LookinUp

Honestly, they'll get a lottery ticket who either has an injury history, is about to have to be protected on a 40-man roster or has a tool that hasn't been developed for Urias. The other, more intriguing option, is someone who is a salary dump by another team but might have value in our bullpen.

Coby Mayo is breathing down his neck.

^^^This. I think they gave him extra money to make sure he wasn't claimed on waivers. They probably like something about his game and think they can squeeze some value out of it. Worst case is he gets waived and never added to a ML roster. Mid case is he gets waived and added to a roster during which time the other team will pick up the minimum salary with the O's on the hook for the remainder. BTW, Holliday's nickname should be whatever his buddies called him in high school, assuming it's PG.

The cynical side of me says the demotion was nothing but a negotiation tactic in extension talks.

I'm curious, why would a kid choose JuCo instead of just going into the draft out of high school? I understand JuCo as a stepping stone to a major program, but not as much to the pros. Did he go for a number that was too high and nobody bit?

Lol. There's been some ebbs and flows with respect to his defense. He looked really shaky the first couple of games this year. I haven't personally heard anything since. We're not looking at Brooks Robinson, but I do think (maybe hope?) he could be an average 3b, 1b or maybe RF.

Yup. There's definitely reason to hope and it's cool that we'll get to see a lot of him this year rather than having him down in the FCL.

JustD posted something in the amateur draft forum saying he looked pretty electric in her eyes. I don't know much about this guy in particular, but judging by what you and others have pointed out about the Astros, it stands to reason that there's a chance the O's develop starters without much draft/$$ pedigree. Why not this guy?

Too late, Tony. I'm at a point where I want him to skip Aberdeen altogether!

Luis De Leon was, but it is only April. Rust is a very real thing in sports.

Once comfortable, I'd think it'll be apparent in a week or two. We just have the unknown question of how long it'll take a talented baseball lifer to get comfortable at a position that's very similar to what he grew up playing. It just sounds like most of it is about familiarity. We know he can catch and throw, but his athletic movements are certainly different. Kind of like in football when a left tackle plays right tackle. Similar position, but things are kind of backwards.

I don't necessarily doubt the June prediction, but I wouldn't be shocked if Holliday quickly cleans up most of his issues at 2B. I actually do think it'll happen almost over night, though you'll need a good sample to know for sure.

There's been a lot of comments, notably including Justin Verlander, about the scourge of arm injuries in the game. The gist of them is that the focus on max velo and max spin rates results in max pressure on the arm and ultimately more injuries. I'm beginning to feel like the O's approach to player development might eventually work its way up to the majors, where you will rarely see guys even going up to 90-100 pitches. I feels like we're about to begin an era where most pitchers get 1.5 times through the lineup and then turn it over to the next guy.

The young guys will be better than about 5-6 hitters on this team. The slow play of all of this is frustrating. I just hope they figure out how to incorporate all of these guys so they are ready to play most days by September. We shouldn’t be taking the playoffs for granted.

Anything, other than purely offensive/trashy, that gets 15 neg rep votes cracks me up enough to get an up vote! I have no idea if it was a troll job. If so, it worked. If not, it's funny because we all know more or less what's been on this board for months and I guess you don't. Either way, with 17 posts in almost as many years, I chalk this up to not being an internet message board guy and not quite understanding what goes on here.

The espn link was the best part. Totally believable. And SG/Frobby are right, this is like a perfect example of what I see in security awareness training.

As a fan of the O's and Redskins, it's almost like the leagues went out of their way to find rich people who 1) are likeable and 2) agree that career professionals are better at running sports organizations than they are. In that sense, I feel very fortunate for both ownership changes. The one thing that [slightly] raises my antenna from both ownership groups though is some of the political language I've heard. Don't get me wrong, I'd love if he gives back in the form of supporting youth leagues, ticket giveaways, etc., but I really dislike when my sports teams become connected to political movements. I'm not trying to make any political statement other than I'm happiest when I can view sports and exchange high fives with people who look at the world differently. And yes, I did mean this is a slight concern. Just something I fear in general.

Well, I think there's a case to be made for each of them individually, but certainly not for all of them collectively. Personally, I'm not sold on Cowser, Kjerstad, Beavers and Bradfield to be studs. I like them all, but wouldn't be shocked if none of the four becomes a ML stud. I acknowledge that all could, but I wouldn't really bet on it for any one of them in particular right now. I think that's the point Frobby was trying to make. Just because we have highly rated guys doesn't mean that they'll end up as good as Hays, Mullins and Santander. Those dudes aren't scrubs. I do hope that at least one of the 4 ends up in the category with the other 5 massive upside dudes.

This would be great news. Probably not, but I think it's very easy to see it costing $250-300 million to keep this team together, with the ramp up to that starting in a few years. The Braves payroll this year is $225. The Yankees is $300. If we actually try to keep this core together, and they actually perform, it'll be really expensive.

It's going to be unbelievable. I truly expect Gunnar, Adley, Holliday, Mayo and Basallo to be silver slugger types. All at the same time. And the rest of the lineup will be good too. I sometimes wonder if we take the current "old" guys for granted. Santander in particular. Even so, we'll have the opportunity to keep the ones we want/need to, so it's almost like the worst case scenario is that we have today's lineup plus whatever awesome dudes force themselves in as upgrades.

I wouldn't put money on Baumler to be healthy, but if he has a healthy year I feel like they'd be forced to protect him.

There's little doubt that the talent will be improved. I don't take for granted that Burnes, Santander, Mullins, Hays and Mountcastle will be easily replaced if/when they leave, but if any team can do it mostly from internal additions, it's this one. I've felt like 2025 and 2026, when all of Holliday, Basallo and Mayo are well-established, will be our best years. This year could surprise us though.

Yup. Only real step back will be when Burnes leaves, but so much talent will be joining above and beyond that probable loss.

I hope they do sell naming rights, put logos on uniforms, etc. I want them to be as competitive as possible in revenue so they can better afford to keep more of our young talent. I expect Rubenstein to be more willing to spend, but I don't expect that he wants to take a loss.

I just can't even imagine this team once Mayo and Holliday get going.