Could Grayson Be the Solution to Our Bullpen Issue?

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

And here’s the thing like you said in the OP. What’s the one thing we’re missing right now to feel even better about our WS chances? An “out of the box solution” that undoubtedly strengthens our chances when we haven’t sniffed a title in 40 years. 
 

Yet this also makes me appreciate the current regime. They won’t get desperate and do something short sighted to chase one title. But it is intriguing of how dominant Grayson could be for one season and address our biggest hurdle to a championship. 

Also, no prospect capital would have to be used. 

Edited May 6 by Grt 2BA FL Gator

[Bemorewins]

20 minutes ago, oriolediehard said:

We have a new owner, why wouldn't he at least resign Means?  And Burnes if he is not too greedy?

"Greedy"? - Should the players demand the wage the market dictates? Are the Orioles/owners "greedy" when they raise ticket prices or their prices for business to advertise with them?

No, to your question, I'm not sure what the team will do with Means. But he has a long way to go (after missing almost 2 full seasons and having a hand full of good starts) to convince them that he should be resigned.

As to resigning Burnes, I don't know about that either. IMO the first priority is Henderson and Rutschman.

[gamiliel]

1 hour ago, BRobinsonfan said:

Could not have said it better myself!

While I'm not sure I would do it, it is not insane. Shoulder soreness aside, I did think about him being the closer. But, of course, the current "surplus" of starters is not likely to last. Has Irvin become the next Jimmy Key? Maybe, but probably not. Will Means stay healthy the rest of the year? Who knows....but the fact that we can even have this discussion is pretty awesome!

[Bemorewins]

6 minutes ago, Grt 2BA FL Gator said:

And here’s the thing like you said in the OP. What’s the one thing we’re missing right now to feel even better about our WS chances? An “out of the box solution” that undoubtedly strengthens our chances when we haven’t sniffed a title in 40 years. 
 

Yet this also makes me appreciate the current regime. They won’t get desperate and do something short sighted to chase one title. But it is intriguing of how dominant Grayson could be for one season and address our biggest hurdle to a championship. 

Also, no prospect capital would have to be used. 

Is there ANYTHING that the Orioles can realistically do to put them in a position where they won't be supreme title contenders next, the year, the year after that one?

There is no 'desperate' move to make when you have this much excess prospect capital/talent.

Why would we not be willing to part with any of that excess in order to increase our chances to have a parade in the fall ("after we haven't sniffed a title in 40 years")?

Do you not agree that we have more positional player prospects that we could ever use?

[Aristotelian]

36 minutes ago, oriole said:

I think you should be looking at the back end of the rotation for potential Kimbrel replacements. Suárez or Wells are possibilities. Cano is an obvious candidate. Grayson is not in the discussion.

Suarez reminds me a bit of Keith Foulke with that FB/CH combo. Even more effective with the FB at 96. I am really interested to see how he moves up the hierarchy. Really scares me to have playoff games coming down to a 34 year old project from the Japanese league but he has been impressive. 

[Aristotelian]

Lol, glad to see at least a couple folks out there think it's not completely nuts. Definitely not a hill to die on but I really feel like this could be the year for us and it's time to start thinking seriously about roster and roles in October, development be damned. Fangraphs already has us at close to 90% probability of making the playoffs. I love him as a starter too but we have him through 2029 and the time to win is right now. 

Part of this is baseball-PTSD from what Kelvin Herrera and that KC bullpen did to us in 2014. 

I know, I know, it's not realistic and we are going to need 6 or 7 guys because Bradish and Means will be toast at some point...

[Fiver6565]

15 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Suarez reminds me a bit of Keith Foulke with that FB/CH combo. Even more effective with the FB at 96. I am really interested to see how he moves up the hierarchy. Really scares me to have playoff games coming down to a 34 year old project from the Japanese league but he has been impressive. 

If it were to come down to Suarez pitching late in a playoff game (a big IF at this point), then by then, he'd clearly be a lot more than just a '34 year old project from the Japanese league'.  That's what he is now, but he wouldn't still be that, in the scenario.  Much like Cano was viewed quite differently late last season, than he was in April.

[interloper]

That's gonna be a no from me dawg. 

[sportsfan8703]

Doesn't make sense.  Grayson is going to be a CYA favorite while he's under team control.  This would be a terrible use of resources.  

[Chaka Garcia]

1 hour ago, BRobinsonfan said:

Could not have said it better myself!

Times x 100. This thread needs to be shutdown. 

Edited May 6 by Chaka Garcia

[RZNJ]

45 minutes ago, joelala said:

I love the creativity and in theory it could very well work. But yea it would be malpractice from a value and development standpoint. If we get to the playoffs though and he’s either struggling, struggling to go deep into games or has just come off another IL stint and we still have a canyon in our bullpen, it would be worth a revisit perhaps. 

I agree.  Good post.

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

20 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Is there ANYTHING that the Orioles can realistically do to put them in a position where they won't be supreme title contenders next, the year, the year after that one?

There is no 'desperate' move to make when you have this much excess prospect capital/talent.

Why would we not be willing to part with any of that excess in order to increase our chances to have a parade in the fall ("after we haven't sniffed a title in 40 years")?

Do you not agree that we have more positional player prospects that we could ever use?

I agree that the prospect capital is getting to a point where we need to make some trades. And I think this was part of the plan. Trade from the position player glut. I just wouldn’t want to see us turn into the padres or blue jays and squander the talent infusion. 
 

There’s definitely a balanced approach that I think ME can pull off. 

[Bemorewins]

2 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Lol, glad to see at least a couple folks out there think it's not completely nuts. Definitely not a hill to die on but I really feel like this could be the year for us and it's time to start thinking seriously about roster and roles in October, development be damned. Fangraphs already has us at close to 90% probability of making the playoffs. I love him as a starter too but we have him through 2029 and the time to win is right now. 

Part of this is baseball-PTSD from what Kelvin Herrera and that KC bullpen did to us in 2014. 

I know, I know, it's not realistic and we are going to need 6 or 7 guys because Bradish and Means will be toast at some point...

Making decisions based on what happened in 2014 (ten years ago) may not be the wisest when none of these players was on the team at that time (many were still children).

Sacrificing Grayson's development is not the only way to get a very good closer and it's probably not the best. We have plenty of young pieces/prospects (who are non-core guys) who we can offer in a trade.

[DenPA2002]

2 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

I posted this idea as a one off comment in another thread but thought it might get discussion as a separate thread.

We currently have five starters who are performing well even with Grayson and Wells on the DL. Arguably six if you include Suarez.

Kimbrel is having issues. 

What about putting Grayson in the bullpen when he comes back? He throws 98 (maybe harder for 1-2 inning stints) with matchup-proof stuff vs LHB's and RHB's. He profiles similar to Felix as a hard thrower who could nail down multi inning saves when needed. 

Grayson in the pen would give us a true three headed monster of Rodriguez-Kimbrel-Cano who could regularly take over games in the 5th or 6th.  Stretch Grayson out again next year when Means goes to FA and we get Bautista back. Could Grayson be more valuable to us in the pen this year than in a rotation that is already performing well? Terrible idea, or out of the box thinking that could win us the world series?

I would be for this....in game 7 of the WS only.

[Three Run Homer]

This is something to consider if Grayson struggles as a starter--he's having trouble throwing 3 pitches effectively, or he's not pitch efficient enough to get through more than 5 innings consistently, or hitters are teeing off on him the 2nd or 3rd time through the order.  He does have the high end fastball velocity to be a high end closer. 

But if he can be a top-three starter that's more valuable, even in the short run.  

I definitely agree that Wells and Suarez should be high-leverage late inning relievers this season.