Proposal: O's spend 40m in FA

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t care to spend a lot of money on that role.  It’s a waste of funds right now.  Adley can go out and catch more than a vet C.  I think 35-50 games is about right in terms of what we need.  We shouldn’t be paying a lot for that though.

There are more important and wiser ways to spend money right now.  The value of the back up C increases as Adley gets older.

Well, I think there’s some value in having an experienced backup for Adley to use as a sounding board.   Also, the O’s might not be so blatant as to bring Adley up the moment he’s not going to accrue a full year of service time.  So, you need a principal starter those first few weeks.   

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

This all makes sense..if you resources that say you can spend 3-7M On your back up.  We don’t, not right now.  So spend it wisely.  This isn’t spending it wisely right now.

And we don’t need some very influence to teach Adley either.  This kid is already light years ahead of most of the C in the majors right now with his attitude, maturity, leadership, etc…

Adley does not know the hitters in the AL.   I want the backup to know the hitters and be able to benefit Adley with his knowledge.

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Well, I think there’s some value in having an experienced backup for Adley to use as a sounding board.   Also, the O’s might not be so blatant as to bring Adley up the moment he’s not going to accrue a full year of service time.  So, you need a principal starter those first few weeks.   

New CBA may take care of that.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Well, I think there’s some value in having an experienced backup for Adley to use as a sounding board.   Also, the O’s might not be so blatant as to bring Adley up the moment he’s not going to accrue a full year of service time.  So, you need a principal starter those first few weeks.   

That’s fine..I don’t really care about the C position for a few weeks early on.  I’m not going to spend dumb money on a mediocre back up for that reason. 
 

D’arnaud just got a 2/16 deal at age 32 in the midst of a year where his OpS is barely above 700.  Any kind of a decent C is going to get decent money.  It’s just dumb to allocate resources like that when you have what is likely to be an elite guy for the position.  It would be different if it was a situation where Adley was catching less than 100 games a year but that’s not happening.  Sure he will DH and play first some but it won’t be a lot, at least not early in his career.  
 

The hope is that Maverick Handley is ready soon enough for that role and we don’t have to spend on it long term either.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

Adley does not know the hitters in the AL.   I want the backup to know the hitters and be able to benefit Adley with his knowledge.

He will…he’s a hard worker.  He will do what’s needed.  You are searching for reasons that don’t matter nor do they exist. 
 

 

[OrangeTurtle]

I think there are two paths to go down regarding Adley. Either you run him into the ground and let him walk (if you can't extend him and buy our Arb years in a team friendly extension), or you go the path of getting another College C 1st/2nd Rd pick that can move quickly and join him ASAP. 

In the 2nd framework, you're attempting to preserve Adley's knees and keep him fresh having him and the other C DH/1B when the other is playing and give him frequent rest with the attempt of getting 10+ years out of him.

I say draft pick, because you want the C pairing to also be extremely cheap, but better than average. Have the split be like 60/40 with Adley using the other 40% DH/Rest/1B.

A lot of this depends on new CBA and his willingness to extend and whatnot.

 

[Sports Guy]

From 2010-2013, Wieters caught between 126-140 games.

In 2016 and 2017, he caught 117 and 118 games.

Adley can and should catch 120+ games in his first few years.  Get to year 3 or 4 and then we can discuss that.

[Just Regular]

28 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I really don’t care who the back up C is.  That’s not a position I would looking to spend much money on.  

I agree with this.   I don't think we should be misled by Rutschman playing 1B/DH half the time to maximize developmental reps against live pitching.   I do NOT expect him to generally do that in MLB, but do expect that he will carry in time the near maximium Grandal/Sal Perez 1st string All-Star catcher type workload.

For wondering about the good Adley teams to come, backup catcher just won't matter much if he is a franchise player.

Regular plug Matt Wieters still hasn't retired, Posey was refreshed by his hiatus year, sentimentality, etc.

[wildcard]

9 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

From 2010-2013, Wieters caught between 126-140 games.

In 2016 and 2017, he caught 117 and 118 games.

Adley can and should catch 120+ games in his first few years.  Get to year 3 or 4 and then we can discuss that.

Adley is a middle of the order bat.   I want to keep him productive just like they have in the minors.  I'd shoot of 108 behind the plate and the rest at 1B/DH.  

Yes I know you don't care.

[Pickles]

4 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Adley is a middle of the order bat.   I want to keep him productive just like they have in the minors.  I'd shoot of 108 behind the plate and the rest at 1B/DH.  

Yes I know you don't care.

Is he?  That's a bold assumption.  

[7Mo]

12 catchers signed for $2M or less this offseason with a long list that remained available. 

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/2021/catcher/

[Pickles]

2 minutes ago, 7Mo said:

12 catchers signed for $2M or less this offseason with a long list that remained available. 

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/2021/catcher/

With an average age of like 36.  And they're all pretty much terrible.

[7Mo]

Just now, Pickles said:

With an average age of like 36.  And they're all pretty much terrible.

I just want one that knows the league and can catch a good game. 

[Just Regular]

 

6 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Adley is a middle of the order bat.   I want to keep him productive just like they have in the minors.  I'd shoot of 108 behind the plate and the rest at 1B/DH.  

Yes I know you don't care.

I hope he's the best hitter he can be, but I think he projects to lineup more in the Oriole tradition of Brooks and Ripken.   I think it was Costas in Ken Burns on the Ripken segment who had the quote about how he was a good hitter, but he was a great defender.

I remember around the time of his draft we had a little of the conversation, Is the bat just too good to tax with catching, and should we move him and hope he bats 10000 times for us?   Who knows if it was considered, but the club has kept him behind the plate.

Mike Piazza only played 70 1B games in his career, and he very likely was not the catcher Rutschman will be.

[Sports Guy]

11 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Is he?  That's a bold assumption.  

If he’s not, all the scouts are wrong and he’s not nearly as good as he has shown or has been advertised.