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Yardball85

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    Go get ________________________________

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    29 minutes ago, cnmilton said:

    I would go after Montgomery if I were the O's.  He is a lefty, has pitched in the AL East, and also signs with no draft pick compensation.  

    I think there's a better chance Mike Elias comes down the orange carpet in a tutu on Opening Day than the Orioles signing Montgomery. 

    Tim Kurkjian on 105.7

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    4 hours ago, Brooks The Great said:

    I love Tim. I met him at Dempsey's (now called Superbook) after the Orioles lost Game 1 of the 2014 ALCS to the Royals. I mentioned that I was doing some sports writing at the time, and asked him if he would be willing to do an interview with me about the Orioles during the offseason. He graciously agreed and gave me his contact info. The transcribed interview was published by Tony here on Orioles Hangout, although the article may no longer be up. Tim Kirkjian is pure class.

    Agreed. 

    • Upvote 1

    Spring Training Roster Locks, Near Locks, and Bubble (Position Players)

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    18 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

    This was discussed somewhat on the Nevin thread but I thought it would be worth taking a look at the overall roster composition as we head into spring training. I see ten players set with two near locks, leaving only one bubble spot with five candidates. The main scenario that would jeopardize the near locks is for Holliday to make the team. The other would be Cowser having a huge spring enough to leapfrog Kjerstad. In that case, he would make the roster as a starter and Kjerstad would start in the minors, with the bubble picture staying the same. There is also the chance of a Urias or Mateo trade that we don't know about.

     

    LOCKS (10):

    1B/DH (2): Mountcastle, O'Hearn

    OF (3): Mullins, Santander, Hays

    IF (3): Gunnar, Urias, Westburg

    C (2): Adley, McCann

     

    NEAR LOCKS (2):

    Kjerstad: Played well in limited opportunities, made the playoff roster. Should be able to take the 4th OF spot vacated by Hicks. 

    Mateo: With Ortiz traded, Mateo becomes a bit closer to a lock due to his ability to back up SS.

     

    BUBBLE (1):

    Hilliard: Top defensive replacement option if we want the last guy to be an LHB. 

    McKenna: Top defensive replacement option if we want the last guy to be a RHB. 

    Norby: Top RHB PH/DH option and deserves an opportunity.

    Cowser: Nothing left to prove in AAA, but he was terrible in MLB opportunity. Better off playing every day in AAA than sitting on the bench.

    Vavra: Could be good all around option for LHB, IF/OF

     

    WILD CARD:

    Holliday. Number one prospect. We are slightly unbalanced toward RHB's so a lefty 2B would be a nice fit. Could push out Mateo, with Westburg taking the utility spot. I have to say, I really like the balance of the lineup with a lefty at 2B. 

     

    CONCLUSION: Hilliard

    With the current makeup of the team we have three SH's (Adley, Santander, and Mullins) and six RHB's (Hays, Mountcastle, Urias, Westberg, McCann, Mateo) versus three LHB's (Gunnar, O'Hearn, Kjerstad). For that last spot, appears we could use a LHB more so than a RHB and a defensive/utility type more than an everyday player type. So that leads me to favor Hilliard, with a slight chance of Vavra and Cowser. Daniel Johnson could be an extreme dark horse.

    If Holliday makes it, then LHB would be less of a priority. In that case, stick with McKenna, with a slight chance of Norby. 

    In no case do I see Tyler Nevin having a spot on the opening day roster.

     

     

     

    Here's an article I wrote last week addressing the current state of the roster.  Fun time of the year for sure.

     

    https://birdswatcher.com/posts/baltimore-orioles-2024-opening-day-roster-projection-1-0-01hnp14b0m12

    Elias' mental shift

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    On 2/3/2024 at 8:31 AM, wildcard said:

    I am pretty far away from thinking the Os are going to spend 250m to extend Burnes into his late 30s. I think he is more likely to extend young players like Gunnar and Holliday.

    Love your "will be 26".   I will be 100 one day if I live that long.   Hall and Ortiz are both 25 and were projected to have spots on the 2024 26 man roster.   Who knows how the season would have progressed for them had they stayed.

    I am not saying that Elias made the wrong move.   I am saying he has made a mental shift from collecting young talent and guarding all of them to focusing on what he needs to do win the World Series.

    In the past Elias might have kept Hall and traded Ortiz if he was blocked for more young talent.   

     

    I think if anything, the Flaherty deal evidenced this shift in thinking.  Or trading Hernaiz for Irvin.  I don't think the Burnes trade evidences anything except what we all knew Elias was doing/trying to do. 

    What About Julio Urias?

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Pickles said:

    1) I came to make a joke: It's the new market inefficiency.

    2) But in seriousness: I don't think it's fair to lump Trevor Bauer and this guy together.

    I think it was a reference to German, not Bauer.  I could be wrong though.  I don't look at Bauer as an abuser.

    MLB Offseason Moves/Rumor Thread

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

    What are the odds of that actually happening? 

    I'd say about the same as the odds of a guy pouting because he feels he's being underappreciated and isn't getting the chances he thinks he deserves.

    Am I pulling that out of thin air?  Sure, but so are you.

    Instead I'd rather trade out of this needlessly deep depth and either get multiple pieces that are further away or an upgrade to the ML OD roster.

    Sensible, logical, post.  So of course, people are going to complain about it. 

    • Thanks 1

    MLB Offseason Moves/Rumor Thread

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

    Mike Elias seems like the type of guy who spends six months researching new toasters before he's ready buy one.

    What's funny is we said the same type of thing about DD, AM, etc.  Common denominator is an Angelos as their boss...

    • Upvote 1

    MLB Offseason Moves/Rumor Thread

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    48 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

     

    This is a strawman argument by Elias.  No one is asking him to reimagine the team.  But staying still because "we won 101 games last year" is not a recipe for success, and comes off as very lazy.  

    Not saying Elias is lazy, and I do think he is working on ways to improve the team, but this quote does not make him look good. 

    MLB Offseason Moves/Rumor Thread

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

    It's lazy to slam Angelos for this.  And I don't mean to slam your post or take a shot at you, I'm just saying it is what it is...and what it is, it's easy to slam Angelos for anything that we don't like on here that has to do with the Orioles.  From the lack of moves to the prices of tickets to the food that's sold at the stadium...I mean, I've seen Angelos blamed for all of it and more on here.  Some warranted, some of it's not.  But like I said, it's lazy to just chalk anything we don't like to Angelos.

    At some point we have to recognize that Elias is complicit in this, too.  And I'm as big of an Elias fan on the board as anyone else, I think he's most likely been the most important hire in franchise history.  I don't think any of us envisioned this franchise being where it is today when he was hired a few years ago.  We've got international scouting, signing and development up and running in a really big way, we've adopted analytics, we've been crushing the drafts, we have a staggering amount of good to elite prospects in the system and just won 101 games with a shoestring budget.  If @Frobbywants to go back and dig up predictions from the offseason that we hired Elias in and see what people said, I don't think anyone here could have seen this.

    But I also don't think Elias lands this job if he and JA don't see eye to eye on things like spending on free agents.  I'm assuming, at some point during the interview process, that JA asked Elias what his philosophies were on spending in free agency and if it's necessary to build a winner.  And Elias told him what he wanted to hear, either because he really feels that you don't need to spend a lot of money in free agency or because he wanted the job.  He wouldn't be the first person to tell a lie on a job interview.

    So while we can bash JA for being cheap, I think we can also point to Elias for being cheap, too.  Let's keep in mind that he came from the Astros and the Astros have never spent big money on free agents.  I think a lot of us overlook that because the Astros have some big names, they have some star power.  They've also traded for some star power and took on some payroll, too.  But they're never been big spenders in free agency.  I mean, Hader just became their biggest free agent signing in recent history at 5/95.  I read on the Athletic the last time they spent more than 60 million was on Carlos Lee in 2006 when he got 6/100.

    That's where Elias comes from, that's where his philosophies were developed and I think that's what he believes...that you don't have to spend in free agency to win.  

    I'm Moose Milligan, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

     

    I don't take this as slamming my post or having a shot taken at me, and I stand by my post.  JA has done nothing to win the hearts of people in Baltimore, from his slimy behavior at MLK press conference last year to his handling of Kevin Brown to the bizarre announcement that the Orioles had a deal to remain in Baltimore back in September when it was not truly agreed to until months later.

    And you're right that the Astros did not spend big in free agency.  And the Orioles do not need to either.  But as you pointed out, the Astros have taken on payroll and made trades to improve.  It can't all come from homegrown players, even if you do an incredible job if growing your own players like the Astros have.  Still waiting on our Verlander/Cole impact trade.

    MLB Offseason Moves/Rumor Thread

    in Orioles Talk

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

    Adjust expectations accordingly.

    That's right.  No one should be surprised.  

    I can't get mad at water for being wet.  Until the Orioles step up and do this, I will continue to believe that they never will because that's who they've shown themselves to be.  On a similar note, I'll believe it when I see it when it comes to Elias trading prospects for significant ML talent.

    We can rant and rave on here, we can dissect things up and down, we can ramble at length about what they should do, what they need to do, what makes sense for them to do.  But I don't believe any of those things will happen because they haven't shown us that they have the ability to do so.  

     

    Good post and good way of looking at things.  I wish I didn't get so frustrated over the lack of moves, but it just is what it is with this ownership. 

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