Is Mountcastle the guy to move?

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

Yeah there's no one left to play 1B. Mayo would be a waste over there considering his arm. Mancini isn't going to be here next year. So you're leaving yourself with no true 1B unless there's a free agent out there. 

Mountcastle will get hot again. 

What about Vavra? Might not have typical 1B power but he's looking for a place to play, he's LH and has hit for high OBP with enough pop I think to match Mountcastle's current .731 OPS.

[waroriole]

24 minutes ago, interloper said:

It makes fine sense to trade Mountcastle if they don't think he's the guy, but for me I just look at like, who the heck is going to play 1B in a year where you hope to be pretty good? I dunno. He's flawed but he's the best option in the whole organization I'd argue. You'd have to turn to free agency to fill a hole you already had filled.

Anyone can play 1B. Santander/Stowers/Adley/Urias and many more. And presumably Mountcastle would return a piece you didn’t already have. 

[oriolediehard]

6 hours ago, bpilktree said:

At the beginning of the year or even halfway through the year I had have said he was least likely of the positional players to be traded.  Now I am starting to wonder if he is the guy that might be best option to move.  The Astros are wanting a 1B/DH and willing to give up a controllable starter for it.  Mountcastle is starting to look like he won’t get to the ceiling we had of him because of his lack of plate discipline.  He also looks like a very streaky hitter and has a hit stretch but then cold stretches longer then you would like.  It is tough to have a big bat in the middle that in a blink of an eye go completely cold and also doesn’t walk or get on base via walk much.  His defense although better seems to be average at best and he is destined for 1st.  I know we don’t currently have a 1st baseman in the minors but looking at the prospects we have and current roster we have Westburg, Urias, Mateo, Henderson, Varva for the other three infield positions.  Then you have Colby Mayo coming who is a big young power hitter coming.  I am starting to think it might be best organization wise to move him to first where there is an opening or at least make him a corner infielder that can play 1st and 3rd.  I know Mancini is the most likely guy on current roster to be moved but his return doesn’t seem to be as much.  Would it be better to keep Mancini this year and pick up his option which is bit expensive but you save the money on having to sign a free agent pitcher if you get one of the Astros controllable starters.  Mancini then can pass the baton to Mayo in 2024 assuming they don’t think Mayo injury series.  Would you trade Mountcastle for any of Javier/Uriqudy/Garcia/Valdez would Astros do it?  Elias knows that system well and knows those guys so he should be able to evaluate who he likes of those 4 as well which is a plus.  

I would want a quality prospect or prospects in return.

[Sports Guy]

Just now, oriolediehard said:

I would want a quality prospect or prospects in return.

Not sure that’s the type of return Mountcastle gets.  He’s a piece in a trade.  Perhaps a main piece depending on the player in return.  He should be shopped though.  
 

The goal should be buying and selling and unless we can do both at the same time (ie Santander for Snell), we need to make several deals imo.  Mountcastle should be shopped over the top prospects.

[SteveA]

If he was OPSing .962 in July like he did in June, the vast majority of the people on here would say no way to moving Mountcastle.

The fact that he is in a slump and lots of people are jumping on this bandwagon means people are looking too much at the short term when forming opinions.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

It makes fine sense to trade Mountcastle if they don't think he's the guy, but for me I just look at like, who the heck is going to play 1B in a year where you hope to be pretty good? I dunno. He's flawed but he's the best option in the whole organization I'd argue. You'd have to turn to free agency to fill a hole you already had filled.

I’ll be very surprised if he’s traded.  But there’s plenty of guys who can learn to play 1B pretty quickly, just as Mountcastle did.  

[seak05]

9 minutes ago, SteveA said:

If he was OPSing .962 in July like he did in June, the vast majority of the people on here would say no way to moving Mountcastle.

The fact that he is in a slump and lots of people are jumping on this bandwagon means people are looking too much at the short term when forming opinions.

I think it would make sense for the Orioles to trade one of Mountcastle/Mancini/Santander. I don't think Mancini brings enough back in return to make it worth it. I think Mountcastle is a good player who doesn't really fit with Elias' philosophy, and he has enough cost controlled years left he might get a good return that can help the club in an area of need. 

[Sports Guy]

26 minutes ago, SteveA said:

If he was OPSing .962 in July like he did in June, the vast majority of the people on here would say no way to moving Mountcastle.

The fact that he is in a slump and lots of people are jumping on this bandwagon means people are looking too much at the short term when forming opinions.

Hot or not, he’s still the same player he has been.  

[Baltimorecuse]

I see one position we need an upgrade and that is second base.  

What we need is a stud starter, a shutdown guy.  It is extra credit for a lefty.  You're not getting that for a position player unless his name is Judge or Trout.

If there are any moves it's going to be in the minors.  

 

[bpilktree]

3 hours ago, Baltimorecuse said:

I see one position we need an upgrade and that is second base.  

What we need is a stud starter, a shutdown guy.  It is extra credit for a lefty.  You're not getting that for a position player unless his name is Judge or Trout.

If there are any moves it's going to be in the minors.  

 

I keep seeing people say we have just one position we need help at but the fact that we’re are still in the bottom half in scoring and not one player with an OPS over .800.  Mountcastle was supposed to be the masher guy so far I don’t see the progress that the front office and some fans had hoped.  He is on pace for less walks then last year and that has nothing to do with being in a cold spot or not.  The plate disipline has shown no progress over his 2 years here.  Until that improves I think he stays as a .270 hitter with 25 homes and OBP in the .320 range.

[Moose Milligan]

8 hours ago, SteveA said:

If he was OPSing .962 in July like he did in June, the vast majority of the people on here would say no way to moving Mountcastle.

The fact that he is in a slump and lots of people are jumping on this bandwagon means people are looking too much at the short term when forming opinions.

That's true, but the overall point is that Mountcastle's swings are too extreme.  As a result, he's a .750-.775 OPS guy.  And when he's not hitting, he's pretty much a black hole in the 4-6th spot in the lineup.  It's hard to take.  

If it were me, I wouldn't be actively shopping him as he's still young.  Though I do believe Drungo has pointed out more than once that the odds of a guy changing who he is as a hitter are really low.  So he probably is who he is.  

It's frustrating because I like him and I think everyone does.  But he's hard to watch right now and it's amplified by the fact that he's not an excellent defender or anything.

[Moose Milligan]

I'll also add that it might be a bit easier to take if Adley keeps getting on base like he does, Gunnar comes up and kills it, then someone else like Cowser does, too.  If you have three studs in the middle of the lineup who aren't hackers, get on base at a good clip, you can slide Mountcastle down to 6th or 7th.  

Edited July 31, 2022 by Moose Milligan

[Ridgway22]

I've gone from very high on Mountcastle to yeah, I'd let him go for the right price. Love the guy, when he's raking, it is a thing of beauty and joy. But his pitch selection is very poor, and unless he forces pitchers to give in and throw him a strike, he's going to be flailing (like he currently is) more than raking. A streaky first baseman with decent counting stats, but a poor OBP, eh, them be a dime per bakers dozen. 

Making Mayo a 1B might be wasting his plus arm. A free agent might make sense? Keeping Mancini is an option and resigning over the off season. 

My attitude on this subject has definitely become fluid and my mind is open.

2 days till August and the O's have a winning record. (Smile)

 

 

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Ridgway22 said:

I've gone from very high on Mountcastle to yeah, I'd let him go for the right price. Love the guy, when he's raking, it is a thing of beauty and joy. But his pitch selection is very poor, and unless he forces pitchers to give in and throw him a strike, he's going to be flailing (like he currently is) more than raking.

 

 

That's exactly it.  I don't know why any opposing pitchers would throw him a strike.  Low and outside sliders, aka the Adam Jones Special are all it takes to send him walking back to the dugout.  And maybe a chest high fastball to give him a different look.  

 

[wildcard]

This all sounds like a knee jerk reaction.   Mountcastle is 25 years old.   He probably does not peak until he is 27.   He has already had a season where he hit 33 homers. On July 3rd he had a 826 OPS.     He makes the minimum and will again next season.  Yes he has had a bad 4 weeks but that is no reason to bury him.  Right now  would be selling low on him.

I think if you trade Ryan you will regret it in the very near future.