Most interesting off season in a long time?

[Diehard_O's_Fan]

I don't know about you Oriole fans but this off season has to be the most interesting off season in a very long time? Will Dan get fired? Will Buck stop being the manager? Will Buck and Dan get extended contracts? Will the starting rotation get revamped enough to prevent the Orioles from finishing in last place for a second straight season? Will the Orioles fire their pitching coach? What will the Orioles outfield look like in 2018? Will Chris Davis revamp his swing and start being a good hitter again? Buckle up boys! It is going to be a very wild ride.

[El Gordo]

Prediction Dan won't be fired but also not be extended. Buck will get extended if he wants to stay on as the manager for a rebuilding team. He may be in negotiations with PA to become the GM after 2018. The OF will be Jones CF, Hays RF, and Mancini LF. Santander and Gentry 4th and 5th OF. Davis will be slightly better at best.

[wildcard]

2 hours ago, Diehard_O's_Fan said:

I don't know about you Oriole fans but this off season has to be the most interesting off season in a very long time? Will Dan get fired? Will Buck stop being the manager? Will Buck and Dan get extended contracts? Will the starting rotation get revamped enough to prevent the Orioles from finishing in last place for a second straight season? Will the Orioles fire their pitching coach? What will the Orioles outfield look like in 2018? Will Chris Davis revamp his swing and start being a good hitter again? Buckle up boys! It is going to be a very wild ride.

It will be methodically.  That Buck and Dan are staying should become apparent shortly after the World Series.   Castillo probably does not pick up his player option 5 days after the WS. Of course the free agents come off the roster 6 days after the WS.   

 I think Tillman could sign a contract with the O's early in the off season.  They want him back.  He wants to come back.  The O's will add several minor leaguers to the 40 man roster.   Hunter Harvey, Hess, Long and Wynns look like no brainier to me.   Wotherspoon, Means, Wilkerson and Rafaela are possibilities.

O's may pick a Rule 5 utility infielder or pitcher at the Winter meetings.

Then it slows down for a while  as the O's look for starters.

[maybenxtyr]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

It will be methodically.  That Buck and Dan are staying should become apparent shortly after the World Series.   Castillo probably does not pick up his player option 5 days after the WS. Of course the free agents come off the roster 6 days after the WS.   

 I think Tillman could sign a contract with the O's early in the off season.  They want him back.  He wants to come back.  The O's will add several minor leaguers.   Hunter Harvey, Hess, Long and Wynns look like no brainier to me.   Wotherspoon, Means, Wilkerson and Rafaela are possibilities.

O's may pick a Rule 5 utility infielder or pitcher at the Winter meetings.

Then it slows down for a while  as the O's look for starters.

Hunter Harvey is a no brainer for what?

[wildcard]

2 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

Hunter Harvey is a no brainer for what?

Being added to the 40 man roster.

[maybenxtyr]

52 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Being added to the 40 man roster.

Ok. That makes sense. I didn't know if you were projecting him for anything else.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

I'm mainly interested in the Arizona Fall League, Winter Meetings and the Rule 5 draft. Depending what happens at these three things can show a bit of how next season will go. 

The 40 man additions and any draft picks will give a bit of a preview.

[Bahama O's Fan]

I think it actually isn't going to be that interesting. Buck and Dan are going to lead on one year contracts. They will retool and not rebuild. Castillo will opt out. We will make a play for two or three pitchers. If there is a good deal, DD may get Angelos to up the salary and make one more run for it with basically the current cast, plus a few pitchers.

[Frobby]

If Buck or Dan is replaced or re-signed, that will be very interesting, but I don't expect either thing to happen or for there to be any news about it, so that won't be very interesting at all.    It will be interesting to see how Dan addresses the pitching situation.   That's about all, unless something surprising happens.

[Luke-OH]

3 hours ago, wildcard said:

It will be methodically.  That Buck and Dan are staying should become apparent shortly after the World Series.   Castillo probably does not pick up his player option 5 days after the WS. Of course the free agents come off the roster 6 days after the WS.   

 I think Tillman could sign a contract with the O's early in the off season.  They want him back.  He wants to come back.  The O's will add several minor leaguers to the 40 man roster.   Hunter Harvey, Hess, Long and Wynns look like no brainier to me.   Wotherspoon, Means, Wilkerson and Rafaela are possibilities.

O's may pick a Rule 5 utility infielder or pitcher at the Winter meetings.

Then it slows down for a while  as the O's look for starters.

I think Hess, Long, Means, and Wilkerson should get an opportunity to try and make the team out of spring training.  

Wynns probably doesn't have a spot unless someone gets hurt or traded.  Maybe you swap Wynns for another older fringe prospect who can compete for the utility infield role.

Wortherspoon is in the basket of relievers who will try and stand out, I doubt he makes the club, but could be AAA depth.

Hunter Harvey will not play in the majors next year, unless it's a cup of coffee as a reliever.  He pitched less than 20 innings this year!

Rifaela is not close to the majors either, no chance, he's got a ton of development to do if he's going to be a MLB player.

DJ Stewart is a possibility, as is Cedric Mullins (although personally I think you can't put Mullins on the team unless he's getting everyday ABs). 

[Legend_Of_Joey]

3 minutes ago, phillyOs119 said:

I think Hess, Long, Means, and Wilkerson should get an opportunity to try and make the team out of spring training.  

Wynns probably doesn't have a spot unless someone gets hurt or traded.  Maybe you swap Wynns for another older fringe prospect who can compete for the utility infield role.

Wortherspoon is in the basket of relievers who will try and stand out, I doubt he makes the club, but could be AAA depth.

Hunter Harvey will not play in the majors next year, unless it's a cup of coffee as a reliever.  He pitched less than 20 innings this year!

Rifaela is not close to the majors either, no chance, he's got a ton of development to do if he's going to be a MLB player.

DJ Stewart is a possibility, as is Cedric Mullins (although personally I think you can't put Mullins on the team unless he's getting everyday ABs). 

I agree with the first part. Wilkerson, if he does well in the AFL, should get a shot. Long, Hess, and Means should get shots too.

Castillo opts out, Wynns gets a shot. See what he can do in the Spring and go from there. He can be the catcher at Norfolk and be ready in the event of an injury or ineffectiveness.

Pretty spot on with Wortherspoon. I expect it to be like last year: Way too many bodies for all the spots. Toss them in and see who comes out on top.

Two words on your Harvey piece: Anthony Santander. If a team sees a lot of promise in Harvey, would it be outside the realm to draft him, "rehab" all year to get his innings up, and bring him up in a stashed bullpen spot the next season? This one really depends on how other teams view him.

I agree about Rifaela. I can see him in Bowie next season and getting a better look at him against better pitching and a different park. Stewart and Mullins should be non roster invitees, but not 40 material right now. They aren't going anywhere unless traded and the outfield already seems full. But if Gentry is brought back and gets hurt, if Mullins has a healthy hamstring, might we see a call up if he again tears up Spring Training and puts up good numbers?

[Luke-OH]

16 minutes ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

I agree with the first part. Wilkerson, if he does well in the AFL, should get a shot. Long, Hess, and Means should get shots too.

Castillo opts out, Wynns gets a shot. See what he can do in the Spring and go from there. He can be the catcher at Norfolk and be ready in the event of an injury or ineffectiveness.

Pretty spot on with Wortherspoon. I expect it to be like last year: Way too many bodies for all the spots. Toss them in and see who comes out on top.

Two words on your Harvey piece: Anthony Santander. If a team sees a lot of promise in Harvey, would it be outside the realm to draft him, "rehab" all year to get his innings up, and bring him up in a stashed bullpen spot the next season? This one really depends on how other teams view him.

I agree about Rifaela. I can see him in Bowie next season and getting a better look at him against better pitching and a different park. Stewart and Mullins should be non roster invitees, but not 40 material right now. They aren't going anywhere unless traded and the outfield already seems full. But if Gentry is brought back and gets hurt, if Mullins has a healthy hamstring, might we see a call up if he again tears up Spring Training and puts up good numbers?

I'm going to bold this because I've seen it mentioned more than once around here.  

Hunter Harvey will be added to the 40 man to protect him from the rule 5 draft, otherwise he would get taken and stashed 100% chance.

 

[Chavez Ravine]

I agree the upcoming year is a very interesting one for the franchise, but I also agree with Frobby we won't know much about it. Is Peter Angelos still in full decision making control (and thus all his past tendencies)? Does Buck want to move up? Does he want to be manager for another chunk of time? Would Dan be happy with another stint at GM? Or does he have grander ambitions? Can he find those here?   The worst case scenario is that none of those questions are answered before the start of next year and everyone treads water for a year.  Dan plugs some holes, Buck goes with his guys, and John Angelos tries to get his dad to let go. Someone (e.g. John) needs to step up and say they have a plan.

[tntoriole]

I think it is going to be like every Orioles offseason in recent memory....incredibly boring....slow, plodding, doing minimal things around the margin...replace a coach maybe, pick a Rule 5 maybe....waiting and waiting while many other teams take bold, aggressive actions, waiting some more till the entire market shakes out before we sign the wrong free agent.    This is the Angelos style. 

[wildcard]

2 hours ago, phillyOs119 said:

I think Hess, Long, Means, and Wilkerson should get an opportunity to try and make the team out of spring training.  

Wynns probably doesn't have a spot unless someone gets hurt or traded.  Maybe you swap Wynns for another older fringe prospect who can compete for the utility infield role.

Wortherspoon is in the basket of relievers who will try and stand out, I doubt he makes the club, but could be AAA depth.

Hunter Harvey will not play in the majors next year, unless it's a cup of coffee as a reliever.  He pitched less than 20 innings this year!

Rifaela is not close to the majors either, no chance, he's got a ton of development to do if he's going to be a MLB player.

DJ Stewart is a possibility, as is Cedric Mullins (although personally I think you can't put Mullins on the team unless he's getting everyday ABs). 

I'm a little confused by your post.  

Are you saying that Hess, Long Means and Wilkerson should all be added to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft?  Because that is the only way you can make sure they get an opportunity in ST and are not claimed in the Rule 5 draft.

Castillo and Joseph have both missed a month or more on the DL over the last 2 years.  It happen to catchers.  Tough job.  Even if Joseph and Sisco are in the majors, the O's need a good defensive catcher at AAA.   Wynn  looks like a better choice then Pena at this point IMO.  So I would put him of the 40 roster to protect him.  The thing about Wynns is he can throw out runners.   If Buck finds that Sisco can't control the running game he may go back to AAA.  Then Wynns is the best choice to share time with Joseph.

Wotherspoon and Yacabonis probably had the best year of the O's AAA relievers.  If he should be in AAA as depth he probably has to be put on the 40 man roster to protect him. Or maybe you don't think he gets claimed.

Rifeala is eligible for the draft.  Are you alright with no protecting him and maybe have him taken in the Rule 5 like Santander was?   If he is taken he is no  longer a trade chip this off season. MVP of the Carolina League at 22 years old may make him attractive to  other clubs.

Stewart and Mullins do not need to be protected this off season.  I am sure the O's will invite them to camp to see what they can do.   If they are still in the organization next spring.