There really is no defense of them having such a low payroll even at this point in the rebuild. Their pitching staff will once again be among the worst in the majors—if not the worst—and other than replacing Harvey with “innings eater” Lyles (who has has been a workhorse one time in his career) it’s the same story as last season.
They have the resources to improve the pitching, even if just modestly so. Lyles, for all his obvious faults as a pitcher, is absolutely a better pitcher than most of what they have on the roster, a few exceptions aside. The point being they could have signed darn near anyone and received a player who was an upgrade.
Even swapping out some of these AAAA arms with Lyle-caliber players would have netted some wins, provided some much needed stability, and helped protect the young players from undue stress to protect an otherwise undermanned and overworked bullpen. Not to mention keeping guys like Mancini, Mullins, Mountcastle, Hays (and hopefully Adley) from getting their brains beat in night after night.
There would still be PLENTY of innings for the younger pitchers to audition and learn at the MLB level. Did anyone pay attention to the dregs they ran out there game after game after game last year because they needed someone, anyone, to take the ball?
See, it’s not a binary thing: they could have chosen to fill in with enough pitching that they didn’t have to rely on players like Spenser Watkins. The fans flailing their arms about not having enough innings to play the kids can’t see the forest for the trees. Last year was a prime example of them having way too many innings to be covered by the prospects and handful of MLB caliber arms they have, forcing them to rely on terrible players who were never going to work out in either the short or long term.
Now they’re going to do EXACTLY that this year. How is that a viable plan?
To me, there is simply *no defense* for this team rolling out a $30MM payroll AND the worst pitching staff in the league—again. No defense. There’s no defense from a monetary standpoint or from a player development standpoint. Some mid-tier contracts wouldn’t derail the broader goals of the rebuild as those commitments would be short and tradeable, and would have provided much needed stability to the team.
I’ve supported the Elias rebuild since day one, but this is a mistake. Take all the shots you want at Joc Pederson. Ad hominem attacks aside, he’s 100% correct. Shame on the Orioles for putting their fans in position to agree with that guy.
How are we supposed to believe this Angelos family is committed to anything? We is the commitment? Did they sign a new long-term lease for Camden Yards? Did we sign a few vets that would help the young talent blossom and grow? I don't blame Elias. He's done well even with a hand tied behind his back. The organization as a whole is in much better shape than it was in terms of young talent. When Baltimore has the lowest payroll in the league and is the only team not sending their TV and radio crews on the road, it smells an awful like like a team for sale. When you can pony up the relatively paltry sum to have Gary Thorne as part of your broadcast crew and bring back a blast from the past out of the moth balls that even the local news knew was beyond his time, what are we doing? Should we not criticize? When beer prices are almost double that of their neighbors, the Ravens, despite many more home games, how is Joe Fan not supposed to feel like every dime is being squeezed until that new suitor from Nashville or Charlotte comes calling?
My problem has been the Angelos family. It's been a problem since they ran Jon Miller and Davey Johnson out of town. Letting Cruz walk only to breaking his bank on Chris Davis was just another reminder on how to do it wrong.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the Angelos family selling, I just need it to be local and the sooner the better. I love baseball. I love Camden Yards. I want to enjoy it again. Baltimore needs this. Why do I feel like the lawyer in the Angelos Firm that was promised the bog bonus for my hard work on the tobacco litigation only to be told the bonus had to change because the case settled. If that family truly cares about Baltimore, they will sell to Kevin Plank and then maybe we can enjoy baseball in Baltimore again.
This is a really, really big year for the club. 2019 and 2020 were spent selling off anything that wasn’t nailed down and collecting parts. 2021 was a transition year: no assets to sell, and the parts not yet ready for prime time. Now, by the end of this season, there should be significantly more talent on the field at Oriole Park. Whether or not that translates into notably more wins rather obviously remains an open question, but I legitimately think this organisation is in infinitely better shape now than at virtually any point in the last 25 years. There’s talent on the way, and the team is committed to developing more of it. That coherent development program is what was missing in the early 2010s, and the thing that every top organisation has to have for long-lived success (Dodgers, Tampa, Boston, Cleveland; these teams are constantly graduating players from the system that become stars). Means and Mullins, especially, are good signs. They’ve worked really hard to exceed their prospect status, and if the org can continue doing that (maybe with Stowers or Bradish, for example), it will be in good shape for the future.
There really is no defense of them having such a low payroll even at this point in the rebuild. Their pitching staff will once again be among the worst in the majors—if not the worst—and other than replacing Harvey with “innings eater” Lyles (who has has been a workhorse one time in his career) it’s the same story as last season.
They have the resources to improve the pitching, even if just modestly so. Lyles, for all his obvious faults as a pitcher, is absolutely a better pitcher than most of what they have on the roster, a few exceptions aside. The point being they could have signed darn near anyone and received a player who was an upgrade.
Even swapping out some of these AAAA arms with Lyle-caliber players would have netted some wins, provided some much needed stability, and helped protect the young players from undue stress to protect an otherwise undermanned and overworked bullpen. Not to mention keeping guys like Mancini, Mullins, Mountcastle, Hays (and hopefully Adley) from getting their brains beat in night after night.
There would still be PLENTY of innings for the younger pitchers to audition and learn at the MLB level. Did anyone pay attention to the dregs they ran out there game after game after game last year because they needed someone, anyone, to take the ball?
See, it’s not a binary thing: they could have chosen to fill in with enough pitching that they didn’t have to rely on players like Spenser Watkins. The fans flailing their arms about not having enough innings to play the kids can’t see the forest for the trees. Last year was a prime example of them having way too many innings to be covered by the prospects and handful of MLB caliber arms they have, forcing them to rely on terrible players who were never going to work out in either the short or long term.
Now they’re going to do EXACTLY that this year. How is that a viable plan?
To me, there is simply *no defense* for this team rolling out a $30MM payroll AND the worst pitching staff in the league—again. No defense. There’s no defense from a monetary standpoint or from a player development standpoint. Some mid-tier contracts wouldn’t derail the broader goals of the rebuild as those commitments would be short and tradeable, and would have provided much needed stability to the team.
I’ve supported the Elias rebuild since day one, but this is a mistake. Take all the shots you want at Joc Pederson. Ad hominem attacks aside, he’s 100% correct. Shame on the Orioles for putting their fans in position to agree with that guy.
How are we supposed to believe this Angelos family is committed to anything? We is the commitment? Did they sign a new long-term lease for Camden Yards? Did we sign a few vets that would help the young talent blossom and grow? I don't blame Elias. He's done well even with a hand tied behind his back. The organization as a whole is in much better shape than it was in terms of young talent. When Baltimore has the lowest payroll in the league and is the only team not sending their TV and radio crews on the road, it smells an awful like like a team for sale. When you can pony up the relatively paltry sum to have Gary Thorne as part of your broadcast crew and bring back a blast from the past out of the moth balls that even the local news knew was beyond his time, what are we doing? Should we not criticize? When beer prices are almost double that of their neighbors, the Ravens, despite many more home games, how is Joe Fan not supposed to feel like every dime is being squeezed until that new suitor from Nashville or Charlotte comes calling?
My problem has been the Angelos family. It's been a problem since they ran Jon Miller and Davey Johnson out of town. Letting Cruz walk only to breaking his bank on Chris Davis was just another reminder on how to do it wrong.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the Angelos family selling, I just need it to be local and the sooner the better. I love baseball. I love Camden Yards. I want to enjoy it again. Baltimore needs this. Why do I feel like the lawyer in the Angelos Firm that was promised the bog bonus for my hard work on the tobacco litigation only to be told the bonus had to change because the case settled. If that family truly cares about Baltimore, they will sell to Kevin Plank and then maybe we can enjoy baseball in Baltimore again.
This is a really, really big year for the club. 2019 and 2020 were spent selling off anything that wasn’t nailed down and collecting parts. 2021 was a transition year: no assets to sell, and the parts not yet ready for prime time. Now, by the end of this season, there should be significantly more talent on the field at Oriole Park. Whether or not that translates into notably more wins rather obviously remains an open question, but I legitimately think this organisation is in infinitely better shape now than at virtually any point in the last 25 years. There’s talent on the way, and the team is committed to developing more of it. That coherent development program is what was missing in the early 2010s, and the thing that every top organisation has to have for long-lived success (Dodgers, Tampa, Boston, Cleveland; these teams are constantly graduating players from the system that become stars). Means and Mullins, especially, are good signs. They’ve worked really hard to exceed their prospect status, and if the org can continue doing that (maybe with Stowers or Bradish, for example), it will be in good shape for the future.