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Brooks The Great last won the day on November 14 2014
Brooks The Great had the most liked content!
About Brooks The Great
- Birthday 03/13/1981
Personal Information
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Location
Perry Hall, MD
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Homepage
https://edjacatedphools.com/
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Occupation
band manager / sports writer / editor
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Favorite Current Oriole
Cedric Mullins
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Favorite All Time Oriole
Brooks Robinson
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Brooks The Great's Achievements
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2023 #7 Prospect Enrique Bradfield Jr. - CF
Brooks The Great replied to Tony-OH's topic in Orioles Talk
Welcome to Orioles Hangout, where a bunch of trolls and losers with too much time on their hands will read too much into one word or sentence (if not completely misunderstand what you write or just be flat out wrong about what they think) that you post and go to war with you over it. I completely understood what you meant about Mullins/Bradfield and it's a completely reasonable thought, by the way. But only here will you unwillingly get into an argument with someone over the semantics or interpretation of it. -
10 days left in ST. Here are the battles:
Brooks The Great replied to wildcard's topic in Orioles Talk
It doesn't really matter what other teams do, because very few teams have 3 potential starting infielders (Gunnar, Westburg, Urias) that are all capable of playing 2B, SS, and 3B like the Orioles do. That versatility is what will make it possible for Wong to make the team as a backup 2B specialist, for lack of a better term. Mateo being able to play CF makes McKenna very close to obsolete, especially if Cowser makes the team, which I expect he will. -
10 days left in ST. Here are the battles:
Brooks The Great replied to wildcard's topic in Orioles Talk
I disagree with pretty much everything you said. No, Wong is not blocking Holliday because Wong would not be playing every day. He'd just be a backup 2B. A bench 2B isn't ever what Holliday's role would be on this team. Wong would be blocking Holliday if the team awarded the starting 2B job to Wong and sent down Holliday as a result. But that's not what would be happening. WESTBURG is technically blocking Holliday. Urias is also indirectly blocking Holliday, much more so than Wong is. Wong would not be blocking Holliday whatsoever. That's not subjective, that would be the truth if the scenario of Holliday starting the season in AAA winds up occuring. Sending Holliday back to the minors is a move to win as well, because doing so nets the team an additional season of control which will more easily help the Orioles build a winning roster in that future season. Elias truly wants to win by keeping Holliday down, he's just willing to sacrifice 2 weeks up to a few months in order to do so. It would be a cost-benefit analysis calculation where Elias feels the organization wins by making that decision, if that's the decision he winds up making. If Holliday gets sent to AAA, that won't be the reason an extension doesn't get signed. -
10 days left in ST. Here are the battles:
Brooks The Great replied to wildcard's topic in Orioles Talk
He's the backup 2B. He would play very occasionally against RHP. If the team feels Mateo can play CF adequately as the 3rd/4th CF on the depth chart behind Mullins, Hays, and Cowser, then McKenna gets DFA'd (as he should). -
10 days left in ST. Here are the battles:
Brooks The Great replied to wildcard's topic in Orioles Talk
Frazier and Odor were worse because Westburg was blocked by both and would have been a significant upgrade to both (Odor only really blocked Westburg for 2 months or so, but it may have made a difference in the Orioles making the playoffs). Wong won't be playing every day and he won't be blocking anyone, not even Holliday, because Holliday would be getting sent to the minors primarily due to service time considerations. -
2023 #7 Prospect Enrique Bradfield Jr. - CF
Brooks The Great replied to Tony-OH's topic in Orioles Talk
Bradfield is certainly in the most ideal development system as a hitter from an analytics and coaching standpoint. As an aside, I think Kenny Lofton should be a Hall of Famer. I know some people have brought up Lofton as a comp for Bradfield. I think there are much more likely outcomes where he's Michael Bourn or Terrance Gore. Guys who have value, but maybe not at #17 in the first round given there were other players with premium talent and upside available (Nimmala, Brock Wilken, Colt Emerson, Colin Houck, Chase Davis). To me, the Bradfield pick was the first time Elias specifically drafted for positional need, as the organization is obviously lacking CF depth at all levels. -
10 days left in ST. Here are the battles:
Brooks The Great replied to wildcard's topic in Orioles Talk
I agree with this. And I think Wong has a better chance than most O's fans expect/want. Wong fills the crappy veteran 2B role previously held by Adam Frazier and Rougned Odor because of "experience", except he'd fill it in a backup capacity instead of as a regular strong-side starter. -
MLB Spring Breakout game tonight at 7 on MLB Network
Brooks The Great replied to fansince1988's topic in Orioles Talk
It's all about injuries with pitchers. And a majority of them get hurt. Stephen Strasburg had the same amount of hype - even more so - and he may have actually wound up one of the best pitchers in decades if it hadn't been for injuries. I still remember watching Strasburg's first start, he was absolutely electric. -
There certainly is a way the move is made in less than a month or two. If Gunnar were to get hurt in late April, for example, then Holliday would be called up. So I completely disagree with you when you say there's no way the move is made in a month or two if Holliday begins the season in the minors. But yes, barring injuries, it will be longer than two weeks. If the IF group of Gunnar, Westburg, and Urias stays healthy, there's a possibility Holliday gets the Gunnar treatment. Late August callup in order to preserve his rookie eligibility to have a better chance to place in the top 3 ROY vote-getters in 2025. Which is another secondary - yet not totally insignificant - factor that people who think Jackson is making the OD roster may not be considering.
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It's never an exact date - the date changes from season to season because it's based on the top 22% in service time of the players eligible. But it's usually in June.
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If they keep him down for 2 weeks, and the team is off to a good start and healthy, I think they would keep him down even longer to surpass the Super 2 deadline.
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Yes he does. An extra year of Holliday is extremely valuable to any organization, especially this one. If Holliday gets sent down, that'll be the reason. I think it's quite possible that I'm wrong and he makes the team (with no injuries or trades), but I think Elias will ultimately feel that using Westburg at 2B and Urias at 3B for 1-2 months will be worth gaining the extra year of Holliday.
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Mayo and Kjerstad are still playing regularly, but they're most likely not making the team. I think Holliday starts the season in AAA. The service time consideration is the #1 factor with him which will keep him from the Opening Day roster in my opinion. He'll be sent down in the final cuts, but he'll make the team if Gunnar, Westburg, or Urias get hurt, or if Urias gets traded. So he'll be playing regularly until the end of spring training.
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We're getting to the point where regulars are going to be starting most of the rest of the way for spring training, so I think Westburg starting at 2B today was telling. Elias and Hyde are clearly in love with Urias and Mateo, and Urias/Mateo are going to make the team. In my opinion, that's more of a certainty right now than Holliday making the team. It's been Elias's MO to hold on to mediocre veteran favorites he acquired off the scrap heap until the bitter end, whether they're free agent signings or waiver wire/Rule V dumpster dive claims. Odor, Frazier, Voth, Baker, Mateo. O'Hearn will probably wind up in that group this season. Urias is an exception as a waiver wire claim that has provided considerable value exceeding any of those in that aforemetioned group. However, he's a veteran, and he's an Elias/Hyde favorite. He's making the team, and I believe Mateo is as well. Having both of those guys on the team makes less sense if Holliday is the OD 2B, although Mateo could theoretically function as a backup SS/5th OF if Cowser makes the team (which I believe he should, and will) and McKenna is DFA'd. Not only that, but Elias will usually elect to delay starting service time clocks as long as he can, and as often as he can. I disagree with how long Elias has stuck with mediocre vets, but there's certainly a case to be made for keeping Holliday and any elite prospect in Baltimore as long as possible, especially with Boras as Holliday's agent. If there are no injuries to the infielder group of Gunnar, Westburg, and Urias, then I expect that Elias is going to send down Holliday to AAA in order to gain an additional year of service time. Westburg deserves a shot at regular playing time, and he's going to finally get it. And Urias is going to get a good amount of at bats until Holliday gets called up to play everyday - unless Urias gets traded before Opening Day. Mayo is essentially in the same boat as Holliday, and I believe he's just as MLB-ready as Holliday is. I've thought Holliday was going to start the year at AAA since the end of last season. I still believe that to be the case. Ortiz getting traded significantly increased the chances of Holliday heading north with the team, but at this point, I think only an injury or an additional trade makes it happen. I could certainly be wrong though, and would be glad to see Jackson play every day at 2B starting Opening Day. But ultimately, I think having the extra year of Holliday is the best-case scenario for the organization.