Who Stays and Who Goes Early Guess

[Sports Guy]

12 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

It’s unfortunate that none of Haskin, Trimble, Rhodes or Fabian will be viable options.

Fabian may be as the season goes on

[EddeeEddee]

7 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

It’s unfortunate that none of Haskin, Trimble, Rhodes or Fabian will be viable options.

It's not realistic for them to cover all their hitting needs in house all the time.  And they need a new veteran presence on the team anyway, especially assuming Burnes, McCann and Santander are gone.

[DirtyBird]

2 minutes ago, EddeeEddee said:

It's not realistic for them to cover all their hitting needs in house all the time.  And they need a new veteran presence on the team anyway, especially assuming Burnes, McCann and Santander are gone.

With the amount of draft picks we have used on college OF w/ picks between 6 - 100, we should have an in house 4th OF option.

[theobird]

2 hours ago, DirtyBird said:

We would have to make a qualifying offer to get a draft pick - and he would probably accept the offer

That would be a stroke of luck if you ask me.

[mrbig1]

Might want to keep Mounty until we have someone to play first base. Mayo is not ready yet.

[forphase1]

Early in the offseason and my opinions may change, but here are my thoughts at this time.

1st - I'm ready to move on from Mountcastle.  And O'Hearn should only be a platoon option.  I hope we sign someone like a Alonso or Walker who doesn't have massive L/R splits and who can play on a daily basis, regardless of who is on the mound, and make both Ryans expendable, and we trade them for whatever we can get.  Otherwise we probably keep the platoon going, with the Ryan's splitting based on the SP.  Unfortunately Mayo hasn't show anything in the majors to make me think he's ready to be a regular in the lineup yet.  That could change in the spring, but right now we can't plan on him.

2nd - This is Holidays spot to start the season.  We won't be bringing in any competition for this spot.  Holiday didn't earn it by his play, but his pedigree and the money/time invested into him will give him a pretty long leash, for good or bad.  If he falters Westburg may be moved off of 3rd to play here instead.

SS - Gunnar is here.  We won't be bringing in any competition for this spot.

3rd - Westburg.  He should hold this spot down unless Holiday struggles, and then he might be moved over the 2nd.  We don't bring in any real competition for this spot.

Util - I don't like it, but I expect us to keep both Mateo and Urias, though I'm not 100% sure if we think Mateo will be ready for OD.  If Mateo isn't expected to be ready then I can see us bringing in someone for this role, though I'm not sure who off the top of my head.

C - Adley has this spot, though if we are going to continue to keep his load light, we need a GOOD backup.  And after Adleys struggles the 2nd half of the season, I'm even more concerned about the quality of the backup than I was before this year started.  I'm just not sure how many GOOD backups exist, and any of the really good catchers are going to want to start more than they would here.  I'm not sure Basallo is ready for MLB time, and after the struggles with Mayo and Holiday, we surely can't count on him even if he is on the mlb roster.  McCann could come back...I don't love that idea, but I could see it happening.

OF - We start with Mullins, Cowser and Kjerstad, don't try to resign Santander unless he take the QO.  I'd LOVE to see us bring in someone good here (Soto would rock, but clearly isn't going to happen) maybe Pederson or Hernandez or something.  Spend a bit of money here and get someone who has a decent bat.

So upgrade 1st base with a non-platoon player and bring in a good vet in the OF.  Say goodbye to the Ryans and Santander.

Pitching - I'd love to sign a #1 like Burnes or Snell, but I think they get more years and money than we are willing to go.  I can see us being in on a Max Fried or Jack Flahertyt.  Also possible to see some of the lesser guys, the Andrew Heaneys of the world.

Bullpen - I expect to see a few journeyman/low level signings.  With the controllable players we traded for this year and what is returning I don't see us signing anyone big for the bullpen.  

[GuidoSarducci]

17 hours ago, DirtyBird said:

I guess that depends on how they evaluate Bradfield. He seemed to make significant strides with the bat over the course of the season. With Cowser in CF and Heston in RF, you’d only really need a #9 hitter in LF.

LF is a bit of a waste of a spot for #9 hitter.  Its not a premium defensive position so you shoudl be able to get a decent bat who can also play there.  If you're worst hitter isn't an SS, C or CF, either you're contending for a WS , or something isn't quite right.  And this team isn't quite WS contenders just yet.

[DirtyBird]

9 minutes ago, GuidoSarducci said:

LF is a bit of a waste of a spot for #9 hitter.  Its not a premium defensive position so you shoudl be able to get a decent bat who can also play there.  If you're worst hitter isn't an SS, C or CF, either you're contending for a WS , or something isn't quite right.  And this team isn't quite WS contenders just yet.

Our SS is Gunnar, our CF in this scenario would be Cowser, and C is Adley. Hopefully none of those guys are in contention for being the team's worst hitter next season. We don't need a power bat in LF - we need to add a good contact bat, that can use all fields and run.

[OriolesMagic83]

On 10/3/2024 at 12:53 PM, LGOrioles said:

I think it’s pretty obvious that they need another TOR starter. I’d pencil Rodriguez, Eflin, Kremer, and an external 1-3 SP in. The 5th spot is up for grabs. The bullpen and position player decisions should be a lot more interesting. 

For the pen, Bautista should be back but they should add another backend arm. I would let Soto or Perez go and would lean towards keeping Soto. They both have control issues but Soto has better stuff and gets more K’s. The bullpen looks like they will be decent next year, especially if they add another external piece. 

 

Bautista

Coulombe 

*FA Signing/Trade*

Cano

Dominguez

Webb

Soto/Perez

Akin

 

Their lineup is extremely LHH heavy right now. They need to add a starting caliber OF’er (along with keeping Slater or adding a RHH OF bench piece). Elias said that 1B is a viable option for Mayo. That clearly puts Mountcastle’s spot in jeopardy and is probably good news for O’Hearn. I don’t know if Kjerstad and Mayo can coexist on the same roster with their defensive limitations. I would not be surprised to see Kjerstad dealt. Keeping him as the everyday RF’er likely means 2 of Cowser/Mullins/Kjerstad are playing every day against LHP’s too, and you’re getting terrible defense in RF. 

So pretty much, I think Holliday replaces Urias’ spot in the lineup and at 2B, and Mayo takes Mountcastle’s role. Slater is fine as a 4th OF’er but they need to add a starting RF that is a MOO bat and ideally RH. Kjerstad chases more, whiffs more, and will hit for less power than Santander while still being bad defensively. They need a calming MOO presence that will give them professional AB’s, and while he’s good, he’s not that. 

Is Webb anything special.  I would rather replace Webb with Norfolk shuttle guy.

[GuidoSarducci]

35 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

Our SS is Gunnar, our CF in this scenario would be Cowser, and C is Adley. Hopefully none of those guys are in contention for being the team's worst hitter next season. We don't need a power bat in LF - we need to add a good contact bat, that can use all fields and run.

The question is could we find an OF who is better defensively than Cowser, but a worse bat.  I think we probably could.  If so they should probably play CF while Cowser remains at LF.   e.g. Cedric Mullins, Michael Taylor.

What the Yanks are doing with Judge is suboptimal - he is an average CF at best, while they have Verdugo in left., who's not havin ga great season at the plate, which maybe they didn't count on, but they would be better off having Judge play RF or LF, or DH most of the time, while they got a better CF who was a worse at the plate.

[Camden_yardbird]

On 10/3/2024 at 2:27 PM, DirtyBird said:

I think you shop Mullins. He should have some value on the trade market with team looking to contend next year. Maybe try to get a decent RH 4th OF type w/ some speed and bat to ball skills and team control.

Then try to get Bradfield on track to come up in the second half of the season.

 

What?

On a competitive team you want to trade a GG centerfielder with 20-20 potential for a 4th outfielder?