23 replies to this topic

[BSLMikeLowe]

Slater historically hits lefties well and is a solid defensive corner OF unlike Jimenez. They must think he is an upgrade on Pache.

 

I just don't see it. A quick look at Slater's splits this season shows he's actually somewhat respectable against RH, albeit a small sample (.718 OPS in 28 ABs) while he is absolutely putrid against lefties. Pache at least has something resembling the splits you'd expect. 

[85Knight]

I give them a C. They were the top dog who could outbid anyone but they chose to do what they always do and be conservative. Not surprising but still disappointing when we could have grabbed the bull by the horns. I guess some people are ok with being good all of the time instead of being great sometimes. Oh well.

[cprenegade]

I was underwhelmed.  They did address some deficiencies and in theory some of those moves might work out.  But there was no difference maker and nothing that moved the needle for me to say the Orioles are now a more likely team to get to a WS than the other top AL playoff contenders. 

 

I felt like this was the year to push all the chips to the center of the table and go all in.  Elias apparently is just so protective of his precious top notch prospects.   Nobody wants to part with potential can't miss prospects, but this is an organization that has not been in a WS for over 40 years.  Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.  If the team wins a WS, who cares about Holliday or Mayo.  Plenty of can't miss prospects do just that.  

 

There is no clear cut AL favorite this year.  The Orioles could have assumed that role with a bigger trade.  No guarantees for sure.  But with Burnes potentially somewhere else next year, the Orioles might find themselves less likely to get there next year.  

 

I guess you could look at it and say they have as good a chance as any other AL team to get to the WS this year and if they do they can say they kept their big young studs to field a good team for years to come.   But for an organization with little success over the last 40+ years I was hoping they would go out and make the kind of move the Ravens tend to do.  Make themselves the clear team to beat.  And if you get beat, at least you can say you left nothing on the table trying to win the whole thing. 

 

Oh well, on to the rest of the season and we will see how it plays out.  

[mdrunning]

I was underwhelmed.  They did address some deficiencies and in theory some of those moves might work out.  But there was no difference maker and nothing that moved the needle for me to say the Orioles are now a more likely team to get to a WS than the other top AL playoff contenders. 

 

I felt like this was the year to push all the chips to the center of the table and go all in.  Elias apparently is just so protective of his precious top notch prospects.   Nobody wants to part with potential can't miss prospects, but this is an organization that has not been in a WS for over 40 years.  Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.  If the team wins a WS, who cares about Holliday or Mayo.  Plenty of can't miss prospects do just that.  

Jacob Calvin Meyer, who covers the Orioles for The Sun, was on 105.7 yesterday, and offered some interesting insights regarding Elias's moves and why he did them.

 

Elias has always said the intent is to compete for a championship every year, which means he likely isn't going to push all the chips to the middle in big attempt to win right now. The moves he made for this year were mostly done with an eye on 2025 a well, which, given the Orioles' roster before any moves were made, does give them some merit.

 

When you lose a potential All-Star in Bradish, as well as Means, plus Tyler Wells and then your most reliable middle man in Coulombe, that's hard to replace regardless of how many trade chips you may have. Plus, he came into this season without the services of arguably the game's most dominant closer in Felix. What may have also factored in were the Orioles's struggles this year in certain areas--namely, their low OBP, their seeming inability to hit with RISP and the defensive lapses which have really reared their ugly head in recent weeks. Every team has flaws, to be sure, but perhaps Elias felt the Orioles shortcomings were simply too many to try and address with a flurry of trades. Add in the fact that Corbin Burnes likely will sign elsewhere this offseason, and perhaps the strategy was to try and bolster this year's roster but not sacrifice too much in order to give the team a chance to contend again next season.

 

This is all conjecture, of course, and maybe the Orioles can catch a wave and ride it to the Series, just as Texas and Arizona did last year. Lesser teams have hoisted the Series trophy at the end.