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I think he’s the only one. Everyone else is a minor cog in a middling roster that will hopefully have a sum greater than its parts. Maybe Henderson, but there’s tons of depth there so I don’t think it’d be a significant loss. And the outfield and pitching staff are full of very replaceable guys.

Elias isn’t exactly known for following through with major league moves so I think this is a very legit possibility. Im still waiting for lift off. Rodriguez has sky high expectations at this point. I think anything less than ace would have most people disappointed. As far as me, if he has anything higher than a 4.5 ERA I will be disappointed…but I expect better and I’m cautiously optimistic that something closer to a 3 ERA is a reality.

It’d be nice if we could package the guys who are kinda good, kinda average and get a #1 starter in return but I don’t think any other club is going to value that approach. What could a package of Hays, Urias, and Mateo get? If I were another team, I wouldn’t be enamored with the thought. I’m a quality over quantity person though.

I think Rodriguez is the obvious answer here. Everyone else will hopefully be supplemental players to the big prospects…Rutschman, Henderson, and Rodriguez. I think Hall is a guy that will be really important this year. He is pretty much ready and what’s expected out of him is varied. He could be a top of the rotation starter or he could be a bullpen clean up guy. Either one wouldn’t surprise me whatsoever but obviously if he can be even a middle of the rotation guy then it takes a lot of pressure off everyone else.

It’d be a lot cooler if every team played each other an even amount of times and then every year the divisions are made to reflect the spending power of that team. So divisions with teams with unlimited resources only have one league leader and the rest in that division have to be okay with potential wild card spots. Then teams that don’t spend so much have a chance. Maybe it’s just me but Yankees and Dodgers every single year is just boring and more detrimental to the sport overall than having a handful of behemoth. I’m aware that it’ll never happen because the logistics would be a nightmare and a lot of teams would find more reason to spend less money, not more…so the players association would never agree to it. But maybe couple it with a complete removal of the salary cap so that the Yankees and Dodgers can each have $600 million pay roll or whatever but the playing field is evened out with a balanced schedule and then in the end they are only really competing against other financial juggernauts to get a good spot in the playoffs. Probably more trouble than it’s worth, but the “balanced schedule” is a half-measure when you still have to win more games than the others in your division who have the ability to sign stupid contracts and then eat the contract when the player stops being productive. The O’s still won’t be able to win more games than the Yankees unless it’s a fluke because one team will spend money and the other won’t.

Surprised by some of this. Notably that Cowser is so low and that both Ortiz and Povich are so high. Both players still have a lot to prove. Mayo seems a little high too. It’s still cool to see a different perspective though…really goes to show how subjective these things really are.

Never been a fan of the trade I don’t think. Povich doesn’t excite me and the rest was filler. But it was the right call to trade him for the best possible package. He was clearly playing above his head at the time

I agree on both accounts. Hays seems like he has the inside track on losing his every day player status. At the same time, if he is playing pretty decently and Cowser is pushing himself onto the roster then you’ve got to decide if you trade someone established like Hays in the middle of a hopeful playoff push or trade the up and coming prospect who hasn’t proven he can play at the major league level but is an all around more valuable player. Im excited to see how it works out!

I’m curious how Cowser is able to make it onto the roster. Who will he take ABs from? Hays? Stowers? I’d like to believe that once Cowser is up then he is an every day player, at least until he shows he is not up to the task. But that comes at a cost and there’s pretty good OF depth, especially if you count Frazier and Vavra as potential options. Of course, injuries and bad performance can make the decision easy. But assuming everyone is healthy and playing around what we expect, where does Cowser go?

When the Frazier signing first happened I felt pretty okay with it, but I was assuming he was a supplemental piece…not the offensive crown jewel of the off season. Reflecting on it now, it is really a terrible signing.

Am I the only one who would rather just roll with whoever is already in the organization than to give out major league deals to crappy players that will block prospects? It’s not that Frazier, Irvin, and Gibson are crappy exactly but at the time, they kinda are and I really don’t have it in me to keep trying to pry a positive outlook from a perpetual rotating door of the worlds most uninspiring and middling stock of players. I don’t want a defensive minded OF to take at bats from Stowers and Cowser down the line. Just give me McKenna and let the dust settle how it will after we see them all play.

Frazier makes Vavra expendable on the roster. Same role…left handed 2B/COF. Vavra has options though and Frazier won’t be around after 23 so Vavra can possibly seize that role in the future. Or they trade him. I’m not sure how much value he has, but it’s probably not much.

Gibson home away ERA splits are 4.57 at home, 5.79 away. You were saying?

I don’t get why some think he will be a swing man yet Gibson is our Opening Day starter. Last year Irvin beat out Gibson in IP, H9, BB9, and HR9…He is an innings eater and the only real left handed option until Means comes back or Hall figures out what a strike zone is. The home/away splits are a bit concerning, but luckily he’ll play half his games with a wall in left that is only rivaled by the Wall of Westeros. He got lefties out at a respectable rate and the biggest difference in his splits came from righties slugging at a higher rate…which will likely come down playing at Camden Yards. A more balanced schedule in 2023 means less starts vs the AL East juggernauts. And Wells and Voth are definitely not going to be eating innings like Irvin would. I just think there’s a lot to like (but nothing to love) about the move.

I don’t think any of us are saying he is a potential All Star. But he has considerable usefulness in the role he has played thus far.

Mateo had more WAR than both of those players combined. Yes, all from defense but that just goes to show just how good he is in the field. Not saying he is the best option, I think I’d rather major league hitters at every position and Mateo act more like a defensive sub/pinch runner. But all things considered, I like having him play most days.

I have no idea how to find this information, but I’d guess that Mateo is probably one of the best all around players that hit exclusively out of the 9 spot. Obviously all his value comes from his glove, but I’d be curious to know where he stands by WAR amongst other players who hit in the 9 spot. As long as he keeps playing defense at that level, I’m fine with a .650 OPS / 30 SB kind of production.

If they’re not going to sign anyone who actually helps make the team better, I’d rather just see the young guys play. But after watching they way they handled guys like Vavra and Stowers, I have absolutely no confidence that we’ll see extended periods of time being given to anyone who isn’t a bonafide prospect. Remember when we all talked about guys like Bassitt and Taillon like it was an actual possibility? Now we might get “lucky” enough to land Wacha or Profar. Ugh, what a terrible offseason this has been

Very true! I would not be particularly upset if Wacha did not want to sign here. I’d rather lose out on him than sign him for more than one year tbh

Overall I agree with this sentiment. But just to counter argue a bit…Houser is only due $3.6m this year with one year left of arbitration and would cost extremely minimal in terms of a trade. But I wouldn’t be excited whatsoever if Houser was the guy. I think I’d prefer to see Wells and Voth fight it out for the last spot.

Maybe the O’s don’t want him that much? If there are potential deals out there in the trade market that are better options than Wacha then Elias would be wise not to waste a rotation spot on Wacha.

Camden’s left field wall would look so funny. Imagine someone robbing a home run over a 2 foot wall

With Frazier the infield looks like Frazier 2B, Mateo SS, Henderson 3B OR Frazier 2B, Henderson SS, Urias 3B Without Frazier it’d have likely been Urias 2B, Mateo SS, Henderson 3B So they wouldn’t be depending on any of the prospects. Mateo as a regular is debatable of course, but his WAR was better than anyone else in the infield so not quite as easy to discount his entire skill set just because he can’t get on base.

Absolutely, assuming it’s not a dumb contract. The bullpen (entire pitching staff really) is a bit light on left handers.

Watching that made me miss baseball. Still not particularly looking forward to Frazier playing. I think I’d have preferred to watch one of our many middle infield prospects play 2B in a sink-or-swim situation. But hey, Frazier is the guy. At least he can move around a bit so if someone like Westburg or Ortiz really forces themselves on the roster then Frazier can go to a corner OF spot.