Miguel Castro has a fourth option available for 2018

[wildcard]

As reported  by Roch.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/01/more-on-orioles-minicamp-1.html

From Cots Contracts:

• A player may be eligible for a fourth option year if he has been optioned in three seasons but does not yet have five full seasons of professional experience. A full season is defined as being on an active pro roster for at least 90 days in a season. The 90-day requirement means short-season leagues (New-York Penn, Northwest, Pioneer, Appalachian, Gulf Coast, Arizona Rookie, Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues) do not count as full seasons for the purposes of determining eligibility for a fourth option.

[clapdiddy]

If they are serious about converting him to a starter, this could be a good way to let him build up some innings in Norfolk.

[Il BuonO]

They should take advantage of this.

[oriole]

Hey, that's the first good news we've seen in a while. I'm still skeptical about moving him to the rotation but this gives a good buffer between watching him suck in Baltimore and watching him suck in Norfolk. Obviously, hopefully he doesn't and I'm not even saying I believe he will. I don't know what to make of the transition. I like him in the bullpen but considering the lack of rotation options I understand the line of thinking.

[Yardball85]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

As reported  by Roch.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/01/more-on-orioles-minicamp-1.html

From Cots Contracts:

• A player may be eligible for a fourth option year if he has been optioned in three seasons but does not yet have five full seasons of professional experience. A full season is defined as being on an active pro roster for at least 90 days in a season. The 90-day requirement means short-season leagues (New-York Penn, Northwest, Pioneer, Appalachian, Gulf Coast, Arizona Rookie, Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues) do not count as full seasons for the purposes of determining eligibility for a fourth option.

I guess he could start in AAA.  Rotation of Gausman, Bundy, Cortes, Wright, Ynoa sounds good to me.

[Ruzious]

I'll be in the minority here.  The kid worked hard to show he belongs in the majors last year.  Sending him down could be a knock to his confidence.  We're not competing for anything in 2018 and don't have other good options for the rotation.  Let him get his feet wet as a major league starter where he'll learn the quickest - in the majors.  

[Tx Oriole]

13 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

They should take advantage of this.

Yes they should. 

[oriole]

12 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

I'll be in the minority here.  The kid worked hard to show he belongs in the majors last year.  Sending him down could be a knock to his confidence.  We're not competing for anything in 2018 and don't have other good options for the rotation.  Let him get his feet wet as a major league starter where he'll learn the quickest - in the majors.  

They're competing to win the division and the World Series. This is not a team in rebuild. Are they any good? Probably not...but I doubt the players are giving up.

[Ruzious]

1 hour ago, oriole said:

They're competing to win the division and the World Series. This is not a team in rebuild. Are they any good? Probably not...but I doubt the players are giving up.

It's got zero to do with players giving up.  Obviously, everyone on the team is going to try to do their best and win as much as possible - I'd hope.  But this team has as much chance as my niece's softball team to win the WS - maybe slightly better to win the division.  I don't call that competing.  You can give them certificates of participation with that kind of competing.   

[foxfield]

1 hour ago, oriole said:

They're competing to win the division and the World Series. This is not a team in rebuild. Are they any good? Probably not...but I doubt the players are giving up.

Well, until there is an official statement otherwise, I think you are correctly stating the company line.  However, here is the immediate problem.  They cannot compete without Castro stepping forward....in whatever capacity.  If he is in the pen, he simply needs to build some stamina to last an entire season.  If it is in the rotation, well he probably needs to be our current 4 or 5 starter.

The reality to the company line, they do not have an adequate body to take whatever spot they choose to not use him.  Unless we live in fantasy baseball where he can both start and relieve.  Either way, that is not a recipe for competing.

Perhaps use the next few months to see what nuggets we like and lock a bunch of em up for 5-7 years.  I am actually pretty optimistic about the young guys.  It's not my money, but I'd rather do that than unload $50+MM on another bottom feeder starting pitcher.  

[oriole]

14 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

It's got zero to do with players giving up.  Obviously, everyone on the team is going to try to do their best and win as much as possible - I'd hope.  But this team has as much chance as my niece's softball team to win the WS - maybe slightly better to win the division.  I don't call that competing.  You can give them certificates of participation with that kind of competing.   

I'm not saying they're favored to be an above average club. I'm also not going to say a team with a decent roster has absolutely no chance. Don't get me wrong, I think fourth or fifth place is likely. But it's still well within reason to think they can be competitive for a majority of the season. You're telling me the season is lost already so just throw Castro out there because it doesn't matter. Im telling you that it does matter and you could say it matters even more to test the waters of Castro the SP in AAA so he doesn't mess with the delicate balance between potential contender and bottom dweller. 

[George Zuverink]

10 hours ago, Yardball85 said:

I guess he could start in AAA.  Rotation of Gausman, Bundy, Cortes, Wright, Ynoa sounds good to me.

What about that rotation “sounds good”to you?

[Il BuonO]

16 minutes ago, George Zuverink said:

What about that rotation “sounds good”to you?

It’s all relative when you’re an Oriole fan, but yeah, that’s depressing.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

10 hours ago, Ruzious said:

I'll be in the minority here.  The kid worked hard to show he belongs in the majors last year.  Sending him down could be a knock to his confidence.  We're not competing for anything in 2018 and don't have other good options for the rotation.  Let him get his feet wet as a major league starter where he'll learn the quickest - in the majors.  

I agree with the first half of your statement, with one small detail.

Keep him as a swingman/long reliever but also use him as the "emergency" or 6th starter to get him a taste of starting, without throwing him out there every few days.

[Luke-OH]

1 hour ago, George Zuverink said:

What about that rotation “sounds good”to you?

I’m not Yardball, but I’m guessing that Yardball thinks 2018 is a lost season so it really doesn’t matter.  And by throwing Ynoa, Cortes, Wright, Mesa, etc out there, you have the chance of creating a valuable asset. One of those guys showing they are a legit starter would be huge for the future of the org. 5 more years at extremely cost controlled salaries.

You throw MiGo or Tillman out there on a one year deal, there is no upside. Even if they are great, they are either gone or expensive. Even Lynn or Cobb, they’d have to be really amazing to be significantly better than what it’d take to sign them. The Orioles need assets, you can’t create assets without opportunity.

Aaron Judge wasn’t a top prospect, Jordan Montgomery wasn’t a top prospect. #10 and #15 respectively on just the Yankees prior to this past season (per minorleagueball/John Sickels) is, neither were anywhere close to being top 100 prospects, but they got an opportunity and now they’re huge assets. Not saying any of those O’s pitchers have anything close to Judge upside, but Montgomery, that’s well within the realm of possibility.

Edit: And before anyone says, well if those FA guys you mentioned are good the O’s can just trade them at the deadline for prospects, think to yourself when the last time the O’s traded a significant major leaguer at the deadline for prospects.