Moose Milligan

More: https://www.dodgerthoughts.com/2018/10/09/why-mlb-players-dont-bunt-against-the-shift/

More: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24265798/mlb-myth-buster-shift-curbing-runs-creating-them

I don't get it. I thought MLB went through a thing kinda sorta recently where on base percentage was highly sought after. Orioles missed the memo, apparently. We've been bad at it for a long time. Anyway, it's not like ML hitters haven't discussed this before. For the thinking fan: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24049347/mlb-hitters-explain-why-just-beat-shift

I know, neither am I.

I admire your optimism, no one has ever said to you.

The plate discipline/approach seems legit. That OBP is absurd and sorely needed for a team that's always lacked it. I will take that separation in BA/OBP all day, every day.

Exciting stuff. I don't know if any of these guys reach Baltimore next year but provided they do well in Bowie for the rest of the year they'll all be in Baltimore in 2022. Next summer is looking to be a lot of fun.

I'm sure you'd know from experience. IIRC, the Tigers traded Smoltz to Atlanta in the Doyle Alexander deal. Anyway, I don't see us trading Mullins but I wouldn't be terribly upset if we did. I think it would probably be a good sell high move.

Oddly enough, I don't think the 2018 team had a 10 game losing streak.

That was a bullet. Big boy can mash.

Thats about as bad as a fielding play as you'll ever see, especially considering there were two outs. But you're right, there's a chance that our team could do something just as bad.

At least we're not THIS bad... ....right?

Lowther barely cracks 90 mph. I agree, his numbers are nice but when you see his stuff it's pretty underwhelming. I'm not saying "get off my lawn" with relying on rankings, but for far too long this board has been obsessed over rankings and judging players based on them. Just because Lowther is in our Top 10 doesn't mean much, IMO. You hit the nail on the head, average secondaries and nibblers. I'm not saying these guys don't deserve chances because they do. But I don't see how they're going to stick with what they bring to the table.

Of course, it depends on what we traded. But you yourself just said if they were the third piece for a guy like Means...which tells me that you probably view them as a lower tier piece, essentially fungible. If any of those guys is a 3rd piece in a Means trade it probably...means...that they're not the centerpiece of the deal and could have been swapped for another piece, just the same.

It remains to be seen, but c'mon. I want you to ask yourself the following: If we got any of those guys back in a trade, what would your initial reaction be?

Yeah, I beg to differ.

What if all the things have been found? And how do you know all we're doing is what the Cubs and Astros have done? Maybe we're doing the next thing but it's still under wraps. You don't know.

Phil is beating this Hyde horse to a pulp.

Yeah right, I'm sure any of them would be thrilled to be out of here and play somewhere that's got a chance at the playoffs. I don't think any of them are traded though.

Yeah, I didn't think the Twins were as bad as their record indicated. We're downright awful though.

Philip flipping out about how bad the catching is and then realizing there's a 14 run delta between the best and last is hysterical. Next thing you know he'll be writing the people at Fangraphs to tell them they're wrong.

The Cardinals traded Ayala to us for a guy named Mike Dimmel.

When Means came up, I'm pretty sure everyone thought he was a JAG. Means didn't make the OH top 30 prospect list in 2017: http://www.orioleshangout.com/2017/11/12/2017-orioles-top-30-prospects/ He was 28th in 2018: http://www.orioleshangout.com/2018/11/06/2018-top-30-prospects/ For some reason I can't find the 2019 rankings but MLB.com didn't have him in the top 30 list for 2019: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2019?list=bal So yeah, I'd say Means was undervalued. But if we're going to say that Means went outside of the organization to become better, that's fine, I'm not going to argue. Fair enough on Mullins, too.

His speed is fantastic but he does get caught more than someone with his speed should. IIRC, he's now 6/10 on steals. You want to be 75% or better on steals to have it result in a positive. Anything less you're doing more harm than good.

Too bad Cedric got caught, we should be up 2.