Latest / Birdland Territory / Offseason Mailbag. Steve, Brad and Tim answer roster questions

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Offseason Mailbag. Steve, Brad and Tim answer roster questions · Birdland Territory

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  Speaker 1: Welcome in. Another edition of Birdland Territory. Another week of
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: shows here. And glad you've joined us. And today it's
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  Speaker 1: going to be viewer participation as we have gotten some
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  Speaker 1: questions over the last few days for a nose mailbag.
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  Speaker 1: And let's get right into it. Here is Birdland Connoisseur.
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  Speaker 1: This is a good one. What is more important to
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  Speaker 1: address this offseason? Getting an everyday outfielder that's a plus
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  Speaker 1: defender slash hitter or a catcher to allow Basayo to
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  Speaker 1: DH and play first base many games, most games? I
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  Speaker 1: think this was an easy one for me. I need outfield.
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  Speaker 1: They were 28th in outfield OPS last year, and they'll
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  Speaker 1: find a catcher. And I think a healthy Basayo is
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  Speaker 1: going to catch more than 50%. It's my guess. But
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  Speaker 1: what do you guys take? I think you need some outfielders.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so, too.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's like got to be there outside of
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  Speaker 3: maybe finding a starting pitcher, too. I think that's their
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  Speaker 3: biggest need and want this offseason is getting guys that
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  Speaker 3: can defend and hit out there. They got to find
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  Speaker 3: somebody that I know every team's looking for those guys.
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  Speaker 3: But I just think being able to find a plus
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  Speaker 3: defender and somebody that can hit every day. And I
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  Speaker 3: just feel like somebody that you don't have to platoon
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  Speaker 3: if they're if they're going to stick with this left
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  Speaker 3: versus right, right versus left. I feel like you got
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  Speaker 3: to have somebody that's out there every single day and
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  Speaker 3: whether they turn Couser into that and decide, hey, we're
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  Speaker 3: just going to start hitting them every day, whether it's
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  Speaker 3: a lefty starter or righty starter. To me, I just
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  Speaker 3: feel like that's one of their biggest glaring needs is
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  Speaker 3: just finding a guy who can play every single day
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  Speaker 3: in the outfield and someone that you know is going
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  Speaker 3: to be out there, play the same position and plug
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  Speaker 3: in the same spot in the lineup would go a
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  Speaker 3: long way to help this this Orioles team in twenty
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  Speaker 3: twenty seven.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, we were saying down the stretch, the final month,
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  Speaker 4: two months of the season, there's not a position group
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  Speaker 4: that's more in flux than the outfield. And gosh, if
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  Speaker 4: you ask the question, how many opening day starters are
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  Speaker 4: on the roster right now in the outfield?
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  Speaker 5: I don't know.
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  Speaker 4: Colton Couser is back. Do they view him as an
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  Speaker 4: everyday player? They weren't playing him every day. Obviously, he
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  Speaker 4: doesn't face left-handed pitching all that often. Dylan Beaver is
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  Speaker 4: still a really young player. Tyler O'Neal, we know the
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  Speaker 4: injuries pile up with him. He's entering the final year
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  Speaker 4: of his contract. We talked a week or so ago,
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  Speaker 4: Leote Tavares. Do they even tender him? If they're making
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  Speaker 4: one big move this offseason, and I'm not expecting a
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  Speaker 4: Pete Alonso-type move, but if they're making one big move,
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  Speaker 4: whether it's a trade or a free agent acquisition, I
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  Speaker 4: think it has to be an outfielder. But I also
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  Speaker 4: think the question of bringing in another catcher is an
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  Speaker 4: intriguing one, guys, just because we know Sam has dealt
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  Speaker 4: with a lot of injuries, and I don't have the
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  Speaker 4: numbers in front of me, but the amount of times
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  Speaker 4: he caught three consecutive days, I think he only caught
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  Speaker 4: four consecutive days once.
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  Speaker 5: I don't know.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, maybe that is worth considering, bringing in another
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  Speaker 4: legitimate catcher.
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  Speaker 1: It also opens up a question. Like Brad, you said,
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  Speaker 1: maybe they decide Couser's an everyday guy. He's going to
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  Speaker 1: see more lefties. They almost have to make decisions on
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  Speaker 1: these young guys without a lot of guarantees here. Is
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  Speaker 1: Couser the rookie of the year candidate, Couser? Or is
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  Speaker 1: he the Couser who can't hit off speed and struggles
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  Speaker 1: against lefties, Couser? And that's not as good an outfielder
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  Speaker 1: as the first one.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and to me, as we were talking about this,
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  Speaker 3: it makes me think back. If they knew the season
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  Speaker 3: was going to end the way it did, would they
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  Speaker 3: have played the outfield different towards the end and tried
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  Speaker 3: to use Kerstad, find out what they're going to do
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  Speaker 3: with him?
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  Speaker 2: Let's try Beavers. Let's try Calzer.
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  Speaker 3: I wonder if they would have gone about it differently, knowing, hey,
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  Speaker 3: we're going to finish four or five games out.
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  Speaker 2: Of the wild card.
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  Speaker 3: Let's play who we think is going to be there
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  Speaker 3: next year, and we can kind of make our decision there.
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  Speaker 3: Because now, like we said– one of these guys maybe
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  Speaker 3: could be that everyday outfielder.
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  Speaker 2: We just don't know at this point.
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  Speaker 3: And you go out and you find somebody else in the,
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  Speaker 3: like you said, Tim, either free agency or trade market,
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  Speaker 3: but it.
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  Speaker 2: Would be nice to know going in house.
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  Speaker 3: You had two of these guys already ready to go
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  Speaker 3: and they could face and being everyday outfielder. But we just,
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  Speaker 3: I feel like they just didn't answer that question at
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  Speaker 3: the end of the season there.
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  Speaker 4: I feel like if they had a redo button, I
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  Speaker 4: wonder if they would go back and, Divvy up the
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  Speaker 4: play time differently. Especially, you bring up Heston Kerstad, and
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  Speaker 4: that's the perfect example of it. He's out of options
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  Speaker 4: in 2027, so he's going to enter spring training. How
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  Speaker 4: much do we really know about Heston Kerstad at this point?
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  Speaker 4: It's not all the team's fault. There's been a lot
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  Speaker 4: of freak injuries along the way, but I still go back, guys.
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  Speaker 4: Leote Tavares being third on the team in at-bats, and
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  Speaker 4: he's a guy that probably will not be here in 2027.
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  Speaker 4: I would have liked to have seen Couser get more
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  Speaker 4: run and other guys that possibly have a future here
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  Speaker 4: in 27 or beyond.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. When we had Jim Pomerantz, he brought up Kobe
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  Speaker 1: Mayo to the outfield. That's not going to go away
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  Speaker 1: unless and until the Orioles tell us it's going away
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  Speaker 1: and they're not going to do it. The only question
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  Speaker 1: I have with that, that helps break up the log
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  Speaker 1: jam that you have over there. But then we get
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  Speaker 1: back to, They came up short so much in outfield defense.
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  Speaker 1: And at Kobe, I'm guessing the best you can hope
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  Speaker 1: is average-ish. If it's below that, you're back in that
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  Speaker 1: boat again where you have one outfielder who's not a
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  Speaker 1: good defender. And do you want to go right back
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  Speaker 1: to that? So there's a lot to be considered here,
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  Speaker 1: I think.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's like kind of cut off your nose
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  Speaker 3: to spot your face type of thing where, yeah, you
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  Speaker 3: might get more offensive production. but then we're back trying
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  Speaker 3: to figure out the same thing with you said, like
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  Speaker 3: you said, Steve, with the defense.
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  Speaker 2: And I think it came to yards.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's a viable option just because it's just
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  Speaker 3: kind of a shorter right field there. And if you have,
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  Speaker 3: you know, a plus defender, let's just say cows or
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  Speaker 3: somebody in center field, he can kind of shade a
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  Speaker 3: little bit more towards right center to help him out
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  Speaker 3: in right field.
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  Speaker 2: It's just when you go to like places like Boston.
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  Speaker 3: Where it is gigantic out there and you have these
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  Speaker 3: bigger outfields, I just feel like it becomes more of a,
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  Speaker 3: a problem. But I think for the 81 games you
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  Speaker 3: play candy yards, I really think Kobe Mayo could be,
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  Speaker 3: I think at least average out there, but we just
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  Speaker 3: don't know until he gets out there. And I think
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  Speaker 3: it was a good suggestion by Jim because it answers
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  Speaker 3: the offensive side of things. It's just defensively. What are
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  Speaker 3: you going to get? And we just, we won't know
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  Speaker 3: that until you see it or it's, it's tried out.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: The defensive concerns are absolutely valid.
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  Speaker 4: And for a team that gave up the most unearned
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  Speaker 4: runs in baseball, I think it was 88 in all
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  Speaker 4: of baseball.
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  Speaker 5: That has to be more of a priority moving forward.
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  Speaker 4: That is a huge part of this game and a
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  Speaker 4: huge reason why the Orioles didn't end up making the playoffs.
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  Speaker 5: You're giving away an extra 90 feet. You're giving away
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  Speaker 5: extra runs. You're giving up pitches for the starting staff.
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  Speaker 5: Just extra pitches.
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  Speaker 2: It all adds up.
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  Speaker 1: It's a nose mailbag today on Birdland territory. Randall's got
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  Speaker 1: a good question here. What's your best guess as to
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  Speaker 1: what the starting rotation looks like on opening day? We
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: have an X factor here in Trevor Rogers. Yeah. If
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  Speaker 1: he's in, it looks a lot better than if he's out,
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  Speaker 1: but let's say he's out. You've got, obviously you've got
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  Speaker 1: in some order, you've got Braddish, you've got Boz and
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  Speaker 1: you've got Brandon Young. So some fans will worry, and
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: maybe they're right about this, of some regression with Brandon Young.
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  Speaker 1: Can he do that again? But I think if he
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  Speaker 1: slips a bit, I think Boz could step up more
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  Speaker 1: because I just think he's that good. And so LDL,
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  Speaker 1: that's another wild card for me. You see leapfrog guys
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  Speaker 1: like Trey Gibson and Kate Povich. I mean, there's a
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  Speaker 1: lot of talent there. And then we'll see what they add,
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  Speaker 1: if they add in that spot. What are your guys' thoughts?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think outside of the outfield positions, I
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  Speaker 3: think starting rotation is– I think one is a definite–
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  Speaker 3: like you have to add at least one arm to
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  Speaker 3: one more of an established arm, I would say, to
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  Speaker 3: the rotation than any combination of, like you said, LDL,
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  Speaker 3: Trey Gibson– Ian said, hopefully he he's able to step
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  Speaker 3: up and be in the big leagues at some point,
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  Speaker 3: if not from the beginning next year. So I just
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  Speaker 3: think if you can get one more established arm, I
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  Speaker 3: would take those four guys on any team. And I
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  Speaker 3: would love to have those four guys to be at
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  Speaker 3: the top of my rotation. Then you just got to
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  Speaker 3: hope that somebody steps up and that's kind of, um, uh,
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  Speaker 3: a good problem to have when you have a bunch
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  Speaker 3: of arms in the system and you have guys that
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  Speaker 3: are kind of, uh, knocking on the big league, um, doorstep.
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  Speaker 3: So I think if you add one in there and then, uh,
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  Speaker 3: Any combination of those guys, I think it's a good
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  Speaker 3: problem to have when you have the amount of arms
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  Speaker 3: in their farm system like they've been talking about.
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  Speaker 4: And I think the other factor, guys, I fully expect
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: Kyle Bradish to be much better as well. And we
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  Speaker 4: saw him have a really, really good stretch in the
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  Speaker 4: middle of the season.
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  Speaker 5: Towards the end of the year, he really struggled.
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  Speaker 4: And then, you know, we found out that he had
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  Speaker 4: to have a sports hernia surgery. So pitching through significant
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  Speaker 4: pain that I'm sure that contributed to the the slow
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  Speaker 4: ending to him to the season.
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  Speaker 5: But Brad, I'm with you. I think you absolutely need to.
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  Speaker 4: Add another arm, a legitimate arm through free agency, through
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  Speaker 4: a trade. And then that fifth spot, look, we've talked
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: ad nauseum about the pitching depth that is in this
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: team's farm system right now. And I think you probably
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  Speaker 4: have to start taking a look at that, whether it
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  Speaker 4: is an LDL, a Trey Gibson, a Ian at some
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  Speaker 4: point during the season and, and so on and so forth.
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  Speaker 4: They have a lot of guys that are close, a
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  Speaker 4: couple of them that are ready right now, but as
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  Speaker 4: the season gets deeper, you know, more guys are going
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  Speaker 4: to be knocking at the door.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: I'll throw out another name. That's kind of probably a
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: long shot, but he's closer to the majors than, than the,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: I and sins and Caden hunters and jurors of the world,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: because they've not yet pitched a triple a Nestor. Hermann
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  Speaker 1: has yet a very solid year, not spectacular. The stats
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: don't jump off the page, but I talked to a
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: scout recently about Nestor. Hermann was very high on him
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: compared him to Brandon young and pitch ability and smarts
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: says he has an arsenal knows how to use it.
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  Speaker 1: Like Brandon young got some, he likes his breaking pitches
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  Speaker 1: better than Brandon young's. And so, this guy's a top
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: 30 prospect. He's been flying under the radar for a while,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: 11th round draft pick of the Orioles. And I think
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: he might get a shot at some point next year,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Nestor Herman. So we'll see how that plays out. So guys,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: before we get to questions, we want the fans to know,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: and I guess this is the young kids say, we
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: now have swag. We now have merchandise for Birdland Territory
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: at birdlandterritoryshop.com. Click on the code there. If I can
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: get it out, And you can see hoodies and shirts
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: and hats. There's even stuff for toddlers. And it's pretty cool.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: It looks good. BirdlandTerritoryShop.com, part of FowlTerritoryShop.com. So some interesting
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: stuff to check out and purchase right there so you
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: can show off Birdland Territory for us. We'll thank you
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: anywhere you go. And people say, what's that? You tell
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: them the great show about a few Orioles you need
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: to be watching. So check that out. Here is a
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: question from Richard. Where are you, Richard? Here you are.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: He's a nose fan across the pond and wants to
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: know predictions for the potential lockout in 2027. We've been
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: working hard at avoiding this one, but we can't avoid
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: it forever because it's December 1st. And so, Brad, what
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: are your thoughts on what you're hearing?
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just– I don't know. I don't know.
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  Speaker 3: As much as I want to say, they'll come together
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: and come up with an agreement.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: I just don't see it happening by December 1st. There
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: just hasn't been enough.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Usually at this point, you're going to hear bits and
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: pieces of stuff that is being going back and forth.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: It'll get leaked through the media at some point, whether
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: it's through MLB or through the players association. And I
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: just feel like you've been hearing different proposals, but you
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: haven't been hearing any counter proposals. And that's where I
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: feel like the big disconnect is, is, each side is
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: saying what they want, but I don't think we've seen
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: one agreement on either side saying, oh yeah, we'll do
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: this if you do that. And I feel like that's
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: where it's got to get to. And I think they're
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: doing a good job right now of kind of letting
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: the World Series play out. And I think that's kind
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: of how it's designed is, you know, like the spotlight
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: is on the game. You let it go to the
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: World Series. And then I think we'll start hearing rumblings
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: as soon as the World Series is done.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: But I hope.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: From a baseball fan perspective that they're able to just
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: somehow get an agreement and not have this become a
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: big story just because I feel like there's been so
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: much momentum in the game. And now you look at
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: the playoffs. It came down outside of the Dodgers losing.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: You had three of the smaller market teams that are
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: there in the World Series or fighting for the World Series.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: And I just think that's good for the game where
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: they are able to come up with a way to
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: allow smaller market teams to feel like they can be
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: more competitive the way the game is right now. I
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: think that's where the biggest contention points are going to be.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: But I don't know.
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: Like I said, I'm trying to see it as the,
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: you know, the rosy glasses on right now. I just
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: there's just been too many rumblings that I just can't
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: see this thing going past December 1st, whether that goes
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: into the preseason or spring training time or not. That's
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: another story that we're going to have to kind of
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: follow along with. But I just feel like there's going
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: to be some form of lockout or strike at some
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: point here before an agreement is come to.
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the lockout just seems Like a definite at this
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: point And Brad, I know I've joked in the past
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: It's funny, you know, anytime Whether the PA puts out
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: a proposal And then the league says it's ridiculous Or
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: the league puts out a proposal And the PA says, oh,
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: that's so stupid Yeah It's just a mess, but There's
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: so much momentum In this game right now Whether it's
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: attendance Or ratings, you know I know a lot of
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: people were concerned over the, these two small market teams,
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: whether it was the draw going to be, the ratings
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: have been through the roof for the first two games. And,
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: and you know, this is a world series where you're
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: getting definitely getting a brand new champion, which is really.
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: Really cool.
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: And it's so funny, you know, a lot of people
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: say NFL football, like parody parody MLB is the most
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: parody out of all the sports, which is, you know,
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: really crazy to think about.
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: And, How long this drags on for, I don't know.
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: I would be stunned if there's not going to be
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: baseball next year. I would be stunned. Could there be
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: a few games missed? I'm sure that that's a possibility.
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: But something that's been thrown out a lot is kind
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: of that line in the sand is this 60-game mark.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: Because if baseball misses 60 games, the TV contract's told.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: So they go an extra year to 2029. And both sides,
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: that's significant money because they're trying to get back to
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: the table after the rights expire in 2028.
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: So I think that's the drop dead mark.
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: I would like to think there's going to be baseball
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: before them.
• 15:50
  Speaker 5: But to me, that's the drop dead mark.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, it bothers me that the last few months
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: with this have mostly been about knocking the other side
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: rather than getting anything done. It's like, oh, here's why
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: what they said stinks. Here's why what they said won't work.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: And it just seems so dug in the trenches here.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: The other thing is there might be some people thinking, okay,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: a lockout, whatever, but that won't impact next season. And
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: it may not. But here's what a lockout does. It
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: shuts down the sport. There are no winter meetings. There
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: is no Rule 5 draft. There are no free agent signings.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: There is no trade rumors. All that is out. We
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: go dark almost. And so we'll find things to talk
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: about on shows like this. We always do and always will.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: But it's much more fun to say, wow, did you
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: see what Heyman wrote? Are the Orioles in on this guy?
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Or this rumor trade could happen. I didn't know they
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: would consider trading this guy. so much that makes baseball
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: fun in the hot season, they're going to squash. So
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: you may, you know, wish these sides were smarter than
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: it seemed to be and realize that this massive pot
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: of money is there to be divided and they just
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: got to figure out a way to do it. But
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: that's the last few months have been concerning. So we'll
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: see what the next few bring with the lockout. So Richard,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: thanks for following us across the pond. Thanks for your,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: your question. We have a really good question, and it's
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: kind of one fan's plan for free agency. It's pretty bold.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: If they could pull it off, Oriole fans would be delighted.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: We'll check in on that next.
• 17:31
  Speaker 6: Kratz, it's that time of year where all the sports
• 17:33
  Speaker 6: are pretty much going right now from the baseball playoffs,
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: which obviously on foul territory we love, NCAA football. There's
• 17:39
  Speaker 6: huge games this weekend, conference games. There's NBA starting. NHL
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: is going and the NFL is in full swing right now.
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: So if I need to get tickets because I go
• 17:49
  Speaker 6: everywhere and I go to a lot of games, I
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: use SeatGeek.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: I don't need to go everywhere. I just need to
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: go to the World Series.
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: Maybe I got to go see LeBron play too.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: So I just scroll across. I figure out where the
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: best place to watch the game is. SeatGeek's got me.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 18:05
  Speaker 6: Red dot, bad deal, they think. Green dot, great deal.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: But you get to choose. That's the one great thing
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: about SeatGeek.
• 18:11
  Speaker 6: And of course... We have a code. Kratz and I
• 18:14
  Speaker 6: have a code for you. You can use code TERRITORY10
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: for 10% off your next set of tickets at SeatGeek.
• 18:20
  Speaker 6: That's 10% off all tickets with promo code TERRITORY10. Make
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: sure you click the link in the description to download
• 18:26
  Speaker 6: the app and have the code automatically added to your
• 18:29
  Speaker 6: account so you can use it later.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Birdland Territory today owes Mailbag. Brian's got a free agent
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: plan for this winter. Man, he's got some names that
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Orioles would love to add. Here's his plan. Signed Seiya
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Suzuki as a free agent outfielder. Signed Trevor Rodgers, bring
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: him back. And signed lefty reliever Adrian. This is the
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: one I always struggle with. I think it's Mori Hon,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Mori Hon, something like that. You guys know better than me?
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: I think it's Mori Hon, yeah. Mori Hon, I think
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: Mori Hon, yeah, something like that.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: And let me tell you, let's start with him. 27
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: years old, 83 innings, 280 RA, 11K per nine, throws
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: 99 yards. big whiff rate on some of the secondaries. Yeah.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: He's going to do well as a, maybe the top
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: reliever out there and the Orioles need lefty relief. So
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: this is guys, but 30 teams are going to want
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: this guy.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. I think that's, that's going to be the issue.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: I think with maybe even him more than Suzuki and
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: Rogers is that a lefty reliever who can throw 99
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: and can be a setup man closer.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: He can throw multiple innings with the way the game
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: is played today.
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: You just got to imagine the teams that see themselves
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: going to the World Series. That's going to be one
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: of their top guys they go after. But yeah, I mean,
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: if you could do all that and the ownership was
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: on board, that's a great plan.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, it would kind of solve... everything. The only
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: thing is Suzuki. I know, I don't think he's known.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: As a great outfielder defensively, so that would be the
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: only worry there, but who do you go get? I mean,
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: every team would want a guy who's a top defender
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: and a top hitter. So it would solve all the
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: issues there. But I think Rogers just, we keep coming
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: back to it, but man, it's just, such a good
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: fit for this team. And he's such a good guy
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: for the clubhouse and for this rotation. To me, that
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: would be number one of these guys on this list
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: is to try to go get him just because you
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: can spend a certain amount of money on relievers, but
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: it's really hard with the market out there and how
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: many teams are going to be going after a reliever.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: And I just feel, I feel really good about what
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: they have on the relieving side. So for me, More
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: home would probably be last on this list of suggestions
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: from Brian.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: But it's a good plan. If they're able to do that,
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: I'd sign up for that today.
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah, a lot of it's really good.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: But the bullpen options are interesting, Brad, because I guess, gosh,
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: the bullpen from late May through the end of the
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: year was a top five bullpen in all of baseball.
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: And it really was amazing how they were able to
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: do it. And even after trading away at Tyler Wells,
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: who was so important to them, you know, dealing him
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: at the trade deadline, but we know how volatile bullpen
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: arms can be. So do you want to add maybe
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: another stud, but something, you know, positive, hopefully Ryan Helsley,
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: all signs point to him picking up his player option.
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: He'll be back and healthy.
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: And then Felix Bautista, you know, he was able to
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: get his feet wet at the end of the year.
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: What does he look like?
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: I think there's definitely room to add a bullpen arm
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: or two. ethan's the other interesting one and we brought
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: up that possibility a few episodes ago and the more
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: i think about it if you can come to you
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: know a number that works for both sides we're knowing
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: that the first few months of the year he's going
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: to be out but if you're able to get that
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: shot in the arm come june july you know whenever
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: he's back from tommy john maybe there is value to
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: that and and ethan you know all the guys in
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: the clubhouse love him it seems like he loves being
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: in Baltimore, maybe he would be amendable to doing something
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: like that.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Suzuki's 32 from Japan, 5.1 wins above replacement last year.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: He'll be coveted, but 32 might make it harder to
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: get the long-term deal, but it's 840 OPS guy. And actually, Brad,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: he has been noted not as a great outfielder, as
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: you said, this last year, his metrics jumped way up.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: And some people were like, I don't know. He seemed
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: to have made some improvements. So he's played mostly right
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: field for the Cubs. Now here's a question for you guys.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: If you could get one of those three, I think
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: that's a good winner if you got one. Which one
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: would you want?
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: I just keep going back to Rodgers. For me, that
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: is a great question.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: But for me, it just– I know we talked about
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: outfield being their number one priority, but like you were saying, Steve,
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: with the older player, I hate to say older player
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: because he's 32, but we know how it can go
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: sometimes with free agent signings. Pete outlived the expectations I
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: think we had for him, but you just don't know
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: how that contract is going to go towards the end
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: of it. You hope that he continues to do what
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: he's doing. But for me, Rodgers, it all comes down
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: to pitching and defense. I just feel like when you
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: look at the teams that are there at the end,
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: they're the ones with the best pitching. And I just
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: feel like the more arms you can get, the more
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: innings you can cover, the more you can cover up,
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: you know, defensive flaws or maybe the offensive production. If
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: you can have guys that go out there and give
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: you strong starts every single time, I just feel like
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: it gives you a chance to get in the tournament
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: at the end of the year. And Trevor Rogers to
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: me is just, he's comfortable.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: He's pitched here. We know what to expect from him.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: And I honestly think Eflin too is, is, would be
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: another one. I think when you get towards the end
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: of your career, He's made a big chunk of his
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: money he's probably going to make for his career. If
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: he feels comfortable, man, come back to Baltimore and just
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: be around these guys. You can maybe reestablish yourself at
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: a place that you know and you know what.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: To expect while you're there.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: I just feel like if you're able to get both
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: those guys at a price that you feel is reasonable,
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: that'd be a tremendous start for the offseason for the Orioles.
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: I definitely agree.
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: Of the bunch, I'm probably between Suzuki and Rodgers, and man,
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: that's tough because they need outfield help in a big,
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: big way. But Trevor Rodgers is going to be the
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: second-best left-handed starter to hit the market behind Scooble. So
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: that tells you where he is, and there's a ton
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: of value in that.
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: So I probably.
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: Have a slight lean to Trevor Rodgers just because you
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: can never have enough pitching and the fact that he
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: is left-handed. there's significant added value to that. But, you know,
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: it would be Rodgers and he still needs some outfield
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: help too.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Man, I don't think I would ever pick a reliever,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: no matter how good, over the starting pitcher and an outfielder.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: And yet this guy looks so good. Yeah. And they
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: are so lacking in lefty relief. Plus he's late inning,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: which we don't know if these guys coming back off injury,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: how it's going to be in the late innings for
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Helsley and Felix. Boy, that would be– any one of
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: these three answer big need, big help. But the wanting
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: to get all three, that would be– they'll sell some tickets.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: For the season.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: If they get all three of these players on the
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: 2027 Orioles, that would be exciting. Let's get one more
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: in before our time is up today. And this is Sebastian.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: And kind of a statement and sort of a question.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: The Orioles need to sign some contact hitters to bounce
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: out the lineup. home runs brings fans to the stadium,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: but defense wins the game. I mean, I'm, I'm on board, man,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: more contact and more defense. That's two things you're glaring
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: needs in Birdland.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: And I think it's, I feel like it's something we've
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: talked about multiple times. It's just the approach that they
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: have across the organization and across the team is just
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: not winning them games. It's something has to change, whether
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: it's more contact, whether it's, you know, better defense, there's just,
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: there's something about the way they're playing. There's, we keep
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: talking about the talent, the talent, the talent, but the
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: talent just isn't translating. And I just think it's this
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: swing and miss and the, with runners in scoring position,
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: there's just been some struggles over the last couple of years.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: And I just feel like they're so close to breaking through,
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: but then it goes back into not scoring enough runs.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: And then it's, so it's just, I, so I completely
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: agree with the statement. It's the home runs are always
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: needed in today's game, but when they're hit is I
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: feel more important than, How many they hit during the season,
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: because you have a ton of soul homers and not
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: win baseball games.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: And I feel like they've done a good job of
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: hitting a bunch of home runs.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: But it's more about just being able to put the
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: ball in play, get guys on base, put pressure on
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: the opposing defense. And I feel like that that style
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: of game seems to be making more of a comeback.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: And the teams that are there at the end, they
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: just seem to do that at a better rate than
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: the Orioles were able to do this year.
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: I just think they need to diversify their lineup. You
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: don't want to go all homers.
• 27:04
  Speaker 4: You don't want to go all contact, but you know,
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: you need to mix and match. And, you know, the
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: name that kind of came to mind immediately, like Chandler Simpson,
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: you know, he didn't get a.
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: Home run the entire year.
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: He's in the lineup every single day and the, the
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: raised one of pennant and are in the world series
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: right now. So there needs to be some of those
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: guys in your lineup. And, and quite frankly, you, And
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: this has been a talking point for years now. They
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: need some more guys that can wreak havoc on the
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: base paths, you know, in terms of stolen bases, in
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: terms of pushing the envelope and getting an extra bag. And,
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: you know, it's just finding that happy medium and building.
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: Out your lineup in a diverse way, for sure.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: There are some players out there who fill both those bills,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: contact and defense. Go find those guys. You know, there
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: are guys who make contact on offense and catch the
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: ball on defense. And, you know, two birds with one stone,
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: as they say. You could go get that. And I'll
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: follow up with the scouts take that I wrote about
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: recently on my sub stack. He likes Enrique Bradfield Jr.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: But he told me he got away from his game.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: He compared him directly to Chandler Simpson and said Simpson
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: knows who he is. And Enrique is trying to drive
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: the ball too much. He's got to be Chandler Simpson.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: And frankly, the scouts said he's as good as Chandler Simpson.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: I was very encouraged to hear that. I've always thought
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Bradfield would struggle to hit at the major leagues. He might.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: He might not. But he certainly brings defense and speed
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: and havoc on the bases still plays today. I hope
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: the Orioles get back to things that worked in Earl
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Weaver's day. That's been a theme of my thoughts here
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: the last month or so. Enough about, you know, you've
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: got to have data. You've got to have analytics. You've
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: got to have that. That's great. That helps make these
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: pitching prospects great pitching prospects. They study how they can
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: make individual pitches better, and then they execute it, and
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: we love to see that. But can you advance a runner?
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: Can you hit the cutoff? Things we talked with Mike
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: Schilt about, and hopefully they're bringing that back, and it's
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Jared Banner will bring more of them back because I
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: think it's so needed in Birdland. End of sermon here.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree. And I think it's, you want it.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: You want, obviously you want every hitter to hit 20
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: to 25 homers or 25 to 30 homers and you're
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: having a bunch of runs. But if that was the case,
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: then who would be an elite player? Everybody would kind
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: of be the same thing. So when you make it
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: to the major leagues or when you're on the way,
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: you've got to find your niche. And it's hard for
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: every single player to fit into the same peg hole
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: because otherwise the team would be kind of boring and
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: there wouldn't be any kind of diversity on the team.
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: Every guy would be the same thing. And those teams
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: don't come around very often. So having a guy like
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: Enrique Bradfield, Steve, I read your article about with just
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: go back to being yourself and just putting the ball
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: in play and stop trying to drive the ball. And
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: especially at a field like Norfolk, that is going to
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: take away all your confidence because the ball just does
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: not fly there. So if you're a guy that doesn't
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: have elite power, like when Kobe Mayo was there, he
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: was hitting 30 plus homers. Those guys don't come every
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: round every, uh, all the time because it's a hard
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: place to hit home runs at. So I think if
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: watching a guy like, uh, Simpson for the raise is just, it's,
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: I feel like it's, it's gotta be encouraging to a
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: lot of guys that, wow, I can go to the
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: major leagues and still have an impact.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: I don't need to hit 50 homers a year to
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: actually be on a team.
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: And like, This team's in the World Series, and he's
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: in the lineup every single day. You know he's not
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: going to hit a home run, but look at where
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: the infield has to play. They have to bring him in.
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: They need to be worried about when he gets on
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: first base. He's a steal threat every single time he's on,
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: and I just feel like that creates havoc in a
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: different way as opposed to standing in the batter's box.
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: You create havoc when you're on first, when you're on second,
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: when you're on third, and it can just change the
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: way teams play you.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: Guys like that I feel like are very necessary for this.
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: Team to just kind of change the dynamic of this
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: offense right now.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Yep, exactly. And people have told me they don't emphasize defense.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: My point is they drafted Bradfield, pretty good defense, right?
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: They drafted Honeycutt, pretty good defense. So some of these
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: guys they're adding do bring defense. We haven't seen it
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: yet at the major league level, but we haven't seen
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: those two players yet at the major league. So when
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: they get here, they can catch the ball. They'll instantly
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: be the two best defenders on the team if one
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: or both makes it to Birdland. So we'll see. Hey,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: great questions today. Thanks for sending them in. And thanks
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: for watching the show. Later in the week, we'll react
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: to the press conference, which is happening, well, tomorrow as
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: we tape this on Monday. On Tuesday, the Orioles have
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: the Jared Banner press conference, the new general manager. We'll
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  Speaker 2: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
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