O-The-Memories

Well, you've calmed me down some. I've gone from nuclear level mad to just pretty upset, lol. i just don't understand the risk of the strategy of saving money to potentially get guys that we like later in the draft, especially if we pick guys at 30 and 39 that we could have gotten there anyway without picking Kjerstad.

This year was a very small sample size, and I believe this pick was a case of recency bias.

So we picked a guy who doesn't have a great arm or range, and who strikes out a lot, and who has questionable swing mechanics as the number two pick. To answer an earlier question, I don't see a scenario where the 30 and 39 pick make up for it. Guys like Bitsko aren't likely to be there.

The pick also makes a disillusioned fanbase even more upset. I wouldn't have this kind of reaction if we picked Lacy, Martin, or even Gonzalez. You could justify those picks if Martin had demanded too much money. We have the most money in the draft pool! I want the best players available, not a chance at "stealing" the 18th best prospect at 30. There is so much more value with the second rated pick.

I'm disgusted by this pick. You have the most money to spend, have a chance to get a guy like Martin, or even a top pitcher, and you get a guy that has questionable plate discipline, and doesn't fill a position of need. Elias tried to out think everyone and if signability was an issue there were still better picks. Why try to get the best available at 30 by missing out on any number of consensus picks that were rated higher? Nobody should like this pick.

If we don't pick it up soon we are in real danger of losing this one fellas.

It's your duty as a parent to try and make things seem OK when they aren't, but it would be mighty hard to be at this game with a kid. "If the Oriole Bird catches a ball its worth fifteen runs for us, you didn't know that"? Reminds me of when my friends father took him to a Reds minor league game in the late 80's and told him that Johnny Bench was catching for them now.

The last time I saw a Brooks this sad he was hanging from the rafters of a halfway house after he couldn't cut it bagging groceries.

Guys we are only down a touchdown and an extra point. It's still early. Oh, I'm looking at the Orioles score? That's no good.

It's crazy how much optimism I have for the team. My hopes are similar to a lot of the other posters. If we ever start doing well with a lot of homegrown talent I will be thrilled. If the pitching develops at all I think we win 70 games next year which would be a huge jump.

Are you an X Files fan?

To be fair, Matos did have one really good year. If Santander can ever have that level of success over the course of a full season you would have to be encouraged.

I agree, DJ needs an extended look. He's tearing it up in the minors and we have a real need in the outfield. Do something to give him a shot please. Heck, nickname him Rod and have "Forever Young" be his entrance music. People might think there's another concert

I gave Elias an A and here's why. DD didn't get much when a traded Machado and company last year. I don't know if any of the guys we got will ever be an impact player. Early results don't seem promising to me. He was willing to make deal for Cashner that I thought was simply OK, but that proves that he will listen to reasonable offers. Nunez,Givens, Villar, and Mancini can all be pieces of a contending team if put in the right situations. Dont just get rid of them for marginal prospects, we have enough of those already. Overall I love what Elias is doing so far. We have some decent pieces on offense, so if some of our pitching prospects pan out we should be on track to contend in 3-4 years.

The only thing I saw with Yefry was some deception in his delivery and he isn't 30. He didn't have good stuff in my opinion. Givens and Scott have good stuff but the results haven't quite been there due to command. Those are guys you give lots of chances to.

Rodney thinks that everyone hates him, but that's ridiculous because he hasn't met everyone yet. Rodney gets no respect I tell ya.

Guys, if we go on a heater we may win 60 games. We have time to try a new closer and let Givens try lower leverage situations. Heck, if there was such a thing as a low leverage season we are in one. There is a real possibility than nobody on the current roster is on our next contending team. We have something like six MLB quality guys on our roster, and I'm not sure we have any starters on a decent team. We may have gotten the most raw talent on our entire roster for international money, and it's likely he is another Felix Pie. Givens blowing a game is the least of our issues, lol.

Well I think Givens has pitched himself out of a trade, but the talent is there.

Let's look at the bright side, Davis has a better ERA than Straily and Cobb and we currently have a 7-6 lead.

I think he is the best player we have right now.

I don't think Mancini is any better defensively at first than Chris Davis.

I'd rather the Orioles take risk with Daniel Cabrera types of pitchers than guys with marginal stuff.

Mancini reminds me of David Segui. Neither guy could play defense which negates their value at bat. Trey has stayed healthier, but will not hit as well as a prime Segui. I hope Trey has better defense if he plays first, because he is a butcher in the outfield.

I agree that it will be a while before we contend again. Making the playoffs was fun while it lasted, but even then I didn't know many people that thought we were legit contenders to win the World Series. I think we should have tried trading a lot of our assets a couple years ago. I like some of our pitching prospects a lot, so it's fine that they are a few years away. I am worried that we lose a lot of fans in the next few years by having no "star" power for the casual fan, but I think slashing payroll as much as we can is benefical in the long run. Watching a few of the younger guys turn out to be solid MLB contributers would make it worth it though!

Saying we should have gotten more for Gausman is like the guy on Ebay who prices everything too high and never sells anything. Someone is worth what you can get for them. Gausman, like Bundy and many others before him, saw his velocity drop and K rate decrease along with an increase in FIP. That shows a mediocre pitcher in the long term. I thought we could have gotten more as well, but the market said otherwise I suppose. We love selling too late which hurts the most. Gausman, Britton, Bundy, Machado, and Schoop were not traded at close to peak value.