Snowy Demon

Honestly, De Leon may be the best of the pitching prospects that the Orioles have in a year or two.

This is popular and seemingly very logical statement. It is also false statement. Texas and Arizona had 18th and 20th ranked staffs for ERA, respectively. As for WHIP, Texas was 12th and Arizona 19th. Tampa, Milwaukee, Minnesota, LAD and Baltimore/Philadelphia had best WHIP for playoff teams. Milwaukee, Toronto, Tampa, Minnesota and Baltimore had best ERA.

Dylan Cease may make the Orioles rotation better if his 2023 decline can be reversed. A big if here. Question remains about his rather noticeable velocity drop in his pitches. He did not do much in the post season either although it is just one bad start. If DL Hall develops into a decent starting pitcher, the Orioles will have very good rotation with Bradish (5 years), Rodriguez (6) and Hall (6) under control for a long time. Another big if. The Orioles will still be good and probably be in the playoff. It has been proven over and over again that anything happens in the playoff. Anyone beats anyone in the playoffs. Question is how much is the Orioles willing to pay for slightly increasing playoff chances without sacrificing long term success? Mike Elias built the Orioles that have depths in every single position in the majors and minors. Clearly, he is looking at a long term success and will not deviate from this plan.

He is actually a SS. He started to play 2B due to other prospects having higher prestige such as Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday.

I know MLB list is outdated and there will be some variations once updated. That is also the reason that I only used rankings. Also, so called TOR pitchers are so unpredictable in developments. Alcantara, Bradish, Gallen, and Steele were never considered super prospects if I recall correctly. Position players seem to be far more predictable.

Looking at MLB prospect rankings, 3 AL East teams that are being talked about the most here have interesting rankings: Orioles have 1, 14, 24, 27, 46, and 50 Red Sox have 11, 35, 72 and 82 Yankees have 73, 74, 75 and 95 White Sox have 17, 61 and 81. Colton Cowser or Marcelo Mayer will be #1 prospect for the White Sox. Top 3 Red Sox prospects and all 6 Orioles prospects would be #1 in the Yankees system. @Sports Guyis correct in saying that Cowser and Ortiz package would be difficult to beat for the Yankees.

Playing Judge in CF with Soto in LF will be a dream scenario for opponents when it comes to OF defense.

It is obvious that Dylan Cease is one of target for the Orioles if not the top target. However, there are enough chatters out there for the Orioles being involved in Valdez, Luzardo, Garrett, and Woo to be the only target. Honestly, Mike Elias type of trades would be Woo or Garrett. Players with longer controls.

Definitely agree. Soto really should be a DH although Stanton is the most "unmovable" contract out there.

I wonder who will be CF for the Yankees. With Soto being below average defender, CF is important for them.

Wander Franco's salary in 2024 is (was) listed as $2MM.

https://www.southsidesox.com/2023/10/23/23925118/what-went-wrong-dylan-cease-chicago-white-sox-ace-to-mere-mortal-ethan-katz#comments This is somewhat old article but still valid discussion about Cease and his velocity loss.

Kirby? Gilbert? They are young but not inexperienced. Ray will be back this season. Everyone knows teams just need to get into playoff. Once in, rest is luck and random.

Then they can trade Castillo. NTC can be bought out.

What is stopping the Mariners to trade for hitters using their pitching instead of what he is saying?

If this is to be believed, this is a significant development. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/krall-reds-likely-done-with-major-moves-for-the-offseason.html

From reading some of the posts here, having "guts" means the Orioles giving up 4 quality prospects for Dylan Cease who is coming off a mediocre year. The Orioles will have to trade some players at some point, but for what? Do they want to count on Bradish, Hall, and Rodriguez continue to develop? How will John Means contribute in 2024? They do need pitching but may not need to do so until the TDL.

His arm is graded at 55 according to MLB.com.

Playoff in MLB is random and luck. 2023 had 2 teams barely made the playoffs got to The World Series. No one can reliably build for random and luck. People can argue about this, but no one can make valid case for a certain types of teams win in playoffs. This is same for NHL.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/ceasedy01.shtml https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/flaheja01.shtml People can decide for themselves.

Cease had one great season in 2022. He did not have a good season in 2023. I am not sure if he is proven Cy Young type of a guy. He could very well have Jack Flaherty type of a career. Frankly, I think Cease is better but Jack Flaherty looked like a Frontline starter for a season. If the White Sox is asking for Cowser and Mayo, the Orioles will be smart to walk away.

What is this "guts" people are talking about? First of all, this off season is only 1/2 over. Second, every team should be making moves that are good for each team. Not a single team should make a trade that does not make sense to that team, no matter how other fans or media want it.

Whatever happened to making a trade that is fair to both side instead of "winning" or "fleece" other team? This is also something that cannot be determined before some seasons passed most of time.

Perhaps not. That may precisely be the reason why they should not empty their farm to get a pitcher who had one elite season but had a down year in 2023. The Orioles normally acquire pitchers who are not considered to have great upsides but have some tools to do so. If needed to be, they can trade these guys for other prospects in the future. This is what the Rays have been doing for years. Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, Felix Bautista, Kyle Bradish, and Tyler Wells did not cost the Orioles much at all. Kyle Bradish was arguably one of the top 10 starters in 2023. He has 5 years of control. Felix Bautista was one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball before the injury. I am sure all of them will be in high demand if they were available.

Any "reasonable" person will trade Santander and Hays over Kjerstad and Cowser. They have truly blocked prospects such as Norby and to a less degree Ortiz. I am sure the Orioles will make a trade or two. Keep in mind that they do not have to make a trade with the White Sox.