We have a playoff caliber offense need to acquire MLB pitching

[backdoorslider]

Yep. Run scoring wont be an issue this year guys. Problem is starting pitching. Means is good. Gibson is decent. The rest of the staff? Total ass.

We need to do something. Band aids wont work. We have a surplus of infielders and outfielders. None of these guys can pitch though. Somebody got to get traded. Nobody should be untouchable. If the White Sox offered Cease for Henderson or Holliday straight up I'd do it. Hate to surrender any top youngsters, but top of the rotation starters dont get moved for nothing. 

All we need is just 1 more TOR starter and we can win the whole damn thing. 

[glenn__davis]

Too early to say either way.  I think at the end of the day the offense will be around league average.  Outside of Adley and surprisingly enough Frazier I'm not sure there's anyone that I trust to have consistently good at bats.  The rest of the lineup will run hot and cold.

As for the rotation, Kremer and Irvin have both had difficult starts against some tough lineups.  Kremer was really good last year, the command hasn't been as sharp through 2 starts this year.  Irvin hasn't quite gotten in a groove yet either.  Give them both another few starts before we start saying they're "total ass".

Bradish looked great the 2nd half of last year and really good in his start in TEX before he got hurt.  Wells was great in TX and then got roughed up a bit by NYY which will happen to a lot of pitchers.

All in all...long season.  Ask me around mid-May where I think the strengths and weaknesses are.

 

 

[jamalshw]

7 minutes ago, backdoorslider said:

Yep. Run scoring wont be an issue this year guys. Problem is starting pitching. Means is good. Gibson is decent. The rest of the staff? Total ass.

We need to do something. Band aids wont work. We have a surplus of infielders and outfielders. None of these guys can pitch though. Somebody got to get traded. Nobody should be untouchable. If the White Sox offered Cease for Henderson or Holliday straight up I'd do it. Hate to surrender any top youngsters, but top of the rotation starters dont get moved for nothing. 

All we need is just 1 more TOR starter and we can win the whole damn thing. 

I think that's over simplifying. I think it's more than just one TOR starter. I agree Gibson is okay. And I HOPE that Means can be himself when he comes back, but it often takes some time to return to form, so I don't know if I count on him to be the 2/3 type starter that he was before the injury in 2023. I think Irvin will be fine as a back-end guy. Hopefully one of Kremer or Bradish and replicate what we say last year (second half for Bradish) and I think Rodriguez is fine but will have growing pains as we've seen so far. 

So I agree, that the rotation may only need one TOR arm, but the bullpen really scares me right now, Voth in particular, but the only guy that I truly feel great about coming in are Bautista and even he struggled early on. I'm okay with Perez and Baker. Coulombe has done his job so far, but I'm not sure I feel that great long-term yet. Maybe the return of Tate and Givens resolves the issues and gives two reliable relievers, but for now the bullpen remains just as big a question as the TOR starter. 

 

[backdoorslider]

1 minute ago, jamalshw said:

I think that's over simplifying. I think it's more than just one TOR starter. I agree Gibson is okay. And I HOPE that Means can be himself when he comes back, but it often takes some time to return to form, so I don't know if I count on him to be the 2/3 type starter that he was before the injury in 2023. I think Irvin will be fine as a back-end guy. Hopefully one of Kremer or Bradish and replicate what we say last year (second half for Bradish) and I think Rodriguez is fine but will have growing pains as we've seen so far. 

So I agree, that the rotation may only need one TOR arm, but the bullpen really scares me right now, Voth in particular, but the only guy that I truly feel great about coming in are Bautista and even he struggled early on. I'm okay with Perez and Baker. Coulombe has done his job so far, but I'm not sure I feel that great long-term yet. Maybe the return of Tate and Givens resolves the issues and gives two reliable relievers, but for now the bullpen remains just as big a question as the TOR starter. 

 

I agree. The Bullpen has had issues but I believe they will get them worked out. Maybe put Hall in the Bullpen. But the rotation is a concern. If we did manage to acquire a TOR starter we could actually win the world series. I get it, probably wouldn't happen anyways, but we could win the world series. 

[Going Underground]

16 minutes ago, backdoorslider said:

Yep. Run scoring wont be an issue this year guys. Problem is starting pitching. Means is good. Gibson is decent. The rest of the staff? Total ass.

We need to do something. Band aids wont work. We have a surplus of infielders and outfielders. None of these guys can pitch though. Somebody got to get traded. Nobody should be untouchable. If the White Sox offered Cease for Henderson or Holliday straight up I'd do it. Hate to surrender any top youngsters, but top of the rotation starters dont get moved for nothing. 

All we need is just 1 more TOR starter and we can win the whole damn thing. 

No way you get Dylan Cease for Henderson or Holliday Maybe with Grayson also. .Cease is only 27 and isn't arb eligible till 2024 and free agent till 2026. Probably need three top prospects if the White Sox feel they are going into rebuild. 

[backdoorslider]

2 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

No way you get Dylan Cease for Henderson or Holliday Maybe with Grayson also. .Cease is only 27 and isn't arb eligible till 2024 and free agent till 2026. Probably need three top prospects if the White Sox feel they are going into rebuild. 

Yep he is young, dominant and under team control until 2016. If and I say if we are going to trade Rodriguez, Holliday or Henderson or perhaps both that is the type of return I would be looking for.

[DirtyBird]

29 minutes ago, backdoorslider said:

Yep. Run scoring wont be an issue this year guys. Problem is starting pitching. Means is good. Gibson is decent. The rest of the staff? Total ass.

We need to do something. Band aids wont work. We have a surplus of infielders and outfielders. None of these guys can pitch though. Somebody got to get traded. Nobody should be untouchable. If the White Sox offered Cease for Henderson or Holliday straight up I'd do it. Hate to surrender any top youngsters, but top of the rotation starters dont get moved for nothing. 

All we need is just 1 more TOR starter and we can win the whole damn thing. 

The White Sox are just as likely as we are to be in contention and buyers at the deadline. They have a talented team.

[Mooreisbetter27]

I know that sometimes these absurd trade scenarios are fun to speculate on but there's literally no way the Orioles are trading Gunnar or Holliday.  0 chance. 

[waroriole]

I’m glad the offense has teed off on the worst team in baseball so far this series, but we might wanna cool the playoff caliber offense talk. Still a lot of holes in the lineup. 

[Just Regular]

4 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

The White Sox are just as likely as we are to be in contention and buyers at the deadline. They have a talented team.

I'm curious to see how we match up this weekend - we'll be fortunate to catch them without Tim Anderson as well as Eloy Jimenez.      But Luis Robert and Dylan Cease are both off to outstanding starts.

Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez are walk year guys who may be near top of Arms rental talent available in July if it goes bad.

[Snutchy]

Sorry, but this team is more than just a TOR starter away from winning it all. We need at least 2 and someone who can throw a 99mph sinker in the bullpen. 

[ChuckS]

31 minutes ago, waroriole said:

I’m glad the offense has teed off on the worst team in baseball so far this series, but we might wanna cool the playoff caliber offense talk. Still a lot of holes in the lineup. 

Where are these holes you are seeing? 

I'm convinced this will be an above average offense. 

[Dunk35]

Definitely need a couple BP arms. Dont want to see Austin Voth again. Even with Tate and Givens back, I'd be looking to upgrade there. We need another lefty that can be trusted outside of Perez. 

[glenn__davis]

5 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Where are these holes you are seeing? 

I'm convinced this will be an above average offense. 

Outside of catcher, I'm not sure there's a single position where I feel comfortable saying we'll have above average production.  I think there will be a few positions by the end of the year where that is the case, but none that are a lock.  We have a lot of guys that will good hot streaks and then bad cold streaks and by the end of the year turn out around average.

[Bemorewins]

59 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

No way you get Dylan Cease for Henderson or Holliday Maybe with Grayson also. .Cease is only 27 and isn't arb eligible till 2024 and free agent till 2026. Probably need three top prospects if the White Sox feel they are going into rebuild. 

There is no way Cease or any player… (not even Judge or Ohtani given costs of salary plus cheap years for young player) is worth 3 top 10 prospects.

But I agree with the OP we are going to have to address our pitching in a seriously meaningful way if we want to win for real.

Just think about it like this, are you confident that the Orioles can win consistently against good teams in big games if our offense is held to 3 or less runs? Because that will happen some in the playoffs when you are facing the other teams best.