Means to 60-day, O's option Wells not Lakins, purchase Diplan from Norfolk

[wildcard]

6 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The discussion is about whether or not it’s a surprise.  It’s about whether or Not it’s the right decision.

So far the O's pitching has exceeded expectation by a large margin. So complaining about who the depth piece is that was called up to fill in until Grayson and Bradish comes up is just finding something to complain about.

[Aristotelian]

33 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I didn't say Watkins was signed because of an injury.  He was signed for depth and promoted because of the injuries.  That should be pretty clear to everyone.

You said the only reason Watkins is getting a chance is because Means and Kremer got hurt. He was getting his chance before both injuries. It is possible he will get a longer look as a result.

[Ripken]

On the bright side of Elias punting another season, it doesn't hurt as much for Means to get TJ.  Fix him all up now and have him ready for the 2nd half of '23.

[interloper]

13 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

In another headscrather, Elias decides to add Marcos Diplan to the roster, but instead of DFAing Travis Lakins, these option Wells who actually provided some decent relief and is a good bulk releiver for the right-handers in the rotation.

For those counting, Elias now has Spenser Watkins, Lakins and Diplan on his 28-man roster in a year when they suppoesdly are trying to win more games. 

I dunno, but I don't get it. Does anyone think or care if Lakins didn't make it through waivers? 

I've defended Elias a lot but I can no longer defend his moves this year. While Odor did get the big hit today, he's part of the head scratching moves he's made to make up this roster.

Sure, we're all happy we won 2 out of 3 against the Yankees, but I just don't get these moves. 

Here's my take on these moves:

1. Wells pitched 2 innings so they want to make sure they're covered with a fresh reliever, hence Diplan. There's a free spot there with Means going on the 60. 
2. Lakins just pitched, but with the free roster spot from Means, there was no reason to DFA him at this time. He's a guy that in theory can be a multiple-inning reliever. Samples of around 25 innings in each of 2019, 2020, and 2021 with ERAs of 3.86, 2.281 in the first two years until he struggled to a 5.79 in 2021. 
3. It's not likely that either Diplan or Lakins are long for this roster - they're just coverage guys. Therefore, it doesn't make a lot of sense to add Vespi to the 40-man just yet if he's not going to have a permanent place on the 28 (soon to be 26)-man roster. Once an injury or trade occurs to one of the main bullpen pieces, then we might see a more permanent/exciting addition to the 'pen. 

[Sports Guy]

11 minutes ago, wildcard said:

So far the O's pitching has exceeded expectation by a large margin. So complaining about who the depth piece is that was called up to fill in until Grayson and Bradish comes up is just finding something to complain about.

Well the funny thing is people don’t actually believe that historically poor pitchers are all of a sudden going to be good based off a good week of pitching.  I know that’s crazy to you but hey, it’s where we are at.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Here's my take on these moves:

1. Wells pitched 2 innings so they want to make sure they're covered with a fresh reliever, hence Diplan. There's a free spot there with Means going on the 60. 
2. Lakins just pitched, but with the free roster spot from Means, there was no reason to DFA him at this time. He's a guy that in theory can be a multiple-inning reliever. Samples of around 25 innings in each of 2019, 2020, and 2021 with ERAs of 3.86, 2.281 in the first two years until he struggled to a 5.79 in 2021. 
3. It's not likely that either Diplan or Lakins are long for this roster - they're just coverage guys. Therefore, it doesn't make a lot of sense to add Vespi to the 40-man just yet if he's not going to have a permanent place on the 28 (soon to be 26)-man roster. 

Wells pitched 2 innings and they have 710 pitchers on the roster.  If they aren’t covered for a few days without Wells, there is a problem.

[wildcard]

23 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

You said the only reason Watkins is getting a chance is because Means and Kremer got hurt. He was getting his chance before both injuries. It is possible he will get a longer look as a result.

Nope.  The rotation that out of ST was Means, Lyles, T Wells, Zimmermann and Kremer.  But Kremer got hurt warming up for the start on the 12th and Watkins filled in.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, seak05 said:

 

As to Bradish, I am assuming they are holding his debut for a home game, I'm guessing next homestand. I also predict home debuts for Adley and Rodriguez. The Orioles aren't pushing for the play-offs, and bringing up prospects for home games makes marketing sense (this is especially true of Grayson and Adley)

I can’t imagine that many people outside of Bradish’s immediate family and friends are going to make a trip to the ballpark because it’s Kyle Bradish’s debut.   And I say that as a fan who is hopeful he can be of help.   

Now Adley’s and Grayson’s debuts will put some butts in seats.  I know I’m already thinking about being in attendance when they debut, especially Grayson (not because he’s the better prospect, just because pitchers are more at the center the action and I really want to see how his stuff plays against major league hitters).
 

[wildcard]

18 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Well the funny thing is people don’t actually believe that historically poor pitchers are all of a sudden going to be good based off a good week of pitching.  I know that’s crazy to you but hey, it’s where we are at.

Well they probably are not going to stay 2nd in the league.  Its April and the ball in not carrying yet.   But that is true for every team.  There are a lot of new pitchers and T Wells changed roles.   We will  just have to see what happens next.

I don't expect the hitting to stay this bad either.

The defense has been real good so far.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I can’t imagine that many people outside of Bradish’s immediate family and friends are going to make a trip to the ballpark because it’s Kyle Bradish’s debut.   And I say that as a fan who is hopeful he can be of help.   

Now Adley’s and Grayson’s debuts will put some butts in seats.  I know I’m already thinking about being in attendance when they debut, especially Grayson (not because he’s the better prospect, just because pitchers are more at the center the action and I really want to see how his stuff plays against major league hitters).
 

Agreed.  This is the second time I have seen it mentioned that we need to have Bradish start at home.  I don’t get that.  In fact, starting in a big park like Oakland against a down lineup makes sense to me.

[wildcard]

30 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

You said the only reason Watkins is getting a chance is because Means and Kremer got hurt. He was getting his chance before both injuries. It is possible he will get a longer look as a result.

Watkins was called up as a reliever on the 11th because T Wells got knock out early in his 1st start.  They needed a reliever that could give them innings.  But he would not have gotten the start if Means and Kremer were not hurt.

[Tony-OH]

34 minutes ago, wildcard said:

So far the O's pitching has exceeded expectation by a large margin. So complaining about who the depth piece is that was called up to fill in until Grayson and Bradish comes up is just finding something to complain about.

It's not really, because it shows Elias' thought process. He decided his fall back options would be guys with 8.0+ ERA last year or a guy with 6.00+ ERA in Harvey. When he need a bullpen piece, he brought up a guy who hasn't been good since 2019 in Lakins.

So while these aren't the end of the world moves, these moves and adding Odor shows he's still in "trying to do this as cheap as possible" mode vs "This is the year we try to win by adding some vets and giving our prospects chances" mode.

It just seems that Elias is still in 2021 mode where he's bringing in guys that are not good major leaguers because he didn't go out and get anyone but Lyles this offseason.

Now I wasn't in the camp of going out and getting high priced guys like Bryant but when it came to starting pitching, he definitely could have added another starter besides Lyles if he wasn't prepared to give Bradish and GRod chances until later in the season.

[Going Underground]

10 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Agreed.  This is the second time I have seen it mentioned that we need to have Bradish start at home.  I don’t get that.  In fact, starting in a big park like Oakland against a down lineup makes sense to me.

Speaking of SSS ,the Athletics have scored the most runs in MLB.

[Tony-OH]

29 minutes ago, interloper said:

Here's my take on these moves:

1. Wells pitched 2 innings so they want to make sure they're covered with a fresh reliever, hence Diplan. There's a free spot there with Means going on the 60. 
2. Lakins just pitched, but with the free roster spot from Means, there was no reason to DFA him at this time. He's a guy that in theory can be a multiple-inning reliever. Samples of around 25 innings in each of 2019, 2020, and 2021 with ERAs of 3.86, 2.281 in the first two years until he struggled to a 5.79 in 2021. 
3. It's not likely that either Diplan or Lakins are long for this roster - they're just coverage guys. Therefore, it doesn't make a lot of sense to add Vespi to the 40-man just yet if he's not going to have a permanent place on the 28 (soon to be 26)-man roster. Once an injury or trade occurs to one of the main bullpen pieces, then we might see a more permanent/exciting addition to the 'pen. 

I get all that but this shows that Elias is still using bandaids vs having guys that are ready to be good major leaguers. This isn't 2021 anymore. He should not be needing band aid guys like Watkins, Lakins and Diplan. Wells threw 32 pitches. He should have been able to be ready by Tuesday. 

Wells is one of the guys that needs to be evaluated this year. Moving him up and down and getting him out of rhythm is what they did to Lowther last year.  

Diplan is a marginal major leaguer who can eat a few innings here and there, but he's not part of the future here. Neither is Lakins.

It's time to turn the page from bandaids...

[Aristotelian]

31 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Nope.  The rotation that out of ST was Means, Lyles, T Wells, Zimmermann and Kremer.  But Kremer got hurt warming up for the start on the 12th and Watkins filled in.

No, all the rumors were Kremer but turned out it was Watkins. Kremer was going to be the piggyback with Wells. Here is Roch. https://www.masnsports.com/blog/orioles-swept-and-lose-kremer-to-oblique-injury

Dean Kremer warmed in the bullpen, appearing to eliminate him from the assignment at Camden Yards, but he walked to the dugout while Bautista came back out for a scoreless third. 

“I was piggybacking Dean with Tyler,” Hyde said. “Bautista was going to come in … I didn’t want Dean to start with a runner on base, so it was going to be a clean inning to start, and he felt an oblique strain in the bullpen. We had to make it a bullpen game, which was difficult.”

Kremer never was going to start Tuesday. Spenser Watkins already was emerging as a leading candidate. The 40-man roster has an open spot.