caulfield12

Yeah it's basically left to Eloy Moncada and Kopech to take the hits as symbols of what might have been...the last vestiges of the Great Rebuild of 2016/17/18/19.

Time to bring back that Fangraphs article about how the 2nd through 4th strings provided one of the worst statistical performances in modern baseball history...

Ozzie no TLR no Grifol love their veterans...are we back to prioritizing winning that day's game? This 100% was supposed to be a development/flip anything not nailed down year... The only discernible philosophy is the latest Expendables somehow get defenders miraculously transforming pitchers into assets for the deadline. But how likely are any of those newly acquired guys to be even rated as 40 FV prospects?

Pillar 2.2 combined fWAR last five seasons but no negative until 2024. Had a 0.0 mixed in there with a high of 1.0, last two years totaled a 0.1.

Should have just let Victor Reyes play and saved the money they keep wasting...especially if they were going to continue punishing Colas for transgressions real and imagined.

If he was THAT good KC would have kept him around to negotiate Witt Jr. extension talks...

They should have spent August and September promoting this guy on radio and tv broadcasts...how many except deep deep insiders/selected media even knew of his existence.

Charlotte might end up having a better rotation after Cease is gone.

Makes sense in a twisted Royals 2019/20 time warp kind of way.

How many last year?

They traded Thome to the Dodgers for that reason as well. Otoh, seems we mostly got those HoF type players as the last stop in their careers...3-5 years too late.

Montgomery Ramos Colas...hey Mr. Getz, we're happier down here in the minors. At least our GM continues to test the "defense first" approach, which would have worked much much better at Old Comiskey. Hopefully it's worth it just to make Cease and Kopech look better. Still need hitters who can put the ball on the roof though.

https://www.soxon35th.com/15-interesting-candidates-to-be-head-of-white-sox-baseball-operations/ Has extensive bio here. No Royals’ ties, he gone. You can see why he would end up with another NL East team though.

Glut of DH’s on the market. Nobody in a hurry to sign any of them. Even Soler and JD.

https://sports.yahoo.com/theo-epstein-joining-fenway-sports-group-as-part-owner-senior-advisor-143141229.html Pathway to ownership shares…

Marlins are paying more? That’s a new one. Or just the title/promotion/city? Wonder if he was involved with the Burger trade lol?

Yolmer Sanchez was capable of winning a GG at 3B and did at 2B…and a little short on arm for SS. First got to the big leagues at a much younger age. Lest we forget, Nicky Lopez had a 6 fWAR season a full three years ago with the Royals. Ortiz is unlikely to ever reach that, I’m pretty sure we can agree. Yolmer for his part peaked at 2 and 2.2. We’ll just have to wait and see. Mateo had that one year but certainly hasn’t repeated it or really come close…that said, the Padres gave up on him because they simply had too much infield talent at the time and he didn’t perform well at the big league level, albeit in limited opportunities. Madrigal was once deemed to be the best high school player in the country and a consensus Top 3-8 first rounder…but has ended up getting outplayed by Stephen Kwan from their OSU team at the big league level.

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/corbin-burnes-orioles-rotation-analysis-QJ6Z2YCRO5FPXODQRYFTXU7ABY/

https://global.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/39429359/baltimore-orioles-sale-new-owners-david-rubenstein-peter-angelos Buy the Baltimore Orioles? There couldn't be a better time Buster Olney, ESPN Senior WriterJan 31, 2024, 05:39 PM "It's hard to imagine a time to buy the Baltimore Orioles that would offer new owners more growth potential in their pending purchase -- or a more willing fan base to woo. Assuming the sale by the Angelos family is approved by other owners, the hero potential is enormous for David Rubenstein and his group of minority owners. The team is already loaded with some of the best stars of baseball's youngest generation, from Adley Rutschman to Jackson Holliday. Following years of tanking, the Orioles still have no long-term financial commitments. And Rubenstein & Co. will ride into Camden Yards wholly welcomed by a passionate fan base that has endured despite years of angry frustration with the ownership of Peter Angelos, who bought the franchise for $173 million in 1993, and in more recent years, with Angelos' son John. The bar of leadership has been so low that all the new owners have to do to distinguish themselves is to sign just one of the organization's core youngsters to a long-term deal. If they manage to lock up Rutschman, Holliday and Gunnar Henderson into the future, the good folks of Charm City might rename roads for the new owners, with Calvert Street giving way to Rubenstein Way."

Didn't realize he was from Nairobi...middle distance runner.

That didn't take long...

At first, I was shocked at the return but gave it some thought. Brewers were not going to get a top 30 prospect for a 1-year rental. However, getting two ready to go young players with upsides and the 34th pick in the draft isn't what I call a punt either. They don't have to pay Burnes this year so that money theoretically could be used to sign a free agent pitcher, possibly two, such as Ryu and Lorenzen. Would not be surprised that Adames (and his bigger contract) is traded for a young, ready to go pitcher. Additionally, Devin Williams may be traded, but I really doubt it unless they get exactly what they want back.. Finally, if Burnes was to be injured this year, they would have received nothing back in return. Waiting until the trade deadline decreases the return also. And his 2023 numbers were down compared to previous near total dominance…something was off. So they will soon enough go with Black at third, Ortiz at SS, Turang at 2B, Hoskins, Contreras, Yelich, Chourio, etc. Trade Adames for pitching and invest savings from Burnes and Adames somewhere else. Brewers’ scouting will figure it out just like TB always. does, winning roughly 90% of their trades.

10-12 homers per year and a 2.5-3ish fWAR ceiling isn’t bad but the White Sox need infielders that can out up HaSeong Kim numbers from 2022, which is nearly double Ortiz’s likely peak. He’s a nice complementary player hitting at the bottom of the order that might well outdo Westburg and Norby. He's not a burner that will get you 30-40 steals, either. Yolmer Sanchez at his peak might have been closer than Madrigal. He won a GG. But then Ortiz didn’t end up at Top 10 future SS/2B or Best Tools either. Opinions are wide-ranging. Age is against him. Hall, for example, on Top Ten lists for 3-4 years and consistently Top 100 MiLB as well. Ortiz a late bloomer who will have to prove himself each and every year to retain his spot because he wasn’t a high draft pick.

The first clue about Elias and the new owners will be whether they aggressively get an extension done with Burnes or just let the final year of his contract play out...

A++ Baltimore C Brewers https://global.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/38833715/2023-24-mlb-offseason-grades-free-agency-trade-analysis The Orioles will now roll out a top three of Burnes, Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez, the highly touted rookie last season who struggled early on before posting a 2.26 ERA over his final 12 starts. Bradish came a little bit out of nowhere to finish fourth in the Cy Young voting and while some might chalk up his season as a fluke, his pitch metrics are strong and suggest we can expect more of the same. I'd rank those three right up there with any trio in the majors -- maybe the Dodgers are better, depending on the health of Tyler Glasnow and Walker Buehler to go with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and the Mariners are pretty good as well - but these three are going to win a lot of games with Baltimore's offense and defense supporting them. .... Bottom line: The Orioles have seemingly done everything right in making this massive improvement the past two seasons - from drafting to player development and now to this trade and to new owners with perhaps a little more cash flow on hand to boost the payroll. With Holliday, Coby Mayo (No. 19 prospect), Samuel Basallo (No. 27) and Heston Kjerstad (No. 48) all on the horizon, the present is bright and the future unlimited. It's a good time to be an Orioles fan. -- David Schoenfield