Sanfran327

Agree. Even more of a head-scratcher because Hyde has moved Mullins and Hays way down in the lineup this year during their struggles, but has seemed reluctant to do so with Mountcastle so far. Also, I like the Mateo 1 / Mullins 2 combo better because I've always been a fan of the LH hitter in the 2 hole to get the ball into RF. Markakis was great there. Rutschman won't be in the 2 hole for long - he's just getting that protection for a little while longer before Hyde takes the kid gloves off of him. He's our best hitter and should be batting 3rd. I think he will be by sometime in June and won't look back.

Bradish and Wells are a coinflip for me, but I really like them both. Conversely, if I were to make a bottom X list, it would include Akin, Voth, and McKenna. I had a longer post drafted up, but it led me to so many other ideas, that I need to flesh it out more and maybe start another thread about it. Basically, it's pretty wild to me that an active roster this talented has so few long-term locks on it (as of today) and so many good players that are still in the "upgradeable" category because of the wealth of talent we have in the mid and upper minors. For a roster that I think has 20+ pretty good players, I'd guess there are less than 10 players on the active roster that will be here 3+ years from now. Lots of hard decisions coming up.

Off to a good start. Back-to-back shutouts feels good no matter who you're playing. I hope we continue to make some hay during this soft spot in the schedule, because it ends abruptly. From Roch: The series in Atlanta from May 5-7 is followed by three home games against the Rays, who started 13-0. Those six games are going to tell us far more about who we are than beating up on bottom feeders. I certainly don't consider us to be of the category of teams that "should" be beating anyone really, but it's nice that we are not struggling against bad teams. I don't really care what our record is in that six-game stretch, but I want those games to be competitive and for us to walk away feeling like we belong with that competition. Yes, it's six games in May. Generally, not a big deal. But the last few times it felt like we were going to break out a bit, we fell hard.

That was a hell of a win. Probably my favorite of the season so far. Falling behind to Cease 4-0 felt completely insurmountable for a good little while, and then we just started to do our thing once again. Time will tell whether this is a hot streak or if this offense is just really good, but it certainly feels like we are never out of a game right now. This should be a fun summer, and I’m extremely thankful for it.

Do we think he's going to learn that in AAA? I think he's done overmatching AAA hitters, personally. I'd rather give him some OTJ training and let him take a few lumps against big league hitters. Hyde said more or less the same thing you did last night - lots of 2 strike counts, just needs to harness his stuff to put guys away. IMO, he was a handful of pitches away from a very nice start. I think it'd be a shame to send him down unless the wheels come off. I don't see anything close to that right now, just a young pitcher figuring out some of the final brush strokes.

That trio will carry the team for a stretch at some point this season just like Hays, Mountcastle, and Rutschman are doing it now. I wouldn't worry too much about them, they all have a track record (except I suppose for Gunnar, but he's also demonstrated what he's capable of). They'll settle in and find their groove soon enough, I'm sure.

I generally park at the Marriott behind the "new" Hilton. Easy walk, always with a crowd. Parking is like $20 or $25 I think, but I don't exactly remember.

Would be nice if he put that level of effort into learning how to pitch.

Well, that was a laughable display of all things outfield, but I’ll focus on the wall for now. 372’ and 382’ “fly balls” land harmlessly in the Oakland LF’ers glove from Rutschman and Hays, respectfully. Both were… not amused.

If McKenna catches the 27th out in Boston, we are 5-4 with two series wins and a loss against a WS contending Yankees squad. Our victory in that series was a good one and something to build on, so that series loss isn't that horrible IMO. The McKenna game is a real drag at the moment, but the A's, Nat's, Royals and Tigers are all pretty bad, and hopefully we can make some hay over the next 22 games. Winning 14 of those would feel great and not unrealistic.

I wouldn’t call it mediocre, I’d say it’s clear he is inexperienced. He’s doing some good things out there, but he needs to hone his stuff. It’s a stark contrast to what deGrom is doing out there. I’ve always known he was good, but this is bananas. Just wow.

Wow. I watched the game, but not closely enough to realize that was the hit. That's a little ticky-tacky, but I'd only really be upset about it if it was a solo no-hitter. Group no-hitters are kinda cheesy to me for some reason. Cool, but not nearly as special as the CGSO no hitter.

Good memory. I think it was BJ as well - that's a name I haven't thought of in a while. He was great for a few seasons.

Don't quite recall the exact circumstances of either game, but both of the games I'm about to poorly describe felt like they were in hand only to become walk-off wins for the Sox and Yankees. First one was nearly 20 years ago. Early-season afternoon game @ Boston where we led a close game all the way just for Papi to smash a 3-run HR (I believe) over the CF wall for the win. I was stuck in traffic on I-66 driving back to Fair Lakes from the Pentagon, to add insult to injury. Second one was @ New York probably more like 10 years ago - just before Britton became completely unhitable and was still merely extremely good. Fairly certain he served up a 3-run job to Carlos Beltran (could have been the rain delay game others have mentioned in this thread, come to think of it) to walk it off. Felt like it happened very late at night, which is why it could have been that rain game. I'm sure we could find some other notable losses in that old "The Sting of Losing Winnable Games" thread if that's still around.

I have a feeling that most NOVA O's fans have heard the phrase "I can't support an Angelos-owned team anymore" umpteen thousand times over the years. NOVA was once the lifeblood of the O's fanbase, but then the Nats moved in, and even though they stunk until we both made the playoffs at the same time, they really did take away a significant portion of the fan base that was looking to start over with a new, local, non-Anglelos team. Then they went on and won a World Series (even if they totally pulled out of their butts, they won it and they earned it) and put a choke hold on many of those fans from ever coming back. However, with some of their own ownership-related drama going on over there, there is some unrest among Nats fans, but the Nationals will find a way to sell to an enthusiastic owner sooner than later and re-energize a fanbase with deep pockets and a love for their team. Same as the football team. Unlike our O's, who will have to endure public family feuds fit for an HBO series and rumors of relocation every year until they are forced to sell because the kids can't pay the estate tax on the team. As I said in another thread recently, the day the Orioles are sold will be a day that rivals a WS title for many of us. OP is right on - Angelos has absolutely trashed the fan base, and it will probably take the next generation to repair it.

I think we were well into the top 10 during our recent playoff run, so I'm definitely partially kidding. The team will spend judiciously, which is reasonable. I think this regime will spend even more effectively, or at least that's the hope. That way, maybe we wont' fall off a cliff into irrelevance for another 5+ years when this wave of talent moves on.

I think a lot of us were torn. I was/am a big CD fan, so that part of me was definitely happy to retain him. Didn't like the contract and definitely didn't like that we literally bid against ourselves at the last minute when we were his entire market. Now with hindsight of what happened - yeesh. Most of the analytical folks here predicted a decline, but the guy had a kid and forgot how to play baseball.

Because we've been paying attention since 1993 - LOL

You shouldn't assume anything. All fans want their team to be competitive. Playoff teams are competitive. And this is a smart community - nobody here would ever advocate handing out bad contracts. Literally nobody liked the Chris Davis signing, even if many of us were glad a fan favorite was sticking around. I also never said we should be more like anyone. Your argument doesn't work unless you assume things or put words into someone's mouth. I'd also like to know exactly how this $64.7M was calculated. From a publication like Forbes, it was probably purely revenue minus operational costs. Like others have said, RSN and revenue sharing funds are probably not part of this total, so the real figure is likely much higher. I doubt we're in - at least what I would call - the real top 5 of profitable teams all things considered.

FWIW, each of those teams were playoff contenders last year and 3 of them made it. No fans give a crap about profitability. Perhpas a slight exception could be made for O's fans, as a profitable team is an attractive team to sell. The Angelos family selling the O's is 1/2 a step below winning a World Series.

I've seen each USA game except for the Mexico loss. I've been a huge fan of the WBC concept since its inception. I don't love the timing of it, but I'm not sure there's a better solution. I like that it's getting bigger and bigger each time. It's fun to watch, and gave us one of my favorite highlights of all time when Jones robbed Manny in the 2017 WBC.

SEDS could be pretty appropriate depending on who inks the deal for the O's, right? Mine was a Baseketball reference. Surprised nobody here got it.

As long as they don't call it Preparation H Arena, I don't care who the sponsor is or what they call it.

Good points. Personally, I am annoyed that MLB is more concerned about making baseball more attractive to non-fans than hardcore fans. Your #1 is an absolutely valid non-competitive, cultural concern. The occasional stare-down, request for a timeout, or stepping off the rubber by the pitcher, all of those little games that go on between the pitcher and the batter during an AB are potentially out the window now. This is a bigger deal than simply making sure guys hustle.

I agree with everything you said here, except I have a hard time envisioning what the vets could bring back that's more valuable than what they are or who we have. Meaning, I don't think a 2, 3, or even 4:1 trade brings back an all star-caliber player, which is what I think your goal is. I'm just not sure who would make that trade, even on a bad team with a good player.