oriole

It’s funny…some of the best memories of that window of Orioles history are the most obscure players. Andino, Delmon Young, the McLouth double off the wall vs NYY.

If the Mariners hope for the playoffs lay on Alex Wells’ shoulders then it’s no wonder they haven’t seen the postseason in so long

Yes. And it didn’t have to be Austin Martin…a top pitcher would have been nice even if all of the top pitchers from that draft haven’t had the same level of success so far as Mayo. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to see Mayo hitting well, especially since Kjerstad is a big question mark (glad to see he’s resumed baseball activities). My point is it’s not an approach I like and thus it doesn’t matter to me whether the O’s have the first or second pick of the draft because they probably won’t take the best player available.

I don’t like the approach. Sure, it’s a calculated risk and they know a lot more about player development than me…but when you have high draft picks it seems crazy to me to pass on better players. Rutschman was too good to pass up I guess, is that the case with Elijah Green? Either way, I don’t care at this point if the O’s have the first or second pick. The player they end up taking probably won’t be one of the top guys on most draft boards anyways.

Even at 1:1 would the O’s go for the best player? Seems to me they’d just go under slot so they can pick some fancy lottery pick type of players in rounds 3 and 4

Hays has been a frustrating player to root for. This year has been a breath of fresh air…he would get injured so often it’s been hard to imagine he’d ever make it to 500 PA in a season but here we are. He’s had a season typical of what I’d had imagined if he could stay healthy…now hopefully he keeps that going and can be a little closer to something like an .800 OPS player next year. But if it’s a repeat of this year, I won’t be disappointed. I was feeling close to writing him off as a potential piece of the future at the start of the season.

I can’t help it, I love disappointment. Why do you think I’m an O’s fan to begin with?!

Correa, Stroman, E. Escobar, D. Norris, Bundy CF Mullins DH Mancini SS Correa 1B Mountcastle 3B Escobar LF Hays RF Santander C Rutschman 2B Mateo/Urias/Jones/Bannon Means Stroman Norris Bundy Akin/Lowther/Baumann/Zimmerman/Ellis/Whoever doesnt suck Fill in one of those for Bundy or Norris if they continue being awful too. Man, they should totally hire me in the front office. /s PS I know absolutely none of this is happening, but it’s a wish list

With a VPN you can be anywhere in the world.

I’ll be upfront that I haven’t looked into the subject of the Orioles moving to a new location but the reason I haven’t looked into it is because it seems silly. The Orioles aren’t going anywhere.

As soon as he let that fly ball boop him on the head I couldn’t see him in a positive light. I don’t know why but that totally shifted my attitude on him.

It seemed like only the Gausman/O’Day trade was based solely on money. Sure maybe we’d have gotten a better return if the O’s paid the rest of the Britton or Machado contract but they just got off a few years where the payroll was significantly higher than any point in franchise history so if they wanted to save a bit then I feel like it was understandable at that time.

The Gausman trade was an O’Day salary dump. Britton was not at his peak anymore and coming off injury and expensive...to think we’d have been offered more than we got seems silly. Only the Machado trade seems bad but it was probably the best anyone offered. Who’d have thought Diaz would be this close to a bust? He seemed good at the time and the book isn’t closed on him.

It’d have been cool to see some movement but there was no obvious must move types of players. I guess it’s good that nothing stupid happened though

His entire major league career thus far has been versus the O’s and now he’s with the O’s.

Man, he’d be a hard one to see go but we’re not competing next year and after that he’s gone. So unless there’s an extension it doesn’t make sense to keep him. And it’s debatable whether an extension is even a good conversation to have considering our future 1B is already on the team. Trade Mountcastle, extend Mancini! /s

I think the value to Watkins is a diamond in the rough type of pitcher and that requires some faith and a big dose of hope. That doesn’t play in trade discussions I don’t think so he’ll be in Baltimore whether he’s good or bad.

I agree. I’m really hoping he’s successful.

I’m putting too much weight on his April/May stats it looks like. He has gotten better as the season progressed.

It’s always the guys you least expect that come up and do well...Means, Watkins, Valdez...meanwhile guys we had high hopes for like Kremer, Akins, Lowther have all been awful. Then of course there’s Zimmermann who looked like John Means 2.0 in ST and got me dreaming of a local lefty in the rotation and then as soon as the big lights came on he crapped the bed. I don’t expect the Watkins success story to last but I’m appreciating it while it’s here.

To be clear, I’m not criticizing the Kjerstad pick. No one knew he’d develop myocarditis. I was hoping for a different approach this year to maximize the likelihood of having a successful pick which generally means best available.

Ugh, I actually really dislike the pick. I was hoping they wouldn’t get cutesy like they did last year. Our number 2 pick from last year is already a whiff, it’s gonna really set this whole rebuild back if this draft doesn’t pan out and by not picking best player available you’re placing risky bets. Not what I wanted to see personally...but whatever. We went from a glut of promising OF prospects to almost none so I can’t hate on a college OF bat I guess.

By young guys I meant players who aren’t the has been/proven to be terrible variety

I know we don’t know how the Watkins experiment will unfold but I will say this...if we’re gonna watch a bunch of garbage SP I’d rather see young guys trying to establish themselves over guys like Harvey and Lopez.

Sometimes it feels like we’re always “2-3 years away”. Time is a mental construct and we’re forever expected to chase that dangling carrot. But yeah, I’m on board that if next year is not a transitional year then this has gone on too long and has the whole forever rebuild vibe to it.