Orioles sign Chris Owings

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

And yet many people are fine with this.

It’s amazing to me that people accept this stuff and are fine with it.

Who exactly is fine with it?

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Who exactly is fine with it?

There are plenty of people on here and on social media that are fine with waiting for the minor leaguers to come up…that “we aren’t ready yet” for real improvement.  That it’s a waste to sign guys a year early.

I mean, that’s a pretty prevailing theme around here.

You had someone in this thread said, well Elias said he was going to do it.  People are just falling for this bs.  

[Moose Milligan]

22 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

There are plenty of people on here and on social media that are fine with waiting for the minor leaguers to come up…that “we aren’t ready yet” for real improvement.  That it’s a waste to sign guys a year early.

I mean, that’s a pretty prevailing theme around here.

You had someone in this thread said, well Elias said he was going to do it.  People are just falling for this bs.  

How come the majority of the people out there don’t think the way that you do?

[interloper]

I'd rather this guy on the team over Odor. At least he can sorta make contact with the baseball and won't complain about being "uncomfortable" playing 3B. 

[Il BuonO]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

That’s only because you are either ignorant to what is being said, legitimately aren’t smart enough to understand or just aren’t reading.

If you think you have to lose on purpose for 4+ years to be good long term, you are clueless.  

Yep....I was one of those calling for the rebuild longer than I care to remember. “Rebuild”, though, implies that there’s a point in time when the team is built. It shouldn’t go on indefinitely with the excuse they’re still rebuilding. How long? Get it moving.

[DrinkinWithFermi]

I have no strong feelings for or against this.

[Tony-OH]

19 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Yep....I was one of those calling for the rebuild longer than I care to remember. “Rebuild”, though, implies that there’s a point in time when the team is built. It shouldn’t go on indefinitely with the excuse they’re still rebuilding. How long? Get it moving.

True, and I think this is the year where they try to win. But we know this team is coming off a 52 win season so even a 20 games improvement would be a lot and that still makes them a 90 loss team this year. No amount of free agent signings will help that.

The only reason to sign a big free agent is if you feel they are the guy you can build around and you have no one in your system that is coming up in the future. 

The Orioles right now can legitimately say they have legitimate starters or high level (close to ready) prospects at C, 1B, 2B, 3B, LF, CF, RF, two starting pitchers and plenty of potential relievers.

They may have a SS but we still need to see if Henderson (will he get too big or will his hands not improve), Westburg (arm strength concerns as an everyday SS), or Ortiz (will the bat play?) can stick there as an everyday guy.

What this team really needs is some starting pitching and hopefully this year will be the year they find out who if any among Zimmermann, Lowther, T. Wells, A. Wells, Akin, Kremer, Bradish and Baumann can be part of that future rotation.

[Can_of_corn]

14 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

True, and I think this is the year where they try to win. But we know this team is coming off a 52 win season so even a 20 games improvement would be a lot and that still makes them a 90 loss team this year. No amount of free agent signings will help that.

The only reason to sign a big free agent is if you feel they are the guy you can build around and you have no one in your system that is coming up in the future. 

The Orioles right now can legitimately say they have legitimate starters or high level (close to ready) prospects at C, 1B, 2B, 3B, LF, CF, RF, two starting pitchers and plenty of potential relievers.

They may have a SS but we still need to see if Henderson (will he get too big or will his hands not improve), Westburg (arm strength concerns as an everyday SS), or Ortiz (will the bat play?) can stick there as an everyday guy.

What this team really needs is some starting pitching and hopefully this year will be the year they find out who if any among Zimmermann, Lowther, T. Wells, A. Wells, Akin, Kremer, Bradish and Baumann can be part of that future rotation.

I think this is the year they stop trying to lose.

[Il BuonO]

On 3/15/2022 at 2:49 PM, Tony-OH said:

True, and I think this is the year where they try to win.

The only reason to sign a big free agent is if you feel they are the guy you can build around and you have no one in your system that is coming up in the future. 

What this team really needs is some starting pitching and hopefully this year will be the year they find out who if any among Zimmermann, Lowther, T. Wells, A. Wells, Akin, Kremer, Bradish and Baumann can be part of that future rotation.

Their young guys are who they should be building around. I don’t believe FA is the best route to “make” it complete your team with a goal of winning. It can be, but because the contracts rarely work out (a bigger consideration for Baltimore considering the market) FA is a means to an end, not the only means.

However, because of various factors (Covid, shortening of the season, loss of a year of development for many prospects) which did lengthen the time of this rebuild, FA is still a tool to improve a team. 

If, as you say, they should look to winning this year, why not add FA who are proven and can help them do so? As I’ve said, AR and the class of guys ready to come up should be what the team is built around. So, then again, how long? They need to take the necessary steps to improve the team and show the fan base they’re ready to compete next year if not this year. 

Otherwise, and it becomes more excuses (what they call reasons) as to why it will take just a bit longer.

[Tony-OH]

45 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Their young guys are who they should be building around. I don’t believe FA is the best route to “make” it complete your team with a goal of winning. It can be, but because the contracts rarely work out (a bigger consideration for Baltimore considering the market) FA is a means to an end, not the only means.

However, because of various factors (Covid, shortening of the season, loss of a year of development for many prospects) which did lengthen the time of this rebuild, FA is still a tool tool to improve a team. 

If, as you say, they should look to winning this year, why not add FA who are proven and can help them do so? As I’ve said, AR and the class of guys ready to come up should be what the team is built around. So, then again, how long? They need to take the necessary steps to improve the team and show the fan base they’re ready to compete next year if not this year. 

Otherwise, and it becomes more excuses (what they call reasons) as to why it will take just a bit longer.

Who would you sign as a Free agent this off season and what do you think it does for our record this year?

I just don't see the Orioles ever being a sign Correa kind of team so I just don't think that's realistic. Could they, sure, but again, I don't see it as realistic. 

I do think they should be trying to win this year which in my mind means there are no more Spensor Watkins getting anything more than an emergency start at worse. 

I'd love to see them have a one year stop gap who is better than Gutierrez, but who? With Henderson, Westburg and perhaps Mayo is he can stick at 3B, it doesn't make sense to sign a long term option and besides, there are no good long term options available at 3B. 

Let's say 2023 looks like this:

1B: Mountcastle
2B: Westburg
SS: Ortiz
3B: Henderson
LF: Hays
CF: Mullins
RF: Cowser
DH Kjerstad/Stowers

SP: Rodriguez
SP: Hall
SP: Means
SP: Rom
SP: The winner of the other guys

Does this look like a team that can't compete? Heck I left out guys like Mayo/Vavra/Prieto/the 1st overall pick this year if he's a college guy/Norby and a few others who could be up and helping out.

So why dump a bunch of money into free agents this year when I don't see anyone but Correa who is a real impact guy at a position of need.

I think this is an important year for the team to assess prospects at high levels of the minors and at the major league level with players like Rutschman, Rodriguez, Stowers and potentially Hall, Ortiz, and Westburg.

We are not jumping from a 52 win team to a contender in one year. This is the transition yea from cellar dweller who is hoping for the 1st overall pick to a team trying to win but not necessarily compete. 
 

[wildcard]

6 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Smells like a new wildcard favorite.  A great Valaika replacement!  

Given the fact that our key middle infield prospects are a year or two away, I'm assuming Owings sees some time in Baltimore this year but I'm not really expecting much here.  

 

Nope.  Not my guy and neither is Odor.

Owings hasn't really played SS much since 2017 with the D'Backs. And he did not do well then.

First off we are waiting for Westburg, Ortiz and Gunnar to be starters. So anyone here to begin the season may be a stopgap infielder.    

I'd like to see Mateo as SS and Urias at 2nd as starters to begin the season.  Mateo range and arm are something I want to see more of.  Urias looks like a hitter for OBP and 2B was his best position throughout the minors. He can back up SS.   But both players will probably be high error SS when they play there.

So IMO what the team needs is a good defensive SS.   Torreyes is a good fielding utility player that can play SS/2B/3B.     He's  got a 660 career OPS which isn't great but if he is really backing up Mateo in case Mateo does not cut it as SS he would be fine and cost about 1/1M.

I would rather see Matt Duffy at 3B over Gutierrez.  Duffy has a 283 career average with a 341 OBP.  He is probably league average at 3B defensively.   He has little power but as a stop gap he would work.  He made 1M for the Cubs last year and would probably fit on a one year contract for the O's.

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think this is the year they stop trying to lose.

I agree but I am surprised to read something positive from you.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, wildcard said:

I agree but I am surprised to read something positive from you.

I'm not being positive.

They added a lottery to limit the reward for tanking so I don't think Elias is going into the season trying to get the top pick.  I also don't think he's going to spend or promote aggressively in an attempt to win. 

Adley, Grayson and to a lesser extent Hall are in a position where you can't just leave them in the minors.  Elias is being forced to put out a at least somewhat competitive team this year.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm not being positive.

They added a lottery to limit the reward for tanking so I don't think Elias is going into the season trying to get the top pick.  I also don't think he's going to spend or promote aggressively in an attempt to win. 

Adley, Grayson and to a lesser extent Hall are in a position where you can't just leave them in the minors.  Elias is being forced to put out a at least somewhat competitive team this year.

So far I haven’t seen Elias do anything post-CBA that he probably wouldn’t have done anyway.   

[Il BuonO]

3 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Who would you sign as a Free agent this off season and what do you think it does for our record this year?

I just don't see the Orioles ever being a sign Correa kind of team so I just don't think that's realistic. Could they, sure, but again, I don't see it as realistic. 

I do think they should be trying to win this year....

....and besides, there are no good long term options at 3B.

We are not jumping from a 52 win team to a contender in one year. This is the transition year  from cellar dweller who is hoping for the 1st overall pick to a team trying to win but not necessarily compete. 

First of all, to answer your question, a pitcher. 

Secondly, why isn’t Correa a realistic option? If you see them competing this year, doesn’t he help them do that? And then he’s with the crop they have coming up. Not only that, he becomes an immediate clubhouse presence with a history of winning. 

As far as the guys you have coming up, it doesn’t sound like you are even sure who would take over at SS. So, Correa starts there until one of the kids are ready and then they slide him over to 3B. 

Bottom line, Correa provides leadership and instant offense and defense. 

A transition year doesn’t limit them to just contending. Correa is realistic for any team who wants to compete and legitimizes a team to win down the road.