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

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, ScGO's said:

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, ?????

I wouldn’t even go that far with the relievers.  Hall would be on my list except the risk of injuries makes him less of a guarantee.

But yea, I think you hit the nail on the head and your reasonings are dead on.

 

[geschinger]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

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?

We need to see who among the above develops and who bombs before deciding where it makes sense to allocate longer term commitments.

[interloper]

30 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

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, ?????

I think that's mostly fair, if a little conservative. If you're factoring in possible trades, then yeah that kind of blows up everything. Otherwise, guys like Mullins, Hays, and Means are still locks because they have so many years of control left. It would be surprising to me to see early trades of those guys, but anything is possible. 

Really, I just want one shortstop prospect to reveal himself as The Truth this year. Whether it's Westburg, Henderson, or Ortiz. Not saying any of them will crack the ML roster this year, but I'm looking for one of them to really start lighting up the minors. If none of them do, that's going to be a bit of a problem. 

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

I have zero confidence this team will try to compete until Angelos passes so not setting myself for more endless disappointment. 
 

cavaet: love Wildcard threads, keep up the great analysis/thoughts 

[btdart20]

I think we've got C (AR), 1B (Mounty), 2B (any number of prospects, but think Norby will be the guy), and OF (Hays, Mullin, Cowser) covered.  The IF positions have some potential and depth, but still TBD.  

 

#1 - Starting pitching - Let's see how this season goes first (for us and for the free agents) but there are some interesting options: 

Bassitt (34), Bauer and his baggage (32 - if he opts out), Clevinger (32), Eovaldi (33), Kershaw (35), Manaea (31), Musgrove (30), Rodon (30 - if he ops out), Syndergaard (30), Taillon (31), Verlander (40 - if he opts out).

#2 - SS - Probably the most options but most question marks in the MiLB for the O's.  I would hate to block prospects because the more we can save here, the more we can use toward pitching.  But not having a solid/plus SS is a big gap in today's game.  And like others have said, adding here would also make the prospects to trade chips.  Plus, the 3B free agents are a joke.

Correa (28 - wouldn't be shocked if he opts out), Bogaerts (30 - if he opts out), Trea Turner (30).  

 

Joc Pederson is a free agent next year if we're interested! 

[btdart20]

5 hours ago, interloper said:

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

Maybe not.  But they've got to start filling gaps at some point.  And SP is the biggest need by far.

[Three Run Homer]

A lot depends on how our minor league position prospects develop this year.   We have lots of good prospects in the infield, outfield and of course catcher.  We may be able to contend in 2023 or 2024 without making any major FA acquisitions on the position player side.  

But I am 100 percent certain that we will need to make major investments in FA starting pitching.  Even in the best-case scenario where both GrayRod and DL Hall pan out as front line starters, we still will need two more good starters.  

 

 

 

 

[owknows]

5 hours 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. 

3B?

 

I believe I'll have me a little Mayo on that.... Mmmmhmmm.

[OriolesMagic83]

12 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

Maybe not.  But they've got to start filling gaps at some point.  And SP is the biggest need by far.

If GrayRod, Hall, and Means are here and 1 of the "other" prospects has stepped up and become dependable, then the O's should definitely try to sign a #2/#3 starter.  A team with a lot of good young players can suddenly get much better.  Look what happened in 2012.

[seak05]

I think the Orioles would need one more "big bat" in this scenario. Could be in the IF or in the OF. Mayo or Henderson might be that guy eventually, but neither can legally drink yet..so they're probably a few years away from being that middle of the order bat. I'm not really sold on the OF. Santander is ok, and Hays needs to take a step forward. Otherwise think Cowser takes Hays' spot, and FA for RF (also not sold on Stowers/Diaz)

[connja]

Once we start extending our own guys our payroll will go up.  But from the outside I would be focused on the rotation. 

[Frobby]

While I appreciate the question, I don’t think we can forecast where our biggest holes will be until the season is played and we see how some of our young major leaguers perform and which of our minor leaguers look ready to graduate.  A lot can change in a year.   

Saying that, it’s virtually guaranteed that even if things go well this year, we could use one or more good starting pitchers from outside the organization.   
 

[wildcard]

21 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

Saying that, it’s virtually guaranteed that even if things go well this year, we could use one or more good starting pitchers from outside the organization.   
 

I don't think that is guaranteed.   Virtually or otherwise.

[Frobby]

43 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I don't think that is guaranteed.   Virtually or otherwise.

Well, I hope you are right, but I think you are wrong.  

[Il BuonO]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:59 AM, interloper said:

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

I know the double negative is confusing, but I think he means next season we could see a FA pitcher signed. So, not too soon.