Who will represent us in the All-Star Game?

[Philip]

2 minutes ago, atomic said:

I thought the same thing.  Why is Mancini the chosen one?  I think Means would be the guy so far.  He could explode but he looks pretty solid. If he has another month like he has been doing he surely is the All-star for the team. 

 I’ll bet dollars to donuts that they are pushing Mancini in an effort to increase his trade value.

He was the 249th pick in the draft, he’s already justified that pick by a very big margin. If we could trade him for any  meaningful return, that might well end up being the one of best picks of the Duquette era.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Philip said:

 I’ll bet dollars to donuts that they are pushing Mancini in an effort to increase his trade value.

He was the 249th pick in the draft, he’s already justified that pick by a very big margin. If we could trade him for any  meaningful return, that might well end up being the one of best picks of the Duquette era.

I don't think being an all star pity selection will increase his trade value.

[Aglets]

Fans don't vote for pitchers right?   So idk how much it makes sense to really prop up Means since it will ultimately be up to factors outside of the fans control if he gets picked.

[Aglets]

33 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Isn’t there a 100% chance?    I thought every team had to have one player.    

I think it’s probably true that no Oriole would be on the team if they were constructing the roster on merit.    But neither Means nor Mancini would be embarrassing as a selection right now.  

I believe there could be a few oddball cases where we might not get one.   I'm thinking like if Trey gets selected but then gets traded or something.   I guess the probability of that happening is probably less than 2%.

[LookinUp]

21 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think being an all star pity selection will increase his trade value.

I want to believe this is true, and I'm sure it is for smarter teams, but it could help a GM sell a player to dumb owners and/or fanbases. Especially if said player does something really positive on that national stage. 

[Tx Oriole]

1 hour ago, Aglets said:

You are certainly welcome to believe that.  I'll note that Johns Means currently has the 8th highest WAR out of all American League starters so that at least makes him worthy of consideration imo.

I'll note that there is probably at least 98% chance that we do have an All Star Representative however.  This thread was just trying to start a convo about who it will be.

Well maybe Mancini. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think being an all star pity selection will increase his trade value.

I don't think there are any GM's left who look at all star selections or the number of wins a pitcher has as determining factors on whether they would trade for a player. 

[sportsfan8703]

Mancini has to be a lock at this point since he’s 5th in the AL in OPS. It Means were to qualify for the ERA title he’d be 6th with his 2.60 ERA. His 5 IP starts aren’t helping his cause, but if he could spin 3-4, 7 IP gems, he could put himself in the conversation. 

[Eddie_Murray33]

Hopefully Mancini. Nice ball player that is very unlikely to embarrass the club with his participation (pitchers could always give up 3 HRs in an inning, etc.). That’s about the most you can hope for when you’re going through years like these. Just get it over, and move on...

[Aglets]

Update. 

Means is now up to the 5th highest WAR among all AL starting pitchers.

[Il BuonO]

2 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Mancini has to be a lock at this point since he’s 5th in the AL in OPS. It Means were to qualify for the ERA title he’d be 6th with his 2.60 ERA. His 5 IP starts aren’t helping his cause, but if he could spin 3-4, 7 IP gems, he could put himself in the conversation. 

This is where I’m at with Means. Of course, everything he’s contributed up to this point was completely unexpected. But it sure would be nice if he could be more efficient.

[Frobby]

46 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

This is where I’m at with Means. Of course, everything he’s contributed up to this point was completely unexpected. But it sure would be nice if he could be more efficient.

I’m taking everything we get from Means as a gift from heaven.    I’m not even hoping for more than we’re already getting.   I’d be thrilled if Means continued to do exactly what he’s done for the rest of the year.   

[Il BuonO]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

I’m taking everything we get from Means as a gift from heaven.    I’m not even hoping for more than we’re already getting.   I’d be thrilled if Means continued to do exactly what he’s done for the rest of the year.   

I suppose this is true, too. However, it’d be nice to see them win a game after one of his starts relying as little as possible on the beleaguered bullpen.

[jerios55]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

I’m taking everything we get from Means as a gift from heaven.    I’m not even hoping for more than we’re already getting.   I’d be thrilled if Means continued to do exactly what he’s done for the rest of the year.   

In his 4 losses the team got him 6 total runs and he has 6 of 21 team wins (28.5%).  He hasn't been superman, but he had made this team much more watchable on his days. 

[Frobby]

34 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

I suppose this is true, too. However, it’d be nice to see them win a game after one of his starts relying as little as possible on the beleaguered bullpen.

I could argue that Hyde actually has too quick a hook considering how poor our bullpen is.    Last year our starters had a 5.49 ERA and pitched 5.17 innings per game; the bullpen had a 4.76 ERA. This year our starters have a 5.41 ERA and average 4.90 innings per game, while the bullpen ERA is 6.06.   It would probably hurt our starters’ ERA if Hyde stuck with them a little longer, but the overall team ERA might drop a bit since the horrible bullpen would get used less.