This is my favorite Oriole team ever

[Frobby]

17 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Not at all.  Just saying his defense has been as good as Mateo in less chances. He obviously has been the worse player but again, if you believe in what the team is doing here, it’s fair to say he may have performed better. It’s not like Mateo has a 250+ point advantage in OPS.  

But even if he had performed better, his salary would have still made him less valuable than Mateo.

I was also merely noting that he is back starting with St Louis.  I wasn’t aware of that.  His defense, for them at least, is worth starting him. I wouldn’t want that because the offense is so bad although his OPS in august wasn’t  that far from Mateo’s overall offense for the year.

I hadn’t realized DeJong was back with the Cardinals either.   His OPS is  respectable .709 since his return and the Cards are 25-7 in the 32 games he’s played since returning.  I’m happy with the way it’s worked out but didn’t think it was a bad idea to trade for DeJong so long as he cost no real prospects.  In hindsight, I’m glad we didn’t.  

[Jammer7]

46 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

This is the kind of stuff we can never know from B-Ref or Fangraphs or pigeonholing players as stat-producing robots, but on a gut level I agree with this take.

Rougned Odor 2.3.1994 and Jorge Mateo 6.23.1995 I'd guess had similar childhoods as ballplayers great enough to attract MLB interest, but their paths to MLB reps split sharply.     Entering this year Odor had seen almost everything, and Mateo almost nothing.

They have been a helluva double play combination.   A key success factor entering 2023 if if Mateo's growth will prove sticky as better players replace Odor as his second baseman.    I am watching with interest how this month's different combinations mesh.

Its understandable for a team like the 2022 Orioles to make a development project out of the entire starting middle infield, and its worked to the extent where I don't expect either Westburg or Ortiz to outplay Mateo while Holliday bakes.   I'm hopeful the water will be just as good next year with Mateo steadying Westburg like Odor perhaps helped steady him this year.     The best 2023's I feel involve Gunnar-Mateo-Westburg-RMC being infield rocks like some recent Braves teams have enjoyed.

Very good post. I think there is great value in the numbers provided by FanGraphs and BRef and Savant. Several posters, including yourself,  quote those things well and make sense of it in an easy to read format. There are some things that are difficult to quantify. Even Sig has said so. 

When I have watched Mateo and Odor play together, there is a professionalism and consistency to Mateo’s game that was missing previously. Hyde has alluded to it when speaking about Odor and Mateo. You see the interactions between Mateo, Odor, Chirinos and Santander and there is a comfort there with them. I am very confident in saying Mateo and Santander are better because of the presence of Odor and Chirinos.

It really has the same kind of things that Cal has always talked about. Preparation and a professional consistent approach to every aspect every day.