC, pretty much everyone did to a certain degree. Even though it was just a couple months ago, I can't remember who finished strong, Akin or Lowther or maybe both. But that doesn't erase how ****ing awful they were earlier. Kremer was terrible. I agree with your take that Holt had limited resources and I will admit that while I'm not high on any of those guys (or practically anyone who was on the mound for the Orioles this year not named Means or Wells)...those guys are professional and regarded by some to be contributors. I'm not ignorant of that. IMO, it would be unrealistic for all of those guys to be able to step up and improve, you're gonna have duds no matter who the coach is. But I think we were all surprised that they all **** the bed in the manner they did. Some of that has to fall on Holt's shoulders, especially when you're the director of pitching for the entire organization.

How else will we have a regular Orioles offseason? We need at least one Rule 5 guy.

Hope you guys are saving up for your playoff tickets!

I'm fine with never seeing Bundy again in an Orioles uniform.

I'm not sure you've covered this anywhere, but I'm curious as to who you think could make the biggest jump who's currently out of the top 15?

I like the fact that there's a good separation between his batting average and on base percentage. Like Tony says in the writeup, good feel for working counts and drawing walks. IMO, it means he's got a plan at the plate. But if he can't hit lefties, that's not good. Ultimately, what makes me happy here is that a guy like Vavra is ranked 20th when in other years a guy with this profile would be ranked around 10th, I feel. That's got nothing to do with Vavra himself but it's more of a state of the farm system on the whole.

I can't wait for the next 10-15 years, hopefully the brainiacs who are constantly tinkering with numbers can come up with a better stat than WAR, rendering it useless. It's not that I don't like WAR, I think it's a pretty good stat and it does a decent (not perfect) enough job of understanding value. I'd just like to see chaos, personally. Anyway, I still think this gets resolved before spring training. At the end of the day, no one wants a work stoppage and everyone involved knows that the damage to the game will be irreparable.

Where'd you come up with that take?