btdart20

Sure. Both have shown maturity at the plate. Do I think it'll happen? Not until the dominoes at the ML level start to fall will it cascade down the org chart. When decisions are made with the mess (glut?) of 2B/3B/UT-types (Gutz, Odor, Owings, Urias...), then these guys will be impacted. At least that's my thought at this point... Curious why Westburg would be ready in a few weeks but Gunnar a few months?

Gunnar/Westburg should be promoted to AAA soon. So, I can see Bannon or Dorrian getting a shot as the transactions waterfall whatever direction... Don't think Nevin fills a 3B need but I'd rather that over Martin.

Even if Norby hasn't moved in the O's pipeline, he's got to be trending up on a broader board. Gunnar's BBs are nice to see as well. Helps to solidify his floor in my mind a bit. BB% sits at 22% compared to 12% across his 3 levels last year. 14:12 K:BB ratio compared to 56:143 from last year as well. Same type of story for Westburg too. 12% BB% last year vs. 18% this year. 61:127 K:BB last year vs 12:16 this year. Time to promote Gunnar and Westburg to AAA. Sorry Martin/Grenier, think we've seen enough.

I don't think baseball in Las Vegas is sustainable. I think football is a better match for Vegas. I'd like to see the A's land in Portland. Charlotte and Nashville are both good spots to relocate or expand. Both would probably eat into the Braves revenue streams, but whatever. If Miami/Tampa move, maybe it opens up some more local TV revenues for the team that stays.

The recent BA writers mock draft had Rocker going to Detroit at 1.12.

Locked On MLB Prospects Podcast did a recap of the recent Baseball America Mock draft. It's the writers' draft, so it's what the writers would do and not from a team angle. Megaphone: A Modern Podcasting Platform They have Jones #1 and mention "generational talent". But they also mention the O's under-slot strategy. Then Green, Johnson, Lee, and Parada to finish out the top 5. First college SP taken are #22 (Prielipp), #23 (Sims), and #24 (Barco). (The mock was probably done before the Barco injury, so he'll probably go later.) Lindsay Crosby (SI writer) mentions that he wouldn't be surprised if we see a few HS arms drafted in the Comp picks. He also mentions college hitting and HS pitching are pretty deep. First time I've heard about the HS SP depth.

Decided to take the fam this Saturday! With 5 kids, getting to any game is a special time out. Selfishly hoping these guys are still there!

If there is another player/position in the same tier available, I would look that way. If not, then sure. Seems like there’s a gap between top 4 and the next tier.

The next in line of really good Georgia Tech catchers. Interesting they have the Pirates taking a catcher. I doubt that happens considering Henry Davis. But who knows…

Yes, Mancini was immediately returning to the base. Otherwise, we would have 1B tagging players not running back to the bag after running through it.

Mancini's hop was the only time he went in the direction of 2B. Did the ump think he was going to hop to 2B? Then the C clearly saw the ump stalking Mancini's slow walk to 1B... 1B coach was pointing but didn't look very animated to get Mancini hustling. If Mancini would have turned around to sprint back to 1B, could that have been interpretted as an attempt to go to 2B? From that point on, it's on Mancini. I'm ok with the ump's call to eject Mancini. There were less than 4k in the stands. The one thing players must do is honor the umpire as a position. Disagree honorably. It's less about the language (though that is one measuring stick used by the league and some degree of the fans) and more about the approach and attitude.

Potential round 2?

Slo-mo of Brooks Lee from both sides.

Pipeline inbox 2022 MLB Draft questions Jim Callis does some Q&A about the draft pool. Regarding Green: His bat is still the biggest question in his game -- in part because his other tools are so loud -- but several teams I've spoken with have more comfort with his hitting ability than they did previously. Wesleyan School (Peachtree Corners, Ga.) outfielder Druw Jones also has improved at the plate this spring and he remains the consensus No. 1 prospect, but Green has closed the gap. Regarding Holliday: He has added significant strength and speed, enhancing his power and his chances of staying at shortstop. He's hitting the ball with more authority than ever and has wowed scouts all year. The list of injured/talented arms: There can't ever have been a Draft that has had an many potential first-round college arms sidelined as this one. Left-handers Reggie Crawford (Connecticut) and Connor Prielipp (Alabama) and right-handers Peyton Pallette (Arkansas), Landon Sims (Mississippi State) and Henry Williams (Duke) all had Tommy John surgery. Lefty Carson Whisenhunt (East Carolina) was suspended for the entire season after testing positive for a banned substance, while righty Blade Tidwell (Tennessee) has only recently returned from shoulder soreness. A few of these guys could be targets for our 2-5th picks. Regarding Brooks Lee: Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee is No. 1 because he's the best pure hitter in college baseball, his power continues to grow and he might have more defensive value than the rest of my contenders even if he does move off short as a pro.

“Heston has been able to start some baseball activities, which has been a lot of fun to see. Scratching himself and spitting sunflower seeds?

I can get behind the controlled environment to a point. But I don't really understand the value-add to the organization or player development of not putting them in a competitive situation. Are we/they close enough that hiding the development help minimize scouting against us? No. This could be true, especially considering the shorter ST. But really feels like a long way from the original injury for Baumler and Hall.

My issue is more about why we went after Lyles rather than that we went after Lyles. Sometimes you have to make aggressive moves to make sure to accomplish a priority. Elias must have prioritized getting a healthy arm that could eat innings and went aggressively after his guy. What @Moose Milligansaid is the rest of the story... I don't fault Elias for going after his guy. Elias bought time in the rebuild chapter of Oriole history since he bought stability and "something" plus that he saw in Lyles.

I couldn't see the ball, but that sound tells its own story.

This situation is odd... The most likely (Pollyanna?) cause is that they are really overly cautious about any type of injury and "analytic-type" personalities don't understand the value of relating with the marketplace. Given the bad mojo we've had with various injuries/illnesses over the years (like Means, Mancini and a list of others we've wanted to trade). But the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the injury was never legit or if the injury is more severe than they want to let on but doesn't impact his hitting. Our second guessing speaks to a lack of transparency and/or a lack of trust. Both could have some legitimate degree of executive gamesmanship. But there are many instances where lack of transparency means there's some nuance that has a public and/or employee relationship issue related to it.

He's ready. It would have been nice to see him get to 80 pitches/1 more batter. But that WHIP...

ERA+ is a tricky number to adjust for Coors, but yes Freeland is better. But enough to double his annual salary and get 4 more years guaranteed? I'm really not defending Lyles since he's basically an innings/back-end of the rotation type guy. More questioning the sanity of Colorado in that long deal (like the sanity of the O's signing Lyles for $6m). As much as we complain here about our 'path', Colorado is playing craps while wandering in the wilderness.

The Rockies signed SP Kyle Freeland to a 5-year $64.5m deal. 1 really good year, 3 average years, and 1 terrible year. 2022 TBD but a bad start. Freeland/Lyles comparison: https://stathead.com/baseball/player-comparison.cgi?player_id2=lylesjo01&type=p&player_id1=freelky01&sum=0&request= I’ll take the Lyles contact over the Freeland one.

Both/and. Urias should have made a better throw. He gets the E5. I think @Aristotelianis correct on the dirt/grass throwing Mountcastle off. The fact that Mounty lost his balance tells me that he wasn't really in control of what his glove was doing.

I agree with SG. IMO, it feels like Jones has distanced himself between the others. If that's true for the O's staff as well, then this isn't the year to go with the under-slot strategy with 1.1. We need top-shelf talent with a higher probability of success. We can play the under-slot game with the other 4 picks in the top 75.