bmags

I think of the media tea leaves, the most reassuring notes have been that Ceases additional control is meaningfully valuable. When some of the other pitchers were rumored to be available, I worried about straight up talent upgrades winnowing his market, but sounds like the group that would need to trade for a SP is doing so because they need to slot in some high-level cost certainty to round out the team.

I too am predicting a move may happen during the time of the offseason where much activity happens.

I am not sure. I think Orioles could also probably look around and see like us, that the packages other teams could offer are not great. Everyone here balking at LAD/Cincy/Cardinals prospect packages and being like "yes we'll take yours baltimore"

I would cut Romy over Remillard. Remillard was more competent defensively, cosplayed as a baseball player more effectively, and is extremely available. I honestly don't recall remillard ever being gone for a long period of time. I was a big Romy booster, I wanted to see his power get a shot. But he's been unhealthy for years and doesn't have a defensive plus like Engel had to make it worthwhile. Does Remilliard need to be on the 40 though? no I don't really care I'm sure we can get him as an MILB.

bummer. sorry. Hall Scouting Report: Hall pitches off an elite fastball from the left side. The pitch averaged 95.6 mph in the big leagues in 2023 and has routinely sat in the upper 90s over the last few years, with above-average hop and the ability to miss bats up in the zone. Hall pitched with diminished velocity at Triple-A earlier in the season, but he learned to better work with his secondary pitches and use them effectively in the zone. His mid-80s changeup has developed later in his career into a plus pitch and represents his best offering to righthanded hitters, while his slider in the mid-to-high 80s is a plus pitch at its best and is his primary way of attacking lefties. Hall reintroduced his curveball, his best pitch as an amateur, giving him a fourth pitch that could be above-average or better. Perhaps most importantly, he improved his command and threw more strikes in 2023 than in years past, giving hope that he’ll be able to reach his upside and be able to have enough control to stay in the rotation. The Future: In a brief sample down the stretch in 2023, Hall showed he can be a potentially elite reliever, but the Orioles still believe his electric four-pitch mix from the left side is that of a starter. He’ll be in the majors in 2024 as long as he’s healthy, though the team’s offseason moves might determine his role.

The thing I struggle with on Cincy is they have a bunch of guys that have nice pedigrees but haven't lived up to it. anyway here is baltimores top ten update from BA. Joey Ortiz Scouting Report: Ortiz has two true carrying tools to help him solidify his major league future: double-plus defensive traits and elite bat-to-ball skills. He’s a true shortstop with plus range, play-making ability and above-average throwing at the position. He is equally strong at second base, giving him another position where his defense can thrive at the highest level. Ortiz has advanced contact ability and rarely swings and misses, though some regression in his swing decisions in 2023 meant he wasn’t always swinging at pitches he could drive at good angles, even as he maintained consistent hard contact throughout the year. While he can be an average hitter with fringy power—or perhaps average at his peak—Ortiz’s defense means he’ll simply have to hit enough to justify a lineup spot and will still be plenty valuable to a team. The Future: While he didn’t get much of an opportunity on the Orioles in 2023, Ortiz still has an everyday major league ceiling, though on a championship-caliber team he may be more of a utility player. He’ll be competing for a regular role in Baltimore in spring training. Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 45 | Run: 50 | Fielding: 70 | Arm: 55. Kjerstadt Scouting Report: Kjerstad still has a unique swing with a high leg kick and a short stroke to the baseball, and he shows a knack for finding the barrel and hitting the ball hard at good angles. Kjerstad is advanced at formulating attack plans based on the pitcher he’s facing and proved adept at making contact on pitches in the zone, but he’s not a particularly stingy swinger, which could create challenges in the majors. However, his ability to put the bat on the ball could make him an average hitter with plus or better power. Kjerstad generates impressive carry off the bat and boasts power to all fields, often letting the location of the pitch determine where he drives it. While Kjerstad has worked some at first base to add versatility, his is a traditional corner outfield profile with a strong arm and decent athleticism but likely fringe-average overall defense. The Future: After a long layoff, Kjerstad showed himself as a potential middle-of-the-order, everyday run producer that the Orioles drafted him to be during the pandemic. He could be poised for a significant role on the 2024 club as a bat-first corner outfielder who will continue to improve as he gains experience against high-level pitchers. Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 45 | Fielding: 45 | Arm: 55. Hall Scouting Report: Kjerstad still has a unique swing with a high leg kick and a short stroke to the baseball, and he shows a knack for finding the barrel and hitting the ball hard at good angles. Kjerstad is advanced at formulating attack plans based on the pitcher he’s facing and proved adept at making contact on pitches in the zone, but he’s not a particularly stingy swinger, which could create challenges in the majors. However, his ability to put the bat on the ball could make him an average hitter with plus or better power. Kjerstad generates impressive carry off the bat and boasts power to all fields, often letting the location of the pitch determine where he drives it. While Kjerstad has worked some at first base to add versatility, his is a traditional corner outfield profile with a strong arm and decent athleticism but likely fringe-average overall defense. The Future: After a long layoff, Kjerstad showed himself as a potential middle-of-the-order, everyday run producer that the Orioles drafted him to be during the pandemic. He could be poised for a significant role on the 2024 club as a bat-first corner outfielder who will continue to improve as he gains experience against high-level pitchers. Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 45 | Fielding: 45 | Arm: 55.

Disagree. Brewers never fade too much, and Cards will bounce back. Pirate likely going to be in a much more competitive year. Cubs likely to have big upgrades. Though, where they may succeed is only the cards may have a plus offense.

If I could place one national writer who has never been correct about a move about to be made...it would be Morosi. HOW MEV ER Thank you morosi.

Winter meetings are next week, we'll be ok.

i don't think that's fair, he said no worse than 2-3 "on a good staff". I think that's how most people discuss being a 2. Certainly a number of baseball staffs have 5 pitchers better than the white sox current number 2. I do think that's probably what I'd say for Dylan. At his best he can be a 1, but at his worst he still shows up to pitch and strikes a lotta boys out. That is not common.

The KC Johnson story about how the heat is only on the players for this failure was just such deja vu. Loser owner can't help but replicate loser ways to his other franchise, even if it was given the best winning dna injection it could possibly receive.

yes my point is make sure whatever pieces they wanted are in the deal. Shouldn't be a 1:1 design though, I'd assume youd get another best piece, but maybe I'm wrong because Erod was > Cease last year. Control is a fickle beast to value.

i would be surprised if none of the QBs in this class are special. I worry most about Williams - despite being a backer - that we have overvalued off-script playmaking too much in college. That has to be the number one most interesting thing about CJ Stroud. That was his knock, too robotic, didn't show he could do it until the last game. Except maybe he showed his smart decision making in that it probably wasn't needed to go off script that much when you had a top 5 o line/wr corps, and that he had another trick in his bag for NFL speed. But, OTOH, williams/maye both have the arm/athleticism to make the throws you need to make when things get uncomfortable. I love Jayden Daniels though, I feel like he is being knocked for things he shouldbe knocked for...I just think he is one of those outliers. He has a great receiver group, but he is that offense. If anyone is fools gold it's probably him, but I'm buying it anyway lol. I'd be stoked if we drafted MHJr, traded back of our second pick, and took Jayden Daniels in later teens if possible and collect some 2nd rounder/third rounders

That's fine, I like that he is given high marks as a game-caller which I haven't heard for Lee/my son/who knows with Quero.

(I don't know what that package was, was there a rumor of it anywhere?)

Here's the flip side of the Dodgers/White Sox trade... I have more faith in the Tigers GM than Chris Getz. If he had a package he liked for ERod, I'd try to get some of those players, plus an over the top one for Cease's value. Emmett Sheehan, Busch, Vargas would be in the ballpark for me, personally.

IMO the decision to keep fields isn't "is he the long term answer" it's "do we take advantage of some of this outlier talent at WR/OT and be opportunistic about QB at later time". Fields isn't a top 15 QB at this point, I feel confident in saying. I think having a 16-20 QB with improvements in WR, OL and continued growth from defense may be worth setting the foundation on before you find that QB who sticks.

I find it wild you could be so confident about this. If anything, I think the anti- position should just be there is too much uncertainty on who a good QB will be, and this team is in a position to build a strong team first with this years strong oline + WR + CB classes. You have no idea if the top of the class of Williams or Maye will be great, or if the best Qb will end up being someone like Jayden Daniels/Nix/Penix etc. We had no idea the 2020 QB class was that epic. No idea 2021 would be that poor. No idea that CJ Stroud would be one of the immediate impact QBs. You just don't know, but it kills your team if you don't play, can kill it if you do play, or can set launch you up a class for a decade. I do wonder if all the QB injuries this year have fooled people into thinking they can compete without QBs like the Steelers/Browns/etc are doing.

Do not need any more info on Burger, thnx.

I apologize to Jon Starks for bringing him into this. Hawks can Perry due to personal conduct. Good riddance.

he was 19 thou wasn't he? This is where Josue De Paula comes up.

Scouting Report: Busch is a polished, well-rounded offensive performer. He has a calm, controlled presence in the batter’s box and maintains elite strike-zone discipline. He recognizes pitches early and barrels both high-end velocity and quality secondary stuff with a balanced, powerful lefthanded stroke. He drives balls hard in the air from foul pole to foul pole and is a true all-fields hitter who can take what the pitcher gives him. He can be overly passive at times, but he has improved his approach to jump on hittable pitches and get the most from his natural strength, hand-eye coordination and plate discipline. He projects to be an at least above-average hitter who draws lots of walks and gets to his plus power in games. The Dodgers drafted Busch as a first baseman and attempted to turn him into a second baseman, but his lack of range makes him a liability without the help of a shift. He’s a below-average runner who lacks quickness and agility and is a below-average defender at the keystone. He began playing third base in 2023 and started most of his games there in Triple-A and the majors. He shows a good feel for body positioning and reading angles at the hot corner but is still a below-average defender learning the nuances of the position. Busch has also seen time in left field, but his best position remains first base. He has below-average arm strength. The Future: Busch projects to be a middle-of-the-order force who gets on base and hits for power, but he is blocked at first base by Freddie Freeman and has to find a position to break into the Dodgers’ lineup. The Dodgers received multiple offers for Busch at the trade deadline but held onto him because of his offensive potential. He will try to improve his defense at third base enough to be the eventual successor to Max Muncy.\\ hit 55 power 60. 40 fielder on the dodgers...feels like he'd be a 20 here. We'd trade him in 2 years and replace him with Isaiah Kiner-Falefa.

For reference, Cartaya declined to 9th on the Dodgers top prospects from BA. Clearly people are starting to think his offense will not come around. He does get high marks as someone that can handle pitchers. Honestly some package of Busch, Cartaya, Ryan reminds me of the STL goldschmidt deal, and not sure that's a compliment.

some notes from the dodgers prospect chat at BA https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/los-angeles-dodgers-2024-mlb-prospects-chat/ (note I did not ask that question, the person's name was "me")