O's 2024 Infield

[Aristotelian]

11 hours ago, oriole said:

Holliday will be part of the equation by the end of 2024 I’m sure, but I highly doubt Elias is gonna go into the offseason assuming Hollidays on the roster on opening day. I think Westburg at 2nd, Henderson at SS, Urias at 3B to start and see where it goes. Ortiz could be in the mix there too, possibly moving Henderson to 3B. If Ortiz can play high level defense and hit around a .700 OPS then he is poor mans Urias considering Urias hits arbitration this year. 
 

I really like the combo of O’Hearn and Mountcastle. I hope that stays.

 

Thing is, we don't want Holliday to come up so late that he can't be in the running for ROY. As a possible comp, Carlos Correa won ROY in 2015 with just under 400 AB. Acuna had 433 AB in 2018. If we want a shot with Holliday it would seem 400 AB is about a minimum and more would be better. With his recent promotion, I'm kind of buying on the idea of Holliday joining the O's by June.

[wildcard]

6 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Somebody has to go, why not trade prospects at their peak and keep someone like Urias for league average offense if the prospects fail.  A big failure of the DD era was not to trade people and keep adding fresh prospects/new pieces.  I sure the O's can get thru 2024 while letting prospects stagnate, but I believe the goal is to keep trading older players and keep players who are young and cheap.  Part of this is necessary because the O's have the cheapest owner in the majors.   I believe the main reason that Elias preaches positional flexibility is covering open positions when players are traded, covering for injured players is a nice side effect.  I would think any player other than of course Adley, Gunnar and Mullins will be available for trade this offseason.  I don't expect a bunch of trades, but would be surprised if one or even 2 veterans isn't  traded.

I agree that older players that get more expensive will go.  Replaced by younger, cheaper players.

Over the winter I think Gibson, Frazier, Hicks,  Mateo, Fuji, and  Flaherty will go.   Akin is out of options and probably will not be back.  They already DFA'd Voth and Givens.   Stowers is probably traded during ST after he proves he is healthy.  He is getting too old to be a prospect and there is no place for him.    There are 10 players that were on th3 40 man roster that probably are not of the OD 2024 roster.

Santander will be in his last year with the O's in 2024.   Hays may not be worth a QO so he could go after 2024.    There is space for Cowser and Kjerstad.  We don't know how long  O'Hearn will be with the team.  Mayo could be his replacement at some point.   Urias may go when Holliday is ready.

I see turnover happening.  Probably not as fast as many fans would like.

I take note that Elias kept Westburg at AAA for 158 games.  He  could do that with other prospects.

Edited September 5, 2023 by wildcard

[Orioles0615]

12 hours ago, oriolediehard said:

I predict

Mountcastle 1B.                 Westburg 2B.                       Holiday SS.                         Gunnar 3B

 

 

 

 

This is what it should be

[MCO'sFan]

12 hours ago, oriolediehard said:

I predict

Mountcastle 1B.                 Westburg 2B.                       Holiday SS.                         Gunnar 3B

 

 

 

 

This is correct 

[DirtyBird]

22 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Thing is, we don't want Holliday to come up so late that he can't be in the running for ROY. As a possible comp, Carlos Correa won ROY in 2015 with just under 400 AB. Acuna had 433 AB in 2018. If we want a shot with Holliday it would seem 400 AB is about a minimum and more would be better. With his recent promotion, I'm kind of buying on the idea of Holliday joining the O's by June.

At 20 years old I don’t see him having the power numbers to compete for ROY next year, and he will probably be part of a middle infield/DH rotation with Westburg and Ortiz.

[MCO'sFan]

12 hours ago, oriole said:

Holliday will be part of the equation by the end of 2024 I’m sure, but I highly doubt Elias is gonna go into the offseason assuming Hollidays on the roster on opening day. I think Westburg at 2nd, Henderson at SS, Urias at 3B to start and see where it goes. Ortiz could be in the mix there too, possibly moving Henderson to 3B. If Ortiz can play high level defense and hit around a .700 OPS then he is poor mans Urias considering Urias hits arbitration this year. 
 

I really like the combo of O’Hearn and Mountcastle. I hope that stays.

 

He doesn't have to. With the number of SS that are on the team or MLB ready, he can just let it play out and if he;s ready he makes the team, if not he's back at AAA and Gunnar, Ortiz etc. play SS

[MCO'sFan]

12 hours ago, baltfan said:

This!  At least one of them has to go to make some room.  There just aren’t enough spots otherwise.  Santander is the one I would keep because he is the most impactful plus switch hits. 

I predict that Santander is traded this offseason. He is due a pretty big raise in arbitration and he's entering his walk year. They shouldn't extend him so this is the time to flip him for younger prospects. 

[wildcard]

5 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

At 20 years old I don’t see him having the power numbers to compete for ROY next year, and he will probably be part of a middle infield/DH rotation with Westburg and Ortiz.

I don't think we will see these guys DH much.   Not with Adley, Mountcastle and O'Hearn on the team.

[Bahama O's Fan]

My prediction is that on opening day, on the infield, only Frazier is gone, replaced by Ortiz. Other parts move around as the season continues after that.

[DirtyBird]

If you think there will be a set everyday infield , you haven’t been paying attention.

All our infielders except for Mountcastle have played multiple positions, and lineups have been matchup based. I don’t see that changing next season when the talent gets even deeper.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, tntoriole said:

And that he is the best bat in our farm system 

Doesn’t mean he’s the bat most ready to make an impact.  

[wildcard]

1 minute ago, MCO'sFan said:

I predict that Santander is traded this offseason. He is due a pretty big raise in arbitration and he's entering his walk year. They shouldn't extend him so this is the time to flip him for younger prospects. 

There has been a good amount of discussion on the OH about Santander getting a QO after the 2024 season which will net the O's a draft choice after the first round.   Santander is a big part of the O's offense on a near 100 win team.   That makes him hard to trade when the O's goal is winning the WS in 2024.

As far as the  2024 payroll the O's will probably be under 70m even with Santander making 12m.

[DirtyBird]

5 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I don't think we will see these guys DH much.   Not with Adley, Mountcastle and O'Hearn on the team.

Ortiz probably wouldn’t DH, but Westburg and Holliday would, based on matchups and need to get them AB’s.

[MCO'sFan]

10 hours ago, Flash- bd said:

Can't really see us being as aggressive with Jackson as people are expecting. I expect we'll see him in summer if he tears up AAA to start the season. 

Ortiz is a fantastic glove and I'm not so sure we're going to be trading him. I think more likely he takes Frazier and later Urías' spot. 

Mayo I think will be in the 1B/3B mix, but again, expecting more on the Jackson timeline, perhaps a bit earlier than Jackson. 

The way Elias talks about Westburg I get the feeling he's very much part of our long term plans. But perhaps I'm just reading too much into GM talk. 

You mean the guy who has played at 4 levels this year and they've promoted three times in the last 5 months.? I think it is definitely possible. 

[MCO'sFan]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

There has been a good amount of discussion on the OH about Santander getting a QO after the 2024 season which will net the O's a draft choice after the first round.   Santander is a big part of the O's offense on a near 100 win team.   That makes him hard to trade when the O's goal is winning the WS in 2024.

As far as the  2024 payroll the O's will probably be under 70m even with Santander making 12m.

I am aware of the discussion and I have participated in that discussion. My opinion is that he is traded this offseason.