Snowy Demon

I do not know for sure. They may have been Mayo, Cowser, and Westburg. Westburg was definitely one of them.

When teams are projected to have a terrible season, many of them can surprise people and have very respectable season. Obviously, those teams are more likely to be young teams. The White Sox may ended up better than people expect especially if they make trades to get young talents.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39321858/astros-kendall-graveman-shoulder-surgery-miss-season

Just looking at the Orioles depth chart for their bullpen: Left: Cionel Perez, DL Hall, Bruce Zimmermann, Coulombe, Cole Irvin with Akin and Vespi as depth. Right: Kimbrel, Wells, Cano, Webb, Baumann, and Baker with Heasley as back up. Honestly, I do not think they are looking at RPs. Tyler Wells closed for the Orioles during the tail end of 2021 and did very good job.

If the third piece is a hold up, that would be silly.

As an Orioles fan, I expect one of them to be the headliner.

I was thinking more of Braxton Garrett but Luzardo is also another target. A left hander at Camden Yard will be more valuable. That is why the Orioles should try DL Hall as a starter. He has had control issues as well as injury issues, but he has 3 plus pitches with great fastball and still 25 years old. Also, lefties tend to develop slower.

I agree with you completely. A catcher like Rutchman should be kept from playing too much. That is why Basallo looks to be another prospect they should keep. Obviously, there is no way knowing if Basallo stays at C.

This is a speculation on my part, but Mike Elias could be waiting on the Marlins. Cease may not be his first choice.

Agree on most of these except Basallo. Big question is will the Orioles extend Rutchman?

Maybe not other franchises but Elias' tendency has been creating depths in every position in Houston and Baltimore.

If it was up to me (lol), only Holliday, Basallo and Bradfield are the ones I would not move.

Cowser can play CF but not projected to be a CF prospect.

When did I do that? I only said Bradfield since he was drafted in 2023 and the Orioles have no true CF prospect currently. No one should suggest that they will not trade any of their top 10.

Again, do you have a source for this ?

What makes you say that? Do you have any source?

Why?

The Orioles should trade duplicate positional prospects. Mike Elias looks to plan way ahead. Any of these are Hayes, Mountcastle, Kjerstad, Cowser, Ortiz, Mayo Westburg, and other combinations could be available as they see fit since they have other options. They can be traded for whomever they see as values. The Orioles should have in their mind to what they want to give up for Cease, Luzardo, Valdez, Keller or whomever they think would be fit. No one knows that.

I really do not see the Orioles trading away Bradfield. With the Orioles being a low budget team, they probably will not sign Cedric Mullins in 2 years. Bradfield is the one true CF prospect in their system.

To me, Snell and Bellinger are the two most risky signings this off season.

Also, AL Central is a weak division. All you need is to get into the playoff.

Do you consider 8 starts are enough to consider a failure? I agree that Hicks looks to be a better relief pitcher but is there a downside to this?

Actually, this is not the craziest idea. Stretch him out during ST. Give him some starts to begin the season. They can always revert him back to relief if it does not work.

Money always matters. No one has unlimited budget.

Contract values for these teams. Each team has budget. Because of that, payroll numbers are not what each team spends on actual payroll. People just saw how Ohtani contract was structured to reduce luxury tax.