Nope, can't turn back the clock. Even if Witt is doing what he's doing this year...if Adley's putting up a repeat 2023 performance, I wonder if we're having these conversations. We might be, but not to this extent.
It also comes down to what do you value at that 1:1...a catcher? Or someone that projects to be an up the middle infield talent, great speed, hyper athletic...who stands to have a longer career? A longer peak? If you're looking at it from that perspective, it's Witt...and it was Witt back then.
My post admittedly glosses over that the Orioles started winning right after Adley was called up and the intagibles that he brings to the table. IIRC, in early 2022, we were all fit to be tied on here, we were calling the Orioles a dumpster fire, etc. That stopped after he was brought up and we registered a winning season.
Burnes has been absolutely putrid the last month. If we're going to lose one of these three it'll be Monday afternoon. He already faced the White Sox earlier in the season (when he was actually good) and they hung a loss on him.
You make a good case for that plausible scenario. Only Elias or an insider would know.
All the second guessing aside (why not? that's what we do here), I think Elias (and fans and the media spotlight) were all gaga over Adley until this latest tailspin. But as this season progressed, the two players' trajectories crossed dramatically (Witt up, Adley down); where before, Adley was in the lead, albeit 2 years older.
2022-23-24 WAR:
Adley 5.4, 4.3, 2.8
Witt 0.9, 4.4, 8.7
Can't turn back the clock, but can't dispute that Witt looks like the clear leader from here on in.
If Bradfield ended up with a batting average/OBP of Willie Wilson (.285/.326) I'd be alright with that (note that I said alright, not thrilled). Pettis hit .236/.332 so there was good separation between the batting average and the OBP.
Pettis career war was 22.1, Wilson was 46.2. If Bradfield ends up somewhere in the middle between those two, I'd be good with that, too.
Rogers sucks. He had a brief period of success but he’s still terrible, and he’s lost velocity on his fastball, which wasn’t very fast to begin with.
It was a terrible trade and will only get worse as his velocity declines
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