Duquette - "We'll be active on the trade front." (Buyers)

[OriolesMagic83]

No! How about you and Bundy? Schoop is our "Cano". Too much upside with Schoop. Never deal a 20 plus homer 2nd baseman.

The shine is off Bundy. I bet most teams don't even see him as a top prospect any longer. The White Sox aren't even listening unless the O's offer something like Schoop + Gausman. A cost controlled ace isn't coming cheap.

[weams]

Buck Showalter, the Gnome

We're trying to win today, tomorrow, the next day, and we've got some depth there and he's part of it. Last thing you ever want to do is trade starting pitching depth. That is a recipe for failure."

[Going Underground]

What about Carlos Gomez? I know he is a centerfielder but he has played some left and right field ,be it a while back. He is signed at 9 million for 2016. Do the Orioles ger another pitcher like a Leake or Kazmir?

[Stotle]

Yup, we don't look great at the 5th-7th levels of our affiliates. Maybe he was referring to the top 4 levels that are all performing admirably with talent that is appropriately aged for their levels overall. I've compared our age distributions at AA and AAA to the rest of the leagues and we appear to be right in line or even a little better on two teams that are 24 games above 500.

I see 6-8 pitchers at AAA that will likely contribute at the ML level at some point in the future. I'd guess a lot of teams can't say that at their top 4 levels combined. The top end talent isn't great for sure, but the depth is much, much better than a lot of people seem to acknowledge.

So you think Baltimore is, what, a middle of the pack system? One of the deepest around at the top four levels?

[weams]

We didn't lose because we didn't have a starter against the Royals. We lost due to luck and when you get to the playoffs, it's about luck. Bullpen lost game 1, not our starter. Same with Game 2. O'Day picked up both of those losses as games were tied (basically a 0-0 game in the situation). Chen and Miggy pitched very well in games 3 and 4. Our offense couldn't do anything.

s.

Britton had a baby.

O'Day was worn out.

[Rene88]

So, in this thread, you've called our minor league talent barren several times with lots of authority while also not knowing the name of the same pitcher twice and not realizing another pitcher was a prior first round pick. I'm curious why you're so confident that our MiL system is so bad considering the lack of familiarity with the players?

Right now our top two affiliates are 23 games above 500 (AAA & AA) and our top four affiliates are 14 games above 500 (AAA - A-). W/L record isn't necessarily a good indicator of how MiL talent is dispersed, but it certainly isn't a reach to say that we must have some talent to have those kind of results. Our top tier talent isn't great, but certainly have ML-capable talent in AA and AAA.

Anyway, I'm intrigued by your confidence that there is nothing in the minors and would like you to explain the details behind your conclusions if you'd be so kind.

Wow-quite the snarky post.

Well, many of these guys are playing below their levels and that is why they are succeeding. Bowden is a newly acquired guy. I follow the Norfolk games on MILB.TV so I am quite familiar with most of the players. I also have a season ticket package to Bowie, but I guess you know more than I. I didn't know Bowden was a first-round pick as a I stated. I asked about him specifically in the minor league thread and most said his fastball won't play to major league hitters. I am not that familiar with him.

Borbon I am quite familiar because I have been saying he is a suitable replacement to Lough prior to Jones going down. But hey, you can whirl insults all you want.

If you honestly believe our minor league system is full of top-level prospects and is in good shape, I am not sure what to say. We were top heavy with Harvey and Bundy. With those two going down, we take a HUGE hit. Do we have teams performing well? Yes and that is awesome. It is about time winning at the minor league level is a priority. We should thank DD for that. But that doesn't mean we have a great farm system full of top prospects. If I have to explain that to you, clearly you don't know baseball very well.

[DrungoHazewood]

Yeah our farm system is a baron wasteland. We aren't trading for any big pieces obviously.

Of course it's a baron wasteland. The constitution forbids titles of nobility.

[weams]

Of course it's a baron wasteland. The constitution forbids titles of nobility.

[Stotle]

I think to rank them, one would need to define what was more important. True top end talent, closeness to the majors, overall depth. Obviously, it would be some combination of those three and possibly others, but the weighting matters a lot.

I certainly am not an expert on all the systems so me ranking them compared to all systems would be a fool's game, but I'll offer the following observations:

- From a top end talent perspective, I'd put us near the bottom of the pack. We don't have the can't miss super-prospects that I'd like to see.

- From how close the ML prospects are to the majors, I'd put us above average compared to the average club. How far above is difficult to say without a lot more study of the other systems than I've done.

- As far as depth, I think we have an above average amount of C to C+ level prospects.

Overall, I'm not excited about the 2-4 year future of the club based on what I see from short season A down, but I also think those levels offer the most volatility. We've had a few guys come out of nowhere that weren't thought highly of in the lower levels.

I think we are in decent shape in the near term for filling ML holes. I won't be excited to lose Wieters and Chen but I think we can replace them fairly well. Same with O'Day though I'm still hopeful about retention because he isn't all about money from what I can see. I was most worried about the Davis loss, but I think Parmalee has a chance to assuage that a bit.

Maybe. I guess the question relating to "tradeable pieces" comes down to what Baltimore can get for near-ready guys that don't really profile as impactful? And then, I guess, the question is whether you are still able to fill holes from within if the tradeable guys are all of the guys that are near-ready to contribute.

[Hank Scorpio]

I'd guess we're not going to see any sexy, high profile players coming or going.

The good news is that the Orioles don't really NEED any sexy, high profile players so much as they need to get healthy and stay healthy. It would be quite nice if one of Gausman, Norris, Wilson or Wright (not likely the latter two) could step up and settle the rotation down. They've got the pieces, they're just not getting historical output from those pieces. If Bud Norris can figure out how to garner moderate command of his fastball, he's fine as a bottom of the rotation guy. If not, Gausman could ably step in if his shoulder doesn't flare up.

I have low expectations regarding major trade activity. They don't have the high end prospects and frankly, they don't really need anything crazy. Just stay healthy and shape the starting pitching up a shade. They'll be fine.

[weams]

I'd guess we're not going to see any sexy, high profile players coming or going.

The good news is that the Orioles don't really NEED any sexy, high profile players so much as they need to get healthy and stay healthy. It would be quite nice if one of Gausman, Norris, Wilson or Wright (not likely the latter two) could step up and settle the rotation down. They've got the pieces, they're just not getting historical output from those pieces. If Bud Norris can figure out how to garner moderate command of his fastball, he's fine as a bottom of the rotation guy. If not, Gausman could ably step in if his shoulder doesn't flare up.

I have low expectations regarding major trade activity. They don't have the high end prospects and frankly, they don't really need anything crazy. Just stay healthy and shape the starting pitching up a shade. They'll be fine.

I'd guess that we will get a lefty reliever that can get lefties and righties out.

[Rene88]

I'd guess we're not going to see any sexy, high profile players coming or going.

The good news is that the Orioles don't really NEED any sexy, high profile players so much as they need to get healthy and stay healthy. It would be quite nice if one of Gausman, Norris, Wilson or Wright (not likely the latter two) could step up and settle the rotation down. They've got the pieces, they're just not getting historical output from those pieces. If Bud Norris can figure out how to garner moderate command of his fastball, he's fine as a bottom of the rotation guy. If not, Gausman could ably step in if his shoulder doesn't flare up.

I have low expectations regarding major trade activity. They don't have the high end prospects and frankly, they don't really need anything crazy. Just stay healthy and shape the starting pitching up a shade. They'll be fine.

Sexy? I would love to see Kerry Washington in the orange and black:)

I am usually a strong supporter of "going for it" but after seeing some of DD's trades (losing Jake and Erod), I am gun shy to be honest. Plus, I tend to agree with you. We have pieces, just need to shift them around. I would love to see us get something of value for pieces that we will be losing anyways (Norris wont' get much but he isn't going to get us a draft pick now).

[Stotle]

Agreed, but I tend to think any trade would be multiple players on our side for one on their side and would include at least one player on the ML roster on our side. I wouldn't think it would be difficult to get help at that price.

No argument. As we know, though, you generally don't get to an impactful return by piecing together a big collection of non-impactful pieces. Fortunately, I don't think Baltimore is out there trying to reel in Cole Hamels, and there is certainly enough in the system to get a lefty reliever if that's what Baltimore wants.

[Hank Scorpio]

I'd guess that we will get a lefty reliever that can get lefties and righties out.

That's cool with me. Neal Cotts? Or the guy ahead of Neal Cotts?

http://m.mlb.com/player/519293/will-smith?year=2015&stats=splits-r-pitching-mlb

I like Ollie Drake's splitter.

[bpilktree]

I'd guess that we will get a lefty reliever that can get lefties and righties out.

Yeah that or a righty that can get both out. My top two trade targets are Clippard and Furbush. Both get righties and lefties out. Clippard is a rental but more of a track record whil Furbush is still under control two more years. Furush could take over for matusz next season and the saleries would be pretty close to what he makes now.

I think Dan will try to use are extra major league players to bring in some guys we can move for a piece we need. Maybe we could move Matusz and a guy like Walker for Furbush. Brian may pitch better in Seattle or Oakland with big parks.