Orioles West

I have no love for either team, so I’m not watching a single pitch. That aside, as I’m a Maryland native, it is in my DNA to clearly hate the Yankees much more than LA. I’ll hope for a Dodgers sweep to get us into the off season ASAP and start work on the O’s 2025 roster.

A lifetime of fandom and I wouldn’t be shocked if they spend a bunch — nor would I be surprised if they only make a couple moves. I kind of hope I get shocked with an extension or two and a helpful FA or two.

It’s a thought for sure — but I imagine he will still defer to Elias as to the how. This could show us how much Elias wants to keep any of the kids or if he utilizes them in trades to get the roster to where he wants it. I really think the Hot Stove season offers some intrigue this year.

Agreed. I thought it was a decent take, the new owner wants playoff success sooner, rather than later. As O’s fans, we’ve heard it before, at various times, so I also see why some are a little cynical. I don’t think DR is going to break the bank, but I do think this will be a more interesting off season than most. And, I go back and forth everyday myself on whether I would sign Burnes to a long term deal or extend Gunnar into the insane money/years level. The upside is, I think we have some good options, good young players, some money to spend and an owner who is also a fan.

88-89 if Bautista stays healthy and returns to form — although, I agree with others that we need stronger high leverage help at the back end.

Decent interview — no real specifics, but certainly some level of additional investment into the team, stadium and community will be happening. I guess I’m glad I’m hearing about his optimism without grandiose promises. I don’t know if we’ll be signing or extending a whole bunch during this upcoming Hot Stove season, but I do think we’re about to find out how serious the new ownership group is about taking the team to the next level.

It's really tough to set a top priority when I don't know what the budget is. I think the new ownership group will be investing more than the previous regime, I just don't know by how much. I highly doubt the O's will ever be in the "spend whatever it takes mode" like the Mets a couple years ago or the standard yearly overspending by the Dodgers or Yanks. It's still tough to make my Christmas list without knowing the balance sheet. If we're the Dodgers, we keep Burnes and Tony Taters. Hopes and wishes it is then: Even if we sign Burnes, which I wouldn't mind at least making a run at him, I think we need another starter, because injuries and how this year went. Even if the Mountain returns healthy, we need high leverage help in the pen. Veteran bat - no idea who, but if Mullins and Santander leave, we will have to add someone -- I don't know that our prospects will be stepping up or stepping back next year.

I don’t feel picked on — I didn’t offer much detail regarding the changes I am hoping for. If my initial post didn’t sound like it, I do have more patience (at least a little more) than most. It may take more than a minute to get depth in the bullpen or an offense that can adjust in crunch time. I get that. I’m not in the torches and pitchforks crowd, but the O’s can’t sit on their hands either. That’s closer to where I’m at.

I survived the decade plus losing years, I’m fairly hard to disappoint at this age. That said, I think they can change some things up in spring training - small ball stuff isn’t hard to add to the arsenal. I think they O’s may add a FA or two or resign one or two of our own guys in the winter. I don’t think we will ever throw money around like the Yanks or Dodgers, but I do believe ownership will invest more than the previous crew. All I was saying is I hope Elias starts to tackle some of the changes he talked about to push the rebuild to the next level. I do agree I’ll not be able to evaluate any potential changes until this time next year.

Fundemental change for me isn’t wholesale firings. I think we’re short on pitchers in the system, I think we’re not developing pitchers as well we could. However, drafting more arms early in the draft isn’t going to win us a playoff game next year, so free agency is the short term answer. I loved the Earl Weaver era and the three run homer, yet, our youthful foundation could think about a couple more bunts and being more aggressive on the base paths (without looking at the numbers, it felt like the O’s took a step back from 2023 on the bases) may be something to look at going forward.

If that’s humor, it needs work. If you’re actually asking for clarification: The next MLB draft is July 2025. I hope the O’s add more arms than they have previously via the amateur draft. RISP, for me, is more about small ball than a particular hitter. I don’t think that the all or nothing swings the O’s relied on against KC worked out very well. Free agency opens up soon enough, Elias could very well add a bat to help the offense in December.

I don’t live in Maryland either, but I still have family that are there and most of them are more into the Ravens, yet they send me O’s stuff all the time — which really isn’t a great pulse for O’s fan expectations. I think from the time I lived there until now (which is a few decades), Baltimore is definitely more of a football town. Maybe my family does reflect the times? As for OH and representation, that’s a fascinating question. To me, the OH feels like the place is generally a group of the hardcore of the hardcore baseball fans, with some part timers mixed in. The differences tend to break on personality types (cynics, optimists, realists — and a handful of comedians). If Elias only tweaks a couple things and doesn’t make any fundamental changes (like maybe drafting more pitchers) or pretending nothing can be done about RISP — then any glow about the rebuild will truly fade, at least in my house.

Ah yes, Fever Pitch. It was entertaining, I liked it. Especially the pals gathering when the season tickets arrived. And yes, real BoSox fans were far less fun than that after they ended the curse. As for the O’s not giving us much, again, I understand the sentiment (like Moose’s take about abandonment). Maybe it is an abusive relationship of sorts, but I still get 6-7 months of baseball a year, several winning seasons, which despite the play-off torture zone, I do like the team being far more competitive than when they were stacking losing seasons. I love baseball, it really is my favorite sport. I think maybe I give them more room to fail because I live far from home and the O’s are the biggest part of my Maryland identity. Sounds weird maybe, but I do think that’s why I am already looking forward to the Hot Stove season where the O’s start adding the ‘nuggets’ that get them over the top. I also realize being hopeful during the off-season can be considered quite delusional by other O’s fans.

All the unhappiness expressed by O’s fans here over the last few days — that’s from unmet expectations. I think the 101 wins from the year before made most Baltimore fans expect more this season. I definitely didn’t anticipate another winless, quick departure from the post-season. As for the Elias post-mortem, I thought it was some industry speak and yet, I do believe him when he says they are going to take a hard look at the things not going well (and hopefully that means adding pitchers and better pitcher development and finding an old school playbook on small ball to move runners once in a while).

Irsay stealing the Colts in a midnight sneak away is in my top five depressing B-More moments, as well as the dreaded We Are Family Pirates in the ‘79 series. Otherwise, it’s a good bad list.