77 replies to this topic

[BSLRoseKatz]

https://twitter.com/...628911928803328

[BSLRoseKatz]

2017-2020: .819 OPS

2021-2023: .625 OPS 

[BSLMikeLowe]

His career OPS at OPACY is .585 in 181 plate appearances. I guess it's not a hitters' park for everyone. Hopefully only a warm body until Cowser is ready.

[makoman]

If he barely plays and it’s him instead of Cameron I suppose that’s fine. If he gets significant time I’ll be pretty annoyed.

It’s too bad, Brett Phillips was just recently DFAd but was already unclaimed and outrighted, just missed a reunion by a few days.

[SonicAttack]

https://twitter.com/...628911928803328

The comments on that Tweet are great!   Hopefully he can regain his mojo but I'm not holding my breath.  Either him or McKenna for now apparently - blah.

[Mackus]

I might be wrong about the mechanics, but I think signing him to a Major League contract is likely a bad sign.  I think that means they're guaranteeing him the minimum, so even if they keep him just a week or two they gotta pay him for 4 months, which would of course make us fear that he's gonna be here kind of a while and not just as a short-term pliug.  Its possible his status as a released player from a multi-year deal means that's not the case though, and if we cut him then the Yankees just go back to paying the whole thing rather than everything minus the minimum.  I'll try to find out.  

 

I nothing this move if its just a short-term depth fill-in until Cowser is ready (or if Mullins returns a lot quicker than expected) and he'll mostly be behind McKenna.  I hate this move if they think he's gonna be someone that sticks around all season.  Guess we'll see.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

I don't like the move no matter. Run with McKenna until Cowser is back. And we have other options (ok not great) so don't see any reason to sign Hicks. One of the main reasons to build up your farm is to be ready to cover these things. 

[You Play to Win the Game]

Sounds about right.

[BSLMikeLowe]

I think that means they're guaranteeing him the minimum, so even if they keep him just a week or two they gotta pay him for 4 months, which would of course make us fear that he's gonna be here kind of a while and not just as a short-term plug.

 

I'll just reiterate how much it sucks that this is actually a discussion we have to have.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Andy Kostka@afkostka·

 

Mike Elias on Aaron Hicks' offense: “We have stuff that we look at from a scouting and evaluation perspective that, as I’ve said before, is very different from just looking at the back of a baseball card. And we hope we get a bounce-back from anyone that we bring in."

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Im more worried that they know Ced is out a real long time. I really dont think this will mess with Cowser too much. He could and should be up anyway playing LF or RF while Satnander moves to 1b or DH. That was always a thing I think was close even when Ced was healthy

[TwentyThirtyFive]

I absolutely dont expect to have to worry about this but Os dont control Hicks past this year if they desired right? Since his original contract was through '26.

[Mackus]

I absolutely dont expect to have to worry about this but Os dont control Hicks past this year if they desired right? Since his original contract was through '26.

No, that contract is over. O's signed him to a new deal, presumably only for this season.

[Mike in STL]

Andy Kostka@afkostka·









Mike Elias on Aaron Hicks' offense: “We have stuff that we look at from a scouting and evaluation perspective that, as I’ve said before, is very different from just looking at the back of a baseball card. And we hope we get a bounce-back from anyone that we bring in."

Elias really is an arrogant SOB. He knows you don’t have to have gone to Yale to utilize fangraphs, statcast, YouTube, right?

[You Play to Win the Game]

Here we are contending, and he’s all about reclamation projects still. Zero need to not stay in house here given the timeframe and Cowser’s timetable. The major league deal gives me bad vibes. We’ll be stuck with him well past when Ced returns IMO. Gotta love it. Slight upward arc.

Whatever “not the back of a baseball card“ model he’s using, it is flawed. Last years team was better than their computers thought they’d be. And so far this years team is too. Can’t chart a path to winning the division, he said. But he can chart one where Hicks gives the 2023 O’s a bounce back. Makes sense.

[makoman]

Elias really is an arrogant SOB. He knows you don’t have to have gone to Yale to utilize fangraphs, statcast, YouTube, right?

I mean if Fangraphs, Statcast, and Youtube was all it took I could do it. And I only went to Hopkins.

[BaltBird 24]

Worked for Brett Phillips last year!

[Mike in STL]

I mean if Fangraphs, Statcast, and Youtube was all it took I could do it. And I only went to Hopkins.

Granted, the guys in their nerd cave write code and develop predictive models that we don’t have access to. They have super slow motion cameras for looking up close a pitchers grip on their pitches to find flaws and fix them. Cool.

But “Back of the baseball card” comment just slaps the smart fans in face though. There is a lot of smart information out there that certainly draws a pretty clear picture, if you use it right.

Elias as a scout and nerd cave member let JD Martinez go from Houston once upon a time. How did the “more than the back of a baseball card” information lead them to that boneheaded decision?

[TwentyThirtyFive]

You donks all thought the Phillips trade meant something and he was released like 2 weeks later like Phelan and I told you.


We also dont know where Cowser is in his process. Saying he is close means s**t. Could be another week or two before he even starts baseball activites

[Pedro Cerrano]

Get ‘em Nickle!