Assume Basallo is ready by the start of 2025...

[maybenxtyr]

I can't really think of any circumstance where trading Basallo makes sense. He has the potential to be an absolute beast as a hitter.

 

There will be a solution for him and Adley to catch and DH when the time comes.

[Frobby]

40 minutes ago, George Zuverink said:

Congrats, you elicited much more response than I did when I raised the same question in abbreviated form back in June or July.  Basallo was just be beginning to bust out and I think many people were in the mode of “there wasn’t any life before Ashley and there won’t be any life after.”

This seems to be my day for stealing other people’s threads. Right, @RZNJ?

Edited December 1, 2023 by Frobby

[now]

1 hour ago, Just Regular said:

there's a path to the mid-decade Orioles almost never having to waste plate appearances on some terrible backup catcher.  

And here's the rub, times 2, of having your best stars at the C position. The problem is, still having to carry a terrible backup third catcher on the roster at least, if not holding Adley or Basallo on the bench for that ever-present risk of injury if one was stuck at DH. So if we can rotate them at C/1B, and forget about a third catcher, it could work. Otherwise the only way out is to give primary C to whichever one looks like they can give you the most starts at C, and get a king's ransom for the other one.

Edited December 1, 2023 by now

[RZNJ]

36 minutes ago, Frobby said:

This seems to be my day for stealing other people’s threads. Right, @RZNJ?

I thought it was one isolated incident.  This is disturbing.  
 

https://images.app.goo.gl/y2CfhKRTqKajxnrr7

[Aristotelian]

Depends to some extent what's happening with 1B. Between C, 1B, and DH I think we could find 500 AB for both guys. 

[webbrick2010]

Ideally Basallo can handle catching defensively, then I think it is a not brainer and you trade Adley

Adley is a nice player but not the MVP type I would have been searching for with a 1-1

 

[interloper]

I think there will be plenty of room for both Adley and Basallo.

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

Adley is a nice player but not the MVP type I would have been searching for with a 1-1

 

[LookinUp]

17 hours ago, maybenxtyr said:

I can't really think of any circumstance where trading Basallo makes sense. He has the potential to be an absolute beast as a hitter.

If Basallo and Adley both continue on their current trajectory, there is a single circumstance that I can imagine, and that circumstance is that both have real value tied to their position. Even so, the catcher position isn't the same as SS or CF, where it's incredibly valuable AND you play 150+ games a year.

Let's say hypothetically that both Adley and Basallo are 10 WAR players, and that each are 5 oWAR and 5 dWAR. Now you're in a circumstance where their splitting of time essentially means we're leaving roughly 5 dWAR in the dugout or at an invaluable defensive position. So you're getting 15-16 WAR instead of the full 20. 

That's the circumstance where you might trade your 10 WAR catcher for an 8 WAR CF. Increase net value on the team.

And that concludes this silly post.  

[SilverRocket]

21 hours ago, Frobby said:

3.  Keep Adley as the primary catcher but have Basallo catch 40-60 times, playing 1B/DH most other games.

Assuming Basallo doesn't eclipse Adley defensively, I think this is the clear answer. We all know how a valuable a catcher with a bat is because we don't have to run a light hitter in that slot. Having the backup catcher also have a bat? That removes what would've been the worst at-bats. I look forward to never having a hole in the lineup.

[Billy F-Face3]

For me this all boils down to how their abilities as Catchers playing defense and handling their pitchers. At this moment in their careers both of them are more so hitters and offensive players than they are known for their defensive ability. This is even more true for Basallo. The organization has flirted with the idea of converting him into a first basemen.

So it really all depends on Adley's development defensively as a catcher and game caller. I hope he learns alot from McCann while they are together.

Because Basallo's production is more likely to be that of an offensive Catcher/hitter.

For our pitchers to be successful, they need a great defensive catcher that they trust as their partner facing hitters.

[Billy F-Face3]

10 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

 

 

So funny I laughed my Face/Off.

 

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

For me this all boils down to how their abilities as Catchers playing defense and handling their pitchers. At this moment in their careers both of them are more so hitters and offensive players than they are known for their defensive ability. 

Adley was a Gold Glove nominee, deservedly so.  

[CaptainRedbeard]

17 hours ago, webbrick2010 said:

Ideally Basallo can handle catching defensively, then I think it is a not brainer and you trade Adley

Adley is a nice player but not the MVP type I would have been searching for with a 1-1

 

If not for Ohtani, Adley would have been firmly in the MVP discourse this year. Top AL fWAR (excluding Ohtani):

Semien 6.3

Seager 6.1

Rodriguez 5.9

Witt 5.7

Rutschman 5.1

Adley finished 9th in the voting this year, and he definitely was pushed down by splitting attention with Gunnar (who had a lower fWAR but finished 8th). 

Adley is a 5+ WAR player in each of his first two seasons and those types of guys have a decent shot at winning an MVP at some point in their careers in a particularly good season. If he has a healthy, long career with a decent aging curve then he absolutely could be a hall of famer. To consider him just a “nice player” or in any way a disappointment with the 1.1 pick is ridiculous. 

[Frobby]

16 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

 

Adley is a 5+ WAR player in each of his first two seasons and those types of guys have a decent shot at winning an MVP at some point in their careers in a particularly good season. If he has a healthy, long career with a decent aging curve then he absolutely could be a hall of famer. To consider him just a “nice player” or in any way a disappointment with the 1.1 pick is ridiculous. 

There were 55 1-1 picks before Adley, and he’s already passed 26 of them in career rWAR after less than two full seasons.  No complaints there.  

webbrick2010 never wanted Adley.  His preferred choice was C.J. Abrams, who, it must be said, is a decent major league player (3.4 rWAR) at age 22.  I wouldn’t bet on him having a better career than Adley, but he’s probably going to have a good career.