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Orioles West

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Posts posted by Orioles West

  1. 1 hour ago, Snutchy said:

    I want to see how the league adjusts to him after another 2-3 starts before I start calling him a #3. There isn’t much reference material on him after his adjustments over spring. 
     

    What’s also important are the adjustments he makes back. Still, he looks solid!

    I agree — not enough starts yet to establish a full time rotation spot — I just love how he is making the most of this opportunity. Those adjustments the league makes next should happen fairly quick, but I kind of hope this gutsy effort rolls on a while longer.

    • Upvote 1
  2. 2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

    A lot of people didn’t like this signing.  It was a few bad outings last year but otherwise, he was very good.

    He will have some bumps in the road but he’s a very capable guy still.

    I thought it was a decent signing, but I didn’t imagine him being as good as he has been so far. Some bumps ahead as you mentioned, and some more clutch saves ahead too. That strikeout of Trout with the bases loaded — fun stuff. 

    • Upvote 1
  3. 52 minutes ago, Frobby said:

    Fun fact: 196 pitchers already have started a game this year.  That’s 6.53 per team, and it’s April 22.   

    I don't know what the record is for arms utilized this early, but it sounds like a lot. That's a bunch of teams that couldn't through their rotation 3-4 times without needing more arms. Even the Orioles at 6 starters already.

  4. 6 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

    Burnes extension is priority #1. Even over Gunnar. We have other bats in our system to carry a lineup 1-9. We have some SP in the minors, but it’s more backend guys. It’s not like Basallo, Mayo, Kjerstad and EBJ. 

    I think DR could well be the coolest thing for the O's since the '83 World Series title, and he is a successful human, who probably became successful because of wise investing and keeping projects within a budget. I would love DR to have endless resources and sign everyone possible, but I do not see any way we keep Burnes and a substantial number of our home grown Birds. John Angelos sounded defeatist at times, yet, he had a point about how many times Baltimore can drop 300 million dollar contracts. I love Burnes in orange and black. According to my wife, I probably love Burnes at an unreasonable level.

    However, I don't see any way we can keep him.

    And maybe we shouldn't.

    Pitchers break down way too much (setting aside modern pitch count debates).

    The Astros plan did include overspending for a starter or two, I'm just not sure that's our O's, even with DR.

  5. Gunnar, Adley, and Jackson - based on the limits of the OP choices, but I understand wanting to keep Burnes around.

    On the G-Rod mentions, not a bad idea. O's have control, but if he continues to be a frontline starter, an extension could be cheaper than the last 2-3 arbitration years.

  6. I had a chance to see him pitch during the spring for my week of visiting Sarasota. Looked decent there too, but I didn’t think much of it, as I didn’t see a lot of room for him on the roster.

    It’s a great story (so far) and I’ll just roll with his first start and hope he has a few more quality starts in him. Even if not, it’s a good story for a guy who hadn’t pitched at this level in so long.

  7. Just now, Tony-OH said:

    He certainly earned another start. We could not have asked for more from him. 

    Agreed! A pleasant surprise to see that performance — 34-year old back in the Bigs and apparently, wants to stay.

  8. 3 minutes ago, 24fps said:

    I guess O'Hearn didn't get the memo that he was only only on the team to keep a spot warm.  He keeps acting like a solid middle-of-the-order ML ballplayer.

    Yeah, the O’Hearn O-hate is going to have to take a few more days off.

  9. In the not proud, not embarrassed arena, apparently I’m working on most years with the fewest posts record — but not on purpose.

    I was over 1,200 slow posts previously, but that purge Tony mentioned reset me back down to 600. That and work stuff, but I did always read the board. 

    I am back over 800 again, and on a roll. At this pace, I should catch Roy by the year 2486.

  10. 5 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

    The last curve he threw to end the game was freaking nasty. 

    Yes it was! My wife heard my (bleep) yeah yell and she was outside of our house. As Big Ben noted, our pitchers today were at their best in the moments they needed to be.

  11. I get it -- although I'm not quite as fickle. 

    The O's of my youth spoiled me rotten.  Baltimore had one losing season from the time I was born until the part of my contract serving in the USMC (1965-1985).

    That losing season was when I was two-years old, so I missed most of it.

    We all know about the last few decades.

    The worm has turned and not just with the amazing 101-wins last year. There is a vibe, a swagger, and I could feel it in Sarasota a few weeks ago, even in stands. Sitting with optimistic fans again, was weird and wonderful.

    Baseball is about as humbling a sport as there is, but it sure is a good feeling to wake up everyday and KNOW your team has a shot to win the day.

  12. 3 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

    No matter what the plan was, I don't think there's any plus in telling Holliday directly that he's already earned his spot but is being held down for obscure reasons. You tell him, good job kid, here's what we want you to work on, and we hope to see you up here sometime soon. 

    Ultimately, my speculation about this is why the O’s have not called me for advice. I leave them my number at least once a month, and I never hear back.

    At the end of the day, if details do become known, and something about Kemp and the delayed call up make more sense, it will amount to mild entertainment, long forgotten after Holliday is an All-Star.

    • Haha 1
  13. 48 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

    Good to see that Westburg recovered from his injury so quickly.  😃

    I was thinking the same - mystery injury that never happened appears to be all better.

  14. 1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

    Kemp served his purpose of buying time for Holliday without burning a Norby option. It can't be a whiff if there was no swing.

    That’s a solid assertion, I just don’t quite buy in on the 14-day Holliday LHP dodge theory for why he started in Norfolk. It could be true, but we don’t know for sure. If it is true, why didn’t the O’s tell him the plan?

    I also don’t know that the front office was sweating a Norby option — and if they were, Wong was already around to have his option picked up.

    Kemp’s aging .209 BA last season wasn’t even exciting enough for the A’s — why pay him so well for a temp fill?

    Heck, if Elias runs for Congress, he has my vote, but Kemp was a bad idea, in my humble estimation.

  15. 1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

    Elias is very available and pretty much a straight shooter with the media, but let's face it, there are things he's just not going to say. I think sometimes people think if you criticize someone over something yu don't like them. That's the furthest thing from the truth.

    He makes some headscratching moves sometimes, but in the end, the results are what matters and it's clear after 101 season the results are pretty darn good.

    Agreed on all counts. I wasn't concerned about your critique, Elias is awesome, but he ain't perfect. I was curious about your take on his overall transparency, which you clarified. That aside, it will be interesting to see how Elias has handled JH, whether it helps or harms the kid's long term relationship with the O's. Kemp is just a whiff, no matter how much I try to make sense of it.

  16. 2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

    The only thing it "proved" was that you believe everything Elias tells the media. He was never going to admit what they were doing. This is an organization that treats injury news for it's minor leaguers like Soviet era secrets! 

    Feel free to think it proved whatever you want. Elias' actions have not baked up his words several times now, and Actions always speak louder than words, especially when GMs are talking to the media.

    Overall, I think Elias is more available and transparent than most. As a Maryland native living in Colorado, and the Rox GMs here are invisible, unavailable and usually hunted to ground by bloodhounds to get a quote about a roster move.

    As to the injury stuff, the O’s operate like an NHL team, and I don’t know if that’s good or bad yet overall (definitely bad for media, gamblers, and fans who want answers).

    All that said, I see the handling of JH, the signing of Kemp as a couple significant hiccups by an otherwise quality baseball dude who has still brought the O’s back from the dead.

    • Upvote 1
  17. 1 minute ago, Explosivo said:

    I disagree completely and all this extension talk is asinine.

    You mean you agree with me that an extension seems unlikely. The quote you’re jumping on was my response about the history Boras and how he advises his clients about extensions.

  18. Just now, jabba72 said:

    its up to the player not Boras. But agree on the surface an extension looks difficult.

    Absolutely, but most of his clients take his advice of hitting the open market for best value. And, I think JH and family are still bummed he didn’t move north with the team — I think they understand this weird two week delay less than we do (other then the LHP gauntlet Tony mentioned).

  19. 2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

    Here's hoping there's a deal in the works to announce on Friday.

    Even if an extension of some kind is in the works, which would be cool — Boras isn’t going to include bonus years of control, unless it is money at a level we’ve never seen the O’s throw at a player.

  20. 15 minutes ago, RVAOsFan said:

    The thought of Rubenstein making the call for Holliday? Look, I doubt that happened but this move also goes against everything we have seen Elias do in the past.  The difference between now and the past is Rubenstein. 

    Again — until we see evidence to contrary, I’m taking David Rubenstein at his word. Why would he describe his method of leadership to allow his baseball experts make the call and then change that two weeks in?

  21. 7 minutes ago, RVAOsFan said:

    What if we find out down the road that the decision wasn't even made by Elias.  What if Rubenstein is meddling and made his first big decision and told Elias to call him up.

    Until I see evidence to the contrary, I’m taking DR at his word. He has essentially said he will defer baseball decisions to his baseball experts, talking up his GM among the best if not the best GM in the game. However, I do see Elias presenting DR with all of the financial implications surrounding the call up of Holliday — and then the new boss telling him to go for it now.

    • Upvote 2
  22. Count me in with the, "I'll never understand the Kemp signing," side of things -- but it doesn't put a big dent on the GM's rep.

    My guess is, even Elias, who attends so many games home and away, couldn't stomach another at bat where Kemp looks slow and overwhelmed. 

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