Explosivo

I think the above posters are correct. I think he just wants to get back to being successful and will buy in completely on whomever can deliver that result. Harvey said it when he said he was humbled and how things came naturally to him at first but now he is forced to learn. Some guys would just walk away as pride would have ended their career but not Harvey. I look at this situation as a major redemption story and I am excited we get to see that play out in Birdland. I really do think Chris Holt is a major catalyst as to why he chose to come here. We have plenty of arms and as we have seen with guys like Tanner Scott, Holt’s approach can fix pitchers and make them better every day. If Holt can make Harvey and King Felix “work” not only does that yield us prospects this year, it also opens the door for future acquisitions down the road. More and more pitchers will give the O’s a look and it may be the edge we need to get a big free agent to complete the team once we start playing in the World Series soon.

Yeah I never understood that. Did he #@$% someone’s wife? Only explanation.

If both guys bounce back, we trade them at the deadline for post season contenders and rob their farm systems, a needle won’t be the only thing that moves. Chris Holt and his analytical prowess might be a bigger move than we thought. He and perez are going to make a lot of Orioles fans very happy when we make it to the World Series several times in this decade.

Good point. I just believe he has what it takes but we do have to see it, you’re right.

He’s young. No need to be negative and bearish on the kid’s talent. High high ceiling low low floor on this guy.

Well, DL Hall for one. With Grayson we have what looks to be a bonafide number 1. With DL you’ve got all the makings of a 2-3, Dylan Kremer looks to be a 2-3, Akin looks to be a 2-3, then you’ve got much much more waiting in the wings. I’m very excited about Kevin Smith, well, we could list names for days. I think we need to be thinking of this team as the 70s Oakland A’s. Young, immensely talented and with it, a window of opportunity for 5 years. I think we make the playoffs in less than 3 years and have a shot at winning it all.

Now I know why holt got the nod. He seems to be working his ass off with these young pitchers and using the best tech to get them the greatest results. It’s very impressive!

Here’s a cool story. I called up mlb radio on xm and talked about the kid you are referencing. They were intrigued and next week, they called him up and gave him an interview. Zack is a cool guy. He posted on a message board a long time ago and we interacted. He ended up sending me a signed ball and T-shirt his friends made for him. The “no spin zone”.

Let me play Devil's Advocate on Ruiz. Throughout his career his defense was horrible at third. It's what got him booted from his previous team so he works his ass off and last year we saw some good plays from him. At the start of the season, he was hitting well, at the end, well, not so much. My point is, Ruiz knows what he needs to work on and I trust our coaches to get the highest possible return out of him. He clearly wants to unlock his swing and be consistent and as we have seen with his rise in defense, so too should we expect to see a rise in his offense. He had 9 homers in 54 games in 2020 vs. 12 in 152 in 2019, that's an uptick for sure. The average fell ten points from 2019 to 2020 so that's not a good sign. Eh, you guys are right, he's just a stop gap. Isn't he only signed for a one year deal?

I get it!

Exactly. The goal is not to win but to develop the future. Expect that for the next two years and reap the rewards soon.

It’s a good deal if only to ensure the #1 pick this year. All good with that. Our window for success is in two years anyway. Just keep loading up on 23 year olds like a cougar at a dive bar.

I remember interviews with Rylann last year. He envisioned himself as a 3b. He has good bat speed and though undersized would provide an option at the bag if he ever served to be a utility type player. I’m thinking in a similar mold as pat valaika.

Could Gunnar be the future at 3b?

He can always join me on twitch.tv!

Man that guy just can’t catch a break. Or I guess he can.

I’ll just continue calling the games on twitch.tv. Look me up during the season as old_man_murray1 I’ll at least be better than Garceau

How in the #@$% is Garceau back? He was awful. If you are saving money, how can you justify continuing to give that waste of space a contract? I understand getting rid of the rest but having Garceau in any capacity back again for another year not only makes no sense, it pisses me off to no end.

Geoff Arnold is a class act and we are lucky to have him. Ben and Kevin were fun because the two couldn’t be more opposite and you could tell they really hated each other when doing broadcasts. It added an extra dimension to the game when Kevin would artfully call Ben a moron over and over. Geoff is special though and I think it was odd we didn’t see Geoff and Kevin work together more. Those two would be quite the dynamic duo.

I don’t think the goal is to win this year or even the next. The goal is to give reps to our young guys, bolster our system, and bide our time. We are building toward a very large window of success and should put all our efforts toward that end. Come three years from now, we will be firing on all cylinders. Then and only then should we be looking to make a splash in free agency. Besides, at that point we will only be looking to make our complete team that much more dominant and will have a ton more to sell top flight acquisitions who would want to win immediately. We will lose a lot of games these next two years but at the same time it is incredibly exciting as we will see the future grow and mature before our eyes. patience is a virtue.

It might just be that our pitchers fare better in non batters' parks. We do have some fly ball starters. Loud outs are better than 1st row squeakers.

Sisco the stoic is teaching his young apprentice well.

Yeah we really turned into an awful team after we lost Iglesias.

Hyde has hinted that this won't be the last call up. Perhaps we see some of these young starters. We certainly have some arms to check out in the bullpen with guys like Kramer waiting in the wings. I think Elias will inject these little shots in the arm as we progress. We are in a great position to be honest. While other teams in our division are subtracting players due to injury, we are in a position to add quality depth. Very exciting weekend!

Oh I do remember that scene! I'll never call you Phil again. "Pass the Philip" doesn't have the same ring to it, you're right. So you're not Uncle Phil then either. Got it!