Brooks The Great

Irvin was just demoted to the minors.

For me it's Judge replacing Franco in the top 3. How can you not have Judge as a favorite after he's picked up right where he left off from his MVP season, and after he almost single-handedly beat the O's in the Yanks' last head-to-head win against them? Wander has to show that he can stay healthy. I also think both he and the Rays will crash back down to earth pretty hard after they get through the easiest schedule any team in MLB has faced up until this point. They've been beating up on some terrible pitching staffs (which the Orioles also just did to take 3 out of 4 from the worst team in baseball).

Get both Krehbiel and Vespi up. DFA Voth and option Kremer or Irvin (probably Irvin).

Why the hell would Hyde bring in Voth in a one run game? Part of the blame rests with Elias for not DFA'ing Voth already, but Hyde continues to make terrible decisions. Consider me the first official member of the Fire Hyde Club. I'll be raging against him for at least another year until he gets fired.

McKenna is not a good baseball player. He's replacement level at best. He needs to be DFA'd, and Westburg promoted immediately to take his roster spot. McKenna's dropped ball in Boston and tonight's lazy catch allowing the runner to tag were extremely unprofessional, and mind-blowing for a player who's primary value is defensive, and who's clearly one of the very last players on the MLB roster. He should have been DFA'd after the April Fool's debacle. PROMOTE WESTBURG.

I have little doubt he'll turn things around. But he should be dropped in the order until he does.

Letting a top pitching prospect and future potential ace start the 5th inning against the worst team in baseball in a position to earn the win - and pitching the way he had been pitching - was handling the inning well. Absolutely. No one who knows anything about baseball would disagree with that. But you apparently do disagree. You're conflating the results of the inning with the decision to bring him out in the 5th. The rationale for the decision to bring Rodriguez out for the 5th was perfectly fine. It was also perfectly acceptable for Hyde to take Rodriguez out with the bases loaded at the precise time that Hyde did so. It was a poor decision by Hyde to bring in Voth instead of Coulombe and the team paid dearly for it. Luckily it didn't lead to a loss because Mountcastle was on fire tonight, and because the Orioles were playing the worst team in baseball.

I'm being honest, I wouldn't expect a bad minor league manager to make the moves Hyde did tonight with Voth and McKenna. It's pretty discouraging knowing a guy like Hyde is likely going to be making decisions with major implications in playoff series in the future and that he'll likely kill the team. Hyde is the type of guy to pull a catastrophic Ubaldo-instead-of-Britton move in a big game.

Are you serious? He had walked three batters in the inning and he was near 100 pitches. He had never thrown over 100 pitches before going back to last season, and I believe his entire career. Hyde handled the inning well with Grayson, even though he made the wrong decision bringing in Voth (should have been Coulombe). Are you really young and haven't watched much baseball? Honest question.

Even when Voth was good as a starter last season, he had major problems getting past 5 innings. So even with "good" Voth, you're going to tax your bullpen every fifth day if he starts. We have at least 5 other SPs better than him right now, so I think the correct move is to DFA him and let him start at AAA if he clears waivers. Agree that Vespi should get another shot, and Kriehbel would be a better option as well for some lower leverage middle innings. Right now Voth is giving up too many home runs and is a major liability in the pen. Voth was found money last year. Time to let him go, there's no big loss in doing so.

All 3 players will be fine. Gunnar has shown that he'll scuffle for a couple weeks, but still draw walks. Then he'll start producing. Santander is just a streaky player. When he gets hot, he'll be scorching hot. And I think Mullins will produce a season somewhere in between 2021 and 2022, but much closer to 2022. Which will be a valuable contribution to a playoff team.

Not true at all. His pitch count was still reasonable coming out for the fifth and he was in line for the win. He's still getting stretched out. And if we're not going to let our prized top pitching prospect earn a win, then we shouldn't be trying to develop him and we're basically not even trying to win at that point. Couldn't disagree more with your post. I've been criticizing Hyde a lot in other threads for other decisions he made, but he took GRod out at the appropriate time.

Hyde's decision to pinch hit Vavra with McKenna was awful. And I'm calling it out even with an O's 5-run lead as I type this, because it's egregious management and we're lucky to be playing the worst team in baseball and get away with it. The A's didn't have any more lefties in the pen after Moll. So the upside of McKenna, who's been hitting terribly this season, was just the one at bat. Just leave in Vavra. If the game had stayed tied, Vavra would have hit next against a righty and McKenna would have been preserved in case of an injury or ejection. It's really poor management by Hyde, which seems to be par for the course for him. He's lucky to be managing a team with a lot of good young talent.

I think Hyde sucks as a manager, he's just the beneficiary of an influx of young talent. He's a rah-rah, blue collar, players-first kind of guy who a majority of the team probably likes. I've always seen him as a transitional guy who'll get fired after the first year this team makes the playoffs (so most likely offseason of 2024 after the team makes the playoffs this season) when it becomes clear his decision-making hurts the team.

Yep. Coloumbe was the correct move. Not the guy clearly struggling and giving up lots of HR's. Hyde is a bad tactical manager.

For real. At least he cut bait on Phillips fairly quickly. Allowing Odor to stay on the major league roster the whole season was negligent, however. Even after the team announced that veterans like Odor would be playing less in favor of younger players like Gunnar, Stowers, and Vavra, Odor still made a lot of starts. Terrible.

I also think Elias has done a great job and I think he's a great GM overall. But he's not perfect, and he's botched a lot of major league roster decisions going back to last season. Sticking with Odor and Aguilar and not promoting Westburg and not giving Stowers and Vavra more playing time cost the team a spot in the playoffs last season. Elias has to be better with his roster construction, and the most pressing needs currently are to get Westburg up to the majors and get Bemboom and McKenna off the roster (and make sure to never have the team be in a position where McCann is DHing). I know Bemboom is as good as gone after this Oakland series, but we'd be better off with Westburg on the roster immediately. Elias is leaving the team too susceptible to LHP starters. Just because I criticize Elias for poor roster management doesn't mean I think he's a bad GM (and I'm not suggesting that's what you were saying or implying - just clarifying on my end). But he needs to be better in that area - it's quite obviously the most important part of his job now that the rebuild he successfully orchestrated is over.

We need Westburg on the major league roster badly. He should have been promoted last summer to replace Odor. Every day Westburg stays in AAA is roster mismanagement by Elias.

I'd take Westburg in either corner OF spot and Norby in the other. Trade Santander and Hays, or trade Santander and make Hays the 4th OF. Mateo, Urias, and Frazier should also be traded (Frazier will probably be the hardest to move because of his contract, but it won't be impossible if Frazier is having a decent season). Trade all 3 and you can put Westburg at 2B, Ortiz at SS, and Gunnar at 3B. Dream scenario is to trade all of Mateo, Urias, Frazier, and Santander at the deadline. Put Westburg at 2B, Ortiz at SS, Norby in RF, Cowser in LF, Kjerstad at DH, Hays 4th OF. Cowser and Hays can back up CF, and Kjerstad can back up 1B and RF as well. That would be an incredible lineup, and it's within the realm of possibility.

With as bad as Hays can be when he's slumping (like he is at the moment), I think the team will have no choice but to make a move if Hays struggles for a prolonged stretch. I'm perfectly fine with Hays becoming the 4th outfielder and DFA'ing McKenna. That's the point I'm looking forward to when our roster will be optimized, and also well above average offensively.

Frazier, Santander, Mateo, Urias, Hays. Trade them all. Mountcastle should eventually be traded as well if Kjerstad and Mayo show that they can play 1B. The amount of quality prospect depth the O's have is absolutely absurd. I want to see Westburg and Ortiz on the major league roster as soon as possible.

It's still early. I may be imagining this, but Cowser seems to get off to cold starts, whether at a new level or to start a season. Last season he was pretty terrible to start out the year (for an extended period as well, if I remember correctly) and lots of people on this board were panicking. It turned out he had been working on swing changes with the coaching staff. I won't be surprised if he gets red hot in May/June and goes on a prolonged heater. He seems to be a fairly streaky hitter as it is, but the elite ability to draw walks is what will separate him from the average 3TO prospect. And the hit tool is good enough that he hopefully won't be an Adam Dunn/Chris Davis type (and he doesn't have that kind of power, either).

I'm still hoping for Jeff Kent. Norby looks like he might have a better hit tool than Uggla. All-Star / pre-yips era Chuck Knoblauch with a tad more power would also be a phenomenal outcome. Norby is listed at 5'9, just like Knoblauch.

I agree with this. So many similarities to the DL Hall situation, including Adley not being available to catch. Not sure what Elias is thinking here.

You're entitled to your opinions. In my opinion, the fact you don't take issue with the play demonstrates your lack of baseball knowledge, and reflects a low standard for professionalism. Good day to you as well!