oriole

I was just thinking about how a Means trade would look...I think the earliest realistic year to maybe possibly be competitive is 2023. That would leave us 2 years of Means before he hits free agency. Hopefully our future window of contention is a lot longer than that. With that being said...I don’t think there necessarily a wrong move to make other than trading him for too little right now. If someone comes along and says we’ll give you our two best prospects and they’re slated to be ready 22/23 then I think you gotta just make the trade. But if not then you keep Means and hopefully he is a stable veteran presence by 2023 that can anchor a young pitching staff.

To be honest if either Zimmermann or Cumberland turned out to be any good it would make me really happy. Basically a couple throw in prospects in the O’Day salary dump.

It’s the nihilist in me I suppose but I just can’t get too excited about Bannon and Jones. They’re not really a part of the future but a bridge during the last years of competitive futility that if all goes well might be able to hold a bench job when we’re winning again. Not totally hopeless but these types of players will not be hard to come by when the need arises. Of course with that being said, I’d still rather watch them in place of Franco and Ruiz. Especially Ruiz.

Does anyone actually believe Jones or Bannon will be anything more than utility players? I’m all for bringing them up because I just prefer watching younger players test their skills against the best over watching players that have had a few years to get acclimated and just haven’t. But the question for me remains...are Jones and Bannon just our next Flaherty? And if that’s a reasonable ceiling for either player (with some differences...I’m aware neither will play SS) then in the end, does it really matter if they’re playing in Baltimore or Norfolk other than it’s slightly more interesting to see rookies?

I agree. 2B seems to be a black hole in the lineup and we all know who Ruiz is and what he can do. Valaika hit okay last year and deserves at least a couple weeks of every day play to see if he can get comfortable. Urias is not the answer, I feel like that’s a given.

I went with Zimmermann because I like the hometown story and I want to believe in those 2018 trades but honestly, it’s a toss up. I do believe that it’s probably between Zimmermann and Lowther.

Not to mention hopefully there is a trade at some point of Mancini, Santander, maybe Harvey if he keeps pitching like he did last night...I’d like to believe those guys could hopefully net a 2B or 3B prospect better than Bannon or Jones. Wishful thinking at this point with all things considered but it’s still early in the season ?

I know it’s unlikely but I’d love to see the O’s grab one of the top SS FA this coming offseason. I think next year is probably the first year where .500 is the goal. Then they’d just need to figure out a 2B and 3B and hopefully Adley is the full time C by then. So I’m going to say next year is the first run at winning games with low expectations and go from there. Of course there’s hope we could see a .500 team this year too but that’s wishful thinking.

Long term outlook for a reliever that can’t throw strikes can’t be good. Let’s hope he figures it out by the time the team is competitive again but if not he’s gotta be a low leverage type of reliever when the games matter.

Not til López is gone. I’d much rather see Lowther or any of the other young SP on the 40 man roster than López in the rotation.

Bruce Zimmermann complete game shut out, we won’t need the bullpen ??

I was speaking more so on a team approach than what will win more games. I’ll take whatever approach will win more games when it comes down to it. And I like pitch to contact as long as there’s good defense out there. An out is an out and if I’m watching highlights I’d much rather see some diving plays, slick DP, etc than a K. Makes the game more exciting IMO. But yeah, just win. I figured that was a given when talking up preferred team makeup.

Just a matter of personal preference of course. I think strike outs are collateral damage of swinging for the fences and so it makes the whole approach less exciting overall. Obviously it’s optimal to go with whatever approach gets more total bases over the long haul but little things like putting the ball in play, making the other teams defense work, moving runners up...that sort of thing keeps me engaged in watching the game.

I always love when you’ve got a fast runner on base and he is able to get in the pitchers head. Also, maybe I’m just being cranky or whatever (legit possibility) but if a run is to be scored I’d much rather see something like working a walk, move the runner up, then someone hits a double than an inning of a mix of strikeouts, ground balls into the shift, and a home run.

Lopez is as replaceable as it gets. Maybe it’s too soon for Kremer but he is optionable, a spot is needed, and he has been awful since the start of the spring so it’s not necessarily based on regular season starts.

It’s more exciting IMO. The game right now seems to be K or HR. I’d much rather see a LH hitter attempt to beat the shift by hitting the opposite way than just swinging as hard as possible and hoping it leaves the park. Of course home runs are fun but it’s probably the Buck years that has made me want more small ball. Between Davis, Trumbo, Reynolds...it just got old quick.

If Lopez has another terrible outing I could see them releasing him and bringing up Akin. It would also make sense to option Kremer considering he is doing pretty terrible and it’s not like he had a great spring or anything either. My guess is LeBlanc starts but I’d rather see one of the first two scenarios I mentioned.

I’m a sucker for good defense and pitching. Maybe it’s because of my distaste for the all or nothing approach but offensively I’d love to see a balanced lineup with good OBP skills.

It would be incredibly surprising if they fired him based on his political views. If it was based on tweets he’d have had to post some Josh Hader level tweets to get fired which assuming he isn’t a complete idiot he would probably keep that type of stuff to himself.

I hope it’s McKenna in LF rather than Mountcastle

I’ll admit I’m overly harsh on Stewart. But it felt like every time I would watch him in the OF he would look clueless and it just made me turn on him. When he was drafted as a sneaky quick OF with a good eye and unique batting stance I was actually really looking forward to how his career would unfold. But nothing like a good old fashioned baseball to the noggin to make those good vibes get sour.

I’m gonna be honest...I’ve wanted to see Santander traded since the beginning of last off season. I thought with such a crowded OF and a couple more years before real competitiveness to develop whatever talent we’d get in return for Santander it just made sense to cash in considering no one really thought he’d be a middle of the order bat with a great glove. I’ve since changed my mind and what you said here is exactly why. You can’t count on Hays whatsoever, Mullins seems to be a fourth OF playing over his head right now (I still have high hopes for him personally), Diaz isn’t really a game changing type of prospect, Stewart straight up sucks, and Mountcastle is a DH. I know I’m just repeating what you said but for whatever reason after Hays got hurt yesterday it dawned on me that any depth I thought there was is actually very weak. I’m neutral about a potential Santander trade now. It’s nice having the extra depth even if is another injury prone player. Though if he was traded I wouldn’t be terribly upset.

I’ve gotta go with Mullins but I’m really annoyed with the hamstring tweak today so I might be biased. Hays just can’t stay healthy and that’s not going to get better with age.

“Yet” was short lived

I’ve been a huge Hays fan but I think it’s time I get used to the fact that he isn’t a part of the future. Dude can’t even run the bases without getting injured