7Mo

Yeah, posted about that seconds before yours. It'll be interesting to find out more.

Now I see a JJ Cooper tweet suggesting the Yanks gave up top 10 talent and preseason rankings don't tell the whole story so maybe I misjudged.

Yes, but if you trade correctly, you're not laying down your hand. You're building the pot (your talent base) to help you win hands later.

Per MLB rankings: Duran is #15 Hauvner is #23 Otto is #28 Periera is #17 Vasquez is not listed in the top 30 I'm no expert but I wouldn't feel good about that for Gallo at all. Thanks for the post.

That'll make a KKKKrazy lineup. Looking forward to see how much they gave up.

I consider that quite the compliment. Thank you.

Good post. I think it's necessary to take small steps before taking bigger ones, meaning: I'm a believer that you can't walk into Latin America and flash cash and sign guys. I think it takes years to develop your foundation. We're doing better each year and I believe that continues. I believe we've drafted well but it'll be 24-48 months before anyone knows for sure. Trades have been limited because Elias did not have a lot of value to deal. Now he does. Mancini, Scott, Fry, Sulser, Means, Mullins, Santander and hopefully Galvis all have some value. Maybe they go this week, maybe this winter, maybe next July but several of those guys should bring back much better returns than were possible from Givens, Cobb, Bundy or Cashner. The next step, after these July trades, should be to sign 3-4 guys over the winter in a higher price range that have better value than a King Felix or Matt Harvey. We have had some success signing guys at or around a million but I'd like to see what Elias can do with some 3-4 million dollar signings, either for rotation stability and veteran presence or as a trade chip, or both. In theory, that lets us shop in a higher prospect ranking aisle going forward. Hopefully this time next year looks much more positive.

What a luxury to have someone with those connections available to our board!!

I'm with you there. Marlins have a ton of young starters and Luzardo just adds one more.

I see a lot of speculation of Rizzo to the Red Sox but I don't think Bloom will give up enough in prospects for him. Rizzo is an expiring contract. To me, Mancini should be more prospect expensive. I see talk of Hosmer to Texas. Maybe that opens a door for Mancini to the Padres. Or maybe Bloom is good with moving some younger guys Elias feels really good about.

If I'm looking right, the Brewers gave up 2 guys not listed in their top 30. Mancini may have been too prospect expensive for their taste.

I'm gonna guess when you were driving your family on vacation, you weren't real patient with the young kids in the back saying "are we there yet, are we there yet?"

I think the overarching goal of the minor league system is to develop players rather than a sole focus on winning games. Even with that in mind, I don't see anything wrong with batting Stowers leadoff. Sure he gets more AB's and that's important. But it's not unusual to see a power guy hitting leadoff these days.

I think that's reasonable. And I think having a 90 win team depends on some acquisitions that are not yet visible along with further player development from guys already in the system. Probably need quite a bit of both but at least we're on the right path.

Sorry, I didn't see the listing on the first page. Those are the names but I remember seeing a tweet of 2 Okla pitchers that I can no longer find. I think the other was Cade Brown but he's not showing it and I'm not finding it anywhere now.

Boras has said (and I understand things can change regardless of the public statement) that he won't require an extension but he wants to negotiate relocation expenses, tax differentials, etc.

What are your scouts telling you?

As unlikely as the trade seems, there's another angle. Mancini is universally loved as a teammate. Hosmer is too. Hosmer would be a great clubhouse leader for the O's.

Not directly related to your post but I did see the O's have signed 4 undrafted guys, 2 being pitchers from Oklahoma.

Yeah, you're right about that. I was thinking only in terms of using the limited no trade list which is pretty insignificant given the contract terms otherwise.

Lloyd signed today per Roch. No numbers yet.

Saw a suggestion that the Marlins were looking to deal Marte and then trade for a CF'er being Byron Buxton or Cedric Mullins with pitching to deal. And they've got a boatload of young pitchers available to deal.

Agreed. Either the agent did a poor job or there's a very unusual motivation behind those choices. The agent did not improve his client's position at all.

He's been clear from the day he was hired what the plan was. It's inconceivable that ownership was not 100% on board or they would not have hired him. I understand that you want the major league team to win. However, if you're not aware of what progress has been made, what changes have been implemented, and how much work has been done, then you're not paying attention. Probably any one hired as a GM would take a somewhat different route, in some way. Maybe a different draft pick, maybe more emphasis on pitching early, maybe different trades or free agent signings. The O's finally have a clear plan in place. That plan has not placed emphasis on major league success to date. It focuses on obtaining a pipeline of young talent at the minor league level. That is being done. Thanks for sharing what you would do. A different plan and path was chosen. And it's not changing tomorrow or next week or next month. Hopefully the emphasis changes in a big way, based on progress that is being made now, today, next week, and next month... for the '23 season. But I wouldn't expect it until then.

I don't think anyone can get Abrams without taking Hosmer as well. And then it'd still take a good piece going their way.