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These players may not return to the 2027 Orioles · Birdland Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: Welcome in to a new week of Birdland Territory here
0:10
Speaker 1: with Steve, Tim, and Brad. In today's show, we're going
0:14
Speaker 1: to get into, in a couple minutes, the topic of
0:16
Speaker 1: some Orioles who won't be back next year. I mean,
0:20
Speaker 1: it's probably a long list, and we'll get into some names.
0:23
Speaker 1: Maybe some big names might be on that list as well.
0:28
Speaker 1: But at the outset of our show today, we're going
0:30
Speaker 1: to discuss... the new general manager of the Orioles. It
0:35
Speaker 1: was announced Monday morning by the club. Jared Banner has
0:38
Speaker 1: been hired. He was with the Cubs as assistant general
0:41
Speaker 1: manager since January of 2024. So that was his role
0:47
Speaker 1: for the last three seasons during which the Cubs, by
0:49
Speaker 1: the way, made the playoffs twice and averaged 88 wins.
0:52
Speaker 1: So he was helping them during a very good time.
0:56
Speaker 1: He's been with the Cubs since 2020. Previous to that
0:59
Speaker 1: with the Mets and the Red Sox, a long time,
1:02
Speaker 1: run in baseball operations with the Red Sox, Mets, and
1:07
Speaker 1: Cubs since 2007. So Jared Banner is the general manager
1:12
Speaker 1: of the Orioles, will work alongside Mike Elias running baseball operations. And, guys,
1:18
Speaker 1: what's your initial reaction? I know fans are hoping he
1:21
Speaker 1: has some autonomy, he has some power. They wanted new voices,
1:26
Speaker 1: and hopefully new voices will impact this team. And at
1:30
Speaker 1: the top of that list, it looks like Jared Banner,
1:32
Speaker 1: we'll give his chance.
1:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think it's a good thing.
1:35
Speaker 3: I think it's good to have, uh, another voice in
1:38
Speaker 3: front office, another guy that's at the top of the,
1:41
Speaker 3: you know, the, the organizational chain. So, and he comes
1:44
Speaker 3: from organizations where he's seen good, he's seen bad, uh,
1:48
Speaker 3: he's seen some playoff teams and I think he realizes
1:50
Speaker 3: what it takes to make the playoffs and to be
1:52
Speaker 3: a playoff team. So I think it's good at this
1:54
Speaker 3: point to have some other voices and give Mike just
1:57
Speaker 3: somebody to bounce ideas off of. And, uh, hopefully it's
1:59
Speaker 3: a little bit varying of, uh, uh, you know, voice
2:02
Speaker 3: and it's not just all kind of unison, but hopefully
2:05
Speaker 3: they can have some good discussions and really just put
2:08
Speaker 3: the best product on the field and get to know
2:09
Speaker 3: which players are going to help you win and just
2:12
Speaker 3: really put the Orioles in a good spot.
2:13
Speaker 2: So I see this as a really good hire.
2:15
Speaker 3: And like I said, he's come from some big market
2:17
Speaker 3: teams to where he's seen some things on how they,
2:20
Speaker 3: how they run their organizations. And then hopefully he'll bring
2:23
Speaker 3: some of these ideas to Baltimore and just give Mike,
2:25
Speaker 3: like I said, just another voice to bounce some ideas
2:28
Speaker 3: off of and give him another varying opinion to, get
2:31
Speaker 3: this team in the right direction and had to put
2:33
Speaker 3: them on the right track.
2:37
Speaker 2: Yeah.
2:37
Speaker 4: I'm not going to lie to you guys and act
2:39
Speaker 4: like I knew all about a banner before the news
2:42
Speaker 4: got announced. I know he was linked to a couple
2:45
Speaker 4: of different openings in terms of GM. I know the
2:47
Speaker 4: A's were in talks about trying to explore to get him,
2:51
Speaker 4: but the more you read up on Jared banner, it
2:55
Speaker 4: sounds like a really good fit. The fact that he
2:57
Speaker 4: has 18 years of experience in baseball operations and I
3:00
Speaker 4: saw John Heyman tweet out this morning that Banner was
3:04
Speaker 4: credited as an advocate to acquire Pete Crow Armstrong for
3:07
Speaker 4: the Cubs as he knew him, you know, going back
3:10
Speaker 4: to his time with the Mets. But Steve, I think
3:14
Speaker 4: it's pretty much what you brought up to start in
3:17
Speaker 4: terms of what the fans are wondering. How much juice
3:21
Speaker 4: does Jared Banner have? Because on the surface, this sounds
3:24
Speaker 4: like a really good hire. But in the press release,
3:28
Speaker 4: it says Banner will lead the organization's player development, coaching,
3:32
Speaker 4: performance efforts, while also partnering with Elias on strategy, staffing,
3:38
Speaker 4: and talent acquisition, among other duties. So I think that
3:41
Speaker 4: that's a fair question, is how much juice does Jared
3:44
Speaker 4: Banner have?
3:47
Speaker 1: He's certainly got a nice resume, and he doesn't seem
3:50
Speaker 1: to have a previous working relationship with Elias. They haven't
3:54
Speaker 1: overlapped any teams yet. And in baseball, everybody seems to
3:57
Speaker 1: know everybody in front of offices. So while his name
4:00
Speaker 1: might not be well known to fans in the industry,
4:03
Speaker 1: clearly it was just 40 years old. So he seems
4:06
Speaker 1: to be a quote up and comer, Brooklyn, New York native,
4:10
Speaker 1: played four years of baseball at Amherst. That's a cradle
4:13
Speaker 1: of colleges, a cradle of general manager colleges there. Dan Duquette,
4:17
Speaker 1: I know who's an Amherst guy and others as well,
4:21
Speaker 1: make their way to baseball front offices. So It's official.
4:24
Speaker 1: The Orioles announced that we welcome Jared Banner to Baltimore
4:28
Speaker 1: and look forward to meeting him when he's introduced to
4:30
Speaker 1: the media next week on Tuesday, October 27th at Oriole
4:35
Speaker 1: Park at Camden Yards. With that, we get to the
4:39
Speaker 1: planned topic for today's show, which is, turning the page,
4:45
Speaker 1: five Orioles who won't be back in 2027. And, guys,
4:51
Speaker 1: we're going to spend a lot of time discussing a
4:53
Speaker 1: lot of names and getting names from you guys, too.
4:56
Speaker 1: In no order, I put my five as Lewis Robert Jr.,
4:59
Speaker 1: Leote Tavares, Keegan Aiken, Trevor Rogers, and Zach Eflin. Now,
5:04
Speaker 1: Trevor Rogers, that would be a really hit to the
5:06
Speaker 1: team if he leaves. I just think he's going to.
5:08
Speaker 1: I think he's that close to free agency. Somebody's going
5:11
Speaker 1: to make him $ 30 million a year times five or
5:14
Speaker 1: something like that that the Orioles are going to not
5:17
Speaker 1: want to match or not be comfortable matching. And if
5:20
Speaker 1: he walks out the door, it's going to be not
5:24
Speaker 1: well received in Birdland, where Elias said recently, we love him.
5:28
Speaker 1: And we our interest is very high from our side
5:31
Speaker 1: of the fence so they can salvage this. But if
5:35
Speaker 1: Trevor Rogers is not back, it'll be another reason for
5:39
Speaker 1: Birdland to be stirred up. So you guys either can
5:42
Speaker 1: go ahead. Why don't you give some names that you
5:44
Speaker 1: guys have mentioned? Go ahead, Brad.
5:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, those five I definitely had on the list. And
5:49
Speaker 3: then Ryan Mountcastle, I just– it's just tough to see if,
5:53
Speaker 3: you know, for a $ 7.
5:55
Speaker 2: 5 million club option.
5:57
Speaker 3: After having a hurt year and just kind of never
5:59
Speaker 3: really been able to kind of gather his feet these
6:02
Speaker 3: last couple seasons, I just can't see them bringing him
6:04
Speaker 3: back at that amount. Maybe they can agree on something
6:06
Speaker 3: different if he wants to come back. But at the
6:09
Speaker 3: same time, we've kind of talked about their, you know, their–
6:13
Speaker 3: in the outfield first base, third base are all kind
6:15
Speaker 3: of locked up at this point and maybe DH, but
6:18
Speaker 3: you can see that having to go to somebody else.
6:20
Speaker 3: I just think his time in Baltimore might be up
6:23
Speaker 3: and would love to see him with this team back.
6:26
Speaker 2: And, you know, as a veteran presence guy, who's been there.
6:29
Speaker 3: Seeing this team do really well, but to me at
6:31
Speaker 3: this point, it kind of just seems a little bit
6:32
Speaker 3: tough there. And like you said, Leo to Tavares is
6:35
Speaker 3: another one. I just, with the outfield spots. Also, I
6:39
Speaker 3: just see other at bats having to go to other guys.
6:41
Speaker 3: I just think there's too many, too many other guys
6:44
Speaker 3: out there. And Leo, they got off to a great
6:46
Speaker 3: start and just really struggled the second half of the season.
6:48
Speaker 3: So to me, it'd be really hard to tender him
6:50
Speaker 3: a contract through arbitration, but they may, they may have different,
6:55
Speaker 3: you know, needs that they see. Maybe they see him
6:56
Speaker 3: as a playing a guy, uh, once every couple of
6:59
Speaker 3: days as a kind of position player that you platoon
7:02
Speaker 3: out there. But his splits weren't the best against, I
7:06
Speaker 3: think it was as a right-handed hitter. He wasn't, didn't
7:08
Speaker 3: really do the greatest. So that's kind of where they
7:11
Speaker 3: would need him to slot in with this team. So
7:14
Speaker 3: just those couple of names on top of the names
7:16
Speaker 3: that you mentioned, Steve, are the ones that I, it
7:18
Speaker 3: just seems a little bit tough to have them on
7:21
Speaker 3: the roster moving forward.
7:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm with you guys on pretty much all those names.
7:28
Speaker 4: When it comes to the club options or mutual options,
7:31
Speaker 4: Luis Roberts, look, Mike Elias took a flyer on him. Unfortunately,
7:35
Speaker 4: he got hurt not that long after coming over, after
7:38
Speaker 4: they picked him up off waivers. That's a lot of
7:41
Speaker 4: money for a lot of uncertainty because Luis Roberts just
7:44
Speaker 4: hasn't been all that consistent over the past few years. Eflin,
7:48
Speaker 4: kind of a similar thing in terms of him undergoing
7:51
Speaker 4: Tommy John surgery that there definitely won't pick up the
7:54
Speaker 4: mutual option. Would it surprise me if maybe they take
7:58
Speaker 4: a flyer on him? You sign him to a low risk,
8:01
Speaker 4: high reward type one year deal while he's continuing to
8:04
Speaker 4: rehab that Tommy John comes back at some point this summer.
8:07
Speaker 4: I think the door might be open there. Ryan Mountcastle.
8:11
Speaker 4: I I'm with you, Brad. Look, Ryan Mountcastle is a
8:13
Speaker 4: great guy and got off to a great start to
8:16
Speaker 4: his career. Set the franchise record for home runs by
8:20
Speaker 4: a rookie. And then the left field wall ended up
8:23
Speaker 4: getting moved. And I feel like that kind of messed
8:25
Speaker 4: with him a bit, you know, moving forward. We just
8:28
Speaker 4: never saw the power get back to those heights. You know,
8:32
Speaker 4: Dietrich Enns is another guy with a club option at
8:35
Speaker 4: $ 3. 5 million. He really didn't get much run with the Orioles.
8:39
Speaker 4: And I'm with you guys on Leote Tavares. And I
8:42
Speaker 4: was kind of bringing up, you know, a possibility here
8:46
Speaker 4: just because something... We've been talking about a lot when
8:49
Speaker 4: it comes to this outfield. It's just how influx it is.
8:52
Speaker 4: I wonder how much they reboot it, right? You know,
8:57
Speaker 4: in terms of Leote Tavares, maybe you non-tender him. Tyler
9:01
Speaker 4: O'Neal is in the last year of his contract. Obviously,
9:04
Speaker 4: he has not lived up to that contract through the
9:07
Speaker 4: first two years. Do you possibly make a move there?
9:10
Speaker 4: You know, Colton Couser, Dylan Beavers are holdovers. Jim Palmer
9:14
Speaker 4: in our last episode brought up Kobe Mayo in right field.
9:18
Speaker 4: Outfield's the interesting position group. That, along with third base,
9:23
Speaker 4: in terms of guys that are currently on the roster
9:26
Speaker 4: that possibly could get dealt.
9:30
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Luis Robert for a minute. He played
9:33
Speaker 1: just three games for the Orioles, two for 11. You
9:35
Speaker 1: got to hurt. The Orioles could pick up a club
9:38
Speaker 1: option for $ 20 million today. or pay him a $ 2
9:41
Speaker 1: million buyout, obviously the latter seems much more likely to happen,
9:46
Speaker 1: it would be a massive gamble to give this guy
9:49
Speaker 1: $ 20 million. Now, Luis Robert on his resume has both
9:53
Speaker 1: a gold glove and a silver slugger. And in 2023,
9:56
Speaker 1: it's been a minute, He had 38 home runs. He
10:01
Speaker 1: had 857 OPS with the White Sox. But the last
10:04
Speaker 1: three years, his OPS is 669. That's 88 OPS plus, 12%
10:09
Speaker 1: below league average. Guys, that would shock us. But they
10:12
Speaker 1: need right-handed outfield bats, even knowing all that, $ 20 million
10:19
Speaker 1: is a gamble that I don't even know if the
10:22
Speaker 1: Yankees would take a gamble like that. They could afford
10:24
Speaker 1: a $ 20 million gamble.
10:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think that's what it basically boils down
10:29
Speaker 3: to is that the Orioles just really aren't in a
10:31
Speaker 3: spot to kind of take a gamble at $ 20 million.
10:33
Speaker 3: Luis Robert on the field, I think he's close to
10:36
Speaker 3: that value.
10:37
Speaker 2: If you could get 150, 155 games out of him,
10:37
Speaker 2: you never know what he could do.
10:41
Speaker 3: He just hasn't been able to stay on the field,
10:43
Speaker 3: and that's been the biggest bugaboo for him in really
10:46
Speaker 3: the last however many seasons it's been since he's had
10:48
Speaker 3: that great year.
10:49
Speaker 2: I think you said 2023, Steve. So to me, watching
10:51
Speaker 2: Luis Robert, he has all.
10:52
Speaker 3: The tools, but I just think with this team, and
10:55
Speaker 3: like you're saying, they do need a right-handed bat against lefties,
10:58
Speaker 3: but that's too big of a gamble, especially with the
11:01
Speaker 3: $ 18 million gap there. It's just not something that I
11:04
Speaker 3: feel like the Orioles could do, and you just don't
11:06
Speaker 3: know if he can stay on the field and stay healthy.
11:08
Speaker 4: And guys, I think it's especially– tough on this club
11:13
Speaker 4: to take that gamble when you're already paying Tyler O'Neill,
11:16
Speaker 4: you know, if that contract wasn't in the fold, maybe,
11:20
Speaker 4: and even then that would still be a serious gamble,
11:22
Speaker 4: but I can't imagine them doubling down because Tyler O'Neill
11:26
Speaker 4: ended up itself as a gamble making, I think, 16
11:29
Speaker 4: and a half million dollars in the last year of
11:31
Speaker 4: his contract. I would be shocked quite frankly, if, if
11:35
Speaker 4: they picked up that option.
11:38
Speaker 1: You mentioned Ryan Mountcastle, uh, I would hate to see
11:41
Speaker 1: him go, but I think both sides almost need to
11:45
Speaker 1: depart from each other. Ryan could probably use a fresh start.
11:49
Speaker 1: He could use some luck and some health. Maybe he
11:52
Speaker 1: finds that somewhere else. And while the Orioles could use
11:55
Speaker 1: some power right-handed bats, how much of a log jam?
12:00
Speaker 1: You already have the corner infield log jam, the third
12:02
Speaker 1: base log jam we've discussed. You have Pete Alonzo plays
12:05
Speaker 1: every day at first base. Ryan, there's just not a
12:08
Speaker 1: fit there. And so he'll probably be non-tendered, not get
12:14
Speaker 1: his arbitration, but he'll be free to go anywhere. Could
12:17
Speaker 1: re-sign for a lot less. The Orioles really like Ryan Mountcastle,
12:21
Speaker 1: but I think they don't like him enough now to
12:24
Speaker 1: throw him into this log jam they already have.
12:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's unfortunate too because I really liked what
12:29
Speaker 3: I saw from Ryan Mountcastle to start the year.
12:31
Speaker 2: I mean, he was driving the ball.
12:33
Speaker 3: I know he's always been really good at going to
12:34
Speaker 3: the right field, but I felt like he was really
12:36
Speaker 3: hitting the ball right, right center field with authority.
12:38
Speaker 2: And he just looked.
12:40
Speaker 3: Finally healthy, and he looked like a player that could
12:43
Speaker 3: possibly help his team. And he just has that weird
12:45
Speaker 3: freak accident as he's going to second base. I think
12:47
Speaker 3: it was his foot he ended up hurting and just
12:49
Speaker 3: never came off the IL from there. So just kind
12:51
Speaker 3: of a really unfortunate year, and it's another thing where,
12:55
Speaker 3: You have to– there's two starting position– starting pitcher positions
12:59
Speaker 3: they need to really– whether it's from the farm or
13:01
Speaker 3: sign somebody. You look at Luis Robert at 20, and
13:04
Speaker 3: you look at Ryan Mountcastle at 7.5. So that's $ 27. 5
13:09
Speaker 3: million right there. And I just think it becomes more
13:11
Speaker 3: of a math problem than anything else. Yes, you'd love
13:13
Speaker 3: to have Ryan Mountcastle, but then like we said, where
13:16
Speaker 3: does he play on this team?
13:17
Speaker 2: Where does he fit in?
13:17
Speaker 3: And I think it just kind of becomes a– we
13:20
Speaker 3: would love to have him, but it's just kind of
13:23
Speaker 3: maybe better for both sides. And I hope he gets
13:24
Speaker 3: to go somewhere else and he can kind of prove
13:26
Speaker 3: himself again and just stay healthy and prove the kind
13:28
Speaker 3: of baseball player he is because he really, he did
13:31
Speaker 3: a great job in Baltimore. And I would love to
13:33
Speaker 3: see him go somewhere else and maybe have a shot
13:35
Speaker 3: somewhere else and see how it goes.
13:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, Steve, you hit it on the head.
13:41
Speaker 4: I think it could be mutually beneficial for both sides
13:45
Speaker 4: to move on. And look, it wouldn't surprise me in
13:48
Speaker 4: the slightest if Ryan goes somewhere else and experience success because, look,
13:53
Speaker 4: this is someone that had a ton of success early
13:55
Speaker 4: on in his career, would match left-handed pitching. Heck, it
13:59
Speaker 4: was always funny seeing him go to Toronto because he'd
14:02
Speaker 4: be the boogeyman to the Blue Jays. He would always
14:05
Speaker 4: mash against the Toronto. But unfortunately for him, He sort
14:10
Speaker 4: of has a similar profile to a lot of the
14:13
Speaker 4: guys like Kobe Mayo. First base, third base, more of
14:18
Speaker 4: a bat. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, more of a bat. You sign
14:22
Speaker 4: Pete Alonso to a big contract, he's obviously going to
14:24
Speaker 4: be manning first base. Samuel Basayo probably wants to get some.
14:29
Speaker 4: The numbers just don't work in terms of the profile
14:35
Speaker 4: of player that Ryan Mountcastle brings to the club that
14:39
Speaker 4: they already have. on the team.
14:42
Speaker 1: Today on Birdland Territory, we're talking about some Orioles who
14:45
Speaker 1: won't be back, or in our opinion, will not be
14:47
Speaker 1: back for the 2027 season. And we'll continue with this discussion.
14:52
Speaker 1: We'll also give you some key upcoming dates to be
14:55
Speaker 1: looking for on the baseball off-season calendar in a moment.
15:02
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16:22
Speaker 1: For that surgery because it means he'll miss most, maybe
16:26
Speaker 1: not all of next year. Some team could give one
16:29
Speaker 1: of those two-year deals where they rehab him and then
16:32
Speaker 1: get him the pitch in 2028. I don't see the
16:35
Speaker 1: Orioles doing that, even though they're a little short on
16:38
Speaker 1: lefty relief.
16:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, especially just because if you look at next year,
16:44
Speaker 3: that's kind of where you see this team hopefully, hopefully
16:47
Speaker 3: making a big jump and he's just really not going
16:49
Speaker 3: to be a part of that.
16:50
Speaker 2: So I just think it makes it hard to, unless you.
16:53
Speaker 3: Can get them at a really team friendly deal for
16:55
Speaker 3: two years, I just feel like it's going to be
16:57
Speaker 3: hard just because they're trying to figure out who the
17:00
Speaker 3: guys are that they, that they want to keep for
17:02
Speaker 3: long-term or to make this team a winning team year
17:04
Speaker 3: after year. And it's, It's kind of a– I see
17:07
Speaker 3: this team as like almost as you need to see
17:09
Speaker 3: success in 2027, but at the same time you want
17:12
Speaker 3: to have sustained success.
17:14
Speaker 2: So it's kind of one of those things. Do we
17:16
Speaker 2: see him helping?
17:17
Speaker 3: If you had Tommy John in July, possibility maybe September
17:21
Speaker 3: he's able to come back, but that's a best-case scenario.
17:24
Speaker 3: So you kind of look at it as does he
17:26
Speaker 3: help 2027 and beyond? Maybe he's a piece, like I said,
17:30
Speaker 3: if you can get him at a real team-friendly deal,
17:32
Speaker 3: but it's just kind of one of those things where
17:34
Speaker 3: you've got to see a jump in the wins next year.
17:36
Speaker 3: And I see the Orioles really trying to do that
17:39
Speaker 3: with the roster makeup. So for me, he just kind
17:41
Speaker 3: of seems like someone that's going to be on the
17:43
Speaker 3: outside looking in when they construct this roster for next year.
17:47
Speaker 4: And then, you know, we've been the drum of all
17:50
Speaker 4: of the pitching prospects that the Orioles have, and not
17:54
Speaker 4: every player is going to have a seat in this
17:57
Speaker 4: game of musical chairs. And where my mind immediately goes
18:01
Speaker 4: when we're talking about Keegan Aiken is a player like
18:04
Speaker 4: Kate Povich. You know, is that someone that maybe could
18:08
Speaker 4: fill that Keegan Aiken role in terms of, hey, Aiken,
18:12
Speaker 4: the same exact thing. He was a former starting pitcher
18:14
Speaker 4: that transitioned to reliever and a guy that can eat
18:17
Speaker 4: a couple of innings. And could that be Cade Povich?
18:21
Speaker 4: Because we know the Calvary is coming. Who really fits
18:24
Speaker 4: in in terms of the starting rotation? And Cade, he's
18:28
Speaker 4: been at it long enough now where he's just trying
18:31
Speaker 4: to find a spot on a major league roster to stick.
18:34
Speaker 4: And I wonder if the Orioles really experiment with that
18:37
Speaker 4: next year, that since Aiken is going to be out,
18:41
Speaker 4: would it make sense for Povich to fill that left-handed role?
18:46
Speaker 1: Very interesting. Now, Zach Eflin had Tommy John surgery in April.
18:51
Speaker 1: He could be back sooner next year. I mean, sometimes
18:55
Speaker 1: they do it in 12 months. That's quick, even today
19:00
Speaker 1: as they're speeding this up. But sometimes they do. And
19:04
Speaker 1: I keep going back to March 31 against Texas. He
19:08
Speaker 1: looked so good in that one game he wound up pitching.
19:12
Speaker 1: It was so ironic to get hurt when he looked
19:14
Speaker 1: like it was maybe the best we'd ever seen him.
19:17
Speaker 1: Three and two-thirds, he fanned seven. He has 12 whiffs.
19:20
Speaker 1: He's throwing all his pitches and was like, wow, what
19:24
Speaker 1: a lift that would be for this Orioles team to
19:26
Speaker 1: see Zach Eflin throwing like this. And then we didn't
19:29
Speaker 1: see him again. Is somebody, possibly the Orioles, or somebody,
19:36
Speaker 1: I think it's going to take a shot at this guy. Obviously,
19:38
Speaker 1: they're not going to pick up $ 25 million option, $ 2
19:43
Speaker 1: million buyout, but then somebody's going to make him a deal,
19:46
Speaker 1: I would think.
19:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, and maybe this is where it was. I mean,
19:49
Speaker 3: we heard rave reviews from all the teammates and you know,
19:52
Speaker 3: the staff, they love having him around. A lot of guys,
19:54
Speaker 3: when they have Tommy John, they kind of just go
19:56
Speaker 3: down to Florida. You don't hear from him again, but it's,
19:58
Speaker 3: it seemed like he was in and out of Baltimore
20:00
Speaker 3: a lot this season. And he has a family too.
20:03
Speaker 3: So he was either taking time away from his family
20:06
Speaker 3: or he was taking his family back to Baltimore to
20:08
Speaker 3: be around this team. So, you know, you could do
20:11
Speaker 3: the $ 2 million buyout and then maybe it's a, it's
20:14
Speaker 3: a low cost, you know, high upside type deal for
20:17
Speaker 3: the Orioles. I just, it sounds like he really enjoyed
20:20
Speaker 3: being around the team also. And that's where, you know,
20:22
Speaker 3: it kind of comes down to that. If he felt
20:24
Speaker 3: comfortable there and his family felt comfortable, you never know.
20:26
Speaker 3: They could bring them back. And it's just, to me,
20:28
Speaker 3: the hardest part is just knowing what, how many innings
20:31
Speaker 3: he's going to be able to give you just because
20:33
Speaker 3: I think it's been pretty much two lost years to surgeries.
20:35
Speaker 2: That he's had.
20:36
Speaker 3: So to me, that would be my only worry, but
20:38
Speaker 3: it really sounds like they really love having around.
20:41
Speaker 2: So if, If that's somebody that.
20:42
Speaker 3: Could give you 80 to 100 to 120 innings next year,
20:46
Speaker 3: it could be somebody you want to keep around if
20:48
Speaker 3: you can get him at the right cost.
20:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, he just feels so bad for Zach Eflin. Because, guys,
20:54
Speaker 4: you can go back to spring training. And I remember February,
20:58
Speaker 4: you know, when spring, it just began. And you're thinking
21:02
Speaker 4: it's a foregone conclusion. Well, Zach Eflin's going to begin
21:04
Speaker 4: the year on the I.L., but he just pitched so
21:07
Speaker 4: well that he earned that spot on the starting rotation,
21:11
Speaker 4: and that was the surprise when they ended up optioning
21:13
Speaker 4: Dean Kramer down. So he earned that spot coming back
21:17
Speaker 4: quicker than probably even Mike Elias anticipated and was spectacular
21:22
Speaker 4: in that first start before unfortunately suffering the elbow injury. Look,
21:27
Speaker 4: I think that there's certainly a possibility, and like I
21:30
Speaker 4: was bringing up earlier, Steve, even if you operate conservatively,
21:35
Speaker 4: He's back in June, July. You would easily have him
21:39
Speaker 4: for the whole second half of the season, probably more
21:43
Speaker 4: than that. So maybe they do see value in that.
21:46
Speaker 4: And you pay him X amount of money, hey, you're
21:49
Speaker 4: going to rehab until June, and then we'll see you
21:51
Speaker 4: then and slot you in at some point. Because clearly
21:55
Speaker 4: they love this guy. They love what he brings to
21:57
Speaker 4: the clubhouse. And when he's been healthy, he's been effective
22:01
Speaker 4: for the Orioles.
22:04
Speaker 1: No doubt about that. And I think, as you said, Brad,
22:07
Speaker 1: great teammate. And I do put value on that. I
22:10
Speaker 1: don't know how teams put a dollar value on character
22:13
Speaker 1: and things like that, but I do. And so as
22:15
Speaker 1: you equate stats and what performance you can project, stuff
22:20
Speaker 1: like that means something to me, especially a lot of
22:23
Speaker 1: these young pitchers are going to be making their way
22:25
Speaker 1: to Baltimore in the next year or two. We got
22:28
Speaker 1: more to do today on Birdland Territory. Hang with us.
22:35
Speaker 4: And haney three.
22:36
Speaker 7: Deep live on youtube monday through friday six till six
22:41
Speaker 7: search 1057 the fan baltimore and never miss a moment
22:44
Speaker 7: of coverage on the teams you love.
22:48
Speaker 1: So guys some key dates upcoming five days after the
22:51
Speaker 1: world series free agency begins in mid-november teams have to
22:56
Speaker 1: add to the 40-man roster to protect from the rule
23:00
Speaker 1: 5 draft here's where it gets complicated December 1 is
23:03
Speaker 1: the date where the CBA expires, projected, predicted lockout, expected
23:07
Speaker 1: by almost everybody in baseball, which would eliminate the winter
23:10
Speaker 1: meetings like a week later where they have the Rule
23:13
Speaker 1: 5 draft and the draft lottery, oh, by the way,
23:16
Speaker 1: which the Orioles still could potentially get the number one pick.
23:19
Speaker 1: They didn't make the playoffs, so they'll have some mathematical
23:22
Speaker 1: odds to get a high draft pick. So is any
23:26
Speaker 1: of that going to happen? And you hear a theory today.
23:29
Speaker 1: Can teams roll the dice on not protecting some guys
23:33
Speaker 1: because there may not be a roll five? I don't
23:35
Speaker 1: think you can roll that dice and leave a player
23:38
Speaker 1: exposed to you see good enough to be on your
23:40
Speaker 1: 40 man. So the 40 man's going to be on.
23:44
Speaker 1: There's some shuffling coming in the next month.
23:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if they possibly do
23:50
Speaker 3: leave some players unprotected, just because as far as I know,
23:54
Speaker 3: you can still contact minor league guys. I think the
23:56
Speaker 3: lockout only pertains to the 40-minute roster guys.
23:59
Speaker 2: I could be wrong.
24:00
Speaker 3: So if they didn't protect some of these guys, they
24:02
Speaker 3: could still be in contact and have them working out
24:05
Speaker 3: and still have their eyes on these guys while a
24:07
Speaker 3: potential lockout did happen. So to me, that would be
24:10
Speaker 3: interesting if they have some guys kind of on the
24:11
Speaker 3: fringe that they think they could maybe sneak by a
24:14
Speaker 3: Rule 5 or, like we said, if a Rule 5
24:16
Speaker 3: doesn't even happen, but you can still have them train
24:19
Speaker 3: and keep them, you know, contact with them all season.
24:22
Speaker 3: It'd be interesting to see if they keep some of
24:24
Speaker 3: those guys off and then maybe after the deal's done,
24:26
Speaker 3: maybe they somehow DFA other guys. And it's going to
24:29
Speaker 3: be interesting because this is something that I feel like
24:31
Speaker 3: hasn't happened in a long time that a lot of
24:33
Speaker 3: teams are going to.
24:34
Speaker 2: Take different approaches to.
24:35
Speaker 3: So I'll be really curious to see how the Orioles
24:38
Speaker 3: kind of go about putting this 40-minute roster together if
24:42
Speaker 3: they try to hold some guys back just in case
24:44
Speaker 3: there is a lockout and stuff like that.
24:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, and Steve, correct me if I'm wrong, but I
24:48
Speaker 4: think the last time the lockout happened, there was not
24:51
Speaker 4: a Rule 5 draft, right? Because it went on so long.
24:55
Speaker 1: I don't think so. I think you're right. There was not.
25:01
Speaker 1: If you take that risk and then they resolve it,
25:05
Speaker 1: what if they resolve it February 15th and announce We're
25:09
Speaker 1: going to have a draft a week from now that
25:11
Speaker 1: we didn't have in December. I mean, that's a real risk.
25:14
Speaker 1: But the other factor, as Brad mentioned, is interesting. That's
25:19
Speaker 1: my understanding, too. If you're on the 40, man, you're
25:21
Speaker 1: in the union. You can't contact those players during the lockout.
25:24
Speaker 1: But minor league guys, very different.
25:28
Speaker 4: I just continue to. wonder how that month is going
25:33
Speaker 4: to go in November. Is it going to be a
25:35
Speaker 4: flurry of activity? Is there going to be no activity
25:39
Speaker 4: ahead of the lockout? And heck, I feel for a
25:43
Speaker 4: guy like Trevor Rogers. What's going through his mind? What's
25:46
Speaker 4: going through his agent's mind? The Orioles are definitely going
25:49
Speaker 4: to slap the qualifying offer on top of him. This
25:53
Speaker 4: is his first real chance to get a big-time contract.
25:57
Speaker 4: I can only imagine what's going through free agents minds, Brad.
26:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a lot.
26:02
Speaker 3: I think it's, I think when you're a free agent,
26:04
Speaker 3: there's a lot in your mind as it is, but
26:06
Speaker 3: throwing the lockout in, it's kind of like taking a
26:09
Speaker 3: gamble one way or the other. If I signed before,
26:11
Speaker 3: maybe that's good because, but if I don't there, maybe
26:14
Speaker 3: there's more money on the table. It's going to, it's honestly,
26:17
Speaker 3: it's going to be something they don't know until it's
26:19
Speaker 3: all settled because they had, I think it was, uh, 2021.
26:23
Speaker 2: Was the last one going to 22, 22 seasons. So
26:26
Speaker 2: they have a little.
26:27
Speaker 3: Bit of something to go on, but just from what
26:30
Speaker 3: you see and what you hear, this sounds like this
26:32
Speaker 3: is going to be closer to 94, 95 than it
26:35
Speaker 3: was 21, 22.
26:36
Speaker 2: So I don't know.
26:37
Speaker 3: It's going to be an interesting, it's going to be
26:40
Speaker 3: interesting to see what players tactics are and what the
26:43
Speaker 3: team tactics are.
26:44
Speaker 2: And I think it's going to.
26:45
Speaker 3: Just kind of, I think once you see some guys go,
26:48
Speaker 3: there might be a flurry, but if there's not going
26:50
Speaker 3: to be, let's see what happens after this is all
26:52
Speaker 3: figured out. But it's, there's going to be no lack
26:55
Speaker 3: of stories during this whole time because it's going to be,
26:57
Speaker 3: it's going to be a lot of stuff going on.
27:01
Speaker 1: I've heard people say the Orioles don't value defense and
27:05
Speaker 1: I can get why they say that because they're not
27:08
Speaker 1: good at defense. But then I look at things like,
27:12
Speaker 1: drafting Enrique Bradfield, drafting Vance Honeycutt. These were cream of
27:17
Speaker 1: the crop defensive outfielders. So I think there is some,
27:20
Speaker 1: they value it, but they just need to get better
27:23
Speaker 1: at it at the major league level. We've certainly seen
27:25
Speaker 1: that in the playoffs. These teams make impactful defensive plays nightly.
27:30
Speaker 1: The Orioles didn't. And so I think acquisitions, Tim and Brad,
27:35
Speaker 1: in November or even after a lockout ends, it's going
27:37
Speaker 1: to end at some point, they got to prioritize some
27:41
Speaker 1: defense players. they need offense too. Yeah. You're going to
27:45
Speaker 1: need some guys who bring both, you know.
27:48
Speaker 3: It's funny as we were kind of going through this
27:50
Speaker 3: roster stuff. That's what I had in the back of
27:51
Speaker 3: my mind was they need to improve it defensively, but
27:54
Speaker 3: they still need to hit better than they do. So it's,
27:58
Speaker 3: it's going to be one of those things. It's going
27:59
Speaker 3: to be interesting to see how they go about all this.
28:01
Speaker 3: And like Tim, like you said, with moving Kobe Mayo
28:04
Speaker 3: to right field, like Jim Palmer said, I think it
28:06
Speaker 3: sounds like a great idea in theory. It's just, you're
28:08
Speaker 3: kind of shooting your foot despite your eye. It's like,
28:11
Speaker 3: It's just one of those things that it's going to
28:13
Speaker 3: be interesting to see how they put this roster together
28:15
Speaker 3: because there's tons of talent, but the talent didn't result
28:20
Speaker 3: in wins this year.
28:21
Speaker 2: They need to figure out what players are going to
28:23
Speaker 2: get them more wins.
28:24
Speaker 3: And is that more defense, less offense? I really don't
28:27
Speaker 3: know at this point. It's really going to be interesting
28:29
Speaker 3: to see how they put it together this offseason.
28:31
Speaker 4: Well, clearly the pieces have not fit. And Mike Elias
28:37
Speaker 4: admitted as much, you know, trading away Adley Rutschman at
28:40
Speaker 4: the deadline. You know, he was the one one. He
28:42
Speaker 4: was the first big draft pick that Mike Elias made
28:45
Speaker 4: that they need to shake things up. And Mike's talked
28:48
Speaker 4: about introspection. And I remember him talking about, after the
28:52
Speaker 4: trade deadline, saying that he owned the fact that, look,
28:55
Speaker 4: they didn't prioritize enough defensively. And this is one of
29:01
Speaker 4: those type of years, man, where everyone needs to look
29:03
Speaker 4: in the mirror. How can they better build this roster?
29:07
Speaker 4: How can they put this team in position to succeed?
29:10
Speaker 4: Because when you give up the most unearned runs in baseball,
29:15
Speaker 4: you're not going to make the playoffs. I'd love to
29:17
Speaker 4: know the stat on that. You're just not. Yeah.
29:21
Speaker 3: And also like, look at today, the last three teams standing,
29:24
Speaker 3: they don't slug, they don't hit her, you know, all
29:27
Speaker 3: these crazy offensive numbers. They just play the game the
29:30
Speaker 3: right way. They put the ball, they hit, uh, move
29:32
Speaker 3: runners over. They just score runs and they, they score
29:35
Speaker 3: more runs in the opposing team than the day before.
29:38
Speaker 3: And here here they are about to go for a
29:39
Speaker 3: world series. So it's, It's really interesting to see, and
29:42
Speaker 3: I just think if you look at Tampa, how well
29:43
Speaker 3: they played against Tampa, and that team, I feel like
29:46
Speaker 3: they could put together a roster that would be very
29:49
Speaker 3: similar to what Tampa does. It's just they're looking for slug.
29:52
Speaker 3: They're looking for power. They're looking for all these different things,
29:55
Speaker 3: yet you look at Tampa, and it's like they have
29:56
Speaker 3: guys that just play the game, and they have Sampson
29:59
Speaker 3: who plays the outfield.
30:00
Speaker 2: He plays great defense. He has great speed.
30:02
Speaker 3: He just hits the ball the other way, but he's
30:03
Speaker 3: on base for the guys. to drive them in. And
30:05
Speaker 3: it's just, I think, I just think it's really interesting.
30:08
Speaker 3: And now we've had two years in a row where
30:09
Speaker 3: you saw the blue Jays who, yes, they had superstars,
30:12
Speaker 3: but they just didn't strike out and they put the
30:14
Speaker 3: ball in play. Now you have three teams that kind
30:16
Speaker 3: of do the similar thing and they're about to play
30:18
Speaker 3: for the world series. The Orioles could maybe copycat those
30:21
Speaker 3: kinds of things and just kind of change up because
30:23
Speaker 3: trying to outslug these teams that have all this extra money,
30:26
Speaker 3: it's just really hard to compete with them unless these
30:28
Speaker 3: guys put up ridiculous numbers year in and year out.
30:33
Speaker 1: Repeating an earlier phrase, it won't be dull in Birdland.
30:37
Speaker 1: Even with all this coming and some uncertainty coming, there's
30:42
Speaker 1: always stuff going on to talk about, which works out
30:44
Speaker 1: well for a show like ours. Thank you for joining
30:48
Speaker 1: us today, and we will see you next time on
30:51
Speaker 1: a new edition of Birdland Territory.
30:56
Speaker 2: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
30:58
Speaker 2: Check it out right here.
30:59
Speaker 3: And make sure you subscribe to Birdland Territory for more
31:02
Speaker 3: Orioles coverage like this multiple times a week.