Comparing the 2020 and 2022 Orioles to date (both 25-35)

[Beysbol]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Like Corn said it was reported by Ben Verlander of Fox Sports and I remember when this came out in March.

And Verlander only retweeted it from the originating source Raul Ramos. I didn’t believe it then and don’t believe it now. 
 

 

Oh, wow. Yeah, I was just wondering if Baltimore offered him that much then why he was playing in Minnesota.

[OriolesMagic83]

2 hours ago, Beysbol said:

Oh, wow. Yeah, I was just wondering if Baltimore offered him that much then why he was playing in Minnesota.

Maybe the schools in Minnesota are better than the schools in Baltimore.  Guys who sign big free agent deals w/ losing franchises always mention the great schools for their kids.  Maybe Correa doesn't have kids?

[Camden_yardbird]

This team should be better.  The fact that they are not is indicative of some poor management.

[sportsfan8703]

There’s optimism to be had it’s just looking like it’s going to be a year later than what we thought. At this point it is what it is. We have a Gunnar, Westburg, Stowers, and Vavra, that are real close. That will immediately help the lineup. The bullpen is actually pretty good and it’s not looking like a fluke. Our SP is where we might have to add a FA or two. 

[InsideCoroner]

11 hours ago, Frobby said:

I agree with most everything in this post.  But I’ll add this: I never expected the O’s could contend without adding significant outside talent.  They have put themselves in excellent position to do so because their payroll is low.

They have, so learning of the familial infighting was particularly dispiriting. As long as that is unresolved (not to mention MASN) it’s hard to imagine them making any significant offseason expenditures. 

[sportsfan8703]

The reason why 2022 is different than 2020 is because look what we can realistically trot out for OD next year.  I think the below lineup is 2 FA SP away from contending for a WC spot.

GR, Hall, Wells, Zimmerman, Bradish

Lopez, Bautista, Akin, Tate, Perez, Kremer, Baumann, Up/down

1.  Mullins CF L

2.  Hays LF R

3.  Rutschman C S

4. Mountcastle 1B R

5.  Gunnar 3B L

6.  Westburg SS R

7.  Stowers RF L

8.  Urias 2B L

9. Vavra DH L

Mckenna, Martin, Mateo, Chirnos

[sportsfan8703]

Even with the story about ownership, if GR were about to make his debut there would be a lot more optimism on here. We have a good bullpen that could actually get better. The lineup’s weaknesses is where we have top prospects beating down the door in AAA. It’s going to all come down to SP. Just like we knew it would. When are we going to start to buy it?

[Sports Guy]

14 hours ago, Pickles said:

I hate these kind of semantic arguments about what does "significant" mean.

My position is this:

They're going to have to add talent.

Those acquisitions will have to impact W-Ls more than the 5th guy in the pen or the Util IF.

But I do not believe they'll have to dole out  a 100+ million FA contract in order to do that.

Others have brought up 2012.  It's a fair point.  Elias is going to have to find some outside SP most likely.  Ok, well 2012-16 should show why that doesn't necessarily coincide with big FA signings. 

This is true.  
 

Someone mentioned Chen.  Chen was arguably the best FA signing in team history.  John Angelos isn’t going to spend money of any significance.

So, it will be up to Elias to find that guy(s).

But really, I think the key is going to be the trade market.  The Orioles are going to have to acquire cheap talent via trades and use them to build around your existing talent.  And perhaps you sprinkle in a Lyles type FA..a glorified role player that can have value if things go right.

Thats about it.  Outside of those things, the acquisitions are going to continue to be waiver wire fodder and hope you can make something out of nothing.

[Orioles0615]

16 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Let's see if Elias can pull off a Wei-Yin Chen and a Jason Hammel.

 

Folks do remember how the 2011 Orioles were supposed to be pretty decent right?  After Buck showed up in 2010 and they went on that run?

Id rather him pull off a Sean  Manaea and Joe Musgrove... that is the whole point of "the WALL" 

[Pickles]

12 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

This is true.  
 

Someone mentioned Chen.  Chen was arguably the best FA signing in team history.  John Angelos isn’t going to spend money of any significance.

So, it will be up to Elias to find that guy(s).

But really, I think the key is going to be the trade market.  The Orioles are going to have to acquire cheap talent via trades and use them to build around your existing talent.  And perhaps you sprinkle in a Lyles type FA..a glorified role player that can have value if things go right.

Thats about it.  Outside of those things, the acquisitions are going to continue to be waiver wire fodder and hope you can make something out of nothing.

I honestly believe a team can be built largely through the draft and amateur acquisition so I am not of the mind that this plan is destined to failure.  Some seem to believe it is inherently doomed.

But you're going to have to win some trades; you're going to have to make some smart free agents signings; and you're going to have to draft and develop consistently well.

Something too rarely acknowledge here: If you don't do the three things above, no amount of FA signings is going to make you a competitive team.

[Sports Guy]

25 minutes ago, Pickles said:

I honestly believe a team can be built largely through the draft and amateur acquisition so I am not of the mind that this plan is destined to failure.  Some seem to believe it is inherently doomed.

But you're going to have to win some trades; you're going to have to make some smart free agents signings; and you're going to have to draft and develop consistently well.

Something too rarely acknowledge here: If you don't do the three things above, no amount of FA signings is going to make you a competitive team.

100%.

Your core has to come from within. FA are the final pieces to put you over the top.  They are the icing on the cake so to speak and you don’t have to be a 9 figure player to do that.

[sportsfan8703]

The 2-2 split in Tor gives reason for optimism.
 

The offense is coming together and we just played without Santander and Mancini. Stowers is ready. Vavra is really close. 
 

The bullpen is still our strength, which is impressive considering the rotation is struggling and we didn’t have Akin. I can see the bullpen keeping up the success because I don’t think we break it up at the deadline, and the quality of waiver wire arms is getting better. Guys like Jacob Webb and Ryan Weber just got DFA’d and would be upgrades to the relievers on the bottom of our 40 man. 
 

Hall is pretty close. He’s at 80+ pitches now. I think they work him up to 100ish then call him up. 

[sportsfan8703]

Maybe I’m just on some TGIF high, but are we really that far off?  We’ve been playing .500 ball since our 6-14 start. Our needs are 3 SP, SS, and 3B. COF/DH once we trade Mancini and/or Santander. 
 

3 SP - Sucks that Means and GR got hurt. We’re doing this without our two best SP. Hall is close and could be dominant even if it’s only 4 IP. 
 

SS - Gunnar and Westburg are killing it. 

3B - Gunnar

COF - Stowers and Vavra are ready. 

I can see us playing .500 ball the rest of the year, even with trading Mancini. Given that, I don’t think we have to give away Santander if the package is underwhelming. 

[Frobby]

It’s all in how the pitching holds up.   The offense could get a little better from here.   But the starting pitching is very dicey.   The bullpen has been great but I’m not sure it’s sustainable.  

[Sports Guy]

15 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Maybe I’m just on some TGIF high, but are we really that far off?  We’ve been playing .500 ball since our 6-14 start. Our needs are 3 SP, SS, and 3B. COF/DH once we trade Mancini and/or Santander. 
 

3 SP - Sucks that Means and GR got hurt. We’re doing this without our two best SP. Hall is close and could be dominant even if it’s only 4 IP. 
 

SS - Gunnar and Westburg are killing it. 

3B - Gunnar

COF - Stowers and Vavra are ready. 

I can see us playing .500 ball the rest of the year, even with trading Mancini. Given that, I don’t think we have to give away Santander if the package is underwhelming. 

We don’t know far off we are until these guys get up here and we see what they are.

People have a tendency of just plugging in names from the system, assuming they will be really good and say, we aren’t far off.

The truth is, the organization has a lot of talent and that talent, if it develops as we hope, will make us very good.

But between the unknown of that and the overall unknown of what ownership is going to be and what they will invest, it’s hard to know how far away we are.

We do not have the pitching to keep up with the big boys as of right now.