oriole

I wasn’t really suggesting it. It was a nod to the pointlessness of a Correa signing. We’ve got solid options in the now, near future, and far future. What’s needed now is starting pitching depth and maybe some upgrades at other positions that don’t have a lot of organizational depth like 1B/DH. My suggestion of trading Holliday was a subtle highlight of the ridiculousness of the notion.

I was previously really into the idea of signing Correa but I am very much the opposite at this point. There is a lot of SS organizational depth and some are quite good. But if he did end up signing here…where could Holliday be traded and for who? No point in having a top prospect at a position that will be blocked for many years, especially when the team needs starting pitching as much as the Orioles do. I know the pitching was a bright spot this year but should we really feel comfortable with guys like Watkins, Zimmermann, and Baumann as depth? I’d much rather let Kremer and Bradish be the guys battling to round out a rotation. And if they are the ones filling in the backend, it seems like it’s a better chance of landing a targeted starter to focus on FA rather than search and hope for a trade partner. Correa would just make building a solid team more difficult. And who cares about his personality really? We all loved Manny when he was here and he is the type of guy to idolize Alex Rodriguez, AKA one of the sports worst personalities ever

I don’t see the rush to trade Mateo. He could be even more valuable just based on the rule changes next year. Worst case scenario is that he is a defensive replacement and pinch runner and considering he is elite at both, he is a good piece to have on a competitive team. Totally unrelated to his performance but he went for a foul ball once where he hopped over the 3rd base edge into the stands a bit and basically stomped this elderly guy and he showed absolutely no remorse but that’s totally subjective and admittedly, he has no obligation to feel sorry anyone…plus it’s on TV so I could have missed it. They didn’t even mention it in the broadcast. Otherwise, I really like having him on the team. I say keep him. Henderson/Mateo defense on the left side is well above average.

1) Sign Rodon 2) Trade Santander/Tate/Mayo for Pablo López/Lewin Diaz 3) Extend Adley and/or Henderson

Everything except 2B seems pretty locked down and that one depends on which middle infielders weren’t traded and also does well in ST. Westburg feels like the obvious answer but a Vavra/Urias platoon would be okay. If Ortiz really is as good defensively as I keep hearing then that probably makes him worth more in a trade than it does to the O’s at 2B. If I had to guess as to which prospects are traded I would say Ortiz and Vavra. That leaves 2B between Westburg and Urias. Since both players also play SS and 3B then I could also see both of them making the roster.

Santander alone should be enough for Snell. Santander has 2 years left and Snell only has 1 so any additional value Snell might have would be offset by the lack of extended control. I’d be pretty happy with that trade

Hopefully in return for Santander plus one of the middle infield prospects outside the top ten, you could get a middle of the rotation guy with two or three years left so the departure of Santander doesn’t sting so much. Obviously no matter what concoction of Santander and top 10-20 prospects you add up isn’t going to get you anything real shiny or anything but I doubt that’s the target when talking about trades. Right now it’s good to keep your good chips and let it play out while filling in the holes with solid free agent signings and trades for helpful, but probably not super impactful players.

Hopefully in return for Santander plus one of the middle infield prospects outside the top ten, you could get a middle of the rotation guy with two or three years left so the departure of Santander doesn’t sting so much. Obviously no matter what concoction of Santander and top 10-20 prospects you add up isn’t going to get you anything real shiny or anything but I doubt that’s the target when talking about trades. Right now it’s good to keep your good chips and let it play out while filling in the holes with solid free agent signings and trades for helpful, but probably not super impactful players.

You’d be selling low on Mountcastle and Hays. The MLB player to trade is Santander, IMO. He proved he can stay healthy, wasn’t awful in the field, and hit decent. Plus he’s a switch hitter with a couple years left. I wouldn’t be throwing a fit if any of the three were traded though. Prospects are another story…I have my doubts anyone around the top ten are going anywhere. They could trade from the depth in the farm though, guys like Norby, Ortiz, Hernaiz, and Prieto are all redundant when you’ve got a potential future infield of Henderson, Westburg, and eventually Holliday. Along with solid ML options like Urias and Mateo…it’s a good problem to have. I think out of the top ten guys, Mayo and Hall are the guys they’d probably move. High upside but questionable futures.

Mateo as a utility infielder and pinch runner would be fantastic but I’m also not totally against him as the 9 hitter going forward, assuming there’s no other black holes in the lineup. Mateo/Mullins tandem at the top and bottom fits really nicely. Not that this is any kind of metric anyone actually uses but Mateo almost has the same amount of TB as Hays but in less PA when you account for SB/CS. Hays would be a pretty good 9 hitter to have so why not Mateo?

3 games back from the Rays. It would’ve been nice but I can’t complain. Looking forward to a fun offseason (hopefully).

He doesn’t have to. He could have a resurgence. But when you look at all the other positions and think about where there’s room for improvement then 1B is an obvious candidate. There’s a good amount of OF and IF prospects on the horizon except for 1B. They’re not going to look for a pure DH because of Rutschman. Sure, you could write Mountcastle in as a come back candidate in 2023 but he hasn’t really shown anything this year that makes me feel like he adjusts very well which makes a come back seem unlikely. So, if the Orioles want to upgrade the offense, 1B seems like the sensible target.

Small sample size in 2020 but it’s three years in a row where he’s gotten worse offensively. With that being said, I’m not saying he should be traded or anything. I don’t see anything wrong with giving him another year to come back. But he’d be more of a complimentary player unless best case scenario shakes out which isn’t what you want to say about a “core” player.

This is extremely subjective. A good portion of your listed players haven’t even played a major league game. Outside of the obvious “core” guys, I can only name two, the rest are just guys you’re hoping are the core. Plus, if the core first basemen is hitting like Ryan Mountcastle, then you’re not aiming high enough.

I’ve got to say, Hyde has been an absolute mess this year regarding lineups. Obviously he is more privy to things like if a player is struggling with diarrhea or something and there’s direction from the front office but holy crap…Aguilar on the 2nd to last day? Literally not one person, outside of maybe Aguilars mom or the president of his fan club, is happy to see him in the lineup on any given day.

We’re already out of the playoff chase. Let’s throw him some batting practice all weekend til he breaks the “real” record and everyone can argue about whether the steroid fueled record or the batting practice thrown in a little league park is the legitimate record.

Sounds like way to much to me for only two years. Not saying they won’t get that, but I’m not about to give up 12 years for 2 years.

Brandon Hyde is messed up for pulling him there but gosh dang, Bradish was good tonight.

Mountcastle would be a good one. He’s followed up a solid rookie season with quite a sophomore slump. If he could start hitting like an actual middle of the order bat then that would be considered a break out. Bradish is another good one…really solid in the minors, struggled in his first taste at the majors. After an injury, he is showing he can be better. Even if he just continued that level into 2023, I’d consider that a breakout. Lastly, DL Hall. I think a taste of major league hitters can hopefully play a role in having him figure some things out. We’ve all had high hopes of a middle or even top of the rotation kind of guy. But even if he stays in the bullpen and can be a shut down reliever, I’d call that a breakout from what he’s been doing this year.

What’s interesting about the shift is that it’s not an extra fielder out there. There is literally a wide open hole to the left for a hitter to smack a ball through or even *gasp* learn to bunt effectively. What would be more interesting to me is a change in approach by teams to find players that can consistently beat the shift rather than employ players who either strike out, homer, or hit into the shift. Changing the rules is a cop-out IMO. I have no doubt I’ll get used to it and won’t feel too much about it one way or the other. The first year they made the plate blocking rule, I hated it. Now I’m indifferent. It’s surprising what a person will get used to with some time if they’re powerless to stop it.

$11m if exercised. Too much for Jordan Lyles, and if he’s traded it’d be a salary dump type of deal. You could easily justre-sign him in the off-season for far less, which I wouldn’t be opposed to. Either way, I think since the arb players are still making so little that there is plenty of room to add a high impact SP. Lyles’ option would be an overpay plus he’d take up a spot that should’ve used as an upgrade. Rodriguez, Wells, and Kremer seems like solid locks. Means will be back at some point. I’d much prefer to see a FA starter anchoring the rotation than Lyles.

I think the decision to use Lyles’ option will be a really good indicator as to how things go this off-season. If they take the option then it’s more of the same, if it’s denied then we could be looking at a higher tier FA SP signing. I doubt they spend $10m or whatever Lyles is owed AND spend on a good SP.

If next year is the year we start counting wins and losses than it’s worth saying that the offense needs to improve. A full year of Rutschman and Henderson is a good step towards that but the idea of replacing any of the outfield or 1B seems like a good place to start if we’re making upgrades. It just has to make sense, which is a complete unknown at this point. Within context of the OP, I think Santander might have the highest trade value so if he could net a good controllable SP then you got to consider it. But he is far from a must move type of candidate.

If the budget has been restrained due to saving it for a competitive window then it seems like it’d make sense to start to spend now. Get some front loaded contracts or short contracts that pay a lot…that way there is room to fit the arbitration years of the guys just coming up now. But either way, the window seems to have opened and if there isn’t a legit push for competitiveness after this year then it’d feel safe to say that it will never happen and we have all been bamboozled.

He has put the team in a ridiculously good position and he is still a young man with plenty of future endeavors to work towards. If he could be the one responsible for building a perennial winning team from a mix of ashes and nuclear waste then he would put himself in a good position to take almost any job he wanted with MLB clubs. All that to say that I imagine he’d want to see this through a bit and not jump ship over some non baseball related drama. But maybe that’s hopeful thinking