Orioles calling up Westburg.

[accinfo]

13 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

I'm so excited... and I just can't hide it!

They had better play him and not let him rust into waste on the bench like they did with Ortiz/Vavra/Stowers.

PLAY THE MAN!!!!!

I don't think there is anyway they waited until now just to bring him up and not play him.  I believe they look at him as a top prospect and expect him to stay up.

[wildcard]

6 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

McKenna might have bought himself some time with his walk off home run yesterday, but I have to imagine he's out when Cowser gets called up.

Hicks brings more compared to McKenna as a backup outfielder.

Hays, Mullins, Santander, Hicks.  One of them will DH.  McKenna is backup OFer.  Adley needs rest instead of DHing.

Playing Bemboom more and taking Adley's bat out of the lineup may be part of the reason for adding Westburg's bat.   Adley has a 609 OPS in 81 PA in June. Bemboom just caught Bradish 2 hit performance.  Hyde is praising him for that.

Edited June 26, 2023 by wildcard

[Bemorewins]

9 hours ago, Sanfran327 said:

I actually did the due diligence for once and went back and read the entire thread to see if someone already made this point, and surprisingly, nobody has brought up the Machado playoff race callup. Not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison (depending on what you think of Westburg, I suppose), but Manny was brought up post All Star break as things were starting to get absolutely white hot in our 2012 playoff race. I'd argue that that was a much more heated and important playoff battle and situation all around than what we are facing right now. Plus, we called up Manny into a position change, to a position that he'd notoriously only played a small handful of times, which nobody had any clue how'd he'd adjust. Of course, he ended up being an impossibly good 3bman, but he didn't contribute with the bat all that much for those last few weeks of 2012, OPSing a modest .739. Not exactly a black hole in the lineup considering his +++++++++ defensive value, but he didn't mash until the following season.

Is it fair to Westburg to compare him to Manny? Depends. He's earned some added scrutiny because he's performed so well for so long at AAA. He's certainly earned the promotion. I don't think that a .739 OPS is a tall order for a guy that's been so hot for so long, but it's a different world up here, and we'll all watch him adjust. FWIW, and for those who continue to say things like "is he really going to come up and out perform XYZ anyway?", I offer this: IMO, the two guys' PT he'll take from the most are Fraizer and Mateo (both solid bench guys), who are OPSing .674 and .611, respectively. I think he matches that comfortably, probably surpasses it by season's end, and gains invaluable experience towards the future of our club in the process, something that neither Fraizer nor Mateo might be a part of beyond 2023.

I hate to do this because I’m excited to see Westburg like everyone else. But Westburg isn’t half the prospect that Manny was. Many is a future HOF. Let’s try to be a bit reasonable and not place unrealistic expectations upon Westburg.

[Bemorewins]

8 hours ago, Since1984 said:

Akin and Ortiz for a 7th inning reliever?

Nobody’s going to want Akin. Maybe a package of Ortiz and Stowers could get you Aroldis Chapman? Maybe?

[Bemorewins]

10 hours ago, Explosivo said:

I do, when you have a number of options why would you not choose to put your best players in the best statistical probability to succeed?

Because that is stunting the growth of the players with the most potential on the team by limiting their reps. Gunnar will not be what his vast potential/ talent suggests he could if we limit him to being a platoon player. How much is it of an upgrade anyway to playing Urias/Ortiz over him? For all we know that may be a lateral move and in Ortiz’s case, maybe worse?

Anyway, I’m not that interested in having this hypothetical discussion because I know that no org in baseball would use a player like Gunnar as a platoon specialist.

[waroriole]

27 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Nobody’s going to want Akin. Maybe a package of Ortiz and Stowers could get you Aroldis Chapman? Maybe?

Of course that would get you Chapman. KC would be insane to even debate it. If Elias even thought about offering it, he should be fired. 

[dystopia]

55 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Nobody’s going to want Akin. Maybe a package of Ortiz and Stowers could get you Aroldis Chapman? Maybe?

If Ortiz alone doesn’t get you Chapman Elias should hang up the phone. 

[Sports Guy]

16 minutes ago, dystopia said:

If Ortiz alone doesn’t get you Chapman Elias should hang up the phone. 

If it takes Ortiz to get Chapman, he should hang up the phone.

[clapdiddy]

13 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

If it takes Ortiz to get Chapman, he should hang up the phone.

Don't want Chapman, but I totally agree with this.  It's truly a shame that Ortiz has not received more PT.   If they were going to let him languish on the bench, they should have just left him in Norfolk. 

 

[emmett16]

10 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

1B too.

That would make me very happy.  I’d love if JW could be a power hitting Zobrist.  Heck of a tool to have in the shed. 

[Just Regular]

7 hours ago, accinfo said:

I don't think there is anyway they waited until now just to bring him up and not play him.  I believe they look at him as a top prospect and expect him to stay up.

Its always kremlinology, but I agree and the Jeff Passan leak is I feel a very encouraging sign he'll get a decent audition.

Frazier was always more okay by me for the Vavra role, and if the offseason assessment there was we needed him because Vavra didn't rate, that looks basically correct and there is still 55% of the season to go.

These next two days, a tea leaf may be what happens to Westburg's spot in the lineup if a RH middle reliever is there in the 6th inning.     It will be fun in the Game Thread if Frazier pinch hits for him then.

[Bemorewins]

I know that some of you love yourselves some O’s prospects but it’s going to take time cling in order to get. Right now there is a gaping hole in the team as far as the bridge between the starters and the elite back end guys. I don’t see reasonable objective odds favoring us in ANY post season matchup the way things currently stand. 

You might not like Chapman or think we can do better and that’s fine. Or you might think that giving up Ortiz is too much for a rental bullpen piece, I’m fine with that as well. 

But no matter what, we will need to improve our pitching to have a legit shot at winning in October. I’ll admit all along I thought that the O’s were saving Westburg to be that piece/trade chip for a difference making starter. But it appears that is not the case. Maybe because of the limited/low amount of teams in true sell mode this year?

Either way I think it’s reasonable to expect that not everyone can stay. Some of our young guys will probably be moved and that’s okay. I see it as part of the process/life cycle of healthy baseball orgs. We honestly have more talent that we can possibly/reasonably use on the position side.

[Fan4Life]

We are going to need some trade bait to pickup a solid bat and a #1/2 pitcher. Getting as many guys playing time to up their value is good strategy. Players I would be open to moving:

• Mateo / Ortiz (Keep one)
• Frazier
• O'Hearn

I think I'd like to keep Gibson, Bradish, Wells and Kremer, need someone better than all of them at the front.

Bullpen arms I would also be open to moving. Keep either Baker or Bauman.  Move Perez perhaps Irvin. 

 

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Fan4Life said:

We are going to need some trade bait to pickup a solid bat and a #1/2 pitcher. Getting as many guys playing time to up their value is good strategy. Players I would be open to moving:

• Mateo / Ortiz (Keep one)
• Frazier
• O'Hearn

I think I'd like to keep Gibson, Bradish, Wells and Kremer, need someone better than all of them at the front.

Bullpen arms I would also be open to moving. Keep either Baker or Bauman.  Move Perez perhaps Irvin. 

 

Mateo, Frazier and OHearn don’t have value to bring back what you need.

And those BP arms have zero value.  
 

Edited June 26, 2023 by Sports Guy

[Fan4Life]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

Mateo, Frazier and OHearn don’t have value to bring back what you need.

Agreed. Can they be part of a package?