TheWall
-
Posts
961 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by TheWall
-
-
Awesome stuff! Can't wait to listen. Thanks for sharing!
-
1
-
-
15 minutes ago, Chaka Garcia said:
Got to trust Elias based on the results. However, Bradfield might be his first draft flop. Based on Bradfield quotes from Spring Training, not adapting to club suggestions (maybe I misread) and the early results. For me, I don’t see the projections that we saw in Cowser or Westburg who were underrated.
We drafted him for his elite speed and defense. If the bat plays - he could be a star. If not, he could still be a useful piece. You don't see the same projections from Cowser, Westburg or Kjerstad because those were bat-first players. There's a reason we're having trouble finding space for guys like Kjerstad and Norby.
Also you're going to say it might be his first draft flop after 13 games at A+? Wild.
-
3
-
-
1 minute ago, Just Regular said:
Sig was a guest later on the show, and shared during the Royals series he and Bill James met up to watch one of the games.
That would be a pretty great spot to be one row in front!
Yeah, he posted on Twitter about how cool it was to watch the game with one of his heroes. Pretty awesome for him.
-
4 minutes ago, now said:
Interesting to see Elias's draft pecking order playing out in the priority of new additions to the roster. Heavily leaning on the #1's, while the others wait in line.
Observe the departed ones too (Ortiz, Hernaiz), lower down the ranks (and expect Mayo to be the exception). Granted, Stowers already had his initial shot too, but now sits in limbo. BTW, I notice both Mountcastle and Akin were former round 2's, and Hays and Baumann "suspects" at round 4.
I think you'd see a much stronger correlation to how they were rated in the minors vs. draft position. Westburg has been treated similarly to Cowser and Kjerstad. Adley, Gunnar and Holliday were all consensus #1 prospects and have been given pretty much immediate every day player status.
-
7 minutes ago, interloper said:
Good post and I basically agree with everything. I will quibble with Norby - I think he is a little better OF than people might think. Think Holliday at 2B - room for improvement, but plenty capable. The second Hays goes down with an injury, it's Norby I'm calling up, not Kjerstad, to provide that RH OF bat.
I haven't watched enough of Norby to know how good he is in the OF. I just know he has limited experience thus far. Glad to hear.
-
4 minutes ago, Orioles0615 said:
While I agree. I do wonder what the ponint of Mateo is when he doesn't actually steal. He just dances around the base like Freddy Astaire
He's been hitting LHP pretty well in '23 / '24. He's a pretty damn useful bench player given our roster construction.
-
The idea that we have 4 players "ready" to be promoted is probably flawed to begin with. Mayo is still striking out a ton and doesn't have a position that he can play at a Major League level. He's an awesome prospect, but he needs more time before he can come in and contribute to a winning team.
Stowers could be promoted, but beyond his early power surge he's batting .263 with a .333 OBP. I'm not entirely convinced he'll ever be an above average Major League regular. I don't think he provides anything over the options we currently have on the roster.
Norby's bat seems ready, but he's defensively limited. They've been trying to give him reps in the OF, but I doubt he's ready to play there regularly. He could hypothetically be used as a DH against LHP for now, but we might be better off letting him get more comfortable in LF / RF.
Kjerstad is the most ready to help right now, but he's blocked by Santander, O'Hearn and Cowser. We could move on from Urias, but that would limit our ability to use Mateo as a pinch runner. Would probably make more sense to bring up Norby in that case to give us more defensive flexibility. I do think it's possible that he could be better than some of our regulars by the end of the season, but it's a really tough call to move on from one of those guys on take away their ABs for a rookie. I was worried about a similar situation with Cowser, but he seized the opportunity when Hays started slow.
-
3
-
-
Just now, DirtyBird said:
Hays was benched.
Santander should spend more time there also.
If Santander gets more days off it's likely to result in Hays playing more.
-
3 hours ago, emmett16 said:
Are you comparing a guy that put up 7.9 WAR in his age 24 season after putting up 6 WAR in less than a season and a half before that to a guy that played 68 games at a 1.2WAR pace in his age 24 season?
I love Westy but I don’t think his comp is a guy who has an outside shot at the HOF.
We don't know if Westburg is an everyday player in 2 years (a lot depends on Mayo's 3B defense). I hope he turns into Bregman, but I'm not even sure if his own family is expecting that.
-
1 hour ago, Since1984 said:
Said in the offseason that Westburg is one of the good extendable options at a good price!
Really itching to get his age 31-35 seasons locked in? I really doubt there is much value there. He's not a free agent until 2030.
-
7 minutes ago, Bird Lady said:
You would think that eventually, Elias will step in. He did draft these kids to upgrade his baseball team. Until then Hyde has the leeway and the stubborn desire to dance with the ones that brought him. I like Austin Hays, but he looks awful at the plate right now.
Hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty confident that Hyde and Elias are on the same page the vast majority of the time.
-
3
-
-
Just now, ChuckS said:
If it wasn't already apparent, this is written evidence that Cowser is a fourth OF until further notice. Not a platoon guy, not a 3-4 game a week starter.
Expect him to start 1-2 times a week tops until there is an injury to an outfielder, Mountcastle, or O'Hearn.
Anyone thinking that Cowser would be a 3-4 game a week starter coming into the year was very misguided.
-
5 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:
I'm not sure if you live in the market place or how many games you attend or if you have considered how the Orioles success (or lack of it) impacts the business community downtown. But I absolutely want the Orioles to operate in a way that considers their customers.
That does not mean that they should/could do EVERYTHING that the fans want. But they should be operating in a way that is fan friendly and is with the mindset of growing the fanbase. Baseball as a sport has an aging fanbase. I hope they are trying to figure out how to gain the attention/interest of people who are under the age of 40 (which I am not).
The other sports franchise in the market definitely makes decision (not all and maybe not most) with it's fans/customers in mind. And it has certainly benefited them in terms of fan interest, attendance, etc.
I live in the city. I went to 15+ home games last year. I've been at every home playoff game since 2012.
I know Holliday has been hyped, but I can promise you right now that all of the people freaking out about him not being on the Opening Day roster are not people the Os are at risk of losing as fans. Holding him down for a few weeks for a shot at additional service time will have an absolutely negligible impact on attendance this year or overall fan support.
I also disagree with the idea that the Ravens make personnel decisions based on what fans want.
-
1
-
-
12 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:
The fans.
Holiday has been hyped by the sport (not just our local market but much of the MLB marketing machine) all offseason. And then to be told a week before opening day, "sorry sport nice try maybe next time" is not the best way to treat the fans if you want to grow your customer base, especially given the history of this org in the last 30 or so years.
That doesn't really answer my question, but I will say that I 100% do not want Elias making decisions based on what the fans / customer base wants.
-
2 minutes ago, Gurgi said:
I was hoping with the sale of the Orioles the days of them being cheap ........ would be over. I dont want to see Mateo, Urias, Wong or McKenna. All these guys are just AAAA types. Bring up the kids and lets start rocking.
But no be have to be losers again.
Just to clarify - are they losers even if they win games?
-
3 minutes ago, SilverRocket said:
The cutoff is that if he's down long enough that the team would get the extra year, then he doesn't qualify for the pick.
I'd rather have a shot at an additional year of Holliday vs. a shot the pick anyway, but it's definitely disappointing that they aren't bringing up any of the new young guys except for Cowser. He can play CF, so I don't really understand what value McKenna provides unless they honestly plan on starting him against LHP. I would much rather just give Stowers an early season audition, but we know our front office doesn't believe in reverse splits.
-
1 hour ago, sevastras said:
Doesn’t matter that he is 20. Some of the best players debuted younger than he is.
I think one of the more important things to watch for other than the number of at bats is if he is getting those at bats vs the major league pitchers at the beginning of the game.
Im guessing most would take Holliday at 2B over Frazier or Odor.The list of players I would take over Frazier or Odor isn't exactly short.
-
1
-
-
25 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:
Austin Hays was on the All-Star team.
Austin Hays will also very likely be included in an updated version of this article in the next five years.
https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/the_worst_mlb_all_stars_of_all_time/s1__24317707#slide_20
Needless hyperbole is fun I guess? Hays was great in the first half last year. He was a very deserving All Star isn't even close to the worst Oriole that has made that team in the last decade.
-
2
-
-
4 minutes ago, ThisIsBirdland said:
This Witt structure may very well be the only way to get Boras clients to agree to the long-term deals.
Buy 3 additional years of control (7 total) by offering an additional 4 years of player opt outs at the current market rate as security for the player.
Not sure it's the right long-term strategy for the team or not. As a fan I'd like to see it (hey, it's not my money) but I can't say I'd blame the team if they didn't think that trade-off was necessarily worth it. It might just be better to negotiate a more conventional extension once these guys hit FA.
A conventional extension would be dramatically more expensive if Witt continues on his current trajectory.
31 minutes ago, ThisIsBirdland said:Yeah makes sense. So it will almost certainly either be:
- 7/$141m
- 11/$281m
That puts a tremendous burden on the team if he underachieves or gets hurt. Not sure why they decided to tack on those three team options, tbh.
I think the 3 team options helps them hedge the risk a little bit and there is no downside. Witt is only extending the deal to 11/$281M if he's not playing up to expectations. If rebounds during those last 4 years the team might want to lock him down for additional years at these $ amounts negotiated in '24 when the average contract amount will likely be dramatically higher 11 years from now.
-
I would be pretty shocked if both Cowser and Kjerstad start the season in the minors.
-
Depth doesn't diminish because players reach the majors.
-
1
-
-
Just now, Bemorewins said:
My point is the spending is all that matters not the size of the city/population/etc.
And everyone else's point is that spending is usually correlated to market size. There are exceptions when particularly rich owners want to infuse additional juice, but expecting that from the outset from a new ownership group will likely leave folks disappointed. The payroll is obviously going to increase, but we have no idea what that means yet.
-
3 minutes ago, orioles22 said:
Just what I think. I liked Ortiz better than Westburg. Perhaps the Brewers did also. I like the trade, but Ortiz could have easily started at second or short for the Orioles in 2024.
I think it's pretty obvious that the Orioles valued Westburg > Ortiz based on how they handled their promotions / playing time.
-
He showed up in some big moments last year when we needed him. Tons of talent. Wishing him the best.
Wednesday Afternoon April 24: Rubber match in Anaheim
in Game Threads
Posted
Gunnar is so incredibly special.