Moose Milligan

Certainly. That team got old and bad, fast. Davis not being here wouldn't have made a difference.

Different regimes, same outcome. The Redski -er, WFT are almost always terrible, so are the Orioles. Both franchises have had respective constants over the years. You can probably put it together as to who those people are.

Track record, bro. Not like the Orioles have been the best at drafting and developing over the years. But I suppose that's illogical.

Give me reasons to be optimistic and I'll give you more reasons why I shouldn't be.

It's a tough outfield to crack. Mountcastle should be starting in left, Hays in Center, Santander in RF. And then there's Mullins who's finally scrapped switch hitting, had a respectable spring and brings speed to the lineup that others don't. DJ Stewart is always hurt but has OBP skills and can park one every so often. The problem here that wildcard touches on in his OP is that Santander had oblique issues last year and it's popped up again this spring (dude, do some crunches and strengthen that ****). DJ Stewart is always hurt. Hays is always hurt. I think it's safe to say that Diaz will be called up this year, it's just a matter of when. I don't particularly think he's a future piece for us but he's had a respectable spring and he deserves to show what he can do.

Obsess over what you might do? Beat your feet in those Birkenstocks, boomer! You need to run away from those narcissistic tendencies.

What's next? You kvetching about service time manipulation?

You brought it up like it was something. Ah, the CoC Gambit. You can never be wrong when living in the abstract.

I dunno, they don't get brownie points for lying. I believe the reports to be true. I don't think what he did at the alternate site is as valuable as real games, though. But let's roll with that idea because it makes us feel better.

You can say that all you want, still not the same thing. And it's not like any of us really know what happened there. All we have are some reports from various guys that cover the team. Yes, they all said that Adley was great. Doesn't mean he's totally ready for the majors.

That's certainly not great. It's weird, growing up in the 80s and 90s, hitting 30 homers a year was a THING. I don't think a guy hitting 30 homers at his age would be as expendable then as they are now. It's crazy how advanced metrics have made this possible. This said, I'd still want to give him a shot. I'm under no illusion that he'd be a great player here but I think he's probably better than any 2nd base option we currently have.

It's not the same thing

Frobbicino with the wet blanket! You have every right to remain skeptical, though. 10 IP in spring training doesn't mean anything but it'd be cool if the Orioles helped him make some improvements to reign in that command a little bit.

I don't agree that they're doing harm by tanking to such a level. There's plenty of good reasons to watch the MLB right now. Look, someone has to be last place, not every team can be the Rays or Dodgers or the Yankees or the Athletics. Every year there's a few teams that win 55-65 games. Are we really going to quibble over style points as to how they're doing it? You are correct that MLB created and fostered a system that incentivizes teams like the Orioles to do what they're doing...sports in general does. But you can't allow a team like the Dodgers to have the first overall pick in the draft. Or come close to getting it. If you wanted to "change the system" you're upending the way the draft is conducted...I suppose you could make it like the NBA lottery where the teams that don't make the playoffs have a certain amount of ping pong balls and whoever lost the most has the most balls (no pun intended). Yes, they stand a bigger chance to get the #1 pick but they're not guaranteed to do so. I don't particularly like that for the MLB since the MLB draft is the biggest crap shoot of them all.

I agree, I think that's the most important part. Even if he might not have been facing ML guys, he was around the plate consistently.

Whoa, Hank Scorpio sighting!

Baltimorons have a chip on their shoulder the size of Wyoming. Caught between DC, Philly and NYC on 95, the inferiority complex they have is insufferable.

I'd like Odor but I don't see us getting him.

Right, because having an ML second baseman is the biggest problem with this team as currently constructed.

Bro, they can't because they're not that smart. I like Elias, but I don't think he's in the league with who the Rays guys are. And even if we did, people here wouldn't be happy. There'd be complaints that they're not spending enough. The next time the Orioles win a WS in 5 games, you can be someone is going to be on here whining that it wasn't a sweep. SG, I said it yesterday, I'll say it again here...you've been (correctly) saying that the OD roster doesn't matter. And so if we're going to harp on the Lopez thing, let's not pretend that he's going to be here all season. Outside of Means and perhaps Kremer I don't think the other three rotation spots are going be finishing with who they started with. I'm confident we'll see Akin and the other young arms this season. I also agree that Valaika/Urias aren't appetizing conversations to have but I'm under no illusion that, like the rotation, that these are going to be the full time guys we've got at the end of the season. And if they are, then I'm assuming we'll have someone waiting in the wings to take over at 2nd base.

Well what are the other options? Lying to your fanbase that THIS IS THE YEAR like the Orioles did to us from '98 to 2011? Pretending like they've got a shot this year? It takes as long as it takes, quite frankly I'm not exactly worried with how long this is taking. I was born in late '81, this team has been $#%& for practically my entire life with a few blips on the radar here and there. Miss me with the THEY NEED TO CONTEND NOW talk, I don't care if it's this year or next, so long as it happens. I've been conditioned for my entire life to realize that they'll always be mediocre to terrible, anything else is a pleasant surprise.

What profits with no one in the seats? Oh right, MASN money! Sweet glorious MASN MONEY!

Whatever. No one said it was going to be done overnight. And we lost a year last year to see where a lot of our minor leaguers would be. 2021 probably would look very different if all those guys had a real minor league season. I know, I know, RUTSCHMAN AND GUNNAR LOOKED GREAT AT THE ALTERNATE SITE but no one can make me believe that it was a great substitute for real games against real competition. And it's not embarrassing, no one cares about the Orioles outside of the few diehards that are on message boards like this one. Everyone knows all anyone cares about in the AL East is the Yankees and Sox and to a lesser extent, the Rays. We're not on anyone's radar and quite frankly I get the feeling that if MLB dissolved the Orioles that NL GM wouldn't care. But it would be highly embarrassing for a team like the Yankees or Sox to be this bad for this long. Teams in major media markets get attention for being bad, there are always articles written focusing on when a team like the Mets are going to turn it around. Teams in mid media markets get ignored for being bad. No one cares if the Orioles are bad and how long they're bad for except us.

Best wishes to Gregg Olson. As I write this, I'm sitting in my office with a 1989 Why Not? poster that I've had since I was a kid. Gregg Olson signed it at some meet and greet thing at a mall that my parents took me to. It was a thrill meeting him back then. I love following him on twitter, too. Here's hoping to a quick recovery for him.

Rougned Odor? He's the one that popped Jose Bautista in the jaw with a right cross. His character is intact. I want that guy.