The Subpar Six

[Frobby]

My thought on Ortiz is that he’s got pretty decent stuff but no stamina.    Make him a reliever and I think he’d be OK.

[Sessh]

No reason to go around cutting half a dozen players. This is a rebuild and we have less talent than we had last year when we set records. What did you think was going to happen? Hays just got to Norfolk and judging by Elias's comments in Tony's interview, he views it as an actual level of development which Hays should spend the rest of the season developing in. What's the rush? Now is not the time for it and it makes zero sense.

Straily, yes, makes perfect sense. I'd much rather see Kline brought back up than Straily or Phillips for that matter.

Ortiz? Really? After one game? Chill out. He's 23, give him a chance to work out his issues. His stuff isn't bad at all, it's the command.

Davis, absolutely, but unlikely to happen.

Rogers, why? His numbers in the minors aren't that bad before this season and he threw 4.1 innings last night and allowed only two runs, so again, give him some time. We have PLENTY of it.

Broxton? Again, why? For Wilkerson? Hays isn't even close to being ready and hasn't shown anything worthy of considering a call-up since 2017. He just got to AAA ball this season and played only six games. Let him develop properly. This idea that once you hit a certain age, you become incapable of improving yourself is a little ridiculous. It may not be likely, but with the tool set Broxton has and the fact that there are visible adjustments being made to his approach with some success is reason enough to let it play out. He's got four above average to elite tools, so if the other can be made anywhere close to average, we've got a keeper. If not, then he'll be gone and someone will replace him.

I didn't come here often enough over the last couple years to really understand some people's frustrations here with regards to quick reactions and whatnot, but these knee-jerk emotional reactions are comical at times. Relax. This team is not going anywhere and getting another first round pick would be lovely. There is no need to rush anyone here and we have all the time in the world to evaluate and try to elicit improvements in players we do have. Pounding the panic button with a sledge hammer at this point is a waste of energy and a sign that some have missed the point of this season and the next couple seasons at least.

On the bright side, Harvey was used out of the bullpen last night and dominated. Yusniel Diaz has homered in three straight games as well.

[Philip]

40 minutes ago, Frobby said:

My thought on Ortiz is that he’s got pretty decent stuff but no stamina.    Make him a reliever and I think he’d be OK.

He had five walks in 3+ innings, and threw 80 pitches. I doubt stamina is as much of an issue as control. He’s Jason Garcia with a better pedigree. Throws hard but doesn’t know where it’s going.

too late to give him back, but probably too soon to dump him.

[ThomasTomasz]

5 hours ago, Philip said:

Given that he has only what, 3 appearances this season, I don’t think you can put Rogers on this list. Does Ortiz even have one other appearance?

I understand that Mike has an agenda and a plan, and part of that plan is not promoting any of the good players. But why can’t he promote some other possibilities? There must be several borderline guys in Bowie who have enough time in the minors to justify at least a cup of coffee? I understand if you bring a guy up and he is lousy, but I don’t understand continually bringing up guys who we already know are lousy. Do we really need to spend anymore time with Evan Phillips? Or many another name I could mention. 

They are all bad, none of them is going to be part of our next good team, and “Keep the good guys away from the big club for now.” might actually be part of Mike’s plan.

So let other guys give it a try, one of them may be good for a few starts, and even if he’s not, at least we gave him the chance.

Yeah, AA has Zimmermann and Kremer, but you don't want to throw those guys to the wolves before they are ready.  The pitching has been dreadful for years, and until John Wasdin was hired two years ago, our pitching development has been terrible.  You are seeing that right now in AAA.  You really don't want to rush these guys through, and play behind a subpar defense.  The outfield is still struggling, and though not as bad as last year, hits still keep falling in.  

The Astros and other teams in the league have been this bad while rebuilding.  We are going to have at least one more year, maybe two, with a top 1-3 pick.  I'm not worried about things until 2-3 years from now and some of the players at A and AA go to the higher levels and start struggling.  We also don't even have a full front office yet.  Our pitching the past two years has been terrible with the same guys, and I'm not sure where we expected much different this year aside from a few guys.  

[ArtVanDelay]

5 hours ago, Sessh said:

No reason to go around cutting half a dozen players. This is a rebuild and we have less talent than we had last year when we set records. What did you think was going to happen? Hays just got to Norfolk and judging by Elias's comments in Tony's interview, he views it as an actual level of development which Hays should spend the rest of the season developing in. What's the rush? Now is not the time for it and it makes zero sense.

Straily, yes, makes perfect sense. I'd much rather see Kline brought back up than Straily or Phillips for that matter.

Ortiz? Really? After one game? Chill out. He's 23, give him a chance to work out his issues. His stuff isn't bad at all, it's the command.

Davis, absolutely, but unlikely to happen.

Rogers, why? His numbers in the minors aren't that bad before this season and he threw 4.1 innings last night and allowed only two runs, so again, give him some time. We have PLENTY of it.

Broxton? Again, why? For Wilkerson? Hays isn't even close to being ready and hasn't shown anything worthy of considering a call-up since 2017. He just got to AAA ball this season and played only six games. Let him develop properly. This idea that once you hit a certain age, you become incapable of improving yourself is a little ridiculous. It may not be likely, but with the tool set Broxton has and the fact that there are visible adjustments being made to his approach with some success is reason enough to let it play out. He's got four above average to elite tools, so if the other can be made anywhere close to average, we've got a keeper. If not, then he'll be gone and someone will replace him.

I didn't come here often enough over the last couple years to really understand some people's frustrations here with regards to quick reactions and whatnot, but these knee-jerk emotional reactions are comical at times. Relax. This team is not going anywhere and getting another first round pick would be lovely. There is no need to rush anyone here and we have all the time in the world to evaluate and try to elicit improvements in players we do have. Pounding the panic button with a sledge hammer at this point is a waste of energy and a sign that some have missed the point of this season and the next couple seasons at least.

On the bright side, Harvey was used out of the bullpen last night and dominated. Yusniel Diaz has homered in three straight games as well.

Lol.  Clearly it was tongue in cheek.  Relax. 

[Nevermore]

I have a brilliant (??) idea to at least fix our bullpen. Sign one or all of these guys to minor league contracts. None of them have pitched in the majors for at least 2 years. All of them were former starters who were demoted to mop up duty in the bullpen. So each has bullpen experience . Whoever of these guys we sign start them in the pen, in the minors. If any refuse a minor league assignment, release them right away. But my theory is that each will be very glad to get yet another chance.

First clear up roster space by DFAing Straly. Then sign these guys to minor league contracts. Two of them are former Orioles and one (a 2 time Cy Young winner i) s not.  Here they are: 

Tim Lincicum. Never been an Oriole . Got demoted to the pen by the Giants a few weeks after having pitched a nohitter. Spent the rest of the season pitching mop up. Also post season, including the World Series. Giant's management let him go; it was the end of his contract. Giant's fans loved him.

Ubaldo Jimenez.  Spent 4 years as an  Oriole never living up to his 4 year contract.  Very inconsistent.  Never could figure it out, no matter how hard he worked. Became the most hated player on the Orioles.  Got demoted to the pen severral times. He even earned a save. Was let go after his contract ended. 

Chris Tilllman. Injured his pitching shoulder. Thought it was cured after some time on the disabled (injured) list.  After that he became wild, no pitch command.  Eventually demoted.to mop up. Let go after the season.

So what do we lose after signing at least one of these guys  to a minor league contract?  I know it's nuts but you never know..