54 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

Gunnar is the Most Valuable Oriole before a pitch is thrown in this '26 season. 

Who are the Most Important O's? 

Let's not include the starting pitchers, as their importance is I think understood.

 

i.e... whose performance and availability is vital to the fortunes of the '26 O's because what their absence or lack of performance would mean. 

 

Some examples...

 

Helsley - The bullpen has questions. Things can come together if he's an All-Star caliber closer, and become a bit precarious if he's not. 

 

Cowser - The O's need him to rebound offensively, and be adequate defensively in CF, especially with Ward not going to help much glove wise in LF.  If Cowser struggles... Bradfield does give you some security (another option), but having to depend on Bradfield would not be ideal. 

 

Rutschman - If the line up stays healthy, they should slug better and score more than last year. If the lineup is going to have real bite, he has to be better.

 

 

Who else would you add?
How would you rank them?

[Slidemaster]

Holliday.

He has been pretty bad thus far, especially compared to what was expected. He needs to play every day to give him a chance to acclimate to the majors, but if he continues to play poorly he could quickly become a black hole in the lineup and a liability in the field and on the bases. We are quickly getting to the point where he needs to show he's valuable or he needs to be traded before he loses his value. I worry he will just wind up being league average or worse, making his trade value marginal and his daily play a detriment to the team.

[BaltBird 24]

If he's league average, much like he was in 2025, I wouldn't necessarily consider him a detriment to the team. It'd be pretty disappointing from an Orioles standpoint if he doesn't greatly improve, however.

[weird-O]

Slide once aptly posted, "as Rutschman goes, so go the Orioles" he needs to return to form. 

 

If I can add another, it's Alonso. He's a clubhouse leader. But you can't fully be that guy, if you struggle to acclimate to your new team and new league. I don't expect him to struggle, but we've seen it happen to other guys. 

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Westburg. All the guys mentioned are spot on and key. But I think Westy is the under the radar guy.

The team is just way better offensively and defensively when he's in the lineup.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Westburg. All the guys mentioned are spot on and key. But I think Westy is the under the radar guy.

The team is just way better offensively and defensively when he's in the lineup.

 

85 games last year. 

If he starts 150 games in '26, that's a big lift. 

[Mackus]

Interesting question because of the different ways you could approach it.

I think Cowser, Adley and Rogers in some order are the biggest catalysts, by which I mean someone we're relying on that has the largest range of plausible outcomes. I think both Cowser and Adley could be Silver Slugger winners or could lose their jobs by midseason and neither would be shocking. Rogers similarly could start the All-Star Game or could be out of the rotation. How positive or negative those guys seasons go collectively will go a long ways towards determining how our season overall goes.

[BaltBird 24]

I think Adley would have to be significantly worse than he was in 25 to be in any danger of losing his starting job. Cowser probably has a shorter leash, possibly much shorter depending on how EBJ's season goes.

[BSLRoseKatz]

Rogers easily #1 for me

[Mackus]

I think Adley would have to be significantly worse than he was in 25 to be in any danger of losing his starting job. Cowser probably has a shorter leash, possibly much shorter depending on how EBJ's season goes.

If Basallo is a liability behind the plate, thats true.

But if he's good enough back there, could see him start the majority of the games and Adley the lesser and Adley wouldn't get any DH reps if the bat doesn't support it. He'd still likely get more run than a typical backup catcher, but he'd no longer be a starter.

I think if he avoids injuries he'll have a good year, but can't say I don't see significant potential downside.

[jamesdean]

85 games last year. 

If he starts 150 games in '26, that's a big lift. 

I agree.  I think Westburg is more important to the Orioles than most people (mainly outsiders perhaps) realize or want to acknowledge. He needs to stay on the field for them to be a playoff team. 

[jamesdean]

I think Adley would have to be significantly worse than he was in 25 to be in any danger of losing his starting job. Cowser probably has a shorter leash, possibly much shorter depending on how EBJ's season goes.

I don't know how Adley could be much worse.  2025 was pretty dismal, so "significantly worse" is painting a very ugly picture.  Like Chris Davis ugly. 

[dude]

Slide once aptly posted, "as Rutschman goes, so go the Orioles" he needs to return to form. 

 

If I can add another, it's Alonso. He's a clubhouse leader. But you can't fully be that guy, if you struggle to acclimate to your new team and new league. I don't expect him to struggle, but we've seen it happen to other guys. 

 

These are kind of my answers but the more generic version is we don't know who [that guy] will be.  

 

I think there's going to be a lot going on for different reasons in terms of roster construction and, much like last year with Hyde, we're going to put that on Albernaz. I think it's going to be a heavy lift for a first time Manager.  Doesn't mean it can't or won't happen, but I think we're a long way from ideal.

 

I like Adley better with an extension than without.  We'll see.

 

I've said many times I like Alonso, but not sure he's [that guy] and I really question whether he'll be [that guy] in Baltimore.  We'll see.

 

Not sure who it is, not sure there is someone, but that combination with Albernaz will be the most important to collective results.

[BaltBird 24]

I don't know how Adley could be much worse. 2025 was pretty dismal, so "significantly worse" is painting a very ugly picture. Like Chris Davis ugly.

And yet he still had a 1.9 WAR in 90 games played. Davis at his peak low was a -2.8 WAR player.... not even comparable.

[Mackus]

And yet he still had a 1.9 WAR in 90 games played. Davis at his peak low was a -2.8 WAR player.... not even comparable.

 

Just to emphasize how bad Chris Davis got at the end...

 

Davis had a 550 OPS / 49 OPS+ in over 900 PA from 2018-2020.  

Adley had an 808 OPS / 129 OPS+ in '22-23 and then fell to 696 / 99 OPS+ in '24-25.  So he's fallen off by over 100 OPS points from the player we all loved so much.  He'd have to fall off by another 150 OPS points to fall to Chris Davis levels.

 

If Adley's first two years is one end zone and Davis' zenith is the other end zone, Adley hasn't even reached his own 40 yard line.

[jamesdean]

And yet he still had a 1.9 WAR in 90 games played. Davis at his peak low was a -2.8 WAR player.... not even comparable.

Don't even know what that means and don't care. All I know is that he sucked and got sick of looking at him. It won't take much to improve on his performance last year.

[weird-O]

Rogers easily #1 for me

I'm curious, whose your position player?

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Rogers easily #1 for me

I guess you missed the  bolded part in Chris' opening post.....lol. Just pulling your chain Rose.

[BSLRoseKatz]

I guess you missed the  bolded part in Chris' opening post.....lol. Just pulling your chain Rose.

 

http://www.quickmeme...ceff491fbf6.jpg

[BobPhelan]

Cowser for me.