Orioles West
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Posts posted by Orioles West
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Reading through a fairly entertaining thread, with a number of cool lists and strategies, I think for me, there is only one answer.
Build it around Gunnar.
We sure could get a boatload of bodies back in a trade, we could certainly keep working on developing more talent along the way — but as an ancient baseball fan — he sure is fun to watch.
If I’m David Rubenstein (and I’m definitely not, I think the man has lost more money under his couch cushions than I have in the bank), I let Elias know the budget can be adjusted to keep the kid around.
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I really like watching Burnes pitch.
And yet, I’ve never gone back and forth so much on a possible contract offer for him than any other player.
Dude deserves to be paid, I just keep thinking the price tag and years is simply too much.
It’s fear of injury and potentially paying another guy well after he stops playing baseball. If the Elias and crew want to make a run at him, I’ll certainly roll with it.
I guess we will know more about how deep our pockets actually are after this season.
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1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:
Westburg is a FA when he’s 30. How long do you want to extend him for? Honestly as much as I like him, he’s not even on my list right now.
I could see an extension this year or next for Westy to include 1-2 of his FA years at best — but I would imagine he is a bit farther down the list for Elias now as well.
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6 minutes ago, interloper said:
How many times can we talk about extensions? Isn't it getting old? Just wait and see what they do, if anything.
We all obviously want Gunnar, Adley, Westburg, Holliday, etc extended.
How many times on extensions? Quite a few actually.
I’ll take the over at 25+ more times before October.
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8 hours ago, Hallas said:
While the return on the Tettleton trade wasn't ideal, 1: I don't think you can really expect a 30 year old catcher to put up a career year and then follow it up with another one, and 2: we had Chris Hoiles who played quite well for us following Tettleton's departure. If we had forward thinking GMs we probably would split them at C and give them DH/1B/OF games on their non catching days, which is what Detroit did with Tettleton to prolong his career after 1992. (He was basically the same hitter from 1993-1995 but he stopped catching with regularity so his WAR was much lower.)
The Davis trade was so completely undefensible on every level, not the least of which because we already had a player who was at least as good as Davis was on the team, but he didn't fit the stereotypical batting profile of a 1B. At least today teams wouldn't be so quick to dismiss a 10 HR first baseman if he's got an OBP of .400.
A very reasonable take on the Tettleton trade. However, I was a big fan and I was bummed to see him go. Mickey “Froot Loops” Tettleton may also have my favorite nickname of all time!
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1 minute ago, Frobby said:
I believe uncontrollable drooling is required.
That’s true. Uncontrollable drooling does not sound great. But — I’m still in.
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28 minutes ago, Frobby said:
Is this some kind of Pavlov’s dog experiment?
If it is, I’m in. I’d bark for a cool O’s card.
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Those are pretty good examples of best and worst. Obtaining Frank Robinson is hard to top.
And the 1991 debacle, Glenn Davis for Curt Schilling, Steve Finley and ‘Pistol’ Pete Harnisch — a trade I hated before the Davis injuries kicked in. I know ‘power’ hitters can be fun, but pitching and defense was a cornerstone - IMHO - the ol’ Oriole Way.
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1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:
So yes.
Can’t wait for this offseason where people are going to expect him to spend money based on nothing other than his last name isn’t Angelos.
Should be interesting.
I think some folks here would complain about payroll stuff even if we spent like the Dodgers or Yanks.
It ain’t Hot Stove at the Hangout if people aren’t whining about grabbing various high profile FA or extending everyone.
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5 hours ago, baltfan said:
Notably nothing about seeking extensions. There is no reason he can’t go on the record re wanting this.
I’m fine with what DR keeps saying — maybe others will eventually believe him — that he is leaving baseball decisions to his baseball people. And his GM doesn’t like to tip his hand about anything, especially contracts.
I think these guys like winning and seem to like their team. They will make mistakes, but I do have faith they want the O’s to be as good as they can be with the resources they have. Of course I hope they sign some of our young guys and expand the payroll. I just don’t need promises in an interview.
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Sounded reasonable — I don’t know if JH was sweating outside expectations — maybe his own expectations, but he was swinging at more bad pitches and pushing too hard.
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8 minutes ago, luismatos4prez said:
Big Mike threw a no-hitter for Bowie. He got some big outs over the last few years. He'll find a job somewhere.
Ultimately, he's a 4.50 ERA right handed bullpen guy. They're a dime a dozen.
Solid take. I am surprised — for me, one of our most confounding relievers, and yet — suddenly I am not sure I wanted to see him go.
Ultimately, I agree, very replaceable.
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18 minutes ago, Frobby said:
It’s pretty amazing how quickly fans can get spoiled. Soon people will be comparing us to Yankees and Red Sox fans.
Well, I definitely was spoiled for a couple decades in my youth (70’s-80’s). The O’s were always as good or better. It was glorious never being afraid of being in the AL East.
Then a new reality set in. That 14-year losing streak was way more humble pie than I anticipated.
Now I don’t feel spoiled at all. I’m grateful I’ve lived long enough to see my Birds feared again.
In essence, I agree with your original post.
Concern by some fans is always good, but it seems early to be throwing bricks at the TV (or computer screen) based on how well the O’s are doing overall.
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5 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:
The Jays always seem to perform worse than their talent level. They make me kind of nervous cause they should be better than they are, but the only thing they’re consistent at is underperforming.
Their manager is a pinecone.
This is one of those posts that remind me why I spend too much time reading posts here.
Six decades on the planet, I’ve heard people called all kinds of things, but not pinecone.
I had to look it up — which kind of made me feel sort of like a pinecone.
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20 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:
Think we can get a good deal on that Mullins extension right about now?
If I wasn’t sure before, I am now. As much as I appreciated our OF on the other side of 2021, I don’t see the O’s extending Mullins, Hays, or Santander.
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So nice to see a Weams’ thread still being referenced!
That said, I am not quite ready for robo-umps. I just think they need to hand out some infractions to the current human umpires who are inconsistent. I somehow doubt the union will allow more suspensions until the strike zone calls get better, but I’m not quite ready to hand baseball calls over to AI.
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34 minutes ago, Frobby said:
Some grudging credit where it’s due. Mike Baumann threw 2.1 scoreless last night and kept us in the game. He has his good outings that make you wonder why he’s not better than he is overall. Yesterday was one of those.
Agreed. Baumann is the one member of the current roster who drives me to drink — and I don’t drink much anymore. Yet, he goes yesterday and is absolutely spot on when the team needed him to get some key outs.
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After suffering 14 straight losing seasons, and another painful rebuild after that, all I dreamed of was my O’s being competitive again.
The last couple of seasons and the start of 2024, I feel like Baltimore can compete with any team on any given day. I can’t imagine any opposing manager is happy about seeing the Birds on the schedule.
Of course, the post-season was humbling, but this a team that seems to love to play and they find all kinds of ways to win.
I’m a wee bit biased, but I agree, this is an exciting team to follow.
Now I’m allowing myself to dream bigger.
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1 minute ago, wildcard said:
I think we hit the jackpot with David Rubenstein. MVO.
Absolutely. And I should have mentioned him as well.
I’ll feel even better if they announce some extended contracts in the front office, starting with Elias.
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Cowser’s super hot streak was my first favorite development of the season.
However, Westburg’s defense at second or third — and thus far is more consistent at the plate than I was expecting this year.
Irvin’s current run on the mound has also surpassed my 2024 expectations for him, and is an honorable mention at this point of the spring.
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I’m giving the game ball to Westburg. 4-5, including the walk off single.
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5 minutes ago, Malike said:
By big money I mean in player contracts, not necessarily the team payroll. Will they invest 400M plus for Henderson? I highly doubt it. That is what I'm referencing when I say paying big money. I think the payroll will be respectable, but probably different faces than we're used to seeing.
Until an extension gets made, I have no idea if DR would extend Gunner or any of our talented players beyond their control contract years. I hope he keeps a couple of them, but I'm not even sure the Elias-Sig strategy would suggest a massive contract or two. Maybe Elias has more choices now.
Keeping Gunnar -- yeah, that's definitely big money.
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1 hour ago, Malike said:
My definition of "big money" is the hundreds of millions of dollars it would take to retain a guy like Gunnar and by "vast majority" I mean the largest part of the board.
I bet if we open a new thread defining "big money" we would have quite a range of acceptable cash required for happy payroll fans.
I think signing Gunnar is something a majority of O's fans here and elsewhere are hoping for, but it still may be the minimum for a lot of people. The original point is solid, it isn't going to take a whole lot for people to change their minds about DR and turn on him and the ownership group if too many of our key players get a away.
I also think a lot of fans are expecting Yankee budgets or worse, Dodger insane big money.
It would be an interesting poll. My guess is a slight Hangout majority of 'big money' numbers would land somewhere in the middle of the MLB pack.
My expectations are St. Louis Cardinals budget for our Birds (Fangraphs has Baltimore at 97 million estimated 2024, and St. Louis at 181 million 2024).
Big money for me, is an 84 million dollar bump in payroll over the next several years.
John Means 2024
in Orioles Talk
Posted
Elbow discomfort. Damn.
May it be something he can recover from.
Scrappy, oft injured and still an Oriole I don’t mind cheering for.