Sanfran327

Sure, but he's literally only a C when he plays defense. Even Gunnar can claim 2 positions (where he has a premium bat at both), so I'm not sure why you'd try to dilute what he's done by looking at his offensive output only when he's catching. Feels like an agenda thing.

Are you really concerned with what he does in games where he's behind the plate vs when he's DHing? Just curious if you are, and if so, why.

I'm not ready to say he can't be Mauer with Power, but being Jason Varitek is a pretty damn good (and affordable) floor.

When the 2012 team broke the drought, that was my favorite O's team of all time. It threw a massive wrench into my wedding plans, as my fiance had rented out the Camden Club on the top floor of the warehouse for our reception, and they kicked us out with 3 weeks to go (October wedding), but it was one hell of a ride that summer. Then the 2014 team felt like they couldn't lose, which was a great feeling. We were steam rolling our opponents 5 nights a week and felt nearly invincible. Then when the 98 win Angels lost to the Royals in the ALDS, a WC berth felt like it was destiny. Terrible ending to that year, but that was a fun and likeable group of guys. This year is on another level from both of those teams. Elements of each though, arguably the best of both. 2012 saw a lot of our own guys take the next step developmentally, and Buck taught that group how to finish games and win, but they just weren't quite good enough in the end. 2014 felt limitless, and that feeling has stuck with me ever since. This year is another one of those years that feels limitless, and it's because of our own guys. Whatever happens at the end of this year, all of the meaningful players will be back, and it feels great to know we'll be loaded up to do it all over again in 2024, with what will likely be an even better squad. But maybe above all else is the attitude with this team. You just never really feel out of a game with this group. Last night being a great example. Slow start, frustrating SP effort, but then we do what we're supposed to do to bad pitching and we just teed off on 'em. Gotta love it. We are going to make a lot of bullpens pay over the next 6 weeks.

I probably wouldn't either. I'd rather see him in +/- 4 run situations for a while. With only 3 weeks left, there's probably not going to be many of those, but who knows. We know there's plenty of value in that, and pairing him with Irvin in that role gives us LH/RH options to flip the lineup depending on who started for us that day.

I assume that Means is going to take his place in the rotation and that Flaherty will end up in the bullpen as well. We seem to have a ton of LHPs in our pen, so this should actually help balance that out a bit. He could be good as a 6 out reliever.

Personally, I think the time of year / where we are in the season is playing a big role in this. If the team can get a few effective innings out of his arm during the playoffs before it blows up, that's great. I'm sure they'd test him out in a very low-leverage situation for 2-3 appearances to see if he can handle any live action at all, then put him back in the closer role or shut him down based on results. Either way, if he needs TJ surgery, 2024 is completely out the window whether he gets it done now, or in October or November. After that, I'd assume that ST 2025 should be a normal spring for him. Just a hunch on my part.

Wow. Gibson is looking ugly today.

The White Sox are just a friggin mess, huh? This is somewhere between fun and depressing. Even in our tanking seasons we were not this inept. Totally devoid of major league talent, but not inept.

I'm sure it's been said plenty of times in this thread already, but they're going to have to wait for inflammation to go down before they can even get a really good idea of the extent of the damage and the appropriate course of action. And while QBs and pitchers that throw 102 MPH are two different animals, I had the same exact thought with Brock Purdy that you have about Bautista. Don't try to get cute and figure out a workaround. Just bite the bullet, miss the season, and come back ready to rock in 2025. Purdy and QBs a) throw a heavier ball and b) don't put nearly the same amount of pressure directly on the UCL that pitchers do, so I'm a lot more confident in the UCL brace procedure that he did than I would ever be for any pitcher. But medical technology is constantly evolving, so maybe they figure out a way (or a modified way) for this to work for pitchers as well.

At least they get to play against mostly big boy teams for the next 19 games. And the one cupcake series they have is on the road in Cleveland.

That's actually a really comforting statistic. But the thread does specify teams outside of the division. Still, 40-30 is a good mark against good teams, and you can only move up one spot from second best.

I do think this team tends to have a little brother mentality against the superstar squads, regardless of how those teams are performing. I had a feeling we'd lose 2 of 3 in SD because we have a hard time pitching to this type of loaded up lineup because of the way our average to above-average pitchers have to nibble away to have success. If the stars don't inflict the damage, they set it up. SD is a team that has beaten itself more than anyone else has though. They're a good team. Not sure what there is to do about this problem though. Snell pitches well against everyone, that's why he's good. Same can be said for other good pitchers and good lineups. Hopefully the bullpen reinforcements are here soon and we can get back to a place where SPs only have to give us 5 innings again before the BP locks it down. Our biggest hope is that we go on one of our torrid runs through mid October when nobody can beat us in a series no matter what they throw at us. We've positioned ourselves pretty well to at least get there so far. Whatever happens will happen once we're there.

So you're cafeteria-style superstitious. That's okay. The preemptive win chat is literally the exact same thing as the stuff before. In so far as I'd categorize them both as "things ya don't say on TV" as a sports broadcaster. It's all in the name of things you don't really want to put out into the universe as to not upset the Baseball Gods.

I've become skeptical of the early extension practice in general at this point. How many extensions are truly team-friendly? Because that's what it will take for the O's to extend an offer, and I don't think any worthwhile player takes a discounted rate. Not sure why they would. I get that it's a gamble, but any player that signs early, IMO, is not betting on themselves, and I'm not all that sure I want a guy like that. Maybe that's a harsh over simplification. Let the process play itself out. Let guys do what they're going to do and if they earn a mega deal that we can't afford, then we'll let them go or trade them early to keep the pipeline stocked. But maybe there will be a few Matt Wieters types in there that burn out a bit early. Had we signed him to one of our projected early deals, how would that have worked out for us in the long run? He already became the first player ever to accept the qualifying offer (which I realize has happened a few times since then), but I don't think it would have worked out very well for us if we extended him as a rookie. You have to look too far into the future to extend young guys beyond their TC years, and too much development at the Major League level happens between now and then.

Roy, not sure if you are a hockey fan or not, but playoff hockey has the same deeply intense feeling as playoff/critical baseball that we saw yesterday. They're the only sports that realistically have the potential for a game-changing play basically constantly. Every single pitch in baseball could be a scoring play, and a goal can come out of nowhere in hockey. Both will put an absolute lump in your throat from start to finish. There's nothing like white-knuckling it through one of your favorite team's games.

It absolutely was. Also, I think Hyde himself has declared "game of the year" at least two different times so far this season. There have been at least a half-dozen extraordinary wins this season. It's been a fun ride. Plus, as a 49ers fan, it always gives me great pleasure to stick a dagger into Seattle fans.

As much as I'd personally like to see Holliday up, he probably will not be. I'm perfectly fine with Ortiz. But nobody has accounted for Hall, who I think will be here as well. The bullpen is about to get really frickin good with the additions of Means, Hall, and Wells.

Roy, you and me both. First thing that came to mind on the Urias play and both of their little gorks that found OF grass was the Any Given Sunday rap. That was a fiercely battled series, but I'm glad it's behind us. That is a very good team.

Pretty tired of these guys. Every pitch after the 6th inning against this team is hotly contested. How many times did they make something happen by inches this series? Yeesh.

Need Mateo to have a pothole/sneeze special this week. It's dark out there after games...

It just occurred to me that to win this series, we'll have to basically sweep them, because that game was all but won last night.

Even those felt more like a "what's new at the yard" segment than anything else. With so many quality food options (apparently, anyway), not a bad way to get the word out. Not all that commercially to me, either. Maybe I'm just hella naïve.

IMO, there's no doubt. He NEVER wears a hat, and for the first time (that I've noticed, and I watch a shameful amount of O's pre/postgame content) to be on THIS day of all days, following the morning interview with Britt and all of the KB noise, there's no doubt in my mind. As for the complaint about the O's gear, I honestly don't get the outrage on this point. For context, I really only watch O's games, so I don't know what other TV crews wear, but apparently it's whatever they want as long as it's professional and will look good on TV. At least this year, they're giving our TV crew a ton of options from night to night. In previous years, there was just one horrible cement grey shirt they all wore and it was awful. Now it looks like they're wearing the stuff they sell in the team shop. I never got the impression that they were advertising the gear this way, but it's not a stretch to think they are.

I noticed Long's OTT outfit as well. Thought it was intentional, snarky, and hilarious. I'm surprised he didn't put an O's temporary tattoo on his cheek.