ChosenOne21

So is Baumann in the pen or the rotation?

I've done the comparison before, but Mountcastle is basically Mark Trumbo, IMO. That's fine as long as you don't break the bank for him

Yeah, I wouldn't offer that deal either, since he's almost certainly going to opt out after a year and we're still at least that far away from being interesting. With no opt outs, I would have done it in a heartbeat though

I like it. Guy has been around forever and has a career OPS+ of 100 which is pretty good for a catcher. Should be a good mentor and backup to Adley

I feel like it's incredibly likely Rutschman finishes in the top three of ROY voting, so I'd like him on the roster for the whole year

MLB and MLBPA talking about limiting the number of times a player could be optioned in one year got me thinking. A player has three option years (sometimes four). Once those years are used, removing them from your roster makes them a free agent. Would it be possible to sign an out-of-options player to a contract where, in exchange for extra pay perhaps, he agrees to resign with your team on a minor-league deal for an already agreed upon amount the first three or four times you cut him during the year? This basically has the effect of giving the team an "optionable" pitcher and might create job opportunities for and give some stability to a class of fringe Major Leaguers. Good idea or is this just breaking the rules?

This is really hard to answer because we haven't really seen Norby play and who knows what Prieto is going to look like as he adjusts to MLB. I'm not especially impressed with Vavra, and Prieto is going to have to add power to have a MLB future. I think Norby is the best combination of ceiling and probability, but it's possible Prieto has a higher ceiling

Happy birthday to the young man! Hope he's healthy and has a monster season

My understanding is that anyone on a team's 40 man roster is ineligible to play major or minor league baseball until the lockout is lifted. I believe everyone else can proceed as normal

Well, no. He's a rotting corpse

My favorite comp for Ryan Mountcastle is a more athletic Mark Trumbo. They're both low-plate discipline high-power hitters. Trumbo had a career .249/.302/.459 line, while Mountcastle is at .270/.324/.492. Take out Mountcastle's hot 2020 and you get .255/.309/.487 In the minors, Trumbo hit .275/.330/.478. Mountcastle hit .295/.328/.471 I do think Mountcastle will have the better career when all is said and done, but he doesn't have his decline years dragging down his career averages yet either. Although Trumbo's best season was his age 30 campaign with us where he hit 47 homers and OPS'd .850

"It plays up due to his high arm slot and downhill plane he generates" or something like that from the scouting report

I never get how three average MLB pitches and plus control/command leads to a grade of solidly below average, but somehow it does

We've signed worse

Someone else made the Steve Brault comparison, and I agree. This guy is rich-man's Steve Brault. Would have rather just had Brault for less money

Maybe they're planning on making Urias the full-time SS? Otherwise I don't get it

This team needs a Jesus miracle though

I think the idea here is that we aren't spending on a middling team so much as we're putting the pieces in place for a year or two from now when we're ready to be competitive

That's an awful lot of "What if Elias reacts this way" for my tastes. I'm disappointed they don't seem to be spending this offseason. If they don't do it next offseason, I will be extremely unhappy with the direction of the franchise. Unless a miracle like 2012 happens and like everyone they have in the wings/pick up on waivers ends up being really great. But I'm not counting on that

Remember when we signed Ubaldo to 4/50 because of one good half season? That's what Metz feels like to me. That said, the O's should really be looking to land a mid-rotation arm and one of the eight or so amazing infielders this offseason. Personally I think this was the offseason to start spending, but I don't know 1% as much as Elias about the state of the franchise. If we don't spend next offseason, then something has to have gone horribly wrong

Why not try him as a starter? Worst case can't we just put him back in the pen?

Team speed for chrissake!

Mattson clearly has compromising pictures of Elias. I'm starting to think maybe Bannon does, too.

In a world where everyone makes perfect decisions, yes, we would. It's entirely possible some other team leaves a guy off their roster who is better than/Elias likes more than our top 40. I think it's fine to potentially expose our 40th best player to take advantage of such an opportunity

I really don't get the Dorrian love. Neustrom is a much better player