One week to go, who are the Opening Day 25?

[Rene88]

4 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Spot on.  We really are just going to need the last two guys in the pen to eat innings.  Ideally we'd like to have to guys win the 6/7th man jobs and be lights out, but they would still have to get optioned for fresh arms.  

Let's say Verret and Nuno each make the team.  As soon as one of our SP's throws up a 3 IP performance we have to make a roster move.  

That's the positive of these guys right now: none seem like a long term answer to the rotation (possibly Ynoa or Lee) but they all can be on the shuttle.

Assuming DD doesn't snag someone off waivers or sign Worley or Guthrie (likely one or both will be cut), then I'd go Ynoa and Verrett.

[Rene88]

30 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Janish is two times the SS that Andino is and probably just as good if not better at 2B and 3B.     Neither can hit but Janish at least gives you a professional AB.   Fire isn't worth much if the player stinks.   Time to get off the nostalgia train.   Next stop, Reality.   

 

[TommyPickles]

45 minutes ago, Rene88 said:

 

God that was such an awesome game.  Might have been the best game I've ever been to, and in some ways it could be considered that start of the O's resurrgance...  They haven't had a losing season since.  I remember fans sticking around celebrating long after the game, as if we had just clinched a playoff spot or something.

Only reason it's not my hands down favorite game is that I was lucky enough to be in attendance for Delmon's bases clearing double against Detroit in 2014.

Man, I'm excited for baseball to be back.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Janish is two times the SS that Andino is and probably just as good if not better at 2B and 3B.     Neither can hit but Janish at least gives you a professional AB.   Fire isn't worth much if the player stinks.   Time to get off the nostalgia train.   Next stop, Reality.   

The guy wasn't even that good when he was here.    

While I was in Florida, I saw him give up on a chopper up the middle that I thought he could have gotten, misjudging that Hardy had a shot at it.    It struck me as either poor instincts or poor effort.   I think he's strictly a guy you call up for a few days in an emergency.   

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The guy wasn't even that good when he was here.    

While I was in Florida, I saw him give up on a chopper up the middle that I thought he could have gotten, misjudging that Hardy had a shot at it.    It struck me as either poor instincts or poor effort.   I think he's strictly a guy you call up for a few days in an emergency.   

I think Dan, Buck and Peter are loyal to their former players.  If you're no longer good enough to play in the majors the O's might have a spot for you in their high minors.  Plenty of room at Norfolk for these fringe guys.

Beats getting a real job.

[sportsfan8703]

33 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think Dan, Buck and Peter are loyal to their former players.  If you're no longer good enough to play in the majors the O's might have a spot for you in their high minors.  Plenty of room at Norfolk for these fringe guys.

Beats getting a real job.

I tend to agree with this.  We saw Brandon Snyder come back and play at Bowie 2 seasons ago.  Urrutia has even accepted his spot with Bowie.  Depending on who sticks around, we could see Dickerson and Andino in Bowie to start the year.  

[weams]

Jon Heyman FanRag

• Bundy is going to keep his cut fastball “in his back pocket’” to be used only a few times a game, as the Orioles look to protect their young potential star.
• It looks like they could start with platoons in left field and right field, surrounding star center fielder Adam Jones, with Hyun Soo Kim, Seth Smith, Joey Rickard and Craig Gentry, who has impressed Buck Showalter. They all are in position to make the team.
• Trey Mancini has had a big spring, but he appears to be caught in a numbers game. He will be up at some point.
• Pedro Alvarez is crushing the ball. He’s “squaring everything up,” right out of the blocks, one scout observed. But he appears tabbed for Triple-A to start, as he got there late and is learning the outfield.
• Michael Bourn is anxious to get back into action after breaking his left ring finger working out with a football. No one will say who threw the ball that broke Bourn’s finger, though word is that it wasn’t former Division I QB Smith.
• Manny Machado, Adam Jones and Jonathan Schoop distinguished themselves in WBC play with brilliant defensive gems.
• And here’s one vote for someone other than Mike Trout as the top MLB player. “Manny Machado is the best player on the planet,” one scout says.
• Mark Trumbo is believed to have sought a four-year deal for at least Nelson Cruz money before settling for $37.5 million over three years. It was a tough year for sluggers. As Trumbo noted, in past years it never made sense to accept the first offer. But in several cases this year, especially with the sluggers, that would have resulted in a higher deal. Trumbo didn’t say what his first offer was, but in many cases, offers were lowered after the CBA changed rules for top free agents next year. In any case, Trumbo expressed no big regret and is happy to be back with the Orioles. He’ll likely play right field vs. left-handed pitching, and otherwise DH.
• Some Orioles people seem a little put off by the limited usage of Mychal Givens in the WBC.
• The Orioles are hoping Chris Tillman will be back in early May. They don’t need a fifth starter immediately, but when they do, one of this quartet will fill the role: Mike Wright, Chris Lee, Gabriel Ynoa and Jason Aquino. Lee, who is vision impaired in one eye, has “good s—,” according to MLB Network’s Dan Plesac, and is especially adept at getting groundballs. Aquino has opened some eyes.
• It’s going to be tough for the Orioles to carry either of their Rule 5 outfielders, Aneury Tavarez from Boston or Anthony Santander from the Indians. So these teams should have the chance to re-acquire those two players.
• ...
• Showalter is encouraging head-first slides into home now that blocking the plate is disallowed. The only danger, Showalter notes, is if a catcher has a “flashback” to the old rules.
• One rival player wondered aloud if Showalter ordered the stadium audio guy to play Sweet Baby James Taylor while his team hit to lull them to sleep. Showalter says it was merely a day for the coaches to pick the music, which actually isn’t such a bad idea in Florida, where most of the fans are 50-plus years old. It was probably just a fun conspiracy theory since it was spring training. The Orioles did lose the game, by the way.

https://www.fanragsports.com/mlb/heyman-30-potential-breakout-players-for-2017/

[backwardsk]

If you have both Gentry and Rickard, no need for Trumbo to play RF.

[Rene88]

My biggest question besides the lack of SP depth is Santander. He still hasn't played in the field, correct? I hope we can DL him and keep him in the fold.

[Bahama O's Fan]

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2017/03/orioles-getting-closer-to-25-man-roster.html

Pretty good breakdown of the 25 man. What is the actual day you have to be cut down to that number?

[Rene88]

"I didn't bother to look up Doug Fister's numbers" LOL

[Bahama O's Fan]

7 minutes ago, Rene88 said:

"I didn't bother to look up Doug Fister's numbers" LOL

Yeah, I found that hilarious as well. I wonder if on the fifth starter days, Buck might bring up a starter and send someone down with options, like Rickard and play with one less OF for a while.

[Bahama O's Fan]

He could do something like this:

Bring up Lee, send Rickard down.

After the game, bring up Mancini, send Lee down.

For the next time we need a fifth starter, send Mancini down, bring another starter up.

After the game, send starter down, bring up Rickard

Check on Tillman

[MDtransplant757]

1 hour ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

He could do something like this:

Bring up Lee, send Rickard down.

After the game, bring up Mancini, send Lee down.

For the next time we need a fifth starter, send Mancini down, bring another starter up.

After the game, send starter down, bring up Rickard

Check on Tillman

This will probably be the roster shuffle we see

[PaulFolk]

1 hour ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

He could do something like this:

Bring up Lee, send Rickard down.

After the game, bring up Mancini, send Lee down.

For the next time we need a fifth starter, send Mancini down, bring another starter up.

After the game, send starter down, bring up Rickard

Check on Tillman

This wouldn't quite work. The Orioles only need a fifth starter twice in April, but they're seven days apart -- April 15 and 22. A player sent to the minors has to be there for 10 days before he can be recalled (unless someone is placed on the DL).

So the first part would work -- on April 15, the O's could send down Rickard, bring up Lee (or whoever is the 5th starter), send him down after the game and bring up Mancini. Then on April 22, the O's could send down Mancini and bring up another 5th starter. But they wouldn't be able to bring Rickard back up after that game, because he wouldn't have reached his 10 days yet.