We have top prospects, but very little beyond that. Below Norfolk is largely a wasteland in terms of position players other than Basallo and maybe Etzel. There is some pitching in low minors, but it's unproven against serious competition.

 

We still have McDermott and Seth Johnson, but we may need them ourselves the way our pitchers are dropping.

 

I got raked over the coals for saying this before, but I repeat. In position player terms, the last two drafts have been terrible. Look at the numbers.

 

We don't have enough depth to put together more than one major deal unless we clean out our top prospects. I'd still target the bullpen, but not w/1-year rentals.

Beavers, Fabian, and Horvath are fine prospects. A lot of young unknown Latin American talent in Delmarva, but some of it like Mordan looks promising.

Pitching at the lower level is obviously looking more promising than the position options, which is a good thing considering how stacked we should be position wise over the next few years.

We have top prospects, but very little beyond that. Below Norfolk is largely a wasteland in terms of position players other than Basallo and maybe Etzel. There is some pitching in low minors, but it's unproven against serious competition.

 

Bob wants to meet you in the back alley.  

Lol, not worth responding after that first sentence.

We don't have enough depth to put together more than one major deal unless we clean out our top prospects. I'd still target the bullpen, but not w/1-year rentals.

 

I'll start with this....what 'major deal' do you think the Orioles need to put together?

 

Not just at you...but I keep seeing everyone typing "we need 2 impact relievers and another starter."  Do we?  

 

I'm all for getting better and it's certainly possible we'll have some significant need between now and the deadline....but what is the name of the player(s) that are hurting the Orioles right now?  Who are the infallible players that we're going to acquire to replace them?

The Orioles have one of the best records in MLB

 

The Orioles are at the top of MLB in RS/Game (and runs scored)

 

The Orioles are 3rd in MLB (3.00) in Starter ERA.

 

The Orioles are 4th in MLB (3.23) in Bullpen ERA.

 

Those aren't just AL, that's MLB.

 

I'm all for trading, and maybe you need to make a deal to say to made a deal at some level, but again, who needs to be replaced?  There's lots of opportunities out there if you wanted to make a deal, but I'm not sure what would make sense against this Orioles roster.  If you're a team with needs....lots to do....this isn't a team with just about any needs.

Definitely a need for a SP. Not really anyone you can trust beyond Burnes and Rodriguez. Even Rodriguez is a bit of a wildcard.

I'm OK with Kremer, Irvin, Saurez, Povich filling out the 4-5th spot, but I'd like one more reliable SP if Bradish is out long-term.

One more SP could also push Saurez to a high leverage BP role.

Lol, not worth responding after that first sentence.

Get him!

I'd like alternatives to most of our bullpen arms and a starter that I trust more than Irvin/Suarez/Kremer/Povich. I'm content with the offense.

Two RP are a must, IMO. And not just two more guys in the mix with our ok guys, but we should acquire both of the two best RP that get traded this July. I'd prefer rentals to keep the cost down.

I'm ok without a SP if Bradish is gonna return. If he's gonna miss time, then I want to add a SP but it can be just a solid guy doesn't have to be front-end. Will know more about him in six weeks when we gotta decide.

I got raked over the coals for saying this before, but I repeat. In position player terms, the last two drafts have been terrible. Look at the numbers.

 

I sort of agree with you here.  I think it's a little overstated only because you're looking for impact Talent.  There's lots of useful Talent.  I think at some level, the success of the early drafts undersells the actual difficulty in being successful with the draft. 

 

While I don't have any specific issues with the names drafted in recent years, but my guess would still be that the 2024 draft will put us more in line with the expectations we've had from the first 3 drafts.  So I'm a little more optimistic about that.

 

Part of the challenge that we've seen in the Orioles top 30 is the increase in the IFA.  Some might think that's a good thing, but I'd suggest that's more a lack of higher quality from the non-IFA portions of acquisition, not the excitement over the IFA kids. 

 

I'm all for leveraging the IFA market and I like Basallo a lot and would project him on the 2026 roster, but if you released everyone acquired through IFA today (since 2019), you don't change the future or opportunity of the Orioles at all.  That's not negative about the work done (do it) or the opportunity of IFA (use it), but you don't have an IFA kid projected this side of Basallo through 2030.

I'd like alternatives to most of our bullpen arms and a starter that I trust more than Irvin/Suarez/Kremer/Povich. I'm content with the offense.

Two RP are a must, IMO. And not just two more guys in the mix with our ok guys, but we should acquire both of the two best RP that get traded this July. I'd prefer rentals to keep the cost down.

I'm ok without a SP if Bradish is gonna return. If he's gonna miss time, then I want to add a SP but it can be just a solid guy doesn't have to be front-end. Will know more about him in six weeks when we gotta decide.

Elias doesn’t strike me as someone who will give up all those assets.

I guess if he waits till the 11th hour he can strike when a team lowers their demands. But I don’t expect any big moves before then. Sink or swim with this pitching staff for the time being.

I'll start with this....what 'major deal' do you think the Orioles need to put together?

 

Not just at you...but I keep seeing everyone typing "we need 2 impact relievers and another starter."  Do we?  

 

I'm all for getting better and it's certainly possible we'll have some significant need between now and the deadline....but what is the name of the player(s) that are hurting the Orioles right now?  Who are the infallible players that we're going to acquire to replace them?

1. As already stated there are only 5 teams in the AL with winning records. Do you not thing that some of our pitching stats are not sustainable?

2. Tell me who in this bullpen you trust in the playoffs?

3. Tell me who beyond Burnes and GRod you really like heading into the playoffs?

 

Forget the stats for a minute. Sometimes the eye test actually has merit

I'm routinely surprised by how little prospect talent frequently gets bona-fide big league talent. You almost never see a top 15-25 prospect dealt anymore unless it's for a star.

Forget the stats for a minute. Sometimes the eye test actually has merit

 

So you're looking for a guy with worse stats from another team because you like his name and you haven't seen him fail.  OK.

So you're looking for a guy with worse stats from another team because you like his name and you haven't seen him fail. OK.

I said no such thing. I was referring to our players. Nice though how, as usual you just blew off answering my question. So I'll try again. Which bullpen arms on our roster do you trust come the playoffs? Same question with the starters?

BP arms are generally very volatile in nature.

Any of Kimbrel, Cano, Webb, Coulombe, Perez, Tate could bring it in the playoffs. Hell, even Akin looked great last night. All of them could totally implode, too.

Definitely trust Burnes come playoff time. Rodriguez is still young and generally untested, but obviously the stuff is elite. Could be a trusted arm.

I said no such thing. I was referring to our players. Nice though how, as usual you just blew off answering my question. So I'll try again. Which bullpen arms on our roster do you trust come the playoffs? Same question with the starters?

 

All of them.  You are really only using 3 starters in the Playoffs and Burnes is one of them.

 

...and you did say such a thing.  If you spent any time watching other teams play, you'd have a similar feeling about just about every pitcher anyone brings in.  Teams blow games all of the time.  I started this Fantasy season with ADiaz, Bednar and Alvarado and they have been 3 of the best RPs over the last 3 years in MLB and they all make me want to punch myself in the face this year. 

 

Here's our RPs ERA+ (their comparison to the League)

 

Kimbrel 150

Webb 191

Cano 160

Tate 153

Coulombe 154

Perez 99

Akin 98

Suarez 230 (if he gets pushed to the BP)

 

Every single pitcher fails at some rate. 

You don't trust these guys because you've watched them fail. 

You think there's [somebody else] because you haven't watched [somebody else] fail.

Our guys are failing less than other teams' guys, but you don't trust them and somehow trust the other teams' guys.

BP arms are generally very volatile in nature.

Any of Kimbrel, Cano, Webb, Coulombe, Perez, Tate could bring it in the playoffs. Hell, even Akin looked great last night. All of them could totally implode, too.

Definitely trust Burnes come playoff time. Rodriguez is still young and generally untested, but obviously the stuff is elite. Could be a trusted arm.

 

Josh Sborz had a 5.50 regular season ERA for Texas and then a 0.75 ERA in the playoffs while appearing in 10 games just to echo the "who the hell knows what a reliever will do in the playoffs" point 

Yeah after sleeping on it, who gives a crap.

 

Don’t trade your prospects for bombs with lit fuses. 

 

Just wait for MLB to address the situation, and maybe rethink organizationally the max-velo concept before MLB implements rules that force you to do that. 

Not sure how implement rules to limit max velocity. "You're only allowed 20 pitches per game to exceed 95 MPH."