moonslav59

There are slivers of hope with Crawford and Winckowski, but you are right. We have 6 SP'ers that need to fill 5 slots well or 4 slots very well. It's not impossible, looking at those 6, but it's hard to think it's probable after these first 4 starts. Mata might be our saving grace, or someone like Whitlock or Bello pitching like or near ace level, but it looks like our pen will need to carry more weight, this year, and it does look better than it has been since 2019 or maybe even 2018.

I don't disagree, and if you are not going to draft pitchers, you better sign and get right your pitcher signings. In terms of FA signings, Bloom has spent a pretty big percentage of his winter budgets on SP'ers. The problem was, in many cases, he needed 2-3 SP'ers and the budget was what it was. 2020: (We need 4 SP'ers added, since Sale & ERod were out all year.) We spent $6/13 on SP. $6M Perez $4.2 Pillar $2.9 Peraza 2021: (We needed 3 SP'ers) We spent $15/30 on SP. $10 Richards $7M x 2 Kike $5M Perez II $3.1 Renfroe $3.0 Marwin 1.8 D Santana (We spent about $8M on the Ottavino trade.) 2022: (We needed 2-3 SP'ers and 4-5 RP'ers.) We spent $18.5M/47M on SP & $25.5M on all pitch8ing.) $23.3 x 6 Story $7.0M Wacha $6.5M Paxton $5M R Hill $4 x 2 Diekman $3.0M Strahm $1.5M T Shaw (We spent some on the JBJ trade, after subtracting Renfroe's salary) 2023: $10M/$71M on SP and $35M/71 on pitching $18M x 5 Yoshida (plus posting fee) $16 x 2 Jansen $10.9 Turner $10M Kluber 7.0 Duvall $6.8 x 2 Martin $2M Rodriguez $2M Alfaro (minors) No doubt, Bloom could have spent more on SP'ing, especially instead of the Story & Yoshida signings, but I'm not sure, even using 20-20 hindsight we could have scored great pitching with those 2020 & 2021 winter budgets. Yes, it's Bloom's fault for not making better choices with his SP'er signings, and he could have chose to rob Peter to pay Paul and focused more on pitching. That's on him. He also chose the Devers extension over pitching. Maybe this was not fully "his choice."

Gotta start going to the pen a bit earlier.

Or Cora's. You don't need to be fast to steal, these days.

...or sign as IFAs. True nuff. At least he didn't trade away Houck, Bello, Mata ...

No need to defend. The budget is what it is. We still have Dugo, Pivetta, Kike, Arroyo, Schreiber, Refsnyder and Wong. Bloom extended Devers and Whitlock. He did not trade Bello, Houck, Casas and others.

I've always had hopes for Wink, but I also wondered, if it was just wishful thinking we'd get something of value from that Beni trade.

Do you still have Crawford ahead of Winck, as I believe you stated a few weeks ago? Maybe, tonight's start might make a difference?

McGuire gets a day off. Maybe Wong will be Crawford's caddy, if he sticks in the rotation. Today's line-up: 1. Verdugo RF 2. Devers 3B 3. Turner DH 4. Yoshida LF 5. Duvall CF 6. Casas 1B 7. Arroyo 2B 8. Kike SS 9. Wong C Does anyone think the line-up changes much, if we face a lefty? When we faced Cole, a lefty, Cora batted Ref first and Dugo 6th. Could Kike bat lead-off v lefties, going forward? I might move Duvall up, too. (Not like Turner deserves being moved down.) 1. Kike R (SS) 2. Devers L (3B) 3. Duvall R (CF) or Turner R (DH) 4. Yoshida L (LF) 5. Turner R (DH) or Duvall R (CF) 6. Verdugo L (RF) 7. Casas L (1B) 8. Arroyo R (2B) 9. McGuire L ©

I think the long snapper answered that Q.

Yes, so I'm not getting why people are saying runners can run when there is 1-2 seconds remaining. Unless the throws to 1B are used up, there should be no timing advantage.

I wouldn't say 1 per game is really "exploiting" the change, but yes, many teams are on pace for more SBs. The O's are way out in front.

Trade him while his stock is high.

The only two he should have "commited to," in hindsight, are Springs and maybe Perez. (Let's see how Perez does in 2023.)

Yes, the 2022 rotation was bad. I jst pointed out that Bloom's additions were not the major problem, but yes, the injuries to almost all our starters hurt, including the ones Bloom acquired. Per dollar, though, the SP signings were pretty good. BWAR Pitching 2022 3.3 Wacha 2.7 Schreiber 2.6 Pivetta 1.8 Whitlock 1.6 Houck 1.5 Nate 0.8 Hill 0.7 Sawamura 0.4 Bello 0.3 Bazardo 0.3 Strahm 0.3 Diekman 0.2 Kelly Red= non Bloom guys BOLD= recent additions fWAR 1.8 Hill 1.7 Schreiber 1.5 Wacha 1.5 Pivetta 1.4 Whitlock I'm just saying, Bloom's recent SP'er additions were pretty good, especially for the dollars spent. It wasn't enough to make a difference, and yes, the injuries to Wacha and Hill hurt.

Yes, but why were the O's the only team to see this coming and exploit it? I think we missed some opportunities over those first 3 games, but hey, we won 2, so maybe it didn't matter.

Agreed. It takes time to draft and develop SP'ers. It is hard to find quality pitching at $10M for one or $16M for 2 or $17M for 3, which is what he has spent, depending on how you want to look at it. Once can argue that he could have spent the money spent on Ottavino, JBJ, Diekman, Marwin, Andriese and others to upgrade over Richards, Perez I and Perez II, but he got some of those other spending choices right (Kike, Renfroe, Wacha, Hill, Strahm and others.)

For whatever reasons, Bloom seems to have been forced, at times, or chosen to not spend much on the rotation. In 2020, he barely had anything to spend on any positions. His biggest signing was a SP'er though: Martin Perez: $6M- not a horrible signing, and as it turned out, he became a pretty good SP'er the minute he left the Sox. In 2021, Bloom's budget was limited, and he did spend a pretty good percent of the winter budget on the rotation, but trying to find 2-3 quality SP'ers on less than $20M is not something one should get high expectations over: Richards $10M- did okay in the pen, but was a failure MPerez II $5M- Had a 3.51 ERA after 11 starts but came unglued. Failure. Was very good for Texas in 2023. I actually think Bloom did a fine job with his 2023 pitcher signings. The Story signing took a big chunk of the budget up, as did the JBJ trade, but he spent a good chunk on SP'ers and some on the pen. Again, what can be expected from spending $18M on 3 starters? $7M Wacha- turned into a very good signing, despite time missed due to injury. $6M Paxton- was made more for 2023, but looks like a failure. $5M R Hill- another very good signing, for the money\ (Pen: Diekman and Strahm- a 50-50 choice.) Bloom's best SP moves were from Rule 5 (Whitlock) and trades (Pivetta). His 2023 choice: $10M Kluber (Pen adds: Jansen, Martin, JRod, Mills, Bleier) I may be in the small minority that sees more promise with the rotation and the future outlook of our rotation than at any time since the start of the 2019 season. Sale finally looks healthy. Kluber looked like a better choice than Richards & Paxton. Whitlock is under team control for several more years, thanks to Bloom. Paxton is a pure dice roll. Bello looks like the real deal, to me Pivetta seems to be one of MLB's best 5th starters, but that only works, if we have 4 better than him, which I think we do, now. Added to these 6 are some promising young pitchers and prospects. We may only need 1-2 to do well: Houck should be in the pen, but he can be a decent 4-5 IP SP'er. Crawford & Winckowski Mata, Walter & Murphy

It just seems rather arbitrary who and when they let guys out of their commitment for sports-related reasons.

The issue does not seem to be about speed. It's more about management preparing their players to run, run, run, and how to use the pitch clock to refine their timing.

I'd like to see him get more OF play. I hope the glasses help. Had Jim Ed wore glasses, maybe his career would have been extended.

It can only be luck.

As long as he keeps doing well, he'll stay. I recall you saying similar things about Wink's stuff not playing up to MLB standards. I'm not saying you are wrong. Surely 2022 might have been a fluke, but Schreiber deserves a slot, until he shows he doesn't, IMO.

Yes, that's why I said the MLB roster was largely over-looked in the speed area, except for Mondesi. I do think part of the reason we acquired Ferguson was his speed and ability to walk, a lot. It's hard to know how that .366 OBP in the minors with that .214 BA translates to AA, AAA or MLB, but I think we saw something. Maybe Rosier was the main guy. Hamilton was acquired before the rule changes were know. Abreu was not acquired for his speed, but he seems to be an okay baserunner.

I'd say, until Schreiber proves he does not belong, he's on my 13, no matter how many pitchers are healthy. Now, I suppose Crawford, Wink and Bello could all be looking great (and better than Schreiber) and change my mind, but as of now, Schreiber has a firm hold on a 13 man staff slot.