luismatos4prez

I prefer Pfizer Pfield.

I have a better chance than GRod of throwing 115 pitches in a game for the Orioles this year.

The argument appears to be that Frazier was good, but now stinks. Consider that he was still worth 1.1 fWAR last year and underperformed his xwOBA by 25 points. He's still a 1.5-2 WAR guy in my book. Or more if he recaptures 2021 form. Should Elias have signed him? Only if a trade is coming from MIF depth as I said before. And even so, it's a questionable use of 8M on a team with an apparently still pathetic budget. But despite all that, Frazier is still a good player.

I don't understand why a 2.4 WAR/yr player with 12.4 career WAR is being discussed as if he's Brandon Fahey. I understand the frustrations over whether he's the best use of 8M, but he is a good player and it's silly to pretend otherwise.

I'll go on the record as saying yes if it comes with a trade from our MIF depth. Put a package like Mateo, Bradish, and Westburg on the market and see what you can get back.

True, but he’s been a 2 WAR per year player over that timeframe despite that. Imagine we needed a 2B (which we don’t). Getting a 2 WAR guy on an 8M deal would be great. People are acting like he’s a scrub, which he isn’t. He’s a good player, just doesn’t seem to fit the Orioles who have Urias, Vavra, Westburg, and Norby. Unless, like others have suggested, a trade is coming for a SP or MOO

I don't understand this signing either, but Frazier is a good player. 2-3 WAR guy over his career. Strong defender at multiple positions and an above average hitter vs RHPs (104 wRC+). Is this the best use of 8M to improve the team? No, I don't think so. We already had a lot of infield depth. But people are acting like we gave Odor 8M. Frazier is a good player.

This is a self-congratulatory post, but I’m pleased I got it right after tracking this all year. Not that the picks were too difficult this year. It will be fun to track again next year

I can't imagine a definition of core that includes Ryan Mountcastle but not Cedric Mullins.

Cedric deserves more respect. 15th OF in baseball by fWAR this year. He may not be a 30/30 guy, but he's a stud.

There have been only 4 catchers selected since 2009, none since 2016. They were worth -1.3, -1.0, -0.9, and -0.2 fWAR respectively in their first ML seasons (all better than Chirinos this year though). The -0.2 was in only 36 PAs. I have a hypothesis that catching at the ML level is significantly more mentally demanding than fans realize. All this doesn't necessarily apply to Handley, but it's a trend. I'd leave him unprotected and let this Cam Gallagher guy back Adley up next year.

The thread is up to date now! I project 5 guys being protected but could be 1 or 2 more. And there is considerable 40-man roster space. There are 12-15 guys on the 40-man roster right now who would not be missed.

End of minor league season thoughts Protect: 1. Grayson Rodriguez 2. Joey Ortiz 3. Drew Rom 4. Seth Johnson 5. Noah Denoyer Don't Protect: 6. Maverick Handley 7. Ignacio Feliz 8. Garrett Stallings 9. Brennan Hanifee 10. Zach Peek - This is my final answer. It was fun to track how the list changed throughout the year in this thread. Joey Ortiz went from bubble to lock and Noah Denoyer went from unknown to protection-worthy. I think I'll start this thread in spring next year to track the rise and fall better. I didn't mention guys like Adam Hall or Robert Neustrom, because I think there's no chance. But, I would have said the same about Logan Gillaspie last year. We'll see if Mike agrees with me or throws another curveball. I still go back and forth on Handley, but ultimately think it's unlikely a team selects a catcher who's never played at AAA. Any disagreements?

September Thoughts No Brainers: 1. Grayson Rodriguez 2. Joseph Ortiz 3. Seth Johnson 4. Drew Rom 5. Noah Denoyer On the Bubble 6. Maverick Handley I'd be stunned: 7. Ignacio Feliz 8. Garrett Stallings 9. Adam Hall 10. Shane Fontana Some of you may disagree about Noah Denoyer being a lock, but he had a great year at Bowie with a lot of strikeouts and low walks. He'll be selected in the Rule 5 if he's not protected. I'm not sure about Handley. I doubt anyone takes a catcher who's never caught at AAA but maybe his defense is special enough to make up for that. I don't think any of us even considered Logan Gillaspie a candidate last year, so who knows?

It’s a very difficult play for the defenders with extreme speed on 3B. If they make an incredible play or get a perfect ball to field, more power to them. Most of the time, they won’t

Terrible pitching by Baker. He had an extreme free-swinger down 0-2 and was just pumping fastballs right over the middle. Did it twice in a row. I'm sure Adley wanted that high.

None of you seem to understand. We're not locked in here with them. They're locked in here with us!

Option A has been eliminated. If you had to choose today, would you pay Lyles 10M for next year or let him walk?

You’re the man, Tony! Thank you for keeping this site going.

Jim Palmer is hysterical. "I don't know if you could make a worse pitch. If you said, I want to throw the worst hanging slider in the history of baseball, you just saw it."

I agree in theory, but I’m worried that Mike is getting addicted to rebuilding. We could compete next year and the year after and Lopez would have helped. Trading an all star closer for a meh return with years of control left doesn’t inspire me that he’s thinking about building a contender.

This is a Bundy-style quantity over quality trade. Unexciting, I thought we'd get more for a controllable all-star closer. At first glance, Povich seems like a Drew Rom level prospect. The two young guys, Nunez and Rojas, have great numbers but are very young and far away. Cano seems like a waiver wire type pickup.

Assume Hays, Mullins, and Stowers is the OF next year. Would you rather have Santander or Mancini at DH? In my mind, they're roughly equal players, except Santander is 3 years younger, has more defensive value, and has 2 years of team control left after this year. Of course, Mike will probably trade Santander tomorrow and make this a moot point.

Gunnar has already spent about equal time in Norfolk as he did in Bowie. With almost equal success. Mike has already implicitly declared that 200 PAs is enough of a sample to deem a player ready for promotion. It's time.

Here's a fun fact: Diaz only recorded one extra base hit in July (on July 3rd) in Norfolk despite getting everyday ABs all month. The only explanations I can think of are Stowers is hurt or Diaz was already here due to some taxi squad situation.