Obando
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On 6/13/2019 at 12:14 PM, Enjoy Terror said:
Added 6 more signings:
6/5 Andry Mercedes
6/6 Isaac Solano
6/7 Anthony Morillo
6/12 Julio Herrera
6/12 Manuel Duncan
6/12 Joldanny GenaoWhere did you find these? Are they all recent international signings, or do the dates just mean that’s when these players were added to the active rosters of the DSL 1 & 2 teams?
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To be honest, I haven’t even been impressed with Broxton defensively, and that is supposed to be his strength. He’s not a good hitter, so if he’s making mistakes defensively, he basically offers no value to this team. His speed is wasted because he can’t even get on base, so opportunities for him to steal are minimal as it is. I would rather just bring Mullins back up to play center and let him take his lumps in the majors. At least he has proven to be a good defender.
Straily was a failed experiment and is a waste of a roster spot at this point. He was never that good to begin with, and now he’s not even useful as a reliever.
If I’m Elias, I’m designating both players for assignment and giving other guys opportunities. They can’t be any worse than Broxton & Straily have been. Even though Villar and Alberto tend to get lazy in the field at times (and in Villar’s case, foolish on the bases as well), at least they have been mostly productive overall and bring some value to the team.
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I love and respect Adam Jones and appreciate everything he meant to this team and city, but the Orioles don’t owe him anything. It’s a business, and while I do think the situation could have been handled better by all parties, the organization chose to move forward without him, and that clearly hurt his feelings. It probably felt like a divorce after being an Oriole for 11 years, because he clearly expected to be an Oriole for life, or at least hoped to be.
The reality is that whenever he decides to retire, he will immediately be welcomed back into the Oriole family and will be an Oriole Hall of Famer. The O’s will probably try and have him become a team ambassador, similar to what Eddie & Brooks are now doing. The warm and fuzzies will return eventually, but for now, there is disappointment in how his Oriole career ended, and that’s understandable. But if you remember how Eddie Murray left the organization initially, and how he was welcomed back with open arms when he came back in 1996 (and has remained a beloved figure), I have no doubt that the same will be true with Adam whenever he calls it a career.
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You can’t help but be excited about the direction this franchise is going in now with the commitment to international scouting, analytics, technology, etc. We probably won’t sign any of the top 30 international players during this cycle, but I’m confident that starting in 2020, we’ll be on a level playing field with all the other teams. Since most of the top players have verbal agreements 1-2 years before they turn 16, we were at a disadvantage during the 2019-2020 signing period. That doesn’t mean we won’t come away with any good players, just not the perceived cream of the crop. But starting next year and in the years ahead, I think we’ll be firmly in the mix for the top players, which is very exciting.
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Unless Gunnar changes his asking price unexpectedly or fails a physical, I don’t see anyway he doesn’t sign. Elias wouldn’t have drafted him this early if he didn’t know what it would take to sign him and didn’t feel confident that he would have the funds to do it. Even if Adley gets $8M, we still should have enough to pay Gunnar over slot since we didn’t draft any other over slot guys in the top 10 rounds (other than maybe Hernaiz, but he’s probably more of a slot value or slightly above slot guy).
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17 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:
Thanks! How about the OF from the Virgin Islands? Or was he talking about Bellony, who was signed last summer and is from the VI?
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3 hours ago, Enjoy Terror said:
The O’s signed an outfielder out of the VI last week. A first baseman out of the Bahamas too.
Would you happen to know their names, or could you provide a link to the article or tweet that confirmed these signings?
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Just now, El_Duderino said:
I try to keep in mind how little time Britton needed to rebuild his trade value last year. Hopefully this is just a blip from Givens.
Although, right now that Britton trade is looking pretty mediocre for the Orioles. Rogers has been horrible in AAA, Tate is injured and wasn’t even pitching well when he was healthy at AA, and Carroll has been injured for most of the season so far. It’s still early to call that trade a bust, but right now, it’s not looking nearly as good as it did at the time of the trade last year.
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1 hour ago, webbrick2010 said:
LOL, Givens has close to zero trade value. Won't even get a top 15 prospect from a mediocre system.
I think you are wrong about this. Sure, right now while Givens is struggling it’s easy to think he has close to zero trade value, but if you look at his entire body of work, the quality of his stuff, and the fact that he doesn’t hit free agency until after the 2021 season, I think he actually has pretty solid trade value. That’s not to say he would fetch a top 50 prospect, but if Givens gets on a roll, I guarantee you there are plenty of contending teams that would love to have him and would give up something of value to get him. Don’t just focus on the horrendous week he just had. Even the best pitchers & hitters have bad weeks and months. Look at all the factors I listed above. Givens isn’t a total scrub like you might currently view him, and it’s easy to feel that way right now. He has been an above average reliever overall since he came up in 2015, but he has had some rough stretches this year & last that have inflated his ERA and made him look worse than he actually is.
Either way, Givens will get traded at some point. It’s Elias’ job to try and extract as much value out of him as he can, so let’s hope he gets back to what he has shown he can be when he’s going well and Elias can trade him at peak value, whether it’s this year or next.
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I agree that it’s mental with Givens. We know what he is capable of, but right now, he’s clearly in a rut and not feeling confident. Some guys are just not mentally wired to be a closer, and that could be the case with Givens. Closers have to be able to brush off adversity like bad umpire calls, errors, etc. and get the job done, and Givens appears to not handle adversity well, at least as a closer. His stuff is just as good as it has always been, but when he’s not right, he becomes very wild and his control is spotty. That’s what’s going on with him right now.
I’m sure Elias wants Givens to be the closer so that his value is higher when it comes time to talk trade. But for the time being, it might be better to put him in a lower-leverage role, like the 7th inning, to help him regain his confidence, and try others in the closer role in the meantime. I don’t think his current struggles are killing his value to other teams, because the stuff is still there and he has a pretty solid track record of performance. But in a ideal world, Givens gets on a roll as the closer and he increases his value to contending teams, who will know that Givens is capable of closing games. He has done it before, but his experience and success as a closer is still limited, so at this point, Givens is probably viewed strictly as a setup man to contending teams.
If we want to look on the bright side, it’s still very early in the season and Givens has 2 months to get back on track and get his value to a level that will garner a good prospect package (he still has 2+ years before he becomes a FA). At the same time, he’s helping increase our chances of getting the 1st pick in the draft next year, which is a factor that must be considered as we go through a rebuild. So it’s truly a double-edged sword.
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24 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:
I don't think it's wise to just assume the sons are the same as the father.
I don’t assume that. If anything, I think they are very different, which is why I am actually optimistic about the future of the team and think they “get it” when it comes to needing to do a full rebuild and seeing it through. I just mean that I think they truly care about Baltimore like their father does, and wouldn’t want to see the team be moved (or move it themselves). Money talks, but if the team were to move, I just can’t see them being the ones to do it considering they are from Baltimore and are very philanthropic when it comes to helping the City and community at large. That is the one positive thing that we could always say about the Angelos family, despite their very poor track record as owners.
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Even if the Angelos family eventually sells the team, I have a strong feeling it would be to an ownership group with strong ties to Baltimore. I agree that their affection for Baltimore will most likely outweigh their willingness to sell to out of town investors that could potentially move the team, but then again, money talks, so who knows? Let’s just hope for the best, because I don’t think I and the majority of true Oriole fans could handle the Orioles moving out of Baltimore. I was luckily too young to remember the Colts moving away, but I never want to have to experience something like that. I would be totally devastated.
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I don’t believe for a second that the Orioles will be moved, regardless of what happens with the MASN lawsuit. The Orioles are a storied franchise with a crown jewel of a ballpark and a rabid fan base. Ownership has probably prepared for the possibility that they might lose the lawsuit and have to pay the Nationals millions more than originally anticipated, but as others have pointed out, this means that the Orioles would get paid more as well. Either way, I’m sure they will continue to fight and tie this up in the courts for as long as possible, knowing how they operate.
The only way I could possibly see the team moving is if the Angelos family sells the team to an out of town buyer, but even then, I just don’t see it happening. Teams like Oakland & Tampa Bay would likely be moved before the Orioles due to their stadium situations and lack of attendance/revenue generated. If anything, the situation will force the Orioles to commit even further to investing in scouting, player development, analytics & technology, because they won’t be able to spend big money on free agents anymore (like they did with Chris Davis & Alex Cobb, for example). They will be forced to do it like Tampa Bay & Oakland does it, but that also means it’s less likely they will be able to keep their best players unless they sign them very early in their careers before the arbitration years,
If I’m being naive about this, and there truly is a real chance the team could be moved, please convince me, because I just can’t see it happening. If MLB is conspiring against the Orioles and is intentionally trying to force them to sell and move, then something needs to be done to prevent it, because it would be a major black eye for baseball and an entire fanbase with a proud history.
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1 hour ago, Going Underground said:
Sorry Vidalin. I know nothing about Brady. Vidalin had disagreements with two people in the Orioles front office. But that might happen with a new regime in charge. Probably pretty common.
Okay, thanks for clarifying. Are we talking 2 people at the ownership level of the front office, or 2 baseball operations front office people? If it’s the latter, I think I can probably guess who they are, just as I could if it’s at the ownership level.
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50 minutes ago, section18 said:
There are players in our minor league system that could be part of our rebuild right now. Why aren't they here? It took forever it eems but they did finally get rid of wright. Slowly we are getting the right roster but others are obvious.Tony mentioned Williams yesterday. our manager was asked about Mountcastle yesterday n the radio by Roch and all he said was he is playing well in so many words. He can be moved around and DH. They are fcused on CD right now and don't want to disrupt the 1B platoon. Mpuntvastle is hitting .342 the last I checked with a .369 OBP. He should be brought up now. They are listing him as a 3B but he can play 1B on a platoon and DH.
This is all part of the process. I promise you that by mid season/after the trade deadline, we will start to see some of the dead weight removed from the roster and replaced by prospects. What you see now is not how it’s going to look all year. The FO is giving some younger 4A players a chance to play everyday to see if they can become long-term contributors, such as Dwight Smith Jr., Rio Ruiz, & Renato Nunez. So far, these guys are looking like they could be, but we need more time to assess them. Same thing with a guy like John Means, who so far looks like he could be a nugget. Patience my friend. I know it’s tough and depressing right now, but this is what a rebuild looks like, and the Orioles have never truly done it like this, which is the way it should be.
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42 minutes ago, Going Underground said:
I have heard,take it for what it is worth with two people. Not going to say who.
Can you clarify what you mean by this? Do you mean you received confirmation/heard from 2 people that Brady is gone, or are you talking about Vidalin? I would assume that the Angelos bros agreed to let him out of his contract to go back to Miami. If it was Peter, he may have forced him to stay by virtue of the contract he signed, like he did with Duquette. That, in and of itself, is another positive sign, regardless of what the circumstances were behind JV leaving.
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I think it’s interesting that Brady Anderson’s name has been removed from the list of baseball operations front office executives. That’s a good sign, in my opinion, because his name remained on there for awhile as VP of Baseball Operations, and it wasn’t clear exactly what his role was anymore. This should hopefully remove any doubt, because if he was still a member of the front office, his name would still be listed.
As for John Vidalin, I don’t want to assume that he left because of any issues with ownership. It’s very possible he took the job intending to be here for a long time, but then realized it wasn’t the best fit for him (he had never worked in baseball before) and got a good offer to come back to work for the Miami Heat, where he was probably much more comfortable (not to mention it’s much better weather). We’ll probably never know why he left for sure, but sometimes jobs just aren’t the right fit, and he had an opportunity to go back to a job that he thought fit better for him.
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1 hour ago, section18 said:
As Attendance dwindles and the pitching continues to look bad how long will fans give Elias?
I know it's early May but I know people who love the Orioles are already talking about the Ravens and have written off the Orioles.
They have no plans to go to any Orioles games during this rebuild. I'm amazed how many people think Elias is not going about things the right way. He has shrunk the payroll too much and his replacements appear to be strictly here to land a second #1 pick in 2020. Okay ! So we land the best catcher in baseball next month. Who will it be in 2020. The next best pitcher? Then what?
Horrible attendance Friday night with storms and rain forecast that never arrived. Blown forecast by all of the weather people cost them thousands of seats unsold as a result. The city falling apart and crime out of control is not helping things. Baltimore is not used to being called the worst team in baseball. With millions in cut payroll and a roster that could have been a lot better with just a few inexpensive free agent signings it lends itself to minimal fan interest with almost 5 months to go. Will the 10,000 who show up on non giveaway nights shrink to 5000 in July and after? Will Elias spend some money before the trade deadline and move some players and prospects for some young veteran type players ?
Who can sell tickets on the current roster? I think a lot of people are disappointed in Cobb who has done nothing with his big pay check looking really bad. In spite of what some may think a team still needs a closer. If we had one we would have won at least 3 or 4 more games this season. Please help the team and DFA Castro. We could have signed Gio Gonzalez recently to help our rotation and Drew Pomeranz was available in the off season for a low salary. Clay Buchholz is working his way back and will probably be DFA''D by Toronto who iis cleaning house it's rumored in the next few weeks. We can get one or two of these pitchers in the coming weeks if Elias will spend some money. Trying not to get depressed. I'm a season ticket holder and going to games with hardly anybody there is kind of eerie.
Are you seriously posting this right now? It has been made blatantly clear since last July that we are rebuilding, and you are questioning the direction of the organization? We are a little more than 1 month into the season, and you are already frustrated with Mike Elias and questioning his decisions? I’m sorry, but it’s posts like this that frustrate the hell out of me. The front office has a long-term plan to rebuild every aspect of the baseball operation, and it’s going to take some time. We are going to be losing a lot the next 2-3 years, but a foundation is going to be built that will allow the Orioles to be competitive for a long-time, and they will spend the money on free agents when the time is right. Right now, the resources are being allocated to scouting, player development, analytics, and technology, which is where they should be after years of neglect by ownership.
If you can’t accept what the plan is and be patient with it, I don’t know what to tell you. Believe me, I would much rather watch a winning Orioles team right now, but this was to be expected, and the FO has been very transparent about what the plan is, so to question it right now after 1 month of the season just boggles my mind. Keep an eye on what’s going on in the minor leagues, and focus on the upcoming draft, international signing period and trade deadline. That’s when things are going to start getting really interesting and we’ll start to see the early fruit of Mike Elias’ vision & labor.
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Both were never highly rated prospects in their respective systems, but worked their way up the ladder, made it to the majors, and in the case of Kuechel, has had a ton of success despite lacking dominant stuff. Both are lefties that have good control/command and great changeups, and so far from what I’ve seen from Means, he’s not scared out on the mound. He has some moxie and poise, just like Kuechel. I love how he stood up to Yandy Diaz after he threw up and in on him, Yandy shot him a dirty look, and Means said “What are you looking at?” to him with a serious face. Then Means proceeded to strike him out on the next pitch. It was a thing of beauty!
Kuechel ended up becoming a major part of the Astros’ success during their rebuild, and the Orioles are in the early stages of their rebuild right now. Maybe I’m just excited after watching Means close out this game against the Rays, but in general, I’ve been very impressed with him so far this season.
If the Orioles have any luck at all, Means will become that unexpected top of the rotation type of starter that the Astros ended up getting with Kuechel unexpectedly. I’m not suggesting Means will win 20 games and become a Cy Young winner, but I don’t see any reason why he can’t become a staple of the rotation for many years to come based on what he’s shown me so far.
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Aberdeen makes sense because there was a hitting coach opening there and he’s already based in Harford County. Seems like a perfect fit for him.
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2 hours ago, mdbdotcom said:
What really matters is this month's arbitration ruling. Maybe the Angelos clan is waiting for that before deciding whether to hire a president or sell the team. They seem to be doing a good job of eliminating obligations and headcount, but haven't hired anyone.
I don’t think the arbitration ruling is holding anything up. They will need to hire a President either way, since business still needs to get done with the team regardless. It’s possible the pending MASN ruling and potential for a sale could have an impact on who is interested in taking the job, however, and that is probably more of the reason why this hire is taking so long to get done. I’m guessing John & Lou complied a list of candidates and are whittling through it based on the interviews and who is actually interested in taking the job. Keep in mind the Giants still haven’t hired a President/GM yet either, so it’s not like the Orioles are the only team in this situation, even though as O’s fans we are just focused on our team.
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I just think if Roch is going to report that signings are expected to be announced on a certain day and they are not, he should follow it up with some sort of explanation. Otherwise, he should expect to get questions about it on Twitter. Us die hards take this stuff seriously, and we get excited about an expected announcement regarding international signings, which has been almost nonexistent over the past several years, save a few notable ones here and there. The promise of entering the international market is exciting, and part of what makes fans feel positive about the future/rebuilding efforts. So don’t get our hopes up by reporting that an announcement is expected to be made on a certain day and then, when it doesn’t happen, go silent on us.
Duquette is culpable as well, considering the number of times he’s has publicly stated the O’s were hopeful to announce several international signings within a week of making the initial statement the day he traded Manny. Yet, here we are 3 weeks later and still nothing. The point is, don’t make proclamations if you can’t back them up, because all it does is set expectations for the fans that truly care. And if you can’t deliver on the expectation you set, at least provide some sort of explanation for the delay or change in plans, rather than crickets.
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It’s fine that they haven’t officially announced the signings yet, but why even tell the fans that announcements were supposed to have been made by now if they can’t back it up? Duquette made it sound like it was going to be announced last week, and then Roch mentioned in his blog on Monday that an announcement was expected that day. Since then, there has been silence. I would rather they not mention it at all and get our hopes up, than set an expectation and not be able to deliver on it. Ultimately, as long as they sign the players, I’ll be pleased though, whether it was announced last week or in 2 weeks.
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I think we need to try and add international bonus slots as a part of any deals we make to keep us in a good position to sign VVM, especially with the Yankees & Marlins loading up on them the last 2 days.
Dominican Summer League
in Minors
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Thanks, but where did you find them? MiLB.com or another website?