The Orioles offseason has consisted largely of the esoteric behind-the-scenes work being done by a newly-minted braintrust, offering the Baltimore fanbase little in terms of concrete evidence of a team on the rise. MLBTR readers rendered a decidedly nonplussed verdict of the O’s offseason by handing out a failing grade as the most common response in our Offseason In Review Series poll. Hope for an improved future for the AL’s foremost cellar dweller is dependent largely on conjecture tied to the resumes of the men brought in to run the organization, namely GM Mike Elias and field manager Brandon Hyde. The first significant evidence of Elias’ progress, however, is being seen all over spring camp, per MLB.com’s Joe Trezza. Spin axis seminars, high-speed Edgertronic cameras and “the long list of players championing the exposure to extra information they weren’t privy to before” are a few of the promising signs of growth coming out of O’s camp. Baltimore’s data infusion can be credited to new assistant general manger of analytics Sig Mejdal, a former NASA engineer and blackjack dealer whom Elias coaxed to Baltimore from their former employer in Houston. But that’s not all of the news coming from the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia corridor…
- Hyde has already announced Alex Cobb as the Opening Day starter, but the only certainty beyond day one is the presence of Cobb, Andrew Cashner and Dylan Bundy in the rotation. In what order they’ll line up after Cobb, and who pitches in the fourth and fifth rotation spots is still very much up in the air, per the Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli (via Twitter). Using an Opener at times is definitely on the table, as is tweaking the rotation depending on the matchup. More clarity could come soon to O’s camp, as another round of roster cuts is planned for tomorrow, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Free agent signee Nate Karns certainly hopes to lay claim to one of those spots, but it’ll likely be a dynamic roster-crunching process in Baltimore right up until (and beyond, really) Opening Day.
- The names that will populate Baltimore’s pitching staff remain unknown, but for commentary on those auditioning, the Athletic’s Dan Connolly turned to Doug Brocail, Baltimore’ forthright, 51-year-old pitching coach. The challenge facing Brocail is developing a shared language for his staff, while finding new ways to communicate on an individual level. For example, in giving instruction to righty Jimmy Yacabonis, Brocail’s message to “Hold your posture” wasn’t registering. Recognizing the need to break though this particular platitude, Brocail conveyed his point this way, “Right at hill strike, then let the rotation of the other half take over,” and the message sunk in. Give Connolly’s conversation with Brocail a full read for more insight into the mind of the Orioles’ pitching coach, including his thoughts on Cobb, Bundy and Cashner.
- At the other end of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez is grooming Wilmer Difo for a super-utility role in 2019, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). This is not in response to the Michael A. Taylor injury, as there’s no plan at present to give Difo starts in center. Seeing some time in the outfield remains likely, as Difo boasts small-sample experience at all three outfield spots over the last two seasons. Difo will also likely serve as the team’s emergency catcher, a more pertinent responsibility on the Nats than most teams given Martinez’s stated desire to use the non-starter from the duo of Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki as a pinch-hitter. Were Martinez to stick Difo behind the dish at some point during the season, the move would at the very least be on brand for a disciple of the ever-tinkering Joe Maddon.
The O’s have a steep mountain to climb. The longer they can keep ownership out of the mix, the better off they’ll be.
Ownership is what has made a very productive offseason possible.
What will now be worth watching is how the talent within the system (and there’s actually quite a bit of that) will develop under the new regime. We should see a substantial improvement developmentally over years past.
Cmon Dmitirios. We did absolutely nothing but make 2 minor league signings this offseason. We don’t need to praise angelos for that. There was not much to do and we did just that.
Are we really going to have the same discussion? Really? Outstanding off-season. No fruits yet but the organization very skillfully responded to the much needed change it needed to make.
The goal now will be to develop and evaluate the talent that’s there—then fill in the rest based on that assessment.
But hey at least you humored me today!!
I’ll make sure to send you a Peter angelos’ #1 fan hat. We don’t need to see everything with rose colored glasses. He just made one good hire. After his series of piss poor decisions got us here. Time will tell how much he meddles with his decision making as he did with Duke.
Humored me again! (Not a PA fan per se but I don’t think he’s anywhere close to the villain and imbecile he’s made out to be.)
Glad to make your day. Anytime I see you comment negatively on other baseball teams it makes mine. How someone can see every move the o’s make so positively and yet has no issue criticizing others is just unbelievable.
Angelos opened up funds solely for Chris Davis and he’s refused to spend at all internationally. That’s an angelos policy. No one else to blame. He spearheaded deals to move guys like Ryan Webb and Brian Matusz with draft picks attached just to save pennies in terms of ML $$$. I’m hopeful he doesn’t meddle moving forward but we’re just hoping his sons don’t think the same at this point. I think things are moving in the right direction but we are a long long way from contention.
“Angelos opened up funds soleyfor Chris Davis.” Boy, that captures it. Try checking their annual payroll over the last 10 years.
So, yeah, my defense of them grows out of that kind of ignorance and misinformation.
That offseason it was Chris Davis or the money wasn’t available. If you’re unaware of that then you happen to be the ignorant one. It wasn’t as if those funds could’ve went to anyone other than him. That money Davis was received was “Davis money” Not money in Duke’s budget he was allowed to freely spend. I’m saying nothing but the facts of the situation.
Duke was saddled with the decision from ownership to sign Davis or not spend the money. He couldn’t have went out and signEd player X,Y, and Z to make us better. If you don’t think that’s a gigantic problem idk what to tell you. I didn’t have a crystal ball and certainly didn’t think Davis would be this bad this fast but no one on planet earth aside from PA thought that was a wise choice. That was asinine from the beginning and you have one man to thank for that. That’s the exact kind of hamstringing angelos has done in the past. The intl money, the trades of picks to save small amounts of cash etc.
IF he stays out of things the orioles could make it back up because they made a very smart hire. If he continues to meddle we’re going to be very fortunate if we can make it back to where we were from 2012-2016.
What is the system ranked by various publications? It seemed liked they geared up to be International FA players for the first time in their history and then got cold feet. Just an observation
Got cold feet because they couldn’t sign any of the three remaining high profile guys. They still have more funds than anyone but there’s, at best, one touted player left. Not sure yet whether the new FO fancies him so we’ll have to see.
They’ll spend in the future, but not just to spend. It
I didn’t know non DMV people knew what DMV was. Anyways, I think mike wright and yacabonis finish out the rotation. Bundy is scaring me with how he’s doing in spring training, especially coming off of that bad second half
When I saw DMV notes I had no idea what it meant
Not to be confused with Delmarva
yeah, i was wondering what yhe department of motor vehicles had to do with the Mayrland area specifically.
okay, still cant type evidently
Or proofread
Personally I’d rather have Ramirez and Yacabonis over Cashner (To be Released) and Hess (Send down). I think Karns will be just fine provided he can stay healthy
We need Cashner. There’s plenty of opps for the young guys. Personally I don’t think any of Yacabonis, Ramirez or Hess is a major league starter. Hopefully he turns it around enough to dump. Either way we need major league innings out of someone and I’m not sure the walk machine Ramirez will give us that. The other 2 just don’t excite me at all. Kremer, Akin, and potentially Harvey are our best Near ML ready arms. The other guys are just guys
I thought we were going to get a whole article about players renewing their license at the DMV
I had to look it up
I was wondering what Department of Motor Vehicles had to do with MLB. DC, Maryland, Virginia…. hmmm.
The Orioles offseason has consisted largely of the esoteric behind-the-scenes work being done by a newly-minted braintrust, offering the Baltimore fanbase little in terms of concrete evidence of a team on the rise.
As a side note I am picking Our Braintrust (MD) to win in the 10th at Oaklawn in the Rebel Stakes
Now with that being said, you are giving the O’s way too much by using the word ‘little’ with regards to evidence!
The Orioles have offered NOTHING in the way of evidence and their ownership is Pathetic!!!
SMH as usual!
Wtf do you want them to do? The orioles could’ve added some more minor league signings or rebound candidates but that’s about it. We don’t have any other trade assets that could be dumped at peak value and there’s nothing left on the IFA market. Fans like you waiting for instant gratification are going to be disappointed every time. There’s no way to turn this around tomorrow.
I think the only thing I would’ve done if I were them would be to try and call up teams about bad contracts. They should’ve been in on Homer Bailey or other guys like that.
I don’t think buying a prospect for 20 million dollars was ever going to be in the cards. The dodgers sent bad money and 2 productive players back for that package of prospects. There’s really nothing to do at this point but maybe sign some bargain bin guys.
Both Homer Bailey and Cobbs horrible contracts
Cobb can pitch. Homer can’t. Cobb’s deal isn’t a good one by any means but he can give you #3 or 4 production.
Cobb’s had a good second half…. it’s possible he could become a decent trade chip
They haven’t given in on the Nats MASN lawsuit, so there is something
As a California resident I would just like to state that I learned a new TLA-Three letter acronym. DMV!
Brocail is a god awful pitching coach. O’s fans will be begging for him to get the boot after a few months into the season.
No question Wilmer Difo can handle the “super utility” role from a defensive standpoint. His bat has always been the thing that holds him back.
I like the idea of using the non-starting catcher as a PH, with Gomes & Suzuki splitting time. Both are solid at the plate.