24fps

Chip, chip, chipping away... This is a hard game to watch. The O's could be making a statement and instead they're folding like a cheap tent.

Too bad we don't have any outfielders in the minors who could have caught that ball.

Ugly AB by Gunnar.

My theory is that Westburg and Cowser stay at Norfolk and rake until the trade deadline and if they're not dealt by then then they get called up. As long as they don't face ML pitching, then the gamble that they can't adjust stays on the acquiring team. Farfetched? Sure, but I'm stumped as to why at least one of them hasn't been called up yet and nothing else makes sense.

Clearly Elias' year-end bonus is linked to how many incomprehensible roster moves he makes during the season.

Wait, is Perez no longer on the team?

It's true that the bullpen could use an upgrade or two if the team continues to look like it's going to reach the post season. It's also true that I will be pretty mad if Cowser, Kjerstad or Westburg is traded for anything other than a solid SP.

I hope you're right that nothing comes of it, but consider this and we can use the CWS as an example even though we don't know for sure that Jerry Reinsdorf is one of the complainers. This season's payroll hit for the White Sox's rotation is $49.1 mil. it is $14 mil for Baltimore, $12.2 mil for Pittsburgh and $15.6 mil for Miami. CWS #3 starter Lance Lynn alone costs more than each of those team's total rotation and the White Sox's rotation also costs more than Baltimore, Miami and Pittsburgh combined and with less success. You can therefore argue from results that a lot of existing starting pitcher contracts are excessive and you would be right although we all know that it's not that simple. I believe that increased use of analytics and player development will exert downward pressure on player salaries (especially pitchers) over time. That is a short term disadvantage to teams currently holding multi-year contracts and a longer-term disadvantage to teams accustomed to using money as a bludgeon. Adopting a new approach also adds a different kind of uncertainty to large revenue teams that takes them out of their existing comfort zone when it comes to risk evaluation - again a short-term problem for competent management. Of course all of these issues are surmountable as we're seeing from the more progressive teams, but nobody likes to be forced to do something they don't want to do, especially if they can legislate their way out of the problem. And because that's often a successful strategy, I'm a little less confident than you that nothing will come of it. Nothing should have come of it in the first place.

I think this is more on point. The Mets have the top payroll at 5X that of the Orioles (number 29 out of 30) yet the O's 2023 record is considerably better than the Mets and in a tougher division to boot. So the so far unnamed teams are framing the rigorous use of analytics and player development by teams like the Orioles as an issue of "fairness" and MLB appears to be listening. This doesn't look like the traditional and familiar argument about gross differences in revenue which have been effectively glossed over my MLB but an attack on intelligent business practices that evidently certain teams don't want to be obligated to adopt. That this approach hasn't been dismissed out of hand by MLB I find to be extremely disturbing.

40% into the season, the Rays, Twins , Pirates and Diamondbacks are leading their respective divisions and the Marlins, Brewers and Orioles are in line for WC spots. That looks like actual competitive balance to me yet suddenly MLB and certain unnamed owners feel the need to discuss regulating the methodology that allows those teams to compete on a budget. As an Orioles fan, I care very much that MLB doesn't get in the way of the current strategy which the Athletic article seems to imply.

It may be that the discussion is now off on a tangent... Here are a few more quotes from the Athletic article: To my reading, the article taken as a whole remains confusing, but it looks to me like MLB is trying to mandate competitive balance while also retaining the status quo -a fool's errand if there ever was one. Analytics intelligently interpreted and applied is the edge poorer teams need to compete with big payroll teams and we are seeing that in practice this season. That MLB suddenly sees this as a crisis doesn't bode well for teams like the Orioles who have adopted this strategy IMO. It will be interesting if we ever get to see the rationale behind this newfound "crisis" but I'm not holding my breath.

I was able to gain access to the Athletic article and as near as I can tell this is nothing more than a Rob Manfred sponsored MLB circle jerk. Following are two quotes: This quote has zero meaning if one gives the speaker the benefit of the doubt and assumes that English is being spoken. This is considerably more meaningful insofar as it identifies a substantial barrier to any real action being taken. IMO it is a deal-killer. As near as I can tell, ownership is scratching around for yet more ways to minimize costs at the expense of actual competitiveness in an environment where genuine parity is ultimately impossible.

Voth is just the worst.

Worst Ump I've seen all year. Be interesting to see the scorecard tomorrow.

I guess we don't have to send Gunnar down after all.

On the lower right side of the screen there's a red button that says "live". You can click that also to get back to the game in real time.

Great AB by Gunner. Looks really locked in right now.

You forgot the manager who's a Jedi master at using the bullpen.

After watching last night's awful performance, finding 40 man roster spots for Cowser and Westburg should be the least of Elias' worries. Bring both up along with Irvin and see if that doesn't shake things up a little.

I don't think I can remember a game this year as dreadful as this one. Across the board, no redeeming qualities at all.

Time for Mountcastle to move to the LHP platoon role. No two ways about it.

So do I. Windows of opportunity become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you're going through a total rebuild more than three or four times every 100 years, you're doing it wrong IMO. I expect 85-88 wins this year and for Elias to trade for another starting pitcher - hopefully a good one with a few years of control left and not deplete the farm system much more after that. That should be enough for a 2023 WC spot which I'll happily take while expecting better in 2024.

If all the offense is going to come from Hicks, O'Hearn and Frazier then I'm skeptical.

Gibson definitely doesn't have his mojo tonight

Time to chase that Beiber scrub.