Moose Milligan

Hell if I know, I'm not going to go round up all the posts where people have said what they think he'll be. But fine, let me amend my statement: I think it's weird that people are aggressively pining for Jones to be called up as if he's significantly better than what we have right now.

Sure, I think all of these guys should be getting a shot, and I've said as much. I'm not against Jahmai Jones coming up, I just think people's expectations of what he is are pretty weird. But that's the thing...statistically, most of these guys don't stand a chance. A couple weeks ago you and I got into a back and forth about trading guys over 30, I was poking fun at you but I agreed. Trading guys over 30 usually is a good bet and you'll come out ahead more times than not. Prospects and their chances are my version of that. Most of them don't pan out to be very good. And the Orioles have been doing a seemingly worse job than most at the prospect game (granted, they've had one hand tied behind their back during the Angelos administration...not being able to touch the SA market has been terrible). You said it yourself, most prospects are nothing. If shouting that from the rooftops makes me "pessimistic," in your view, I'm really comfortable with that. But you and I seem to agree on the idea that most prospects are nothing, I would say we're realists. I don't know how much "demanding" i can really do from a keyboard, but that's neither here nor there. Of course I'd like to see Jahmai Jones up, it'll happen eventually.

Gee, thanks. Tell me why I should be optimistic. I'll tell you how I see it, you tell me where I'm not being accurate. We've got a farm system that's ranked in the top 5-8 depending on who's doing the ranking. It's headed by AR, G-Rod and Hall. In the lower levels you've got some guys like Gunnar Henderson who could turn into a great prospect. And there are a lot of guys in the system that seem to be having good seasons and could advance into AA or AAA before the summer is over. Elias seems to have done a great job in scouting and signing South American talent from the DR and other baseball rich countries such as Venezuela but those guys are too far off to make a difference right now. We can quibble on here about players not being promoted at a speed in which we'd like to see them promoted, that's fine. The ML roster deeply lacks in talent in most areas. The games each night are usually not worth watching and quite a few of the guys from the system we've called up haven't shown us anything. If that's being pessimistic, so be it. From where I sit, that's highly accurate. In regards to being at the beginning of a rebuild, we absolutely are. The ML team is barely showing signs of a pulse, and while some good groundwork has been laid, it hasn't paid off at the ML level at all. IMO, that's at the beginning of a rebuild, where you've done some groundwork but the ML team isn't showing any benefits from it. I know you want this stuff done faster and I don't disagree with you when you say it should be done faster. At the end of the day we have the ownership group that we have and that's that.

Meh, not for me. Look, the entire thing is a giant crapshoot. All of it. That whole Brad Pitt spiel in Moneyball where he's talking to the scout about not knowing...he was absolutely right. No one can figure this out. The NFL is a better example, the entire NFL draft is practically a cottage industry, teams spend several million dollars and a lot of time drafting, interviewing, looking at backgrounds, etc. And then you get a Tom Brady who slips through the cracks while a Johnny Manziel busts. If the NFL can't figure it out, no one can. If you're saying guys like Means and Mancini having success makes people look at a highly regarded prospect as if to say "well, you SHOULD be good because these two guys were drafted way lower than you and are doing well..." I understand that line of thinking but I don't agree. Speaking personally, I'm fine with looking at them as individuals. Draft status plays a part in the expectations but I'm not surprised when a guy like Sisco or Stewart "busts."

It ain't far into the rebuild if you think the rebuild is gonna take quite a long time. From where I'm sitting we're still at the beginning, homie. That said, it sucks to see AAAA guys no matter where you are.

I think people call Sisco and Stewart types busts because of their draft status. You don't see anyone calling Means and Mancini a bust because of where they were drafted. Those guys are "diamonds in the rough."

Yeah, these guys suck. Akin, Kremer, whoever the hell else. I partially blame that on the constant monitoring of system rankings, it makes fans think that a guy slotted in the 8-12 range could be good when the reality is they probably won't be. For every Means you get, you get dozens of middling guys who just won't ever turn into anything. I'm not saying these guys shouldn't be given shots, it's just that I wonder why people don't temper expectations for someone like an Akin. Several people on this board have been here for 10+ years and have been following the team for longer. At some point you gotta wonder if anyone is learning.

I think we'll take someone that a lot of people whine about. I'm declaring myself the winner here. I'm not wrong.

I can't figure out what's more depressing...the roster itself or the players half this board keeps calling for in order to take a roster spot (AR not included, obviously). I'm sure Jahmai Jones is going to be awesome. I can't wait.

Who's touchy?

Times like this where I find Kevin Brown borderline insufferable. That sarcastic, joking tone, the forced jokes. I get it, you're bored dude. But he just tried way too hard.

Good point. He'll be another Harvey/Felix.

Sounds like he'd fit right in for us. Now is the time to bring him back.

I just can't find enough energy to care about this move. It's not like Gutierrez is being looked at as a future piece. He's a placeholder/org guy.

Draft is on Sunday, right?

I'm hoping the kids hold onto the team long enough until Pete passes on and then put it up for sale the following week. There's no guarantee that a new ownership will be better than this, but you can hope.

Yeah, except there's not. All the information you really need to know is right here on this board.

No, it means he's strong. You gotta be a bit of a physical beast to go opposite field and do it often.

No. Man, for someone who professes to pay close attention, you certainly seem to have a lot of questions.

If you go out and look around at the baseballs they have out there marking where shots have landed, there are some ones that have been close to hitting it. IMO, it's not the distance necessary to hit it...it's the fact that the warehouse sits ABOVE the playing field, you've gotta hit it that much farther. If someone hasn't hit it by now...I dunno, I don't think anyone's going to. The steroid era has come and gone. Baseballs inflated with helium have come and gone.

Valaika has two hits tonight. Live look in at wildcard:

I thought that might have hit the warehouse. Damn, that was a shot.

Kevin Brown tries too hard to be witty sometimes, IMO. That was one of them.

Mullins yes!!!!

Wouldn't be mad if Bo Bichette got a case of the yips.