tinman

Peter Angelos is greedy.

Hated it.

Yea, I get the basic features of a total rebuild. Don't mess with free agency, trade guys who are in their arb years, ride out bad contracts, suck and acquire top draft picks. All this leads to a plummeting payroll. So here we are with the lowest payroll in the MLB when just a few years ago we hovered around league average. Will we return to a middle of the pack spending team when we are ready to compete again or will ownership be giant jerks and become accustomed to being frugal. Never underestimate the avarice of Peter Angelos.

Its become clear to me that the Os need some more lineup thump. We dont hit enough homers. We need to start acquiring more power in order to compete in the AL East.

Very impressed with this guy. Living up to the hype and should continue to improve and get comfortable with MLB pitching. Would honestly not be shocked if he can strongly compete for an AL MVP in the next year or two.

I get it. But he was #1 overall. 1! As in nobody picked before him. An entire nation full of players and he was the guy picked. So given that he was picked before everybody else I was expecting a cannon for an arm and potential for if not already showing some serious pop in the bat.

Not knocking this kid, but can somebody explain to me why he was drafted 1 overall? With Adley it was an obvious pick. He was a college player. Exceptional plate discipline. Above average MLB hitter and above average MLB defensive catcher. A rare find. Holliday is a high school Shortstop. But does he really have MLB caliber SS talent? Does he really have the tools to be an above average defensive SS at the MLB level? His arm isn't that great according to the scouting reports. Does he have the quickness and athletic ability to truly play SS? Most top high schoolers start at SS, but then have to move to 3B because they can't cut it as a pro level SS. Hell, many of them even have to move off 3B because they can't cut the mustard at 3B either. End up moving to corner outfield or 1B once they make it to AA. An above league average defensive shortstop is one hell of a find at the MLB level. I don't know, from reading the scouting reports it sounds as though he won't be a plus MLB defender at SS or he will have to move off SS. What about his hitting. We will see. He's not projected to be a big power hitter. Wishing him all the luck as an O's fan, but these high school kids are risky picks.

Interesting. Also, the best players tend to have the best seasons as well. So it's not abnormal for the league to be dominated by superstars in their early 30s. You did point out some guys who fizzled out after posting strong early career seasons. My point was it's not like these guys were maintaining their level of play into their early 30s. They actually hit the throttle down and were better than ever.

I use the word "old" in quotation marks. 30 is young in real life. In baseball it's considered the end of youth and the beggining of decline. Hell, in recent years I've heard that 28 starts the decline. Well, it sure ain't looking that way in baseball this season. 27 has long been considered the season a hitter will break out and produce a monster season. And maybe that is the case as a general rule. But looking at history suggests otherwise. Do great hitters really fall off a cliff after 27? From I've seen they do not. It's become en vogue to avoid handing out contracts to players over 30. The idea that early 30s is "post peak" seems odd to me. Plenty of players have had their peaks in their early 30s. In fact, among great hitters early 30s seems to be not the beginning of the decline phase, but rather the absolute zenith for many if not the majority of great hitters. Rod Carew, Willie Mays, Miguel Cabrera, Pete Rose, Albert Pujols, Joe Morgan, Ichiro Suzuki, etc. All of these guys didn't just stave off decline in their early 30s, they put the throttle down and had their peak career seasons. Look at the current top 10 in OPS 1. Trout (30) 2. Judge (30) 3. Machado (29) 4. Ramirez (29) 5. Martinez (34) 6.Goldschmidt (34) 7. Devers (25) 8. Cron (32) 9. Harper (29) 10. Betts (29) Interesting as there is only one player under the age of 29 in the MLB top 10. Is this really the season of the "old" guy? Or are we just returning to a more normal environment?

The idea that early 30s is "post peak" seems odd to me. I've long hard the rule that players peak at age 27, but that is a general ballpark idea. Plenty of players have had their peaks in their early 30s. In fact, among great hitters early 30s seems to be not the beginning of the decline phase. But 30-32 seems to be the absolute zenith for many if not the majority of great hitters. Rod Carew, Willie Mays, Miguel Cabrera, Pete Rose, Albert Pujols, Joe Morgan, Ichiro Suzuki, etc. All of these guys didn't just stave off decline in their early 30s, they put the throttle down and had their peak seasons. Manny seems to be hitting his stride, forget decline, he's ascending.

Its quite possible that he was determined to hit FA. Especially once he hit Arbitration. At that point it's just 3 years and you have access to 32 team offers instead of 1.

I have no idea if it did or not. But I do understand physics. 230-240 pounds on the knees is more 160 pounds on the knees.

When you're 6'5" 230 pounds and spend years crouching down for hours at a time that wears your body down. Hell, that's hard to do at 5'10" 160. Let alone a massive man such as Wieters.

I have watched him play this season. And hes basically an absolute boss right now. I would say just from the perspective of my eyes, hes quite a bit better now than he was as an Oriole. What happened, is what happened. It's a tragedy that he was not a lifelong Oriole. But I doubt we would even be competitive with a peak Manny anyways. I dont remember him being this good on the Orioles. Seems like hes really kicking things into overdrive. Makes me wonder if hes finally started to mature, grow up and completely focus on his craft. Saw him get 4 extra base hits the other day and he was flatlining with max effort.

Not much else you can ask from a player on your team than giving it their best shot.

Must be nice to buy all the best players.

Adley being targeted away. Wonder if that will be a trend. Top level MLB pitchers can consistently hit the outside corner. This ain't the Minors anymore. Pulling for him.

Pretty high IMO. His greatest asset is his durability. Hes played in more games than anybody in the MLB since 2015. Also, it appears that he is actually getting better. It seemed he may have plateaued a few years ago and he was what he was. But hes turning it up. He may actually be just starting his peak 2-3 years.

Good morning gentlemen. Nice to join. I am a lifelong Orioles fan. I have just joined this website. I am excited for the Orioles, for these next few years. We have an ascending team!