Brooks The Great

Jordan Westburg needs to be playing every day once he's over the undisclosed injury he has. Upgrading over Frazier and reducing at bats for Mateo and Urias is going to make this team better in the playoffs.

I'm a huge Bowman 1st collector as well! Wish Basallo's 1st card had been released last year or earlier this year - I would have been able to pick up a lot more of his 1sts for way cheaper than they'll be!

Webb should have been used in the spot that Hyde went to Lopez. Doing so may have prevented the game from going into extras, although of course it's not certain. I think it was a really poor move to use Lopez in a high leverage situation, and I question Elias bringing Lopez back at all if it's going to put Hyde in situations like last night. This is a playoff run. Bringing Lopez back as a reclamation project would have made sense in 2021, but not this season.

Using Lopez tonight in that spot was terrible. This is another example of Hyde relying on short sample sizes (like he's done with Hicks) and sentimentality over performance and talent. Lopez has been awful all season. He's not the same guy that he was for the Orioles last season, and his previous clean inning doesn't mean that he's a reliable option in a high leverage situation.

Meet me at a game at Oriole Park and we can have an adult discussion. I'll buy you a beer. Otherwise, quit trolling and adding nothing of substance.

No, I'm critcizing the specific decisions which I believe will ultimately cost the team a couple of games in the standings. Games which could make the difference between winning the division and only getting a wild card. Just because I think Elias and Hyde are making these particular mistakes does not mean I'm lumping all of their decisions together. Especially not as it pertains to Elias, who obviously is the architect of this team. I shouldn't need to clarify that, but your question is standard OH argumentation. But I'll clarify nevertheless.

Troll harder. Congratulations on being the worst poster on OH.

Yeah and I'd say that Cowser and Westsburg would both be better right now had they been given time and every day at bats to acclimate themselves. Just like Gunnar and Adley struggled early in their careers and eventually their talent won out. Gunnar and Adley got the benefit of playing time, and even though Cowser and Westburg aren't on their level as prospects, they have the talent and potential to be WAY better than guys like Hicks, McKenna, and Frazier. And I think Westburg would be and will be better than Urias as well.

It's still stupid to use a player with the production and talent level Hicks offers. And I don't want to hear about the Orioles being in first place, it's the process and decision-making that matters. Put your most talented team on the field and maximize wins. They're not doing that by keeping Hicks and starting him. The Orioles coudl easily lose the division by a game or two to the Rays. Decisions like this eventually add up and hurt the team, even if Hicks goes 3-3 today with a home run. This is shameful management by Elias and Hyde. The team wins despite their decisions because the team has so much talent. But that's not an excuse for poor decisions like this.

Batting Hicks 6th and treating him like some sort of All-Star that the team has been missing is absolutely outrageous. Elias is a great GM, but keeping scrub players on the roster for way too long is a weakness of his. It's crazy how many opportunities he gave to Austin Voth, and keeping Odor on the roster all season last year was the most negligent thing he's done as O's GM. Can't stand Cowser and Westburg not being given playing time in favor of players that aren't very productive. Hicks has an OPS+ of 95 for the season, it's pathetic to utilize him as anything other than bench depth. He belongs on waivers.

Exactly. I don't understand why Elias and Hyde overvalue mediocre veterans so much. Hicks, Odor, Frazier, Voth, and now even Jorge Lopez. They give them so much playing time and such a long leash despite a lack of production to justify doing so. I've posted this multiple times now, but Hicks has a long and clearly established track record of being a replacement-level player at best. He's also injury prone. Elias was fortunate to get a hot streak out of Hicks when we needed it with Mullins out, but now Elias and Hyde are treating Hicks as some sort of proven commodity. The only thing Hicks has proven over a long career is that he's not very good anymore. Hicks was so bad earlier this season (and last season) that the Yankees released him to play for the Orioles on the Yankees' dime. And before Hicks went down twice to the same injury, he started showing a lot of the shortcomings - poor fielding and scant production at the plate - that led to the Yankees releasing him. The smart move would have been to simply release Hicks and give Cowser some more playing time, especially with Hays banged up and Mountcastle possibly missing more time. Cowser has a long future ahead of him with this team, and he has the talent to help the team not only in September, but also in the playoffs. Keeping Hicks and demoting Cowser is bad roster management and poor player development.

It might just be that the organization is really trying to limit his innings, even though Elias has stated publicly that none of the pitchers are on innings limits. Maybe he'll get one more minors appearance as a tune-up and then come up. Or yeah, maybe he's hurt.

Westburg can/will get better with more regular playing time - he hasn't been given the opportunity to play everyday, and he actually hit RHP well in the minors, so platooning him is poor player development on multiple levels. Not benching Frazier and releasing Mateo sooner is going to hurt the team's efficiency moving forward, especially in the playoffs. Westburg is more talented than either player and should be given the opportunity to provide superior production to both/either mediocre infielders.

Starting McKenna against a righty and benching Westburg yet again are such terrible lineup decisions. Hate how Hyde screws over young players not named Adley or Gunnar. Westburg in particular is the best option for the team to win now, and guys like Frazier, Mateo, and Urias either won't be on the team next season (Frazier, maybe Mateo) or will be strictly bench players (Urias, Mateo if he is still on the team). Westburg is a winner and will be one of the core players of our playoff teams. It's shameful to platoon him like this.

Another dong tonight. I like his chances of improving on his K rate next season with organization's analytics and ability to develop hitters.

Boring ass Frazier is literally the very last guy I would want to hear anything from during a game. They should have just brought back Mike Bordick and made him a guest mic'd up coach.

Come on now, that doesn't negate Mateo being one of the very worst hitters in baseball. He shouldn't be on the roster, and he certainly shouldn't be starting, even in a platoon role.

Not pinch-hitting Mateo with Urias (to bunt) or Santander (to hit straight up) was just as bad or even worse than using Baumann.

If everyone is healthy, no way I trust Gibson to start any games. He's the long man.

The team is going to be sold when Peter Angelos dies. John, his brother, and his mother cannot afford to keep the team after estate taxes hit. As long as PA dies before these players leave in free agency, then new ownership can and will extend them. In my opinion, it's a waste of time to lament how terrible John is as a person and baseball executive because this team will operate much differently under new ownership, and that time will hopefully come within the next few years. Although he certainly is a terrible person and baseball executive.

The smartest move that would show some foresight would be to just DFA Hicks once he comes off the DL. He was reverting back to the same waivers-fodder player that he's been for the past couple seasons before he got hurt, including poor defense in CF. It should be McKenna and Hicks that get sent down and DFA'd, with Mateo not far behind deserving to get DFA'd. But it will be McKenna and Cowser, which is a bad move because Cowser has the talent to be one of this team's best pure hitters before the end of the season, if he'd just be given the chance to get everyday at bats. Which the team has obviously not given to him past his first week or so on the team.

He's more talented than both Frazier and Urias. Hope he starts playing every day soon. Platooning Westburg is bad management by both Elias and Hyde. But they've gotten away with it because this team is so talented. DFA Mateo already, and start getting Westburg in the lineup as much as possible.

I despise Buck. Not only tactically as a manager, but also how he handles the media and never takes accountability for mistakes he clearly makes. His quote about "wearing it" is classic Buck deflection. He's going to get fired again soon after winning Manager of the Year for a whopping 4th time. That says a lot not only about how organizations, players, media, and fans perceive him at first, but also how he then ultimately performs as a manager. Buck is a bad manager, and wildly overrated.

That's a spot-on writeup. Adding Flaherty and Fuji was better than doing nothing. But that's not enough.

Fuji - A- Flaherty - B- Not trading Urias or trading/DFA'ing Mateo to free up playing time for Westburg and Ortiz - D Overall trade deadline grade - C+