Is Hyde/Sigbot burying another prospect?

[Just Regular]

24 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Player day off:
Santander - Kjerstad plays RF
O'Hearn - Kjerstad DH
Mountcastle - O'Hearn to 1B, Kjerstad to RF
Mullins day off - Cowser to CF, Kjersatd to LF (live with the defense that day)
Cowser day off - Kjerstad to LF
Rutschman day off after catching too often - MCann catch, Kjerstad DH

If Hays isn't back this weekend, I think something like this is about what will start to happen, but we are seeing playoff posture these Yankees games.

Hopefully Kjerstad is becoming a top expert on the Yankees relievers he might face in one big moment these next 48 hours.

[Aristotelian]

No question they are burying him. He is a MLB ready prospect who would probably be playing for most other teams. 

The question is do we get more out of trading him than we get by keeping him in the minors. We don't know if Elias has received any compelling trade offers. I would say the upside of keeping Kjerstad is a hedge against 1) injury to Hays, O'Hearn or Santander, or 2) regression by Cowser. There are many alternate realities in which Kjerstad would be playing regularly even without any trades. So far they haven't materialized, but if they do we will be glad we have him. I would be open to trading him as well as Stowers, but I would not be giving them away. For now, Kjerstad and Stowers producing in AAA is a "good problem to have".

If we get to July and we have obvious holes that go unfilled via trade, then something is wrong and it's time to get mad.

[Bemorewins]

8 minutes ago, Warehouse said:

100% agreed on public relations, sales, fan experience, etc.  I just don’t think he would meddle at all in Elias’s and Hyde’s decisions concerning Kjerstad’s promotion and playing time.

Oh agee Kjerstad’s promotion/playing time is not important enough in terms of it’s possible impact on revenue.

But there are other player decisions that are/will be.

[Just Regular]

10 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

2) regression by Cowser.

Cowser's progression has sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the room for Kjerstad, and even indirectly for Mayo and Norby.

He's basically the same as O'Hearn now - nothing is changing if production stays high.

Edited April 30 by Just Regular

[Bemorewins]

11 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I'm not understanding your argument.  Rubenstein's whole approach to baseball ownership is to not meddle.  So far, so good, from what I've been able to ascertain.

Winning puts fans in the seats...that's it.  And if the Orioles are winning, they should have relatively healthy attendance numbers.

If Rubenstein is running around worrying about Heston Kjerstad's at bats because the fans want to see him and Elias/Hyde aren't playing him, then we're screwed.  Fan engagement, participation, attendance and sales aren't driven by Heston Kjerstad's at bats.  

I agree with the second part (as I stated) this issue is not important enough for owner involvement.

However I strongly disagree with the bolded portion of your post. If that were the case the Rays would have great attendance. What’s the Guardians attendance? What about the Brewers? However, look at the Padres.

Winning is absolutely the most important part. However there are other factors that affect your fanbase/merch sales/attendance/suit sales and the like.

Have you observed how many #2 and #35 shirts are in the stands now? Do you believe that if the Orioles trade them both or let them walk in FA in a few years in back to back seasons that will not have an adverse effect on the orgs relationship with the fanbase in this market?

[spleen1015]

26 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Can I get a definition of what people around here mean when they say Sigbot? Because I always assumed it meant Sig Mejdal. However that makes little sense given the context with Mike Elias as the GM out ranking him.

Sigbot

[Just Regular]

I came across the Get Smart movie reboot the other day, and wasn't sure if Hymie the robot was being portrayed by Patrick Warburton or Sig Mejdal.

I think Sigbot is OH everyday language, and most of us know OMAR is what the Orioles actually call their field management system.     Sig Mejdal would probably be the first one to tell anyone it isn't just him.

[Satyr3206]

This comes down to Roster construction. Is the Roster being used optimally? I personally don't think so but no one is paying me to do that so.......

[spleen1015]

Heck yeah he's being buried. Over the last 2+ years, I just accept this is the way Elias is going to operate with some prospects. I figure there is something they know that we don't that makes them treat Kjerstad and Stowers differently than Adley, Gunnar & Holiday.

A big part of it for me is we hear everywhere about how good the farm system is and we have guys in AAA getting 10 RBI in one game because they're knocking the cover off the ball. Well, I wanna see what those guys can do in the majors.

[NCRaven]

1 hour ago, Bemorewins said:

I'm pretty sure that the fan opinion doesn't drive most or maybe not any of their decisions. But I am certain that somebody who is high up in the Orioles decision making matrix is concerned about the satisfaction of their customers.

I don't think that the 99% of fans who watch or go to games are nearly as concerned about the roster mechanations as the average Hangouter.  Most were thrilled with 1st place (where we are right now too) in 2023.  Doesn't mean we're wrong, just that we make up a very small minority of Orioles fans.

[sportsfan8703]

If Heston survives the Yankees series he has a good chance to start being rotated in after. If he goes down now, he has to be down for 10 days unless we IL someone. So if someone has a little injury/bad pizza then we’d be playing short handed or rolling with Stowers. 

[gtman55]

Like I said yesterday the current group has no clue how to construct a championship roster. They have immense talent in the minors that isn't being given a chance.

Bringing up Kjerstad and having him ride the bench is a joke.

Why's McKenna here?

Why isn't Povich here?

Norby?

Why was Tate sent down?

Why wasn't Stowers given a chance coming out of camp?

Why weren't moves made to improve the bullpen arms and maybe add another starter this offseason?

What is Elias's gameplan here?

[Philip]

Maybe this comment has already been made, but all those prospect guys are getting older. If a typical player starts to decline around 30 or 31, we are damaging our own prospect value by not doing anything with them. Nothing.

It is maddening that we had Aaron Hicks or Brett Phillips or Tony Kemp instead of giving our guys a chance to develop on the most important stage. 

Even if he’s terrible, starting the season with Holliday, instead of bringing him up two weeks later, just means that we would’ve sent him down two weeks sooner. We wouldn’t have lost anything.

I understand why Heston isn’t playing. Nobody can. It was even mentioned in today’s chat at MLB trade rumors, and the moderator couldn’t understand either.

Mike and the gang are not stupid. They have reasons for what they’re doing, but just because a person has a reason doesn’t mean it’s a good reason.

Edited April 30 by Philip

[Brooks The Great]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

Kjersatd was recalled and started in his first game up (Apr 23rd) and had one pinch hit appearance since. He obviously was not going to start against Cortez tonight, but it's pretty clear the Orioles have no intention of rotating out their starters to give him PAs.

Kjerstad meet Stowers, Stowers meet Kjerstad. Hyde/Sigbot treats you the same. 

The Orioles should have moved Kjerstad for an impact reliever this offseason if they had no plans to properly use him once they bring him to the major leagues. Outside of Gunnar and Adley, the Orioles do not treat prospects, at least not the uber prospects, like they need to get at bats. 

They're in first place, so I guess you can't argue with the results, but I do not agree with Kjerstad just wallowing away on the bench. One PA in a week is not how you handle a rookie in my opinion. I'm sure he's not arguing because he's making big league money, but if they were just planning on burying Kjerstad, they should have just brought up Stowers and let Kjerstad play everyday in AAA until they needed him. 

Honestly, they might as well re-sign Hicks and send Kjerstad back if this is the playing time they plan to give this role.

Outside of the original "Big 3" - Gunnar, Adley, and Grayson - Elias has consistently done a poor job integrating prospects to the major league roster, to the team's detriment. I honestly believe the team would have been more competitive against the Rangers in the playoffs last season if Westburg, Cowser, Ortiz, and Kjerstad has been prioritized and given much more playing time than they ultimately got.

Jackson Holliday's promotion was bungled. He was called up too early (should have waited to gain the extra year of service time and Super 2 to pass) and demoted too soon (once the mistake was made of calling him up too soon, Elias should have commited to Holliday so that Jackson can help the major league team later in the season). 

All the other prospects were called up too late and then not given anywhere near the playing time they deserved, and almost all were inappropriately platooned with inferior veterans. Westburg, Stowers, Ortiz, Westburg, and Kjerstad were all called up either too late or given way too little playing time, or a combination of both. Norby should have made the major league roster on Opening Day, would have been a better callup to help the major league team than Holliday, and could still be helping the team right now instead of rolling with Mateo and Urias in the infield, or McKenna in the outfield.

Elias is a hypocrite when it comes to valuing defense with his own prospects, because he clearly did not value defense whatsoever signing Adam Frazier and letting him play the entire 2023 season against RHP and doing the same with Rougned Odor in 2022. And he doesn't value defense whenever Ryan O'Hearn is allowed to play RF, or by keeping Jorge Mateo on the roster after Mateo's defense cratered last season. 

Elias is putting this team in a worse position to win in the playoffs by consistently screwing over every prospect that's been called up after Grayson. 

I don't even blame Hyde, because he's a bad manager who can't write out a lineup and clearly favors less talented veterans to superior prospects. It's on Elias to either tell Hyde to prioritize playing the prospects, or take the decision out of Hyde's hands by releasing or trading the veterans that Hyde favors so much.

Edited April 30 by Brooks The Great

[Aristotelian]

43 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

Cowser's progression has sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the room for Kjerstad, and even indirectly for Mayo and Norby.

He's basically the same as O'Hearn now - nothing is changing if production stays high.

Agreed, I think the plan was to switch Kjerstad and Cowser in and out, expecting that each would struggle. Unfortunately for Kjerstad, Cowser came out blazing hot. We will see if it was a Mateo-type heater or if Cowser can stick. He has pushed Hays to the backup role now but Kjerstad still needs one more domino to fall.