ChiSoxFanMike

The thing that concerns me most with Bradish and Rodriguez are their workloads. Both guys pitched a lot more innings in 2023 than they did in 2022. Not sure how that will impact them going forward. Might not be a factor at all, but who knows. That’s why I think a guy like Cease fits them, you know he’s durable and will always take the ball so they can give other guys breaks if needed.

There are just way too many question marks on that pitching staff for my liking. Bradish and Rodriguez: both had great seasons, but are relatively inexperienced. It’s not impossible that one or both of them takes a step back to some extent. Means: great pitcher, but has had a lot of injuries. Who knows what you’re getting from him at this point. Kremer: Decent, but not someone you want starting a playoff game. Wells: Tends to fade in the 2nd half. That’s not even getting to the bullpen which is obviously a lot weaker with the loss of Bautista. Bottom line, they need more pitching. Too many question marks right now for my liking.

I question if you have actually looked at the Orioles pitching staff at the moment because they don’t have much after Bradish and Rodriguez. And yes the playoffs are a crapshoot, but their offense will need to be historically good to carry that pitching staff deep into the playoffs as things stand right now. That’s not a risk they should be taking at this point.

Not to mention the loss of Bautista. Someone else mentioned that the Orioles remind them of the 2020-2021 Sox and I agree completely. Relying way too much on who they already have and are too reluctant to make significant external additions.

Yeah they are not winning anything with that pitching staff as it is currently constructed.

They can sign cheap pitching and get eliminated in the ALDS again. That would be a failure for them at this point. They need power arms who they can be comfortable putting out there in a playoff series.

Good for him. Shouldn’t settle for less than that at this point. Pressure is on Baltimore, not the Sox.

Then who is the centerpiece?

That’s not even that much for a reliever anymore. Sox should have been involved here.

This happened like 2 weeks ago. Lol.

For the record, I do think he will bounce back. But injuries are always a factor with him. Cortes, Stroman, and Schmidt don’t do much of anything for me. That rotation is not that good.

Good luck to them then. That rotation is Cole and a bunch of question marks.

He’s only making like $3 million, he’s not a salary dump. Or at least I’d keep him and hope he turns it around instead of just dumping him for nothing.

Orioles fans are reaching Yankee fan levels of wanting good players in exchange for their garbage.

How? 2 top 100 prospects for Cease in this market is not a completely unreasonable expectation at all.

Asking for 2 top 100 prospects for Cease is unreasonable now? If this is where we are at just keep him.

That’s not even an unreasonable ask.

Orioles just need to part with one of Cowser/Kjerstad, Westburg, and one of McDermott/Povich so this can get done already.

Yeah that’s fair too.

He showed minimal power in his initial MLB stint. That’s just a fact. Maybe he grows into his power at the MLB level but that’s not a guarantee. I’d be perfectly fine with him as the 2nd piece in a trade like this, just not the headliner. Need someone with more power and a higher ceiling as the headliner.

SS and CF are the only premium positions as far as I’m concerned. You can find 2B for fairly cheap in free agency and I don’t think Westburg has enough power to ever be an All-Star at 3B so I wouldn’t consider him a premium player at that position either.

2nd base is not as premium of a position as you are acting like it is.

If he’s the headliner the Sox should just keep Cease for now, and this is coming from someone who hates the idea of risking injury/under performance with him.

How many of those guys do you trust in high leverage spots in important games? That bullpen doesn’t do much for me.

Santos has posted videos of him throwing on Instagram this offseason so it doesn’t seem like whatever injury he had at the end of the season is that serious.