[MLB Implements 60 Game Season]

I'm just happy that baseball is back!

[Would you attend games at Camden Yards this summer.]

I think I'd do it with fan seperation.  I'd have my mask, hand sanitizer, and be outside.

[Where do Kjerstad/Westburg fit on the 2023/24 team]

So no chance of a post-cancer Mancini extension?  I feel like he wants to stay in Baltimore and will be even more of a fan favorite after these next couple of years. He'll be 32 in 2024.

[MLB Pipeline: Austin Martin]

I'm with Wildcard.  Go for Lacy.

[MLB makes new proposal- Union demands start date and terms by Monday]

45 minutes ago, atomic said:

Can anyone name the Orioles starting five?  Can Hyde?  Can he name even 3 of them? 

No love for Wojo haha

[League Proposes 16-Team Playoff Bracket]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/06/mlb-rumors-16-teams-playoff-postseason-expansion.html

 

I'm sure some of you saw this yesterday, but one of the components of the League's latest proposal was having a 16-team playoff bracket:

 

"The league asked for 2020 postseason fields to expand even beyond the previously discussed 14 teams, adding another team per league and bringing the total to 16 playoff clubs.

The idea behind the league’s latest expansion would see a traditional bracket format play out, with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 8 seed, No. 2 vs. No. 7, etc. until each league has played down to one winner to square off in the World Series. The first round of play, Sherman adds, would be just a three-game set.

That’s a particularly strong deviation from the norm, where the top teams in each league have long been assured at least a five-game series against the weakest playoff entrant. The prospect of a sub-.500 No. 8 seed upsetting a dominant N0. 1 seed would create some excitement, to be sure, but the watered down playoff field and short early-round formats would undoubtedly be a turnoff for a very vocal set of MLB fans as well."

 

What are your thoughts on this?  

If this was instituted long term, how would it change organizational strategies?  Seems like it'd be much harder to justify a "full rebuild" if all you had to do was get a 78-84 record to make the playoffs, keep your fanbase happy, and roll the dice...

[MLB makes new proposal- Union demands start date and terms by Monday]

76 games at 75% prorated pay = 35.2% of original salary

50 games at 100% prorated pay = 30.8% of original salary

According to Ravech this equates to about 200 million more in salary paid this year. They also met the player's demands about the draft pick compensation.

Not saying the owners are the "good guys" but I hope this gets things back on track towards a quick compromise. 

[MLB makes new proposal- Union demands start date and terms by Monday]

Oh boy. 

Pull the trigger.

[The Future Of Baseball]

I'm 29.  I coach a high school baseball team in Philly. We just started the program two years ago.  The school is 98% Black.

We're not the only new team in the city.  My kids love it.

 

Now obviously this anecdote does not invalidate the points made above.  I do think professional baseball has a looming crisis with younger viewers.  I don't think it's hopeless though.

I think it's important to point out that last season Americans bought 68.4 million tickets to MLB games. Yes that was down from the year before, but still, that's a LOT of tickets. It's over 100 million when you include the minors. By the way, the highest ever year for MLB ticket sales? It wasn't from some bygone golden era decades ago, it was 2007.  

Also, NFL ticket sales were down last year. Way down.  It was their worst year of ticket sales since 2002.

 

I'm curious what the fandom will look like if we end up with a 50ish game season this year?  I think it will be an interesting experiment to see if younger fans are more interested in a a more fast-paced season.  Kids do have short attention spans these days...

[Orioles' last 5 tool player?]

Adam Jones at his peak sure was.

Between the 2012 and 2013 seasons, he averaged: 15 SB, 31.5 HR, .286 AVG.  He was an All-Star, earned a Gold Glove, and finished in the top 13 in MVP voting in both years.

[Orioles expected to sign Dominican C Samuel Basallo]

Great news! Also, this kid is 15. He's seven years younger than AR.  Don't think we need to start panicking about a logjam at catcher quite yet...

[Mike Wright pitching in KBO]

My friends and I have been following the LG Twins. 

They've got Hyun-soo Kim and Tyler Wilson.

Kim has been absolutely ballin out. He's batting .368 with a .989 OPS.

Tyler Wilson (their highest paid player) not so much.  He's got a 5.71 ERA through 17.1 IP.

[Will Chris Davis opt not to play in 2020?]

He should really just donate his salary from this year to Baltimore hospitals and food banks... 

[This is not baseball. An opinion.]

Players opting not to play over pay disagreements would be so so lame. (I'm sure the owners are being greedy too; I don't think that negates the original point)

[Mark Reynolds Announces Retirement]

This man racked up 60 home runs in two seasons with the O's from 2011-2012...  Epic!

(He also went 3 for 25 with no extra base hits and 10 K's in our 2012 playoff run, but that's water under the bridge)

[The Most Hyped Orioles Prospect...]

I feel like Matt Weiters' final few (pricey and injury-riddled) years in Baltimore hurt his legacy here.  It definitely distracts from how well he did in his first few years:

2009-2012=

• 13.3 WAR
• 2,031 PA  
• 2 Gold Gloves, 2 All Star Selections
• Made about $1.7 Million over those 4 years

2013-2016=

• 4.9 WAR
• 1,437 PA
• 0 Gold Gloves, 2 All Star Selections (one in a season which he played only 26 games)
• Made about $37.3 Million over those 4 years.

[The Most Hyped Orioles Prospect...]

10 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

McDonalds's ERA going into the last game of the season was 3.09. That would have been good enough to finish 4th in the AL in 1993. Johnny Oates gave Ben a chance to rest, but he wanted to start and move his ERA ranking up to 2nd or 3rd. Instead he finished out of the top 10 in ERA leaders after giving up 8 earned runs in 1 & 2/3 innings pitched. 

Kevin Appier who led the AL with an 2.56 ERA and in pitching WAR with 9.3, would have easily won the Cy Young in today's world of advanced analytics. McDowell only put up a 4.4 WAR in comparison. Appier got penalized for only winning 18 games in 1993.

Lol imagine putting up a 9.3 WAR as a starting pitcher and leading the AL with a 2.53 ERA and not winning the Cy Young...

[The Most Hyped Orioles Prospect...]

Man, McDonald's 1993 season looks like a Cy Young Award type year! He didn't even get any votes...

220.1 IP, 3.39 ERA, 171 Ks, 7 CG, 0.7 HR/9

Look at those same stats from the guy who won it that year, Jack McDowell.  Not that different.  Guess they really valued wins.

256.2 IP, 3.37 ERA, 158 Ks, 10 CG, 0.7 HR/9

 

[What's your favorite interaction ever with an Orioles player, coach, or manager?]

I think I've told this story once before on here, but definitely the time I met Adam Jones.

In 2018, my best friends and I went down to Orioles Spring Training for my bachelor party.  Jones had long been my favorite player and this was set to be his final season with us. 

One night after the final game of the Spring season we were out at a bar in Clearwater shooting pool.  We all had O's gear on and were enjoying our first time in town.  A bartender came over to us and was like, "you guys call yourself O's fans?"  We weren't really sure what he was getting at.  Maybe it was some playful shit talk for the team's last place finish in the 2017 season.  "Umm yea. Definitely." I said.  He laughed, "and you didn't even notice that's Adam Jones over there at the bar?"

Sure enough he was over at the bar with a group of friends.  He seemed to be the only player there.  We didn't want to bother him or ask for a picture or anything like that, but we decided at least I should go say hi.  My friends were like, "it's your bachelor weekend, you might as well, dude."  So my best friend and I sheepishly walked over and said "Excuse me, Mr. Jones, we just wanted to say you're our favorite player and we hope you have a great season!"  He was super cool about it.  He turned away from his friends, shook our hands, thanked us kindly, and was real nice.  

It was a small moment, but it was super cool.  Jones is the man.

[Who should be the O's leadoff hitter?]

I like Hanser Alberto for leadoff.

He bat lead off in 48 games last season.  In those games he hit .349/.364/.472/.836.   That's a better AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS than his season totals.  I feel like he'd bring more confidence and experience to this spot than Hays or Mason Williams.  Plus, I feel like Hays has (potentially) more pop and could bat a little lower in the order. 

[How do we choose a team?]

Wonder if there's any chance they would just cancel the first two weeks of the season and then not make those games up.

We do start the year with 13 straight games against teams that were above .500 last year.  It certainly would make our overall schedule easier to just skip those... (not that it really matter this year for the O's)

[Orioles Tie Rays 3-to-3]

Wojo is off to a nice start. 3 innings of no-hit ball today.  1.80 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 4 Ks, 1 BB this Spring.

[John Means 2020]

I stand by my earlier prediction that John Means will be on the next Orioles' playoff roster.

[First round of cuts]

It'd be nice for him to get a hit before being cut.  O for 7 with a BB and 3 Ks so far.

[Sad about baseball this year.]

Well it has certainly made me excited to drive down for a game the weekend of June 5th when we host the Astros.  Growing up an O's fan, my friends and I almost never boo'd other teams or players.  That weekend will be an exception.  A major exception.