oriole

Too much depends on player development but it’s not that crazy to think this team could get a lot better really quick. There just needs to be some big strides in the pitching department. Also at least a couple notable FA should be signed if there’s any plans on winning.

I’m hoping they at least go for a more advanced player. High school players are nice and all but it’d be cool if whoever they pick has a chance at not being too terribly far behind the rest of the prospects we’re all hoping contribute to a competitive Orioles team.

The O’s seem to have very little in the pipeline regarding 3B. Bannon isn’t it, my understanding is Nevin is an eventual 1B only, maybe they could reach down to AA and believe in Patrick Dorrian but he can’t hit LHP it seems. Probably gonna be a lot crap thrown out there after the Franco trial expires (hopefully it expires) just to see who sticks. That’ll include some designated players from other organizations and looks like it starts with Gutierrez

I guess ultimately what I meant is he is gone before the O’s are competitive again. Whether it’s by trade or free agency he is not a player you build around. I do think he’ll be traded and I think it’ll be for a lot less than what we all are hoping for but it would be very surprising to see Mancini on the next playoff roster.

Mancini is gonna be gone, no doubt about it. Strange he’d be mentioned as someone you build around unless Passan has no idea what he’s talking about

Good move finally. Now bring up Jones in place of Wilkerson and literally anyone in place of Franco and I won’t be so annoyed by the losing

I don’t doubt we’ll have good years ahead. Just in the meantime it’d be cool if things were kept interesting. If we’re gonna be bad I’d rather see some green rookies than guys like Eschelman, Harvey, and Franco

Yea you’re right, I’m thinking he pitched Sunday for some reason. You guys are killing me, I’m still pissed it’s Eschelman but you’re all chipping away my reasons lol Still could’ve been Bradish, but it’s whatever at this point. If the O’s want to create a culture of losing every single game then so be it. I just really can’t stand players like Eschelman hanging around.

Well, that certainly changes my perspective a little bit. I didn’t know that. But I stand by most of it...either Wells or Bradish could’ve made the trip. Eschelman is just just a white flag move and after the last few games (or whole season really) I’d have loved to see the organization show any fight whatsoever.

You maximize service time for your big prospects. Bradish easily could have started this game. Wells is an option, he hasn’t done great this year but just had a nice game. Whoever Cameron Bishop is just had a nice game at Bowie and is obviously stretched out to be a starter. There’s a reward to a player who has done well and no one expects anything from. I’m just saying there are other options other than a player we all know is a lock to have an absolutely terrible game and we know this because his time at the big leagues has not been great and he’s having a bad year in the minors. Just a huge red flag for me for how this team is run. Not being good because you’re saving resources for a better time and going out of your way to be bad as possible are two different things. The way Elias is running this team is an insult to baseball just as much as the Yankees and Dodgers outspending everyone year after year. I’m just glad I didn’t have to pay for my MLB.tv subscription. It’s easy enough to just lose interest now

I’m more surprised of the addition of Thomas Eschelman for the start than I am the DFA of Sisco. Moves like this make me reconsider getting myself invested in following baseball. Eschelman has a 6+ ERA and will completely bomb up here and everyone knows it meanwhile there are other options in the organization who worked hard and have gotten positive results and are being passed over all so that the ML team stays as uncompetitive as possible. It’s one thing to rebuild and intentionally tank in theory but when it’s so obvious that losing is the actual goal and moves are made with the explicit intention of losing it’s just bleh...doesn’t feel good as a fan. It’ll be cool when they’re winning again but this is type of crap is bad for baseball.

I think it makes more sense to have leagues divided up geographically. Like we’d play NL East teams just as much as AL East teams and then maybe play Central and West teams in a similar fashion as inter league games. Then you could create two divisions within each East/Central/West league that are divided according to payroll so teams like the Rays are fighting for “divisional titles” vs the lower half and youd have teams like Yankees, Red Sox, Nats fighting it out in their own division. Then divisions could be restructured yearly or something based on the previous years roster budget after the WS. I don’t know, I’ve finished what I’ve sat down to do and I don’t know what stinks more...this idea or the other unmentionable I’ve created in the past 5 minutes of writing this up.

First and foremost hopefully the guy can stay healthy. Not for baseball, but because any heart conditions at his age is worrisome. Secondly and significantly less important I think it’s probably best to count him out and to just pretend he isn’t a part of the future until he’s able to get on the field with a clean bill of health. I think we may have lost our 2020 first round pick but it happens I suppose.

I agree...there’s plenty of up and coming players that could replace what’s on the ML roster without messing up the window on contention regarding service time. I’m talking guys like Lowther, Baumann, Vavra, Cumberland, Jones, even Patrick Dorrian would be more entertaining to watch hit .600 OPS than Franco. None of those players should be held back due to service time issues, they’re having good years and playing positions that a black hole of production on the ML roster. It’s getting late enough in the season to make some changes and Harvey and Franco need to go and Stevie needs to fade into oblivion.

I had actually considered making that distinction when I posted it but a season or “year” is what it is whether it’s shortened or not and didn’t want to get bogged down. But you’re absolutely right in that it’s not at all fair to assume that Santander would’ve been that same hitter over a full season.

I think Santander had a good year last year and we all probably believed he was a great player. Teams probably balked at the asking price over the off season because the truth is he isn’t a great player...solid guy to have on the team but I highly doubt anyone is going to be giving up any top 100 prospects for him. He is absolutely awful at getting on base and has a history of being injured. Would anyone here give up Gunnar Henderson for a player like Santander? I’d hope not

I’d much rather see Lowther out there getting lit up than Matt Harvey at this point.

All really depends what people are offering. If the Rays want to offer up Wander Franco for Means then you do it

I think the prudent thing to do would be to hold off on a trade until the teams own asking price is met. We’re not talking about super stars here. Whether it’s in Baltimore or elsewhere Mullins is a stretch to have any impact anywhere on viewership so I feel like that point is moot.

It’s better for the future if you trade everyone on the major league roster for someone who might help later. That doesn’t mean you should do it though unless the return is equal or greater to your own evaluation of the player. I see no reason to give Mullins away and considering I don’t think you’re implying that they should just give him away I’m having trouble understanding the disconnect here. Mullins should net, IMO, a couple top 10 organizational prospects. That’s because I view him as an everyday CF with excess value based on the amount of control left and he’s cheap right now. If someone doesn’t offer that (and I don’t think they will right now) then I don’t see any reason to trade him.

Agree to disagree then I suppose. I don’t think trading Mullins for anything less than what you’d expect for a GG caliber CF and everyday lead off hitter would be worth it. Any mention of Mullins’ value being tied to merch and season tickets feels disingenuous considering a team in transition like the Orioles are a sum of its parts rather than a few superstars to promote around. Literally no one is going to buy season tickets to see Mullins play except maybe his Mom and Dad.

Just because the O’s are bad doesn’t mean they need to give away players for less than they think the players are worth. I think most teams would value Mullins as much as any young player who had significant struggles but has had a couple months of success. I think to the O’s Mullins is finally reaching his potential that we had all hoped for. He can be a lonesome bright spot in an otherwise completely awful season. If we were trading away good players for whatever teams were offering because we suck anyways then Means would be on the block to the highest bidder with no reserve even if it wasn’t a great offer. I’d like to think Elias won’t be giving anyone of value away just because it’s a rebuilding season. But maybe I’m wrong and we can get a player from a teams top 15-20 for Mullins just because that’s all that’s offered.

I think he’s more valuable to the O’s than any other team. By that I mean the expected return is hopefully high and unlikely to be offered. Though if someone comes at you with a couple top 10 organizational prospects it would be dumb to say no. Im afraid of what CF might look like if Mullins is gone. Hays can’t stay healthy, McKenna can’t hit, and our only other options would be Wilkerson or Diaz.

Yeah, my issue with Hays is that he’s made of glass.

Who’d play CF? Hays? Wilkerson? ? Believe it or not, it can get worse.