luismatos4prez

I'm with you Roy. I watched every at bat that Stevie Wilkerson, Pat Valaika, and Dwight Smith Jr. took for this team. This young, fun, talented team is our reward and I'm enjoying every second. But even if they still stunk, I'm not going anywhere. Don't forget, you're here forever.

+10 defense for me. 10 runs is 10 runs. But on defense, I think there's a small, hidden bonus in there of getting pitchers off the field, keeping them healthy, and keeping them pitching with confidence.

Reminds me of Miguel Gonzalez, who came out of nowhere to be a major contributor to some playoff runs. I doubt he ends up as a rotation mainstay. But I was certain O'Hearn would turn into a pumpkin after a few weeks too and he still hasn't.

He's faced 21 batters in 2024. 11 Ks, 3 hits (all singles), 0 BBs. Outstanding acquisition so far.

Camden Chat $30,000 is crazy cheap for Tony's #12 prospect in a great system. He's ahead of Jackson Baumeister who went to FSU, got drafted in the 2nd round, and got a 1.6M bonus. It happens though. Elly de la Cruz signed for only $65,000. This stuff happens when you participate in this market.

"Skip, I've already thrown 130 pitches and this is my first start since Tommy John. And we're already up 18 runs. Are you sure I should go back out there for the 8th?" "Dang it Brnovich we need this win. The people of Bowie need this win. You go out there and shove until I tell you to stop."

The box score says Kyle Brnovich threw 142 pitches in 8 IP. Obviously wrong, but I love the thought of Bowie riding a guy who just came back from TJ surgery like it's Game 7 of the WS for a random game in April. https://www.milb.com/gameday/fightin-phils-vs-baysox/2024/04/06/751157/final/box

I'm not infatuated with Norby. People talk like he dominated AAA last year. I'm just scouting the stat line, but he had a 109 wRC+ which is solid but nothing to write home about for a bat-first prospect. Guys like Stowers and Ortiz outhit him. Trade Norby for a RP somewhere. Mayo, otoh, is a stud. Can't wait for him to be in Baltimore.

Ah, I hadn't seen that. He's out then. Worst time to get it, too. He's basically out for 2 years. I'll add Wandisson Charles to the Names to Watch category on the off chance he learns how to throw strikes. 1 IP 2 K 0 BB in his first outing of the year tonight.

I'm only working with Rule 5 eligible players. Holliday technically doesn't have to be protected for like 3 more years. But of course he'll be on the roster well before next winter.

I'll be using this thread to predict 40-man roster adds next winter. I've gotten the adds right 2 years straight, hoping to make it 3. Link to last year's thread. I'll check in every month or so to see where things stand. Here's where I see things now before the minor league season starts. Tony's prospect ranking in parentheses: Locks: 1. Coby Mayo (3) 2. Chayce McDermott (9) 3. Connor Norby (11) 4. Cade Povich (13) Unlikely: 5. Brandon Young (30) 6. Jean Pinto (33) 7. Keagan Gillies (34) 8. Hudson Haskin (36) 9. Justin Armbreuster (46) 10. John Rhodes (48) Other eligible names to watch: Maverick Handley (49), Billy Cook (40), Garrett Stallings (70), Kyle Brnovich, Carter Baumler (22) - This year is unique in that there are 4 guys that I would be stunned if they didn't make it and then a bunch of long shots. There aren't any bubble cases for me right now. Maybe someone will play themselves up or down into the bubble as the season goes on. I expect Mayo to be added during the season and Norby to be traded. McDermott is pretty likely to pitch out of the bullpen at some point, too. Any predictions or guys I missed?

He won WS MVP for Florida in 03 as well. Big time clutch pitcher.

It's far from a lock Jackson wins ROY even if he is as good as advertised. Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford are studs. DraftKings has the odds at Holliday +250 Carter +300 Langford + 550 (Kjerstad is listed as 9th at +2200)

I've said this before but there are many teams in baseball where Westburg would be the most exciting young player on the team. And he's an afterthought here. Not that people think badly of him, it's just Adley, Gunnar, and Holliday are objectively more exciting. It really speaks to the job Mike and co have done.

I got 0.5% combined with the Orioles row which I'm proud of. I went with Zack Britton (.300 hitter), Will Clark (10 HR), and the vulture himself Mike Baumann for 10 wins. Will Clark was a riskier pick than I realized (had 10 exactly), but it worked out.

If the wildcard game is at home, I'd take that. Maybe I'm getting spoiled, but both would be disappointing outcomes. Bad times will come again for this franchise, I feel urgency to do well now when the team is so young and talented.

I trust Tony's opinion way more than the others. 1. Holliday 2. Basallo 3. Mayo is clear to me. Outside of that it gets murkier. I think Basallo has a clear chance to be our 4th straight #1 overall prospect next year. The list of catchers who made the majors by age 22 this century is short and mostly perennial all-stars (Yadi, Brian McCann, Mauer, Salvador Perez). Basallo absolutely raked in A+ with great plate discipline in his age 18 season while playing purportedly strong defense at catcher. That's really rare. He'd be a Top 100 prospect if he had David Ortiz's defensive skills imo. That he can catch on top of that?! That being said, it wasn't that big of a sample. But I'm excited to see what he does in Bowie this spring. We have a potentially really special lineup forming with these prospects and the organization's current development abilities.

I was so close today! I tried to do all former Orioles for fun and I missed one. Jon Schoop / X / Jorge Lopez Roberto Alomar / Adam Jones / David Hernandez Hanser Alberto / David Lough / Bruce Chen Apparently Delmon Young exclusively played LF/DH for the Twins. Who would've thought? They didn't even give him an inning in RF.

9/9, 61 today Danny Valencia (0.6%), Pat Dobson (2%), Curt Schilling (0.6%) Rich Hill, Bob Feller, Nap Lajoie Jim Thome, Mark Buerhle, Ken Griffey Jr. Love when the Orioles show up.

Small-market NL Teams kill me, I only got 7 today (223) Ben Revere, Alex Cobb, Ji-Man Choi Caleb Joseph, Steve Finley, X Rajai Davis, Edgar Renteria, X I need to memorize more guys like Chris Owings and Jordan Lyles who bounced around small-market teams.

9/9, 98 today Steve Finley, Jeremy Pena, Framber Valdez Rickey Henderson, Easton Lucas, Catfish Hunter Adrian Gonzalez, Jarren Duran, Hideo Nomo -- Really pleased with my Easton Lucas pull, .04% so far. Red Sox no-hitter triggered a couple bad memories.

9/9, 139 today Matt Carpenter, Marcel Ozuna, Stan Musial Sonny Gray, Pablo Lopez, Luis Arraez Andruw Jones, Mike Piazza, Jackie Robinson I get 9/9 roughly 2/3 of the time these days. I sometimes struggle with categories like Saves, Wins, Gold Gloves, and small market NL teams. I love when an Oriole bird pops up. I used Andrew Velazquez (NYY), Miguel Castro (TOR), and Ty Wigginton (All-Star) earlier this week and got under 1% for all of them. 3 useful facts I heard a while back and remembered: Cesar Izturis played for every NL Central team. Mark McLemore played for every AL West team. Steve Finley played for every NL West team (plus Baltimore and Houston of course). I use those guys a lot. Rich Hill and Rickey Henderson are very useful, too. People have mentioned Edwin Jackson too but I can't remember for the life of me where he pitched.

High Desert?! I had to Google that one. Apparently they were our A-Ball affiliate in the Mojave Desert from 95-96.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL201907170.shtml

As someone who watched every game through the dog days of the rebuild, I remember him. He mowed down our lineup a couple times for the Nats during those years. His overall ML numbers were bad, but 180 IP with a 2 ERA in Korea is impressive stuff last year. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL202206210.shtml https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL202206210.shtml