Its decision time for the future

[Nite]

This season is shot, so let's accept that and look at can you build for 2018? You know you have 1b 2b SS or 3b and the entire outfield plus dh covered for next year. The bullpen is also covered for the most part. So looking forward...

Could use a better obp everyday corner outfielder. That keeps Joey as a 4th of defensive replacement for Trey which is his ideal role.

I'm trading Smith this July for organizational depth and hope I get lucky.

Catcher for next year, need to extend beef of trade him along with Smith. Replacing him next year could be frustrating as you pray for Sisco.

You have flexibility because of still having Manny to get the best SS or 3b you can. 

Pitching... Well there is a bunch of money being freed up so I'm assuming you buy some and hope for the best. 

If this team goes belly up again, then hit the alarm and fire sale next year. The team has to much talent and money currently to supplement around to quit a year early.

[wildcard]

1 minute ago, Nite said:

This season is shot, so let's accept that and look at can you build for 2018? You know you have 1b 2b so or 3b and the entire outfield plus dh covered for next year. The bullpen is also covered for the most part. So looking forward...

Couldld use a better obp everyday corner outfielder. That keeps Joey as a 4th of defensive replacement for Trey which is his ideal role.

I'm trading Smith this July for organizational depth and hope I get lucky.

Catcher for next year, need to extend beef of trade him along with Smith. Replacing him next year could be frustrating as you pray for Sisco.

You have flexibility because of still having Manny to get the best SS or 3b you can. 

Pitching... Well there is a bunch of money being freed up so I'm assuming you but some and hope for the best. 

If this team goes belly up again, then hit the alarm and fire sale next year. The team has to much talent and money currently to supplement around to quit a year early.

Got to move starting pitching to the top of any plan.

[DirtyBird]

Just now, Nite said:

This season is shot, so let's accept that and look at can you build for 2018? You know you have 1b 2b SS or 3b and the entire outfield plus dh covered for next year. The bullpen is also covered for the most part. So looking forward...

 

I think you have to use 2019 as the rebuild target.

[bpilktree]

People always say you need to trade  the big name guys to get anything back which is not true.  You can get someone back for the future from guys like Castillo and Smith but you have to look at teams that have guys that are blocked.  jake Westbrook brought Cory Kluber. 

[wildcard]

14 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

I think you have to use 2019 as the rebuild target.

I will not go there yet.   The O's have about 75m coming off the books which is reload money.   That is in addition to what they get back from trades.

The 75m includes the salaries of Hardy, Jimenez, Miley, Tillman, Britton, Kim, Flaherty, Jackson, Nuno, and Gentry.  It does not include what happens with Manny and Castillo.

[Cumberbundy]

1 hour ago, LookitsPuck said:

Trade Britton, Brach, Castillo, Smith and Manny. Let's be honest, this club isn't extending Manny. He's going to cost too much...and the Orioles have screwed the farm system repeatedly by trading away draft picks and losing them by signing players like Ubaldo and Gallardo.

Keep Schoop, Mancini, Bundy.

Fire McDowell. Yesterday. 

Extend Buck.

Duquette can go kick rocks.

*Claps

[Cumberbundy]

58 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

The level of panic and desperation on this thread is remarkable. Trade BOTH Gausman AND Bundy?.Move Britton and Manny now.?.The fan base would leave this team fast if they did all that. I don't think a complete rebuild is necessary...theres money coming off the books and some very interesting prospects on their way up. This team could be fixed or vastly improved without a drastic overhaul.

Not that interesting. 

[Cumberbundy]

37 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

Akin, Sedlock , and Scott look to be promising. I think Mountacastle and Hays look very good as position players.Lee was coming off a decent start and I heard some good reports about him from insiders. 

That's the system. Holy balls.

[Cumberbundy]

37 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

I'd trade Gausman in a New York minute. Hold on to Bundy.

Not a chance. Keep Bundy, Gausman & Schoop. 

[Cumberbundy]

10 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I will not go there yet.   The O's have about 75m coming off the books which is reload money.   That is in addition to what they get back from trades.

The 75m includes the salaries of Hardy, Jimenez, Miley, Tillman, Britton, Kim, Flaherty, Jackson, Nuno, and Gentry.  It does not include what happens with Manny and Castillo.

We give those guys 75 million to play baseball? That's disheartening.

[DirtyBird]

26 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I will not go there yet.   The O's have about 75m coming off the books which is reload money.   That is in addition to what they get back from trades.

The 75m includes the salaries of Hardy, Jimenez, Miley, Tillman, Britton, Kim, Flaherty, Jackson, Nuno, and Gentry.  It does not include what happens with Manny and Castillo.

I don't see any scenario where we have a competitive rotation next season.

[Tx Oriole]

50 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Trade him an he turns into Arrieta for someone else.  He has ability.  The O's need to find a pitching coach that can get Gausman to pitch like he did in the 2nd half of 2016. 

If you can get good return for him. Cant be afraid that he'd turn some great pitcher for another team as a reason not to trade him. Let's be sure to blame others instead of Kevin. It's time for Kevin to take the bull by the horns and pitch good. He's been around long enough to know how to pitch. IMO 

[SteveA]

Let's look at the 2019 Orioles.

Assumptions:

1) We cannot extend Manny so we trade him this offseason (or July 31).

2) We trade Britton this offseason.

3) We can get Adam Jones to a relatively team friendly long term extension and he will agree to move to RF for the remainder of his Oriole career.

4) Maybe we extend Brach and give him the closer job.

5) All the other potential post-2017 and post-2018 free agents either walk or we get whatever we can for them (probably not much in most cases):   Hardy, Castillo, Kim, Ubaldo, Tillman, Miley, Flaherty, Smith, etc.   I don't expect to get much quality for these guys.   Maybe some depth or one diamond in the rough.

 

Here, then, is the guts of our 2019 Orioles:

C -- Sisco

1B -- Davis

2B -- Schoop

SS -- ??

3B -- Mountcastle, Reyes, or ??

LF -- Mancini / Hays

CF -- Hays or Mullins

RF -- Jones

DH -- Trumbo / Mountcastle / Reyes / Mancini

SP -- Bundy

SP -- Gausman

SP -- ??

SP -- ??

SP -- ??

RP -- Brach

RP -- Givens

RP -- O'Day

RP -- Scott

Others in the mix for RP:   Castro, Bleier, Long, etc.   I'm not too concerned with filling 3 or 4 backend bullpen spots.

 

So what do we have?   Assuming we don't get any real quality for the likes of Smith, Kim, etc., that means we are going to have to fill in all those question marks with the proceeds from Britton and Machado deals, our farm system, or other acquisitions, trades.

Do you think that we can fill in those question marks well enough to be a contending team in 2019?   That is the question.   The offense is tough to call.   Trumbo and Davis and Jones will be in decline, Schoop and Mancini will be in their prime, and t he rest of the lineup is made up of guys we hope will be good but we really don't know yet.   I think we'll likely have a good bullpen.  

Will anyone from the farm system be ready and productive?   I don't know.   Will we be able to get two guys in the Britton/Machado deals that are quality MLB starters in 2019 (if we can fill two of those ??s with quality, then I have no problem with dumpster-diving to fill the #5).

[Lucky_13]

1 hour ago, Tx Oriole said:

I'd trade Gausman in a New York minute. Hold on to Bundy.

Gausman becomes my closer once Britton is traded. He gets to pitch one inning  at max velocity with a plus change. Not what fans wanted to see but I just don't see it with him as a starting pitcher. He just doesn't have the command.

[wildcard]

6 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

If you can get good return for him. Cant be afraid that he'd turn some great pitcher for another team as a reason not to trade him. Let's be sure to blame others instead of Kevin. It's time for Kevin to take the bull by the horns and pitch good. He's been around long enough to know how to pitch. IMO 

Very hard to trade for someone that has more potential than Gausman.

Yes, Kevin is responsible for his own development.  But you could say the same thing about Arrieta.   In Arrieta case he took off when the Cubs told him to do it his way.   I have no idea what advice Kevin is getting and how much of it he is following.

I expect him to be a big winner sooner or later.