Where to spend a bunch of money on Free Agents this fall?

[wildcard]

Just looking at what the O's will have next spring to pick from and looking at holes.

Infield:  1B Mountcastle, Nevin, Mundy

2B/SS /3B:  Henderson, Westburg, Ortiz, Urias, Mateo, Gutierrez, Vavra, Jones, Martin

Outfield: Mullins, Hays, Stowers, Santander, Diaz, Cowser

Catcher:  Adley

Starters:  Grayson, DL, Means, Bradish,  T Wells

Starters Depth: Zimmerman, Kremer, Lowther, Akin, Baumann, Rom

Relievers:  Bautista, Baker, Tate, Sulser, Scott, Perez, Fry, Krehbiel, Lopez

So where are the holes you want to spend a bunch  of money on?

[interloper]

I think 3B/middle infield is still an option. Don't think Henderson will be quite ready in 2023. Westburg it remains to be seen, for me, how much he really hits.  Same with Ortiz. There's room to supplement here and trade from depth. 

It would be nice to find a tried and tested SP. Even though that group is nice, injuries are extremely likely. 

The bullpen could use a true backend piece as well. 

[interloper]

I like where your head's at though and in theory the team certainly has a lot of talent at most positions going into next year. It's just very, very, very, very unlikely that all these guys, much less most of them, much less half of them, end up the guys we hope they will be. Right? To hit on a homegrown MLB-caliber starter for all of these positions is basically impossible. 

But we'll hit on a few, and we'll trade from depth, and we'll fill in the gaps with free agents. That's the hope anyway. 

[wildcard]

7 minutes ago, interloper said:

I think 3B/middle infield is still an option. Don't think Henderson will be quite ready in 2023. Westburg it remains to be seen, for me, how much he really hits.  Same with Ortiz. There's room to supplement here and trade from depth. 

It would be nice to find a tried and tested SP. Even though that group is nice, injuries are extremely likely. 

The bullpen could use a true backend piece as well. 

Spending a bunch of money means a multi year contract.   Do you want to block the infielders before you see how good they are?

[Sports Guy]

So many unknowns.  Realistically, we will have to add someone on the IF, at least 1 legit starter, 1-2 very good BP arms and perhaps an OFer.

[interloper]

Just now, wildcard said:

Spending a bunch of money means a multi year contract.   Do you want to block the infielders before you see how good they are?

It depends. What holes reveal themselves in the course of this season? To me, there's surely no way all those SPs hit, so we're going to need to acquire a SP through trade, because free agent SPs don't come here. So you trade for a SP with middle infield depth, and you sign some middle infielders. That's one option anyway. 

There's much to be revealed this season. 

[wildcard]

2 minutes ago, interloper said:

I like where your head's at though and in theory the team certainly has a lot of talent at most positions going into next year. It's just very, very, very, very unlikely that all these guys, much less most of them, much less half of them, end up the guys we hope they will be. Right? To hit on a homegrown MLB-caliber starter for all of these positions is basically impossible. 

But we'll hit on a few, and we'll trade from depth, and we'll fill in the gaps with free agents. That's the hope anyway. 

Most teams don't tank for 4 years and draft in the top 5 pick all that time.  Plus having two #1 starters that are developed from before the tanking.    This is a little different  situation.

[wildcard]

5 minutes ago, interloper said:

It depends. What holes reveal themselves in the course of this season? To me, there's surely no way all those SPs hit, so we're going to need to acquire a SP through trade, because free agent SPs don't come here. So you trade for a SP with middle infield depth, and you sign some middle infielders. That's one option anyway. 

There's much to be revealed this season. 

I don't think the pitchers won't come here for a long term contract holds next fall.   The moving back of the wall and a up and coming team may make FA starters in play for the O's.

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I don't think the pitchers won't come here for a long term contract holds next fall.   The moving back of the wall and a up and coming team may make FA starters in play for the O's.

I agree next year is too soon for a big FA SP. But they could definitely do better than Lyles next year. 

[yark14]

One word: Pitching.

[Aristotelian]

Looking at the pipeline, you could see most of the holes being filled from within if the upside case for every guy pans out. However, it probably isn't going to happen that way and it's hard to say in advance which guys will work out and which won't.

I think an elite bullpen arm (closer or 8th inning guy) will almost certainly be worth the upgrade. 

I feel least confident in Westburg/Gunnar. Going after Correa may be an option. 

Depending on how the young pitchers are doing, I could also see spending big on an Ace. 

[Sports Guy]

Another way to look at this question is this…who do you feel is basically a guarantee to be on the 2023 team?

I think that number is quite small.

[BohKnowsBmore]

36 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Depending on how the young pitchers are doing, I could also see spending big on an Ace. 

This is the one spot (along with elite bullpen guy) that has almost 0% risk of blocking anyone. As others have said, for the position players not everyone is going to be a stud, but it's hard to predict where the holes will be and I'd rather not block a potential young star without a chance to find out. If we go out and sign a TOR pitcher, it fills a need even if all of the young guys work out.

[oriole]

Ummmm is it too early to hope for the Correa signing to actually happen?

[ScGO's]

47 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Another way to look at this question is this…who do you feel is basically a guarantee to be on the 2023 team?

I think that number is quite small.

With potential trades and with some prospects needing this year to prove their worth, this is all I can really think of

 

C - Rutchman

1B - Mountcastle

2B - ?

SS - ?

3B - ?

OF - ?, ?, ?

DH - ?

SP - G Rodriguez, ?, ?, ?, ?

RP - Wells, Bautista, ?????