Brooks The Great

Gunnar wouldn't be eligible for the postseason roster if he's added in September. Also, it actually helps Gunnar financially to preserve his rookie status for 2023 if he finishes top 3 in the AL ROY voting and is on the Opening Day roster next year.

Henderson has been my favorite Orioles prospect (yes, even more so than Adley) since he was drafted mostly because he was such a steal and I'm partial to infielders (catchers simply don't play close to 162 games a season, as we're seeing with Adley). So I'm really looking forward to his MLB debut. I just hope Hyde/Elias make the right move and bench Odor once Henderson is up. Vavra and Urias should platoon at 2B with Gunnar at 3B. Odor shouldn't be on the roster at all (Westburg should be promoted as well and take Odor's roster spot, but I don't expect the O's to promote Westburg if he can't play every day), but I'll be happy if he's relegated to the bench.

Henderson is the #1 prospect in baseball for several prospect publications. He's more ready than Westburg is, at a younger age. He plays well defensively at 3B, where he can start and push Urias over to 2B or the bench (for games Vavra starts at 2B). Henderson wouldn't have started playing 1B and 2B recently if a callup isn't imminent, in my opinion. Gunnar's ready, we need him in the lineup, he's ROY eligible for 2023 if he's promoted tomorrow or later, and we're pushing for a playoff spot for the first time in 6 years. He's going to be up soon.

I was furious tonight. Odor was atrocious in the field - the first ball he let go under his glove in the 3rd inning should have been an error. It's unacceptable that Odor continues to get regular starts and it's well past time to bench and DFA him.

How do you define "this level"? I ask because his performance this season has been slightly below league average. And last year Urias was significantly better than he's performed this year. I don't see many similarities between his production last year and this year. His production is down significantly across the board. Vavra has a track record in the minor leagues of being a high OB, high AVG, low K contact hitter. And he's shown those skills and that approach thus far in the majors. That's not the type of hitter that Urias is. I think Vavra has already shown in his limited time that he fits a new philosophy of hitting approach that Adley Rutschman and Gunner Henderson will lead the way for. You could argue that Urias is a better option than Gunnar Henderson as well because Henderson hasn't proven he can put up a .745 OPS in roughly 600 MLB at bats like Urias has. But I wouldn't agree with that, and I certainly would bench Urias in favor of Henderson. And I think Mike Elias will consider Henderson the better option/player, because Urias will lose playing time to Henderson once GH is promoted.

Because Hyde (and to a lesser extent, Elias) overvalues Odor and his "leadership" and "experience". That's why.

Urias really just had one really hot streak/month this season that tricked some posters on this board into thinking he's some sort of indispensable player. I like Urias as a depth piece with some potential to be a slightly above average offensive 2B/3B, but we're going to be a much better team with Urias and Odor on the bench (or gone, in Odor's case), Nevin in the minors where he belongs, and Vavra, Gunnar, and Stowers (along with Adley of course) grinding out at bats, seeing way more pitches, and getting on base at a much higher rate.

Vavra is the better player at 2B. Urias might get some playing time at 2B once Gunnar is up, but Vavra is the better option and makes our lineup better. Urias' glove isn't so much better than Vavra's at 2B. You're overrating Urias in general, and ignoring his performance over the past month in particular.

Urias has never proven that he's anything more than a slightly above average replacement level player. This season he's been below league average going by his OPS+. So yes, they'll bench an MLB regular for a "kid". It'll happen. Urias is absolutely a player that you bench in favor of the top prospect in the game according to multiple publications. So yes, Urias can sit. And I think he will. Urias' glove is not special enough that he deserves to keep starting if his offensive production is below average.

I think both Hays and Mountcastle are going to start losing at bats. Which means more at bats for Vavra, Henderson, and Stowers, which is a good thing. We also become more versatile in terms of platooning vs. RHP and LHP, in addition to the positional flexibility of guys like Adley, Vavra, Santander, and Henderson all taking reps at 1B. Ramon Urias has also been pretty mediocre for a month+. Over the past 30 days, Urias has hit .222 and has an OPS of .606. That's absolutely replaceable. Urias' .700 OPS for the season is nothing special. I think there's room for Jordan Westburg on the roster as well.

All I was saying is that Hyde writes the lineups. Of course Elias decides who stays or goes - that was the whole point of my post. I want Elias to take Hyde's favoritism towards Odor and Nevin out of Hyde's hands.

We never had a shot with the lineup Hyde trotted out today. But hopefully the bullpen got it out of their system.

Elias just needs to take the decision-making out of Hyde's hands. Send Nevin down, DFA Odor, DFA Phillips, and bring up Stowers, Gunnar, and Westburg. Platoon Stowers and McKenna in RF, use Santander at DH/1B, Vavra takes over at 2B (and he can platoon with Westburg if needed), Gunnar at 3B, and make Urias and Westburg the super-utility infielders. Our offense will take a huge step up, even if each of those prospects has an adjustment period.

It's unlikely, but possible, that the Yankees lose today and then get swept by the Jays. Back-to-back 4 game sweeps to the Rays and Jays would be a catastrophic outcome, and their division lead will shrink considerably if that were to happen. Then they'd face the Mets for 2 games with deGrom and Scherzer scheduled. I actually think Boone would get fired if the Yanks drop all those games (today's game, Jays sweep, and Mets sweep) - it would be a 10-game losing streak, and 2-18 over their last 20 were that to happen. The Yankees losing their next 7 games in a row is super unlikely, but I do think that Boone will get fired if the Yankees continue collapsing. I'm expecting him to be on the hot seat in early September.

If Adley goes on a home run binge over the next month, he's got a decent shot to win AL ROY. JRod just came back from a HBP on the wrist, which might/probably will affect his power for a bit.

Hall being a pitcher makes it easier for Elias to preserve his rookie eligibility for next season, that's why he's up first. Elias is 100% trying to take multiple shots at multiple supplemental 2024 draft picks with Hall, GrayRod, Gunnar, Westburg all ROY eligible in 2023. Perhaps Stowers as well if he starts cracking the various Top 100 lists next spring.

We've been playing better than the Yankees for a fairly significant stretch. We've been a completely different team ever since Adley Rutschman was promoted. I think we're the best team in the AL East, been saying that for a while now. We have a deeper lineup than the Yankees, especially now that Matt Carpenter is out for them. And we'll have a better lineup across the board if/when Stowers, Westburg, and Henderson are promoted. We have a much better bullpen, and it's not even close from a talent perspective. Clay Holmes is not a sub-2.00 ERA pitcher and he's been showing that over his past 10 appearances. The Yankees built their huge division lead on a weak schedule, and that's also showing itself to be true over the past month+. The Yankees have a far superior rotation, but I like our chances against them with our lineup, our bullpen, and our defense. Brian Cashman yet again failed the Yankees at the trade deadline, and he's shown once again that he's one of the worst GMs in baseball. Trading Jordan Montgomery for Harrison Bader was a joke of a trade, and perhaps even worse than the Joey Gallo trade, which was one of the worst trades of the past decade. The Red Sox are done, the Rays are nothing special, and we can hang with the Blue Jays and are in the process of surpassing them in the standings. These Orioles are talented and right on track to go to the playoffs. I just hope Elias brings up Hall, Stowers, Westburg, Gunnar, and potentially GrayRod if he's healthy, and bench/release Odor and demote Nevin and go for it.

It's not good for them. They're costing themselves the top seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Astros are already the superior team from a talent and balance perspective (better bullpen, deeper lineup) - the Yankees conceding home field advantage to the Astros is the last thing they want to do.

As long as this means that Nevin is going to be sent down, I'm good with it. Because it means Odor is going to lose playing time at 2B for Vavra. Which means Odor is one more step closer to being DFA'd. Which is the ultimate goal.

I don't think Odor is necessarily due to get hot soon. He's shown over prolonged stretches since 2019 that he's not only a sub-.200 (or .210 at best) hitter, but also one of the worst hitters in baseball to the point of being released by both the Rangers and the Yankees.

Maybe the "super" pertains to his hitting ability, and the "utility" pertains to his ability to play 2B, LF, RF, CF, and DH?

It can't be that bad, though. Vavra's defensive metrics were fine in the minors, and there's a possibility he's just as good or better than Odor in the field. Worst case, he might be slightly worse than Odor in the field, but he absolutely must be given playing time over Odor at 2B due to the offensive skills Vavra's shown with the bat in the minors (and in a limited sample size in the majors thus far). The bottom line is that Odor is one of the very worst regular hitters in MLB. He'd need to play gold glove-quality defense to justify playing him. But his defense is below average. Hyde just overvalues Odor's veteran "leadership".

It's ludicrous that Odor continues to get starts. Batting average down to .193. At least Vavra is playing great and forcing Hyde's hand to give Vavra more playing time. Vavra should be playing every day until Stowers is promoted. I'm hoping Odor goes hitless over his next 20-30 at bats so that Elias just DFA's him.

It wouldn't make sense for 2024 to be the year - needs to be sooner. Elias needs to be aggressive ahead of the 2023 season. We're adding several talented prospects (and John Means at some point in 2023) to a team that has shown it is capable of playing .500 baseball or better.

Righty/lefty/righty is extremely overrated, especially now that relievers are required to face a minimum of 3 batters. We need to get our best OBP hitters and most productive hitters the most at bats we can. Period.