Elias Interview on Baltimore (local) radio station

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, scarey1999 said:

This validates everything I’ve been saying and my eyes have told me about Gunnar vs Jackson and 2B/3B vs SS. 

Gunnar will see at least 75% of the starts at SS this season.  Providing he hits enough and makes the OD roster, Holiday will be the primary 2B, meaning 50% or more of the starts there go to Jackson. 

Now, in the future, if/when Gunnar outgrows SS, then that’s a different situation.  He should be good to go there for the next several years until he gets to or approaches age 30.  It will be interesting to see how his body has matured when he hits free agency and how that affects his defensive versatility. 

You’re not mentioning that Westburg is primarily a 2B/3B and Urias a 3B/2B, but they like him more at 3B. I think we see all 4 of these guys moved around a lot, and Mateo worked in at SS as well. There are no regular rotations nor fixed positions anymore on this team

[oriole]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Mateo certainly has the arm, a much better arm than Mullins in fact.  I don’t know about instincts but he doesn’t have the experience and is sure to misjudge some balls in the early going.  I’m not betting on him to hit LHP better than Mullins.  He has a career .667 OPS vs. LHP; since switching to batting only lefty in 2021, Mullins has a .698 OPS vs. LHP.   

I discounted Mullins’ first year hitting lefty only since it’s an outlier in a career that otherwise can’t hit lefties whatsoever. The last two seasons, Mateo has been a better hitter vs lefties. He hasn’t been good either, but that’s more of a testament to how bad Mullins has been. 

[Bemorewins]

3 minutes ago, brooooksy said:

You’re not mentioning that Westburg is primarily a 2B/3B and Urias a 3B/2B, but they like him more at 3B. I think we see all 4 of these guys moved around a lot, and Mateo worked in at SS as well. There are no regular rotations nor fixed positions anymore on this team

Though Elias did mention that all the guys have versatility and can play 2-3 positions. He said something to effect that Westburg has established himself at 3B.

I did not come away at all with the impression that the guys will be moved around a lot. There will be some movement to accommodate off days and DH days. But to me it sounds like for the most part Gunnar at SS, Holliday at 2B (primarily) and then filling in on the rare occurrences when Gunnar is not at SS, and Westberg at 3B.

[connja]

46 minutes ago, ThisIsBirdland said:

Thinks for sharing!

Sounds like Mateo is in line to compete with McKenna for the RH backup CF role. It would definitely be nice to open up that roster spot and maintain Mateo’s pinch runner role if he shows he can handle the CF defense requirements. I think he’ll rarely start if this ends up to be the case.

I"m not sure there is a RH backup CF/OF role if Cowser and Krjstad both are ready to go.

[scarey1999]

51 minutes ago, brooooksy said:

You’re not mentioning that Westburg is primarily a 2B/3B and Urias a 3B/2B, but they like him more at 3B. I think we see all 4 of these guys moved around a lot, and Mateo worked in at SS as well. There are no regular rotations nor fixed positions anymore on this team

I understand all of that.  I was talking more about how many posters here seem dead set that Gunnar is destined for 3rd and Holliday will be the SS.

So this was more about Gunnar not being at 3rd primarily and Holliday being the primary 2B, more than has anything to do with Westy and Urias primarily manning 3rd, which is what Elias is alluding to happening. Apologies for not being more clear. 

[scarey1999]

49 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Though Elias did mention that all the guys have versatility and can play 2-3 positions. He said something to effect that Westburg has established himself at 3B.

I did not come away at all with the impression that the guys will be moved around a lot. There will be some movement to accommodate off days and DH days. But to me it sounds like for the most part Gunnar at SS, Holliday at 2B (primarily) and then filling in on the rare occurrences when Gunnar is not at SS, and Westberg at 3B.

This is exactly the stage Elias is setting.  Of course things can change - injuries, trades etc. - but that is the lineup we’ll see most often based on what he’s been saying. 

[maybenxtyr]

49 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Though Elias did mention that all the guys have versatility and can play 2-3 positions. He said something to effect that Westburg has established himself at 3B.

I did not come away at all with the impression that the guys will be moved around a lot. There will be some movement to accommodate off days and DH days. But to me it sounds like for the most part Gunnar at SS, Holliday at 2B (primarily) and then filling in on the rare occurrences when Gunnar is not at SS, and Westberg at 3B.

I'm sure there will be some slight movement, but I'm in the camp that would rather see a player hone their craft at a primary position rather than 2 or 3 spots a week.

 

I'd be pleasantly surprised if Holliday is the starting 2B on opening day. In fact, I'd be happy as all get up.

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Though Elias did mention that all the guys have versatility and can play 2-3 positions. He said something to effect that Westburg has established himself at 3B.

I did not come away at all with the impression that the guys will be moved around a lot. There will be some movement to accommodate off days and DH days. But to me it sounds like for the most part Gunnar at SS, Holliday at 2B (primarily) and then filling in on the rare occurrences when Gunnar is not at SS, and Westberg at 3B.

I hear you, but there’s a lot of moving parts - including Mayo at 3B and Hollidays limited experience at 2B

[Bemorewins]

10 minutes ago, brooooksy said:

I hear you, but there’s a lot of moving parts - including Mayo at 3B and Hollidays limited experience at 2B

Elias didn't mention Mayo in this particular interview. But IMO Mayo appears to have more of a future at 1B. If Mayo plays 3B then that means Westberg will be relegated to a back up role. I got the impression from this interview that Elias feels that Westburg has nailed down 3B for the time being.

[sportsfan8703]

Haha. Not commenting on Woodruf. People comment on FAs all the time. Not shooting the messenger at all. I believe Elias may have ducked one there. I do think he’s a straight shooter overall. 

Holliday has a chance at OD. Or… pointing out that he needs to play 2B is our excuse for him starting in AAA. His 7th year in 2030 would be worth like $50 million in value. No reason to start him on the OD roster. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Elias didn't mention Mayo in this particular interview. But IMO Mayo appears to have more of a future at 1B. If Mayo plays 3B then that means Westberg will be relegated to a back up role. I got the impression from this interview that Elias feels that Westburg has nailed down 3B for the time being.

I agree but I think what we’ve seen, especially this last year, is that they value the versatility and handedness, so don’t mind rotating any of these guys. I don’t foresee too many fixed positions once again 

[ThisIsBirdland]

There's 486 starts at these 3 INF positions over a 162 game season (121 starts per player), plus DH starts. I think they can rotate the 4 players and still achieve 130+ starts for each of them, especially if they play Mayo at 1B some. I would be disappointed if Mayo's arm was limited by him playing exclusively at 1B.

[Bemorewins]

Just now, brooooksy said:

I agree but I think what we’ve seen, especially this last year, is that they value the versatility and handedness, so don’t mind rotating any of these guys. I don’t foresee too many fixed positions once again 

I guess we will see how it plays out. Is that the impression you walked away with from the interview?

[Bemorewins]

5 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Haha. Not commenting on Woodruf. People comment on FAs all the time. Not shooting the messenger at all. I believe Elias may have ducked one there. I do think he’s a straight shooter overall. 

Holliday has a chance at OD. Or… pointing out that he needs to play 2B is our excuse for him starting in AAA. His 7th year in 2030 would be worth like $50 million in value. No reason to start him on the OD roster. 

Elias admitted that he was dodging that question about Woodruff. 

That could be the case about Holliday and Elias could be lying/misleading fans. But I’m not sure what the incentive he would have for doing that given the unbelievable momentum the team has in this market heading into this season. Is that the impression you got from what Elias said in the interview?

My impression was that he feels this is the best way that Holliday has the quickest chance to make the team. Plus he seems to be really pleased with Henderson at SS and Westburg at 3B.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I guess we will see how it plays out. Is that the impression you walked away with from the interview?

I didn’t hear it, but that’s my impression of watching Hyde manage lineups over a season. Also because Elias is pretty vague and often nondescript during interviews