Camden_yardbird

Who takes over as closer if Jorge gets traded? I feel like Krehibel might make sense?

Tyler Thornburg should get a mention in here. A guy with a sub 4 ERA and a track record of success.

I think the last team to have three position players come up and immediately solve their problems and thrust a team into contention was Jeter, Williams, Posada. I still can't believe these three will immediately be the cureall to everything. I understand Henderson is likely to be the top rated prospect in the minors come mid season rankings, but even guys like Kyle Tucker took time and seasoning. I still think the Orioles should be in the market for long term middle infield help if they can.

Totally off topic but I went to go open this thread, I was watching season 1 of stranger things, and as I clicked on this thread Steve said "All the Right Moves is playing."

Was traded with Ken Giles to the Astros in the 2015 trade that sent Mark Appel to the Phillies. Probably means Elias believes in his talent or is trying to justify his belief in that trade.

Your faith that three prospects are going to come up, perform right away with out struggles, and maintain average or above production is wholly misplaced. One of those guys might hit. The Orioles are going to actually spend some money one of these days.

This is my first time seeing Baker and I have to say with the chaotic twitchy nature of that leg kicking have no clue how he controls anything.

Plenty of teams have depended on fragile players for much larger roles. E.g. Rendon.

Man I just had CivPro flashbacks. What would that injunction even stop from happening. If it froze Johns control over team decisions it would even further restrict the Orioles to operate in a sport that has multiple decision points for ownership per year. You would think MLB might step in somehow if that happened. This lawsuit screams like its looking for a settlement. It looks like John wrested control of the team and then also went after the assets of the law firm. I could easily see where a settlement was reached to provide Louis the law firm assets and some amount of non-controlling equity in the team. The unfortunate side effect of this whole thing of course is there is no way Baltimore is getting an allstar game, or even consideration, with an ownership fight going on.

I have seen Vavra twice in minor league games and both times he struck me as a guy who just has a next level skill with the bat. He knows what he wants to do and understands how to do it. Tremendous contact skills.

You ever see that player who just can't perform in a certain stadium? Their stats are down, they like to say the park "doesn't fit their eye." Well apparently that is Toronto in extra inning games for our managers. I would like to dub it "poutine brain." Incredibly stupid decision to pitch to vlad there.

This team should be better. The fact that they are not is indicative of some poor management.

And when the record matteragain. No, when ownership deems that the record should matter again, then defense should matter. 1. Its not everything, its a factor, but the point is scoring more runs than the other team and there are a lot of ways that equation can go. 2. I am glad you are happy with "a better" team, you have bought in to the drivel this ownership wanted you to buy in to. Whether the Orioles finish with 60 wins or 70 doesn't matter, ownership didn't make meaningful additions to this team.

Why do you care about defense on a team going nowhere? His value is his bat, and if it can be rejuvenated he has value. I am not saying he is your long term answer. When Tampa acquired Isaac Paredes this off season. A player who plays 2B, and would be behind another player, Lowe, the Rays just signed long term and another player, Brujan, who is a top 100 prospect, were they thinking "this guy is a long term answer!". No. They were thinking, this is a guy we can get cheap who put up a .845 OPS last year in the minors. If we have a few injuries or he finds his bat in the majors we can ship out him, or Lowe, or Brujan and get value back. People on this site were drooling over Urias putting up a sub .800 OPS last season thinking he could be a long term answer. Andujar at his best was significantly better. So yes, if you can get him cheap you decrease other players playing time, or he fills in when a player gets injured in a week, or you stick him at DH occasionally. You see if you can get value.

I know you are playing devils advocate here but at the same time you clearly recognize that we are at two totally different times in the development of this team. You could be totally against the Odor signing at the time, thinking the Orioles should have been trying to build a more complete team with longer term answers. While at the same time recognizing that mid way through another lost season (which didn't have to be - but for signings like Odor), the Orioles should be trying to acquire as much talent as possible and that means, 27 year olds who at one time put up an .855 OPS.

Between the two I would rather have Calhoun. I think texas really mismanaged him.

You acquire talent. Period. You don't sit around drawing linear paths from fill ins to prospects. When will people understand this? You want to be more like Tampa, thats how.

I thought we banned these threads after "are the Orioles contenders?" 1 game. One 10-0 loss. Edit: I see this counts the RS series. 3-3 I guess.

IF all those players are healthy AND produce in their first 2-3 years... you are 7 players into a 25 man roster?

Who are you building a competitive team with in 2024?

Not to hijack the thread but speaking of recent DFAs, the Orioles should consider Cole Tucker. Tucker has been terrible lately, but was once the 14th pick. His minor league stats look almost exactly like Mateo's, maybe with even more speed.

I like Mateo. He's a sub. 600 OPS guy. So be real on that one. Urias similarly, has barely cracked .600. The bullpen. He has found some pieces but I doubt any of them are here in two years. Bullpens are volatile and ephemeral. I dont classify bullpen finds as nuggets. Wells, maybe the closet thing. Otherwise, any player of value on this team was here before Elias got here. For a player to be an unexpected find, or what I would classify as a "nugget", I would need to see a waiver, trade or round 3+ player who had some staying power. We need to stop thinking Elias is some oracle of talent evaluation. He has yet to show that skill. He built a top farm system with a bunch of top 10 picks. It something because we have seen teams build less with more, but let's not create some aura of Orioles exceptionalism. Well, at least not until their exceptional at something.

Elias couldn't find a nugget if he were standing in the middle of a McDonald's distribution center.

I think it will not be GR. My initial thinking was Boston might present the easiest team on the schedule to debut against but then I saw the next home stand is the mariners and guardians. That seems like the spot to me.

With the exception of the Jays all weaker offenses.