TommyPickles

Cease seems like the best pitcher we might actually get. I like that he's so durable. He's made at least 32 starts for three years in a row. I also think the White Sox organization and clubhouse was a disaster last year. The good vibes of the Orioles' clubhouse would do him good. I also think Adley would help him cut down on those wild pitches (he's led the AL in wild pitches 2 of the last 3 seasons).

Urias was third on the team in OBP and hits righties better than lefties. I think he makes a lot of sense as the utility guy. At least until Holiday gets called up.

I'm not sure if the O's will exceed their 2023 win total in any of these years. Hard to match the record in 1-run games we had. That said, you can make the World Series with 84 wins and a negative run differential these days. I'm just hopeful the O's will make the playoffs 3-4 times in the next 5 years.

I'd like to keep Santander for this last year and experiment with him playing more 1B. He's been a considerably better hitter than Mountcastle for two years in a row. That would also open up playtime in the outfield. Watching the postseason this year it seems clear that we need power hitters in the lineup.

I love Hyde. But I was at the game last night and I don’t think he managed it well.

This team won 101 games…

Had to scroll through 25 pages to find this thread. Found it! Here goes: Urias has reached base multiple times in his last five games in a row. He has a 1.095 OPS over that stretch. His .330 OBP this season is higher than Mullins' or Gunnar's. It is actually 5th best on the team, out of guys who have at least 300 PAs. Heating up in a big way! So valuable to this lineup.

Really like Westburg at second. Really like Ramon at 3rd. According to Fielding Bible, the two best defenders on the 2023 Orioles are: Gunnar Henderson and Ramon Urias. 1b- Mountcastle 2b- Westburg SS- Gunnar 3b- Urias Inf Bench 1- Joey Ortiz Inf Bench 2- Ryan O'Hearn Then Holiday, Norby, and others can challenge the players above for spots as the season (and injuries) unfold. I could also see Santander playing more 1B next year if we don't have O'Hearn.

I think they should keep McCann. He's a steal at the price we got him for and he seems to have really meshed with the team and culture. Some of his comments about the team have sounded really positive. Based on Fielding Bible's DRS metric, he's the best defensive catcher in baseball with fewer than 350 innings on the field this season.

Grayson always seems to match up against some other team's ace. It is uncanny. Tonight is just his 16th MLB start. Take a look at some of the pitchers he's faced of with: Jacob deGrom Dylan Cease Eduardo Rodriguez Zach Eflin Shohei Ohtani Alex Manoah Jon Gray Shane McClanahan Gerrit Cole Framer Valdez Yu Darvish

In five starts since returning, Grayson has allowed 0 home runs. In his previous five starts before being sent down, he allowed 11 home runs.

Buck belongs in the Orioles Hall of Fame.

According to Defensive Runs Saved on Fielding Bible, the best defender this season on our team is: 1. Austin Hays (5) 2. Ramon Urias (4) 3. Jorge Mateo (3)

Big game tonight. Gerrit Cole vs. Grayson Rodriquez Aaron Judge returns to the lineup. Gunnar Henderson returns to the lineup.

Jordan Montgomery.

DL Hall for Jordan Montgomery. Cardinals are looking for "controllable, near MLB ready pitching." O's could use another starter. Montgomery spent most of his career in the AL East. He's got a 3.37 ERA/2.1 WAR this season. He's 30. He's got a career 1.35 ERA in the postseason (2 outings). I know a lot of people hate rentals, but (if the Cardinals were interested) I think this would be a nice move.

If Gunnar is out for a few days (gulp), I’m fine with a starting infield of: vs RHP: 1B- O’Hearn (.864 OPS) 2B- Frazier (.750 OPS) SS- Westburg (.689 OPS) 3B- Urias (.782 OPS) vs LHP: 1B- Mountcastle (1.043 OPS) 2B- Westburg (.863 OPS) SS- Mateo (.792 OPS) 3B- Urias (.573 OPS)

If I had to look at only three player stats for the rest of my life, I think I'd choose: OPS, ERA, and WAR. Plenty of other good stats, and in some ways OPS+ is a better version of OPS, since it is park-adjusted. But these are the three my eyes always go to first.

I haven't looked up any numbers to back this up, but teams with a true ace starting pitcher (or two) seem best structured for the postseason. An ace being able to start 2 out of 5 games in a series, means they play a larger role than they do during the regular season. (They start 40% of the games, instead of the usual 20% of the games) A lockdown closer is a huge factor too. The 2014 Royals come to mind as a team that rode the back end of their bullpen to a World Series birth. As much as I hated the Royals, that Holland/Davis/Herrera trio was one of the best ever.

I agree with you, but the good news for the Orioles is the rest of the AL seems weaker than usual. I think the 2022 Astros (106-56) and the 2022 Yankees (99-63) were better than any team in the AL this season.

Going today! Let's go O's

This season has been so much fun. I just feel grateful.

As an O's fan who was born in 1990, I don't see 2014 or the Andrew Miller trade as a failure. 2014 was, by far, the most thrilling and successful season of my life. (I was going to games in 96-97, but I was a little kid. I hardly remember that). I was there for the Delmon Young double game. Best game of my life. I watched Miller excel for us down the stretch (23 games, 1.35 ERA) and help us win the division. I got to see him absolutely dominate in the postseason (7 games, 0.00 ERA). At the time, it felt like the O's would be going deep into the playoffs for years to come, but that didn't happen. 2014 turned out to be the peak of the BUCKle Up Birds. I'm not mad they decided to shoot their shot. 2014 was big for the fans and for the city. Also, hindsight is 20-20. EdRod was one of our Top 10 prospects in 2014, but so were guys like Mike Wright, Henry Urrutia, Tim Berry, and Micheal Olman. I wouldn't be mad if the O's decide to be aggressive and pursue a rental this year. Our future looks bright, but it also looks bright for a lot of other organizations. Teams like the Yankees, Rays, and Astros are all faltering right now, in various ways. With the best record in the AL, this could wind up being one of our best shots. Why not? (Obviously disclaimer, I don't mean trade any of the really untouchable prospects)

Maybe a little recency bias after last night, but I’d have to say Danny Coloumbe. I feel like he gets a bit forgotten when everyone talks about the Os having two good relievers and then weak middle relief. The veteran lefty has a 2.70 ERA in 33.1 IP, with a 1.05 WHIP. Good for 1.0 WAR. Anyone you’d take over him for the 7th inning in a must win game in October? Baumann? Irvin? Fuji? Baker?

Somehow I think this increases the chance we get the Ohtani rental from about 1% to 2%. Nice to have someone else who speaks Japanese in the clubhouse.