Must Read: Review of the Baysox rotation

[Frobby]

I think the Baysox rotation may be the best the O’s have had at any level of the minors since the 2008 Baysox, and possibly better than that.    That staff had Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen, David Hernandez and Jason Berken, all of whom graduated to the majors during the following year.    

[weams]

 

[sportsfan8703]

1 hour ago, weams said:

 

Lots of positive developments so far in the early parts of the 2nd half. We sure do need some. 

[wildcard]

I know this will get moved to the minor league board but I think all the OH readers will love this view of the future.

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2019/07/in-bowie-vet-catcher-helped-strong-rotation-lead-charge-to-first-place.html

[VaBird1]

Just now, wildcard said:

I know this will get moved to the minor league board but I think all the OH readers will love this view of the future.

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2019/07/in-bowie-vet-catcher-helped-strong-rotation-lead-charge-to-first-place.html

The line between the majors and minors is very blurry at this point

[Going Underground]

I think some of these guys have a bright future but would have liked to see some quotes from other then the manager and pitching coach of the team.

[HowAboutThat]

I still fail to see why it is a bad idea to give some of the marginal guys a chance. John Means Wasn’t on any prospect list, but here he is. Bringing up some of our other marginal guys Could create some trade chips if they show well. I certainly don’t expect Means to be around very long. He will either turn back into a pumpkin and go away, or he will continue to excel and go away. The same might well be true of some of our other guys.

[Luke-OH]

7 minutes ago, Philip said:

I still fail to see why it is a bad idea to give some of the marginal guys a chance. John Means Wasn’t on any prospect list, but here he is. Bringing up some of our other marginal guys Could create some trade chips if they show well. I certainly don’t expect Means to be around very long. He will either turn back into a pumpkin and go away, or he will continue to excel and go away. The same might well be true of some of our other guys.

I don’t see what this has to do with the article. These guys are all better prospects than Means was and there is no point in rushing any of them to the majors. Some are probably ready for AAA, like Zimmermann and Kremer.

[wildcard]

18 minutes ago, Philip said:

I still fail to see why it is a bad idea to give some of the marginal guys a chance. John Means Wasn’t on any prospect list, but here he is. Bringing up some of our other marginal guys Could create some trade chips if they show well. I certainly don’t expect Means to be around very long. He will either turn back into a pumpkin and go away, or he will continue to excel and go away. The same might well be true of some of our other guys.

I have a little different perspective.

1) I am guessing that you think the Wells and Zimmerman are among the marginal guys.   None of Wells, Zimmerman, Baumann or Lowther need to be put on the 40 man roster to protect that from the Rule 5 draft his off season.   So by keeping they in the minors Elias is creating space on the 40 man roster for other farm system players, for Rule 5 guys and for other players he may think will fit into the O's rebuilt.  

Also Elias has four groups on players that may go to the minor league play-offs.  Delmarva  Bowie, Aberdeen and the GCL O's.    Developing players in a winning environment adds to their good experience.

2) Rodriguez  and  DL Hall could be in the majors as early as 2021.   That is in 2 seasons.  Means will just be in his third year.  If he continues to pitch well Means could be part of the rotation when the team gets good again.   I don't think Elias is looking for Means to go away.

[Frobby]

Fun article.    It’s nice to look at the Bowie boxscores every night, because all the starters are humming.    That’s pretty true of Delmarva, too.    Norfolk and Frederick, not so much.    

Next year all five of these guys should be in Norfolk, on the precipice of the majors, and that should be really interesting to follow.    We could see any or all of them in Baltimore in 2020.    However, Elias is proving to be very patient and stingy with promotions among the true prospects, so I don’t expect him to rush anyone.    

[HowAboutThat]

16 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I have a little different perspective.

1) I am guessing that you think the Wells and Zimmerman are among the marginal guys.   None of Wells, Zimmerman, Baumann or Lowther need to be put on the 40 man roster to protect that from the Rule 5 draft his off season.   So by keeping they in the minors Elias is creating space on the 40 man roster for other farm system players, for Rule 5 guys and for other players he may think will fit into the O's rebuilt.  

Also Elias has four groups on players that may go to the minor league play-offs.  Delmarva  Bowie, Aberdeen and the GCL O's.    Developing players in a winning environment adds to their good experience.

2) Rodriguez  and  DL Hall could be in the majors as early as 2021.   That is in 2 seasons.  Means will just be in his third year.  If he continues to pitch well Means could be part of the rotation when the team gets good again.   I don't think Elias is looking for Means to go away.

Very good points, thank you.

Regarding Means,  obviously, he will go away if he turns back into a pumpkin, but if he continues to excel, I think he will probably be traded, because so many of our other prospects project to be better, and if you’ve got a solid number four or five guy, with some solid number two or three guys behind him, why not trade the solid four or five guy? 

[HowAboutThat]

21 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I have a little different perspective.

1) I am guessing that you think the Wells and Zimmerman are among the marginal guys.   None of Wells, Zimmerman, Baumann or Lowther need to be put on the 40 man roster to protect that from the Rule 5 draft his off season.   So by keeping they in the minors Elias is creating space on the 40 man roster for other farm system players, for Rule 5 guys and for other players he may think will fit into the O's rebuilt.  

Also Elias has four groups on players that may go to the minor league play-offs.  Delmarva  Bowie, Aberdeen and the GCL O's.    Developing players in a winning environment adds to their good experience.

2) Rodriguez  and  DL Hall could be in the majors as early as 2021.   That is in 2 seasons.  Means will just be in his third year.  If he continues to pitch well Means could be part of the rotation when the team gets good again.   I don't think Elias is looking for Means to go away.

PS I would love to see Wells and Baumann, But your comment about the 40 man roster was entirely valid so I’m willing to wait.

[Greg Pappas]

12 minutes ago, Philip said:

Very good points, thank you.

Regarding Means,  obviously, he will go away if he turns back into a pumpkin, but if he continues to excel, I think he will probably be traded, because so many of our other prospects project to be better, and if you’ve got a solid number four or five guy, with some solid number two or three guys behind him, why not trade the solid four or five guy? 

Philip, if Means "continues to excel", it's hard to imagine any of our prospects projecting to be better than Means has been. He may get traded at some point if we get a strong offer or he may yet fall back into obscurity, we agree. But Means has been far better than a 4th or 5th starter. Perhaps you meant that all of them project better than Means when he was a prospect. Perhaps I'm mis-reading your post.

[Aristotelian]

42 minutes ago, Philip said:

I still fail to see why it is a bad idea to give some of the marginal guys a chance. John Means Wasn’t on any prospect list, but here he is. Bringing up some of our other marginal guys Could create some trade chips if they show well. I certainly don’t expect Means to be around very long. He will either turn back into a pumpkin and go away, or he will continue to excel and go away. The same might well be true of some of our other guys.

Seems clear to me that the Bowie rotation is better than our Norfolk rotation, and probably our MLB rotation, right now. Still, there is no rush. Even if these guys show something at the MLB level, the last thing we should do is trade them. I am all for maximizing development and service time so the next window will stay open as long as possible.

[BirdinBama]

Thanks for that uplifting read! I am as excited to be an Oriole fan right now as I was when we won the AL East in 2014!