Sanfran327

All I have to say is… Good. Hopefully this won’t be much of a distraction to a very tight clubhouse that probably hates the ownership group anyway. Only good should come of this. Maybe the shame that this family is about to endure will finally motivate them to sell and get the F out. the media is going to absolutely roast them. I hope they are merciless.

Pertaining to the notion that the other owners would vote them out, I have a theory. Same theory I had about Dan Snyder. somehow get the league to hold an anonymous vote about this god-awful family. Thankfully, Dan was such an awful guy that there was just mountains of evidence available to anybody that wanted to dig to find some thing worthy of getting him out and it finally happened. in this situation, I think that if you were to somehow create an anonymous vote, so that nobody knew who was really voting him out, it would be almost unanimous. Unfortunately, the grounds for the vote can’t simply be “is the Angeles family a bunch of jerks or what?“ obviously, there has to be some sort of viable grounds to set up such a serious conversation. Unfortunately, being a terrible person is not grounds enough to get you kicked out of one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.

You seem to be a pretty pragmatic kinda guy and probably define "quality" differently than some. Thorne had a comforting quality to his voice that is unmatched. Listening to a game with him and Palmer was baseball ASMR.

If he's truly suspended indefinitely, then IMO he's as good as gone. I'd tell JA to shove it up his tailpipe if he "allowed" me back into the booth. Brown has other gigs. I heard him calling a college football game last year between VT and ODU (not exactly big time CFB, but still), and I have no doubt that other MLB teams would dump their current PBP guy to bring him in. He took some getting used to, but I have grown to like KB a lot. Quirky and silly, but it's become endearing. Anyway, this sort of BS is what scares me about Elias & Co. leaving more than if/when Big Money comes knocking. Frankly, as a Yale guy, there's almost no conceivable way he would have signed a deal that undervalued himself for the privilege of running this club and reporting to that asshat. Meaning, I'm sure it wasn't for modest money or some insanely long time without having a way out. I don't want to derail this thread to talk about Elias, but the topics are related IMO.

I'm going to allow my blind, intense hatred for the entire Angelos family to believe this hook, line, and sinker. No need to even question it for me.

Huge Buck fan. But IMO a) he wasn't here all that long and b) we never won anything truly meaningful with him. The argument for putting him into our HOF is largely couched by the perverse mediocrity of the modern era of the franchise.

Came here to say this. It wasn't quite as high-leverage as his meltdown appearances were, but pitching with a 2-run lead is still high leverage if you ask me. Big spot, flawless result. Hopefully the shot in the arm he needed.

I think they know this. I saw a job ad campaign recently and they're looking to fill all positions. The hospitality industry as a whole is a little bumpy right now in Baltimore. Granted, this was nearly 11 years ago now, but we had our room block and wedding reception at the Marriott Inner Harbor, and still stay there routinely when we head up for games from NOVA. That hotel is majorly rundown now compared to our wedding weekend. They simply have not touched it since then. I had a similar issue last time we were up for - I think - a Mariners game earlier this year. Was easily a 30 minute wait at the self-checkout grill on the club level. The line didn't move for the first 20 minutes I was in line because the patron at the end couldn't figure out how to work the kiosk, and I don't think anyone that worked there knew how to either.

I'm a big believer that Urias is a volume player. The more he plays, the more he will contribute offensively. He's already a GG defender. So the question is really who will be a more valuable asset right now, which is critically important to a team in a playoff race and jockeying for the #1 seed in the American League, is not between Ortiz and Mateo, but Ortiz and Urias. IMO, it's Urias in a landslide, but I am high on what Urias can do with regular playing time. As for what the org wants to do with Gunnar defensively, I think they'd prefer for him to settle in and get regular PT at one position eventually, but again, for the context of the remainder of this year and this roster as currently constructed, the best option for him and the team is for him to get the lion's share at SS because it's become pretty clear that Mateo is no longer a starting-caliber player. I'm all for the infield you described for 2024. Urias, Henderson, Ortiz, and Westburg provide enough versatility at 3 positions for each guy to play and rest regularly.

I have no doubt that Ortiz would come up and out perform Mateo offensively right now. What I care more about is where his playing time would come from. Our optimal infield configuration right now is Urias at 3b, Gunnar at SS, and platoons between Westburg/Fraizer at 2b and O'Hearn/Mountcastle at 1b. Ideally, Fraizer wouldn't even be a straight platoon player, but maybe just get 1-2 starts a week. As you pointed out, Westburg is starting to turn it on offensively, and he's a much better defender than Fraizer. So while I'm excited to see Ortiz up here next year, I don't see where he gets regular enough playing time here for the remainder of this season to make a call up worthwhile for him. I think Kjerstad would make more of an offensive impact sooner, so he was my pick.

3. David Justice

I just love watching our offense in innings like this. How frustrating this must be for Gausman (more on him in a minute). We seem quick to 2 strikes, but wear your ass out after that. 46 pitches through 1.1 innings - oof. Home runs are boring, and besides that, they're fascist. Draw more walks - they're more democratic.

Probably in the long run. But not for 2 months of his rookie season in a playoff race. Just my hunch, could be wrong.

yes

I chose HK for a few reasons. First, we have an infield logjam even without Mateo. Hard to want to call up another glove-first MIFer when we don't need to make defensive substitutions for Gunnar or Urias, so I think Ortiz is a little redundant. Urias should be getting more ABs while Westburg and Fraizer duke it out over ABs from 2b. Second, if I thought he was truly ready, my choice would have been Holiday by an absolute landslide, but I'm not sure what we could reasonably expect from such a young kid right now, and the whole point is to get more production in the lineup for a playoff push (side note, there's a chance we see him in September anyway, unless the rumor I was was total BS, which I kinda suspect it was). Third, we are gonna see DL Hall eventually anyway unless he has a total meltdown at AAA, plus I no longer really consider him a prospect, even if he technically still is. Lastly, I think HK would come up and rake immediately and give our offense another gear that it really needs to hit more often. Maybe wishful thinking, but one of these guys has to come up and hit right away at some point. It does happen lol. Also, remember that we will get Mullins back at some point. I don't think that's being too hopeful. We're a different team with him. Hicks, too. Getting those guys back will be a nice shot in the arm for us offensively and defensively.

It's entertaining because I do not picture a man that emotes much.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why anyone here is upset with what we gave up at the deadline. I totally understand why some would be upset that we were not more aggressive. It definitely would have been nice to get ERod, for example. But if folks were upset about the nothingburger we traded for Flaherty, I don't even want to think of the level of mass hand-wringing that would be going on here if we assembled an ERod package. I saw this article earlier and laughed because it's full of crap. Editorial fluff. We'll get Wells and Hall back into the bullpen in the near future, and that trickle-down effect will give everyone else a role better suited for their ability. Do not underestimate what we just did at the deadline. It's easy to do if you focus solely on the player that arrived in a vacuum, which I admit is not that spectacular, but it unlocks so much potential within our own org without giving up anything of any consequence to acquire him that I'd almost guarantee that this article will not age well. If anyone is a loser, it's the author and the people that lap it up (no offense to the OP).

We are a different team because of Adley, but Gunnar is an absolute star. He's so good already and will just get so much better.

He's like 2008 LA Dodgers Manny Ramirez when he's hot.

We are like a different team when Mountcastle is swingin it. He can be so good sometimes.

Wells is now free to return to the big club and help the bullpen. Fantastic. Hall will do the same. Fuji for added depth last week. Flaherty might not be that remarkable on his own, but he opens up a few other possibilities and makes the staff better overall. ‘whatever we get out of Means this year will be gravy.

Well, this is the internet, and while not a single person that disagreed with my premise has offered a shred of a reason why not, flamers gonna flame. Well done.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m borderline annoyed every time he does something good, but he just announced his presence with authority. Wowie.

What is this in response to?

Drafting Adley wasn’t even a choice. He was the consensus #1 served to us on a platter. Holiday, at least as of right now, looks like a savvy choice given the number of other potential blue chip prospects. Still, the draft is a crap shoot, and now a lot of those guys have very real and impactful value. What we decide to do with them right now is critically important.