seak05

If you extend Means at this point you're buying out 3 years of arbitration. Not sure why you'd do that if you didn't also intend to buy out at least a couple years of free agency

Independent of anything else, the Orioles going to arbitration with Means and Mancini is completely defensible, and not uncommon. But as a cumulative; with the very small payroll, and the lack of announcers on the road etc...it's yet another point of evidence in the Orioles are cheap bastards narrative

I had thought he was likely to start in Triple-A this year, but after giving him the start last night I'm wondering if he has a real shot at being part of the Orioles opening week rotation

Bauman getting crushed. They aren't missing the fastball

This. Not entirely sure what's going on with the Orioles right field situation right now

Also, not sure what to make (if anything) of the fact that Santander hasn't played the field yet

Seems pretty clear that the Orioles think both Wesburg and Ortiz might be up this year (and not just at the end of it), with Henderson further away.

I'm not really sure any of the Lowther, Akin, Zimmerman, Kremer group "belong" in triple-A. They're all relatively old, and have spent a lot of time at that level. They're either ready for MLB....or they're probably not MLB players. Bradish and Bauman could maybe use more time in Triple-A, but again it's not like they haven't made a good number of starts at that level, and I don't think the Orioles will rush them. If they're on the roster, it's because the team thinks they're ready. I suspect we'll see a lot of piggyback starts in April. I'm curious to see if Bradish makes the team, and I think it would be a surprise if Zimmerman wasn't in the rotation

Owners and players have apparently agreed on a 28 man opening day roster (plus return of the runner starting on 2b in extra innings). Wonder who will be on it?

Have I missed something or has Santander only DH'd? Is this some strategy? An undisclosed injury? Just a random blip of spring training? It just seems odd, all our other OFers and Mancini have all played the field

Angelos wasn't even remotely tight fisted when he bought the team, and he clearly loved baseball. He meddled because he loved, not because he didn't care. As he got older and sicker, the money seemed to dry up. It might be his sons, or that he doesn't have the assets anymore, or he's just bitter

Try fangraphs next time. You have to add in the arbitration eligible players salaries. They have estimates for Means and Mancini included https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/orioles

You all are aware that the orioles projected payroll for 2022 is ~65m right? (Gotta love Chris Davis, maybe he can pitch out of the bullpen). Also Alex Cobb is significantly better then the guys you are mentioning. The chances of any of them giving the orioles 5 consistently decent innings is low

Sure Diaz has the higher ceiling, but has to go play well at Norfolk. The conversation was about who should make the Orioles this year out of spring training, as presumably the 4th OF

But what do you think Diaz provides? At Norfolk McKenna had a higher OPS, higher OBP, higher Avg, and more homers (and McKenna is the best defensive of on the roster)

What is your definition of "real" SS etc? Because if you're talking about a multi WAR player coming to the Orioles you're absolutely talking about a multi year deal, worth well over 10mil a year. Chris Taylor received a 4 year 60 million dollar contract. For what you're talking about you're looking at adding minimum 60mil a year to the payroll each of the next several years, and blocking guys like Westburg and Gunnar.

This one is complex. Basically I agree with you...if the Orioles weren't in the AL East. I think in any other division in baseball the Orioles would have a shot at pushing towards the top of the division. Of the 6 teams in the AL with a 50%* chance or better at the playoffs this year though, 4 are in the AL East. Orioles could theoretically be the 6th or 7th best team in the AL and still finish last in the division *technically the Red Sox are at 49% on fangraphs, but that is pre-Story signing.

Anything anyone ever does has trade-offs., and baseball is no exception. Going from 60 - 75 wins is multiple players on multi-year contracts. At some point that would potentially mean blocking prospects. It also would mean not getting as good of prospects in the draft that could help you in a few years. Even the Yankees have trade-offs. At some point you start to value the short term and trade-off the long term, but the Orioles are probably a year away from that conversation.

Because the product still wouldn't be good, it would just be slightly less bad. And for that slightly less bad, you're losing draft position and pool money. The Orioles have two ML SP around to help the young prospects, and they signed a catcher to presumably do the same for Adley.

The orioles could have spent 30m this winter and they'd still be predicted to finish last in the AL east by a lot. To be competitive they'd have to have bought most of a ML roster this offseason. I want to see the Orioles win, but I don't need them to spend money to lose. Theoretically and hopefully, you'll start to see real talented players emerge from the minors this year. At that point they should start to spend to supplement ie if you have Means, Rodriguez, Hall, you can get one more starter, and a couple bullpen guys

I wouldn't be surprised if Gutierrez and Urias were the starting lf of the infield on opening day, Santander is also in the lineup today. McKenna will probably be on the roster Mountcastle, Mancini, Hays, and Mullins played yesterday. The only likely position player starters we haven't seen yet are Odor and Chirinos

Tony curious if you think Vavra or Ortiz make it to baltimore this year. They're both a little older (and Vavra is already on 40 man). Vavra at least seems to be getting decent amount of playing time Also, tbh, I prefer watching the prospects anyways

There is logic to the orioles not spending on the major league roster The lack of travel for broadcasters though is just cheap, and shows how little they care about the fans. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not even a large cost

Does this seem accurate? ortiz is a major league SS defensively, but might not have the bat westburg is a fringe major league SS defensively due to arm strength, but should have the bat Henderson has potential major league SS tools in terms of range and arm strength, but needs to improve hands/accuracy to stick. And should have the bat (so highest ceiling, but also most likely to have to move out of MI)

If you don’t want to go the ziplock bag route, something like this should fit the requirement https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiLsJ6Wx9T2AhWKr8gKHbYWAb8YABAIGgJxdQ&ae=2&sig=AOD64_3R8UF0Tz9uLJgW4cMXNUAVgKd6kg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjXsJSWx9T2AhXipnIEHd5QCUYQwg96BAgBEEE&dct=1&adurl=