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It’s worth noting that whenever Elias makes a trade, it’s not for anyone we’re discussing. It’s also worth noting that he hasn’t been in the market for a solid major league return since he’s been GM. But it would not surprise me whatsoever if whoever we end up seeing in Baltimore is not on any of our radars.

Anyone kinda wish the O’s would bow out at this point? Cease is an okay pitcher but nothing particularly special and the White Sox are being dumb by pretending he is worth half of what they’re asking for. It seems like either this trade won’t get done or the O’s will end up overpaying like crazy for him. I hope Elias is using this public Cease discussion as leverage to get another pitcher from someone else.

We have no 1B prospects coming up (unless you count Mayo, but I don’t just yet) and we have Ryan Mountcastle written in that spot with little to no reason to believe that will change any time soon.

I agree. I think it was prudent to keep both and true to Elias’ tendency to be extremely risk averse. I hope to see him traded though. I’d prefer to keep Mateo as the utility guy, but I’m alright with either one leaving.

I hope it’s Holliday at 2B, Westburg at 3B and Urias is off the roster. Otherwise, it’s highly likely to be Westburg at 2B and Urias at 3B.

It’s reads like his agent wrote it. It did warm me up to the idea of him as a possibility though. I would hope that if Manaea is the type of target they’re going after, that maybe more than one starter is added. I’d hate to say after one of the best seasons in O’s history that the offseason approach was a couple low floor, low ceiling crapshoot signings.

Absolutely 100% Right now the 5th starter is a toss up between Irvin and Wells. Considering how shaky the bullpen is, I think Wells is necessary to help navigate through the season. He might be a pretty good starter for half a season, but I think he could be a well above average bullpen arm for an entire season. Irvin is a good mop up guy and emergency starter. I can’t imagine things are going well if he is getting regular starts. The goal should be formulating a rotation that keeps Irvin out of the rotation all summer and only use Wells as needed. Kremer is good enough as a 5th starter (though I wouldn’t be opposed to upgrading his spot either). I think he is good enough that we could entice a club to part with a higher ceiling SP for him as a major league piece in a larger trade package. What type of SP could be had for Kremer and a couple prospects outside our top 5?

Gonna have to agree to disagree on that one I suppose. I’m sure better packages have been proposed but the White Sox have said no. Cease is hardly worth going after IMO just based on how much the White Sox seem to think he’s worth.

I think the package you’re suggesting is very far fetched. There are 28 teams out there that can, and would, beat that with ease. You will need at least one of our top 5. My point was that the WS would want more than one of our top 5 and likely someone in top 6-10 in addition. Id offer something like Cowser, Kremer, and someone between our 10-20 and let them say no and then move on.

Does Westburg have comparable value to either of those two? I doubt it. It sounds like even Cowser or Kjerstad would be too low for Cease. WS would want both. They won’t get it, but that’s my understanding of how highly they value Cease.

I think he’d have to pitch really well alongside a significant need in Baltimore for it to happen. Not impossible, but I doubt it. Maybe a late season call up?

I kept every prospect around except Mayo and signed one major free agent which is a glaring need on a team with payroll space. I think if those moves were made, we’d see an above average rotation, above average defense, and possibly a very dynamic offense. Maybe you look for a veteran part time DH type player? I dunno. Not sure why you think it’s that bad of an approach.

Only the hugest lol

Kremer, Santander, Mayo for Logan Gilbert It gives the M’s the DH/COF they’re looking for, a formidable back end starter to replace Gilbert, and a very good prospect that is close to being major league ready. The difference in Santander and Gilbert’s arbitration pay (using MLBTR estimates) is $7.8m…so its adding a little to the M’s payroll but they just cleared some space and it’s still good value for Santander. It upgrades Kremers spot in the rotation for the O’s and frees up some money to throw at Jordan Montgomery in FA. Mayo doesn’t have a spot in Baltimore and he’s pretty much ready. He is a great candidate to cash in on his prospect value IMO. It’s possible something else may need to be added for the M’s to make the deal, but probably nothing anywhere near our top 10. Rotation Montgomery, Gilbert, Bradish, Rodriguez, Means Lineup looks something like CF Mullins L C Rutschman S SS Henderson L 1B Mountcastle R DH Kjerstad L LF Hays R RF Cowser L 3B Westburg R 2B Holliday L I fully concede that none of that is happening, just having fun.

Yea, that was me that made the Mateo/SF connection based on the MLBTR post about SF looking for a SS. It’s just an example, I don’t think Mateo has trade value. I would be interested in trading Mateo just so he is off the team.

I think the Orioles are a better team without him and I don’t think that any team would give up a player that has a reasonable shot at making it to MLB. Go look at SF top 30, all of those guys are too good to trade for Mateo. Mateo can be a good pinch runner and defensive sub but after watching him with the mental miscues late in the season last year, I don’t know if he has what it takes to thrive in a part time role. I’d rather Ortiz be the utility infielder.

I’m afraid that both Urias and Mateo will likely be a big part of that equation. My guess is 2B Urias, SS Henderson, 3B Westburg with Mateo as utility/PR. I don’t think it’s reasonable to think any other prospect has a chance unless there are trades. Holliday or Mayo does not exist on a roster that also includes Urias/Mateo.

The first player I thought of when I saw that was Mateo. Obviously not getting much back for him, but even just getting him off the roster is a plus at this point. Not sure why or how he didn’t get non-tendered.

Those aren’t guaranteed contracts. We could just as easily DFA any of those players with pretty minimal obligation to them.

Even top prospects fail. Look at any top 100 list from the past and it’ll be littered with guys who were never able to make that jump. If we’re looking at the Rangers, then it’s worth noting they also have a healthy amount of proven major league players in conjunction with those rookies. The Orioles have some veterans but they’ve also got a tremendous amount of unknowns. We’re looking at a team that is going to put about 4 rookies into the lineup every night. Not to mention the rotation is a bunch of high ceiling but unproven starters and injury risks. There needs to be an anchor and you’re going to need to overpay to get them. I’m just trying to be realistic as to what it will cost to get a SP. Valdez is not a number 1, but that what makes him attainable at all. No one is going to trade a quality pitcher for our spare parts even if our spare parts are relatively good prospects. Plenty of other teams can match someone like Ortiz. Can they match Mayo? We could, and there’d still be a full infield of young players with high ceilings on the team in 2024.

You worried Angelos won’t have enough to eat or something? I assure you, he’ll be just fine.

Ortiz, Beavers, and Norby is way too light. I think that the price of business in MLB is just crazy high. Free agents are getting stupid contracts and it will take a lot of prospects to make a trade happen. I think the best team is going to be one with a mix of quality veterans and high upside younger players. Right now the O’s are leaning excessively heavy on the latter while also having enough prospects that there’s too many to have playing time for everyone. Sitting around and refusing to meet the demands is negligent. I wouldn’t give up Mayo AND Basallo for Valdez, but one of them seems reasonable to me considering they’re not likely to help significantly in the next couple years and the next couple years really should be about getting a World Series, not fielding half an active roster that have barely gotten their feet wet. Also, it’s worth mentioning that while you may call my trade idea as the height of stupidity, an Astros fan would call a return of what you suggest the exact same thing. It’s all relative, we like our guys, right? Well, too much weight shifted on your own guys is a good way to end up doing nothing at all.

Valdez is at the top of my list. Seems like a win-win if Houston is willing to take prospects over major league talent. There’s an enormous need for a quality starter on this team and if we lose a couple of the top 10 prospects, we’d still have one of the better farm systems. Cowser, Beavers, Povich? Mayo, Ortiz, McDermott? Basallo, Norby, Johnson? I dunno, any of those trios would be good for both teams I think.

He’s got an option, can’t be mad about it. Underwhelming, but most everything this front office does is underwhelming at first glance.

Because he totally invests an appropriate amount that he gets back into the payroll. Totally.