Topic 5) Mountcastle is helped by the wall moving in, but is traded. O'Hearn is probably also traded.
After those trades, Mayo takes over 1B and lights it up at the plate.
Topic 6) Holliday continues to struggle, and doesn't stick this season.
I hope I'm wrong, but something is still nagging me about how badly he did last year.
5) I do think Mountcastle being moved for everyday at-bats for Mayo is what happens. Do expect Mayo to be productive. I will say I was surprised in my first look at Mayo, that he looked stiff to me. Not fluid. He also struggled to cover the outside of the plate. He's very strong, and there is bat speed, so he's going to run into enough balls, and he should be able to use the entire field for power. He's got better power, and obp skills than Mountcastle, and he's got the additional years of control... so you clearly go with him.... but I'm not convinced he's going to outproduce Mountcastle in the near-term.
6) It was a rough 190 ab's, save for that stretch in August. There was similar concern from some about Cowser entering '24, after his poor 60 ab's in '23. I think Holliday will settle in and be one of the more productive 2nd baseman in the league. If he were to have a rough 6-8 weeks to start the year, then maybe you could see Mayo (and his limited glove) at 3rd, with Westburg at 2nd.
Topic 7) The O's draw 2.4M people in '25.
The O's were 19th in attendance in '24 with 2,281,129 people, 28,514 per game.
The O's were 21st in attendance in '23 with 1,936,738 people, 23,911 per game.
Attendance a bit slow out of the gate as fans didn't go as hyped into the off-season in '24, as they were in '23, and people aren't as excited as Spring Training nears compared to last year.... but the attendance picks up during the year, as the O's on-field play brings people back.
