CHIP

Cody will be in camp but it will just be with Philadelphia as he was picked in the AAA version of the Rule 5.

I am a big fan of the ABS Challenge concept. Get the 3 challenges (more if challenge is successful) so the Catcher Framing is still impactful but on the blatant bad calls early (or especially late) in the game. This way, used wisely, the bad calls early in the game may not get challenged when score is 0-0 but late in a game or in critical situations, a bad call can impact the game more at that time. Still brings value to framing/blocking/run control for catchers with defensive skill sets. Really well done article here. Very 'neutral' reporting with regard to the impact on play from the approach of the Challenge system. Here is the article: https://www.mlb.com/news/abs-system-pitch-timer-bigger-bases-tested-triple-a Best section for me is: How it works: In the challenge system, the home-plate umpire calls balls and strikes in the traditional manner, but teams can appeal to the Hawk-Eye “robot ump” on certain calls they deem to be incorrect. • Each club starts the game with three challenges. • A correct challenge is retained; an incorrect challenge is lost. • Challenges may only be made by the batter, the catcher or the pitcher (i.e., no help from the dugout). • Challenges must be made immediately following the umpire’s call. and the “It has a strategic element, and a lot of that falls on the players, which is interesting because you have to understand the game situation,” Epstein said. “Obviously, a pitch might be really important to you, but if it's a nothing-nothing game in the second inning, it's not quite as important as big picture of saving it for later in the game when you may really need it. It promotes a team approach with how you use your challenges and intelligent decision-making. And it also promotes accountability for the players on the field and for the umpires, as well.”

I saw a response on Steve's tweet about his story that linked a MLB article from the AAA game shown on MLB network with all the rule changes happening. https://www.mlb.com/news/abs-system-pitch-timer-bigger-bases-tested-triple-a There are several videos embedded in the article. The best video on zone is just before the section on the Pitch Timer.

Yeah... Brain freeze. I had James above and got distracted.

DEPTH at Catcher may be a loose term in 2023. Quantity over Quality may be the current goal. There have been a lot of Subtractions and Additions the last 4 months (Details and current roster below). Are there any more to moves to come before ST? IF so, what are the moves we expect/hope/anticipate? Who is/are going to be the designated sacrificial "TAXI SQUAD" catcher(s) for 2023? Do the O's bring back Aramis Garcia if available (does he want back)? 2022 Spring Training started with ZERO catchers on 40 man. Rutschman (NRI), Handley (NRI), Roberts (NRI), Cumberland (NRI) were there and then the additions of Bemboom, Nottingham, Chirinos, and Beau Taylor in March before/during the shortened Spring Training. Taylor became the early TAXI SQUAD catcher before his release on 7/18/22. Again... we seem to have more quantity than 2022 in the system but do we have the quality to compensate for injury or poor (even poorer that Chirinos) performance in 2023? - 9/11/22 Claimed Cam Gallagher. Selected FA 11/8/22. Signed with Guardians on 1/4/23 - 10/14/22 Claimed Aramis Garcia. Selected FA 11/1/22. CURRENT FREE AGENT - 11/10/22 AAA Jacob Nottingham selected FA – Signed with Mariners on 12/22/22 - 11/10/22 AAA Brett Cumberland selected FA – Signed with Giants on 12/22/22 - 11/10/22 A-/A+/AA Andres Angulo selected FA – CURRENT FREE AGENT - 12/7/22 Cody Roberts selected in AAA Rule V Draft by Phillies + 12/7/22 Randy Florentino selected from Rangers A+ Hickory Crawdads (180 Plate Appearances) + 12/21/22 James McCann acquired by Trade from Mets (2 years remaining, O’s responsible for $5M) SYSTEM Rosters as of 1/11/2023 MLB Orioles Adley Rutschman Kyle McCann AAA Norfolk Anthony Bemboom (ST NRI) Mark Kolozsvary (ST NRI) Randy Florentino (AAA Rule V) - No Chance he stays on AAA. Future Ironbird AA Bowie Maverick Handley (ST NRI) - Possible he starts in AAA if a good MLB Camp. Ramon Rodriguez - 204 PA in A+, 7 in AA, 17 in AAA. Went 10-17 in AAA so may be primary for 2023 Bowie if Handley not there? A+ Aberdeen Wilkin Grullon Connor Pavolony - Likely Move with Handley promotion? Replaced here by Florentino. Can he stay healthy? Adam Retzbach - May out perform his draft position but seems the roving filler from 2022 draft A- Delmarva Silas Ardoin - Not enough AB's to move to Aberdeen. Will need to hit consistent before he moves. Creed Willems - Completely forgot about Creed until I mad this list FCL Samuel Basallo - Likely to start in Delmarva Brayan Hernandez Julio Herrera Michael Mantecon Carlos Rodriguez

37 days and counting It looks like the Rays are the only team with published report date. They (P&C) report 2/14 with first practice on 2/15. The PP then report 2/19 with first practice 2/20. I don't think the O's are ever 'first on the board' so I think the P&C likely report 2/15 but the calendar seems to line up well for 2/19 for PP.

I sometimes like me a COBB salad or a good old Steak Caesar... but I'll never pay $12 for a wedge of lettuce. Handley is a good old Garden Salad without the cabbage

I'm starting to wonder also if the O's are looking to move Handley. I was Googling around online and on Twitter. There was a thread by somebody talking about Guardians moving some SPs but the start of the thread is not a 'known' account..., Orioles, Cubs, Cardinals are teams more interested in RHPs Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac. Guardians not incentivized to deal either unless return is very good. There seems to be a group that follows the Guardian's like The Verge does for the O's. They seem to like the idea of getting prospect(s) from the O's (Handley and a pick) for a SP from the Guardians. O's have traded with Cleveland in 2021 (Plutko) and 2019 (Wojciechowski). Looking at the catching depth in Cleveland it is thinner than O's.

I have put this out there before and I will again. The O's have been very deliberate with Handley's movement across levels. Short A in Aberdeen in 2019, 2020 lost to Covid, 2021 High A in Aberdeen (after remodel to turf and shit lights) and then 2022 AA in Bowie. Each season he gets more playing time but as others have also noted, the O's refuse to work any specific catcher below Adley greater than 50%. He has had the SAME MANAGER (Kyle Moore) at every level he has played. So no new 'influence' from the O's to make him better at the higher levels. The difference seems that Handley has invested in himself by going to Driveline in Seattle and Arizona in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and his numbers (Avg/Obp/Slg/Ops) are all improving every year as he moves up in levels. How much of his poor performance in 2019 and 2021 (both seasons at Aberdeen) was because of Aberdeen? Seems like Aberdeen causing dips in our high prospects numbers are 'ignored' because it was Aberdeen. But then for Handley, most seem to simply ignore the Aberdeen affect because they aren't looking for excuses for his performance. The question is, based again on the Matt Blood article, with the O's emphasizing AB's for their highest prospects, where does that leave getting Handley the AB's needed to improve? AA or AAA? Time will tell and it only takes an injury or two to drastically change the catcher pool. If I remember, all 3 AAA catchers were hurt toward the end of 2022 when they moved Roberts up because Handley had just returned from the IL from his concussion.

I read Roch's stuff and 1/2 of it is 'going thru the motions' to earn a check and the other 1/2 is 'creative sarcasm' with his mail bag BS. None of the information he provides is 'breaking news' and often the 2nd or 3rd version of someone else's work. This is the lazy, 'look up the Norfolk Tides roster' and say something about it with minimal effort. Randy Florentino is listed (as Roch states) on the Norfolk Roster. But the fact is he was just selected in the MiLB rule 5. Highest level was Rangers A+ and in all of 2022 he got 153 ABs. So I would hope/anticipate he is NOT on the AAA roster come break of AAA. Roch even mentioned in 2022 they had Bemboom, Nottingham and Beau Taylor. Taylor spent most of his time on the Taxi Squad before he was released (possibly at his request). So in 2023 the O's likely need a 'sacrificial catcher' on the AAA roster.

Rutschman has the potential without a doubt to be in the conversations about 'best' catcher for many years. As long as he can stay healthy. Which means that the Backup catcher no longer stays the least important on the 26 man. If, BIG IF, the O's know there is something more to the 2021 tricep injury, enough so that there is more to it that wasn't revealed? Could be one of the reason's the O's haven't extended him like other clubs with young stars after 1 season? The O's may be wanting to be sure what happened to Bryce Harper doesn't happen to Adley? With more expected runners this year than previous years (due to pick off rules, oversized bases, etc) that would mean more high stress throw downs they may wish to avoid. So for those that want Adley at 120-130 games behind the dish... That isn't happening. McCann caught averaged 112 games between 2015-2019. His 2019 All-Star year and the stats from COVID 2020 year got him the $30 Million with Mets. But then a big drop off in 2021 and injuries of 2022. But that could also be associated with the strength of the Naltional League East vs. American League Central. Now he is in American League East, but the mixed national schedule should also lend to the 'bounce back' year potential we hope for. As for many waiting for Handley or Ardoin... The O's have a history of platooning their MiLB catchers. Not developing them. Except for moving Adley thru the system. I don't expect the O's to change their slow progression of Handley at AAA. Keep him playing every other day but now you have Bemboom and Kolovsvary who will need to get their reps as well as fill the need of the JIC Travel Catcher. Catchers as DH's will be limited in Norfolk with the new signings and I doubt we will see as many C's playing 1B in 2023 as in 2022. I can't see Ardoin jumping to Aberdeen before another 150 PA's in Delmarva. Unless he just explodes and can bring down the 33% K Rate and improve the 0.250 SLG. After all, the hype on Ardoin was a premium defensive catcher (like Handley) but that was hitting bombs at Texas and has the MLB lineage from his father. Neither his offense or defense justify a promotion just yet.

My son just sent me this link. Gotta be honest... I had to mute it. Maverick is in his O's orange. Ryan Lavarnway is listed at 6'3" and 239 on MLB. Kyle Schmidt is 6'-0" and 205. Handley looks 'thicker' than Schmidt who is in the black/white trucker cap. If you like cute catchers... fun little video. But yes... Maverick looks like is really working to build mass/muscle to help maintain strength and make it thru a full season. https://www.instagram.com/slammerscolorado/?hl=en

I took my son to a catching camp in Denver this past weekend that had Maverick as one of the instructors. My son has been a fan of his since Stanford and he asked for this for Xmas (and I got to do a bit of skiing as well...) My son's aspergers makes for interesting conversations on stats and may lead to a future on that side of the game as his ability isn't like his passion. We read Tony's report on Maverick and immediately remembered about a Haskin's write up that I had to go find. In that write up... his numbers looked decent but were skewed high by a hot start so Tony chose to remove the hot start for a better overall picture: On 11/29/2022 at 1:40 AM, Tony-OH said: Haskin has made a steady rise... all of 2022 in AA at Bowie. His overall numbers looked decent with him slashing .264/.367/.455/.821 in 466 PAs, but if take away a white-hot first seven games of the season that included a three HR game, he slashed a mediocre .243/.353/.406/.759 with 11 HR and a 42-93 BB-K ratio in 439 PAs the rest of the way. So then he went to work on finding Handley's stats as Handley had the opposite issue... an ICE COLD start. Handley started the year 1-25 in the first 8 games. .040/.172/.194/.366 with his 1 run being a HR and 10Ks in his first 29 PAs. I don't remember seeing much on twitter about him getting much game time in ST. I believe they kept him on the MLB bench rather than MiLB games. That may have been part of the start issues? I am just guessing here. But back to the 'rest of the story' as NPR says: Looking at Handley's numbers over his last 70 games, He hit: .256/.370/.444/.814 with 10 HR and 32/54 BB/K in his final 279 PAs. This matches up really well with his AWAY game stats with the Ironbirds in 2021: .261/.381/.432/.813 with 4 HR, 18/34 BB/K in 33 games and 129 PAs. So number wise... cherry picking the 'good stuff' gives Handley fans some good fodder. Back tot he Camp... my son did get to ask some questions at the camp as the coaches/instructors were/are starting to teach the one knee down receiving stance (to the older portion( of the camp with the statement that it is not a good option with pitchers who lack the control needed to make it work. Maverick said that the O's wanted him to work mostly one knee down and the O's have the catchers line up in the middle of the plate for the target and not inside or outside as at the higher levels it tips location. But after the pitch release, they had to move, if the pitches weren't going where they were intended, it was harder as a catcher to correct his direction and catch/stop the Wild Pitch and when it hit his glove it was scored a PB. He didn't seemed bothered by these stats as the team knows more than a stat line. Another topic asked about was by some of the Dad's (smarter than myself) had to do with rules as the AA rules are at the MLB level this year: pitch clock, base size and throw overs. These all increased the leads and overall increase in attempts. I did ask if these changes lead to the drop in his caught stealing (29% which is what was specifically mentioned by Tony). I guess the O's keep numbers above what is on the sites we access and the majority of the stolen bases (against him) were in the late innings when the Baysox had large leads and the runners advancing didn't matter and the pitchers throwing were the ones struggling already so the runners weren't the concern in those situations. The other thing I found most interesting in the Q&A was an answer to his health. Apparently, this was the first offseason Handley entered 'healthy'. He said the previous seasons, he was pretty beat up at the end and had to heal before working on improving. Maverick said this year he was able to relax a bit as he took a couple weeks off but then spent the last 7 weeks at Driveline in Seattle. He was able to focus on strength and flexibility. I will tell you this... he did not look 190 but more around 215. After the New Year he said he is heading to Driveline in Arizona. It will be an interesting off season to see what MLB/MiLB free agents choose to sign with the Orioles to try and compete to be Adley's backup. The O's have control of Handley for another couple years so they can still take their time with him moving up to MLB. As we see with other teams/sports it only takes one injury for someone to get a opportunity sooner but hopefully Handley can push the discussion with his performance rather than circumstance.

Pirates Lost 1 in the MLB round and 11 in the MiLB round. 12 total

Good to get the conversation going as I saw that article as well, "Each club's most intriguing unprotected Rule 5 Draft option" out a few days ago. Biggest difference right off is prospect ranking... Seems Millas being 30th ranked prospect of a team that had the 22nd best prospect pool makes you wonder where he would be on another teams prospect depth? Yankees prefer Bat over Defense and Austin Wells is their top prospect behind the dish as offense first backstop. More recently, MASN wrote this about Millas, "No. 30 prospect Drew Millas, meanwhile, turned some heads with his offensive performance in Arizona. The 24-year-old catcher, acquired from the Athletics in July 2021 in the Josh Harrison-Yan Gomes deal, hit a robust .305 (18-for-59) with five doubles, two homers, 13 RBIs and an .825 OPS. Millas hadn’t hit .300 or produced an OPS over .800 since his junior year at Missouri State, so this performance kind of came out of nowhere. In 88 minor league games split between Single-A Fredericksburg, Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg this season, he hit .225 with 14 doubles, six homers, 36 RBIs and a .690 OPS." If you and others look at Millas vs Handley just in AA as they were in the same league and faced mostly the same pitching 'over time' I can't see Millas being put on the 26 man to be Adley's backup. Defensively, you need to remember that AA was the 'test' for the limited pick offs, etc. So CS % dropped for both. Name G PA HR BB% K% ISO AVG OBP SLG wRC+ Defense Stats GS Inn SB CS CS% Millas 45 169 3 8.9 31.4 .109 .211 .280 .296 61 34 313 32 9 22% Handley 78 308 11 11.7 20.8 .181 .236 .295 .353 114 66 571 41 17 29% For Antonio Gomez, his numbers don't light it up but they rave about his defense. If we want to get a measuring stick. Compare Gomez at 21 and Handley at 21 Gomez in A ball 2022 threw out 41 of 134 for 30.4% (568 innings) Handley in A- 2019 threw out 19 of 30 for 63%. Missed 2020. In 2021 (at 23 yo) at A+ Aberdeen got 28 of 60. for 47%.

You are spot on... Minnesota Twins actually. "How Big is the Twins Catching Problem?" and "Why Haven't The Twins Signed Omar Narváez Yet?" on TwinsDaily.com. But these chats are more about how bad their depth is and knowing the Twins won't spend on A's Murphy, Cubs Contreras, or Blue Jays 'Whoever they don't want of their top 3'. But it appears the fans are craving a defense first catcher. Similar comments to this chat room. "Some possibilities: Maverick Handley from Orioles; Antonio Gomez from Yankees; Drew Millas from Nat's; Dominic Miroglio from Diamondbacks; Kile Cottam and Stephen Scott from Red Sox. Twins haven't drafted anyone for a while, but they might like one of these catchers." The Cincinnati Reds are hurting for a 2nd catcher as well and they aren't going to be big spenders any time soon.

Driveline did a bit more about Handley via John Soteropulos reviewing his drastic improvement in swing and miss improvements after focusing on this prior to the 2022 season. Lowered his overall K rate by 11.5% from a 2019-2021 average of 32.3% to 20.8%. A lot more detail for sure. https://twitter.com/Joney93/status/1581324388498276353?s=20&t=N2742gdDGVVTN0lpAGlL0A

Handley's home runs are the big difference between home and away stats but not too many were wall scrapers. Completely opposite of Cody Roberts who hit more on the road than at home. So how much is field vs. pitcher/team being faced. Do we discount Cody because he can't hit in a hitter friendly park? His defense has always been his calling card. However, his batting is unique in that every level (A short, A+ and AA) his numbers improve. AVG, OBP, SLG and OPS as a direct result. That is very rare for a player to improve his numbers as he goes higher in level against better pitching. Really says something about what he seems to be working on during the offseason. So I look at the following: PA AVG/OBP/SLG BB%/K% 2019 131 .202/.298/.237 8.4%/35.9% 2021 234 .201/.316/.337 11.5%/30.3% 2022 308 .236/.352/.417 11.7%/20.8% The other big comparison I see when watching him vs. Cody Roberts (which Cody has some consistent numbers over his years) is that Maverick seems to be hitting the ball with much higher Exit Velocity. Unfortunately... we don't get to see those metrics.

Comparing Payroll vs. 40 man roster before the 6 PM Deadline today... Team Rule 5 % 40-man Count Rank Payroll 2023 Payroll Projection NYM 0.00% 31 1 $237M CHC 0.00% 33 16 $127M COL 0.00% 33 11 $157M SDP 0.00% 33 2 $204M BAL 5.90% 34 29 $41M LAD 0.00% 34 8 $170M TEX 0.00% 34 17 $122M HOU 2.90% 35 9 $164M MIL 0.00% 35 15 $130M CHW 0.00% 36 7 $173M MIN 0.00% 36 22 $101M PHI 0.00% 36 6 $179M SEA 2.80% 36 14 $131M BOS 5.40% 37 13 $134M NYY 2.70% 37 5 $190M OAK 2.70% 37 30 $35M STL 2.60% 38 12 $157M WSN 0.00% 38 21 $102M ARI 2.60% 39 20 $102M TOR 0.00% 39 4 $194M ATL 0.00% 40 3 $196M CIN 0.00% 40 24 $77M CLE 2.50% 40 26 $72M DET 5.00% 40 18 $117M KCR 0.00% 40 25 $77M LAA 2.50% 40 10 $161M MIA 2.50% 40 23 $101M PIT 0.00% 40 28 $50M SFG 0.00% 40 19 $115M TBR 2.50% 40 27 $71M

and a link to the Payroll as well... https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/breakdowns/payroll Team Rank Payroll 2023 Payroll Projection Guaranteed % Arbitration % Pre-Arbitration % 2024 Commitments 2025 Commitments 2026 Commitments OAK 30 $35M 0.0% 40.6% 59.4% $0 $0 $0 BAL 29 $41M 7.4% 45.9% 46.7% $0 $0 $0 PIT 28 $50M 33.3% 32.4% 34.3% $7M $7M $7M TBR 27 $71M 35.6% 51.9% 12.5% $47M $11M $15M CLE 26 $72M 26.2% 52.7% 21.1% $25M $30M $35M KCR 25 $77M 42.1% 38.9% 18.9% $30M $23M $2M CIN 24 $77M 56.3% 24.9% 18.8% $11M $0 $0 MIA 23 $101M 42.7% 44.8% 12.5% $34M $32M $25M MIN 22 $101M 49.1% 37.2% 13.6% $19M $18M $16M WSN 21 $102M 59.9% 24.8% 15.3% $70M $35M $35M ARI 20 $102M 58.3% 28.2% 13.4% $38M $18M $17M SFG 19 $115M 61.6% 28.6% 9.9% $21M $0 $0 DET 18 $117M 66.2% 22.7% 11.1% $51M $41M $39M TEX 17 $122M 77.4% 10.8% 11.8% $74M $72M $58M CHC 16 $127M 64.6% 18.4% 17.0% $50M $20M $20M MIL 15 $130M 31.8% 62.1% 6.2% $33M $31M $32M SEA 14 $131M 74.2% 18.4% 7.4% $101M $91M $82M BOS 13 $134M 62.4% 29.6% 8.0% $57M $29M $33M STL 12 $157M 71.2% 23.0% 5.8% $76M $40M $22M COL 11 $157M 82.9% 8.7% 8.4% $91M $72M $76M LAA 10 $161M 82.9% 8.2% 9.0% $91M $83M $77M HOU 9 $164M 75.5% 17.4% 7.2% $115M $47M $45M LAD 8 $170M 59.6% 34.8% 5.6% $74M $70M $61M CHW 7 $173M 78.4% 15.5% 6.0% $88M $24M $2M PHI 6 $179M 77.5% 13.6% 8.9% $116M $91M $48M NYY 5 $190M 70.2% 25.3% 4.5% $96M $90M $78M TOR 4 $194M 63.5% 32.7% 3.8% $75M $66M $66M ATL 3 $196M 83.1% 12.3% 4.6% $109M $97M $93M SDP 2 $204M 67.0% 26.8% 6.1% $95M $98M $81M NYM 1 $237M 79.6% 15.6% 4.8% $133M $75M $55M

Very informative page on Fangraphs: https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/breakdowns/40-man-roster Team 40-man Count Homegrown % Free Agent % Trade % Waivers % Rule 5 % Rank Homegrown Rank Free Agent Rank Trade NYM 31 41.9% 19.4% 32.3% 6.5% 0.0% 16 12 18 CHC 33 51.5% 21.2% 27.3% 0.0% 0.0% 12 8 22 COL 33 57.6% 18.2% 18.2% 6.1% 0.0% 9 12 29 SDP 33 27.3% 27.3% 45.5% 0.0% 0.0% 28 4 8 BAL 34 35.3% 8.8% 23.5% 26.5% 5.9% 19 25 26 LAD 34 58.8% 14.7% 17.6% 8.8% 0.0% 4 15 29 TEX 34 38.2% 11.8% 50.0% 0.0% 0.0% 16 24 6 HOU 35 68.6% 5.7% 22.9% 0.0% 2.9% 3 28 26 MIL 35 31.4% 22.9% 42.9% 2.9% 0.0% 22 5 8 CHW 36 55.6% 13.9% 25.0% 5.6% 0.0% 4 15 22 MIN 36 55.6% 2.8% 36.1% 5.6% 0.0% 4 29 12 PHI 36 47.4% 13.2% 31.6% 7.9% 0.0% 11 15 14 SEA 36 22.2% 13.9% 52.8% 8.3% 2.8% 29 15 4 BOS 37 27.0% 16.2% 37.8% 13.5% 5.4% 27 12 11 NYY 37 32.4% 18.9% 43.2% 2.7% 2.7% 19 8 7 OAK 37 16.2% 13.5% 51.4% 16.2% 2.7% 30 15 4 STL 38 50.0% 13.2% 31.6% 2.6% 2.6% 9 15 14 WSN 38 28.9% 28.9% 26.3% 15.8% 0.0% 22 3 18 ARI 39 33.3% 12.8% 33.3% 17.9% 2.6% 16 15 12 TOR 39 38.5% 20.5% 38.5% 2.6% 0.0% 15 5 8 ATL 40 42.5% 30.0% 22.5% 5.0% 0.0% 12 1 22 CIN 40 50.0% 17.5% 25.0% 7.5% 0.0% 4 8 18 CLE 40 65.0% 7.5% 22.5% 2.5% 2.5% 1 25 22 DET 40 50.0% 12.5% 20.0% 12.5% 5.0% 4 15 26 KCR 40 62.5% 12.5% 25.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2 15 18 LAA 40 42.5% 20.0% 27.5% 7.5% 2.5% 12 5 16 MIA 40 27.5% 17.5% 50.0% 2.5% 2.5% 22 8 3 PIT 40 30.0% 2.5% 52.5% 15.0% 0.0% 19 29 2 SFG 40 27.5% 30.0% 27.5% 15.0% 0.0% 22 1 16 TBR 40 27.5% 7.5% 60.0% 2.5% 2.5% 22 25 1

Let's say the Orioles don't protect Players on the 40 man MLB list. When/what is the timeframe for setting the MiLB AAA 38 man roster to prevent being pulled during the MiLB portion? These players being discussed all seem like they should at least be on the AAA 38 man list if not the 40 man MLB.

Is November 15th the same day for setting the 38 man AAA roster? I was looking but can't find that date if different... This may be where the Orioles can find some depth to add to the farm system below AAA? What about the Minor League Rule 5 Draft? While the Major League Rule 5 Draft captures the majority of the headlines, the draft also has a Minor League portion that allows teams to select minor league prospects from other teams and add them to their farm system. In the MiLB phase, any player who meets the same eligibility requirements of the MLB Rule 5 Draft who is not added to the organization's 38-man Triple-A roster can be selected by another team. Players taken in the MiLB phase do not need to be added to the 40-Man or active roster and can be assigned to any level of their new team's Minor League system.

Tell me if I am wrong... Doesn't make much sense for a club to pay $100K to take Cumberland via MLB Rule 5 when they could get him for 'free' if he just becomes a MiLB free agent then use that money to sign a MiLB contract? Cumberland was drafted in 2016. From a Google search, "A player becomes eligible to sign with any organization as a minor league free agent when he has played six full minor-league seasons with the club that drafted him." Brett didn't choose free Agency last year (after his 6th year) likely because it was the Orioles version of the Wild West going into Spring Training and he had a pretty crappy 2021 AAA season by his standards (excluding the HBP total). So he may have thought he had a chance. His agency, you would think, would be pretty active looking for a better opportunity for him elsewhere? But if he is still with the O's going into Spring training that would mean it is still his "best chance".

So Bemboom is in for $114K for MiLB season (or more depending on if/any MLB time)... plus housing at AAA, "Meals" deserve to be in quotes, Heathcare/Per Diem are true variables... and Tuition Assistance would be covered by team that drafted him. Housing is new and adds maybe 1200-2500 a month depending on location/standards. per diem in minors for food I think was $25/day on road trips only? The NEWEST NUMBER is what Orioles have to pay MiLB players moving forward for Spring Training. (which actually leads to another sub topic of off season camps/clinics, etc... they have to pay the players that go to those now) Still a 'good' income depending on where he resides the other 4 months of the year. Would love to see what a AAA free agent contract looks like... but that is just me. BUT... BUT... Here is the real reply... is that $114K above or below the coaching salary average? Anybody know how much Tim Cossins gets paid as the MLB catching coach? Seems too much to me because didn't the O's use the same mentoring/coaching philosophy with keeping Chirinos around to coach/mentor Adley and not bring up Nottingham/Cumberland/Bemboom the last few months of the season? Maybe that is what left so much time for Cossins to be at all the Habit for Humanity houses (which is a noble cause but couldn't that time have been built building up the catchers in the system) Fact is... the 'only' time you hear from the Orioles about player development success is when coaches are latching onto the 1st and 2nd Round picks... where it appears to be more of a 'don't get in their way' process. So instead of hiring a Minor league Catching coach/coordinator to work with all the catchers or even focusing in on those at the AAA, AA, A+ & A- levels located 'near' Baltimore... we are going to start contracting players as 'player coaches' or just to be 'mentors' and 'Break Glass in case of Emergency' call ups... Seems to me the Orioles could spread that $114K across 11 minor league catchers and give each of the $10,000 to spend in the off season or in season to "BYOCC"... Buy Your own Catching Coach