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The Orioles season-ending press conference · Birdland Territory

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Let the Orioles offseason begin. It arrived on Monday with
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the season-ending press conference at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Mike Elias, president of baseball operations, was there. Craig Albernaz,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the Orioles manager, was there. And it's apparent by now,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: even though David Rubenstein hasn't said this to the public,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: that those two men are retaining their jobs. We haven't
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: heard it from the very top of the Oriole food chain,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: but I think we can all assume it safely now.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: those men ran the season-ending press conference and talked very generically,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: I guess you would say, about their vision for the future.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: We didn't get too many specifics. We got some updates
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: on some players, and we'll get to that. So anyway,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: we want to let our viewers know we're here, of course,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: all off-season. Keep subscribing and following Birdland Territory. We're now
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: in two shows a week, all off-season until we get
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: back to baseball for 2027. So guys, I think This
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: is my take on where the Orioles are today. Personal opinion.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Everybody wants to know what players will be different. I
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: think these front office additions, whatever they're going to be,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: are going to be significant. They're talking about hiring a
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: general manager who will work very closely with Elias. He
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: said that would be a collaborative hire, ownership and Mike.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: It's not just Mike picking a guy, his friend or something,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: where the owner's inserting someone on him that he doesn't
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: want in there. They'll collaborate on this person, which I
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: think is going to be significant because they're going to
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: need new ideas. They keep telling us that and they're
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: going to actually need to listen to new ideas. Yeah,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: we need to see that. So let's start with this
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: clip from Elias. He's talking about what they would look
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: for in a front office edition. Kind of a presuming here.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: He's talking about what they would look for in a
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: new general manager.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Well, the. answer is good people and it's case by
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: case and it's individually based. Like every hiring is to
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: answer a little more. Interestingly, we have a small operation.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: It has been, I've seen in some metrics, it's like
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: 29th in the league in terms of size and baseball operations.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: So just that we have a lot of needs. Baseball
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: operations has been growing very, very rapidly over the last
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: few years with just the way that the game's evolving
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: and And I think with our ownership group now, we
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: have a good opportunity to sort of participate in that
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: growth a little bit more than we've been doing. And
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: there's parts of our baseball operation that I think I
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: could use some different voices and ideas in more than others.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: I don't know that I want to get into it
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: here on the stage, but you'll probably be able to
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: see as these hires come in where we're looking for
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: some impact.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: So that last part was interesting to me. He's identified
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: what they need to add. He's not ready to tell
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: us specifically what they need to add.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was, you know, interesting, I would say, would
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: be the word to describe kind of how they're going
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: to go about this. They don't want to kind of
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: show their cards right now, but there's obviously going to
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: be additions. And I just think the biggest addition they
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: can make is just somebody that might have maybe a
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: different way of looking at things, not having all the
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: same minded people in the room when they're making these decisions.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Because like we've talked about the last couple of years,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: it just has not worked out. And I think they
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: need to have somebody that Mike needs to bring in
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: somebody that will have a different idea and they can
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: kind of collaborate with each other to put the.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Best team forward.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: And I think it'll be interesting to see these names
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: that they get, because it will show you where they
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: think they're lacking when it comes to baseball operations. So
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: I think, Giving that information is at least an interesting
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: point there. And I think it could provide some excitement
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: here because it would be nice to have different ideas
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: in the room and not just have a bunch of
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: guys that have been working together for a long time.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: It worked for a while. It doesn't seem to be
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: working anymore. So I think that that was kind of
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: my big takeaway from that clip.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: Look, Mike Elias is a really, really smart guy.
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: And he knows that there is no one in this
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: organization under the microscope more. in 2027 than him, because
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: this is legitimately do or die. We were wondering if
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: Mike would be brought back for a ninth year. Obviously,
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: it seems like that is going to be the case.
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: But like you said, Brad, the last two and a
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: half years, it has not worked. And that quote in particular, guys,
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: was probably the one that stuck out to me the
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: most from that press conference, him volunteering the fact that
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: They were 29th out of 30th in terms of baseball operations.
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: And I found that pretty shocking, to be honest with you,
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: because you can go back to 2025, guys, where Brandon.
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: Hyde was fired.
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: And when he met with the media in Milwaukee, at
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: that point, he was talking about serious introspection. How can
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: we do things differently? And it was a lot of
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: the same. And We know that this ownership group has
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: a lot deeper pockets than the past ownership group. And
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: I remember a quote that Mike said last offseason that's
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: still kind of crazy to me is he said that
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: this ownership group was willing to spend into the red considerably.
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: So with that.
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: Being said, I'm surprised that it's taken till this point
• 5:36
  Speaker 5: to add significantly to the baseball operations staff. But Clearly,
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: he knows that something needs to change, and that is
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: an area that obviously needs to change.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I'll share an opinion that someone not with the Orioles
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: shared with me in recent days on that topic of
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: 29th largest baseball operations. This person's take was that's not
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: ownership being cheap. That's the way the Orioles preferred it,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: to have a smaller, close-knit group of the same mind
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: The more people you bring in, the more opinions you have.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: And sometimes they're not all where this is my way
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: or the highway. So this, again, is all moving towards Will, Mike,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: who we agree has done a lot of good things
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: over his tenure here, but needs to do more. Everybody
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: would agree on that. Is he ready to embrace other
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: thoughts and implement them? That's what we're going to find out.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: Steve, that's exactly my point.
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: I don't think this is ownership saying, we don't see
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: the benefit in spending money in baseball.
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: I don't think that's it at all.
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: Because based on Mike's comment this past offseason, the ownership,
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: he always says it, limitless, there's no constraints, there's no anything.
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: That is absolutely a Mike Elias decision. He got promoted
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: to president of baseball operations.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: So 100%, I'm with you.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: Right, and I put that out there because, Tim, over
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: the years, anytime the Orioles don't have something another team does,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: the fans tell me that's because they're cheap. So this
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: is not about revenue, money, dollars. This was a decision
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: the Orioles made to have a smaller, close-knit front office,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: and now they're trying to have a bigger one with
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: more ideas. So I just think that's incredibly significant for
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: this winter and fall for the Orioles. Who's added? How's
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: it going to work? And then we'll all find out
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: what they produce. That's the bottom line to all this.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: So I got to ask a question or two. And
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: the one I asked was about Trevor Rogers. Why were
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: there no talks this season? That's what he kept telling media.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: And will the Orioles try to pull this out of
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: the fire now with Trevor Rogers before he can be
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: and hear from 30, I've.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Been over the years, I don't like to be the
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: person contributing too much public information to these sorts of
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: things unless it's like absolutely necessary. He, I'll say a
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: few things about Trevor, was extremely impressed. We traded for
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: him in the middle of 2024. He didn't come over
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: in the best spot. He went to a pretty low
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: place in his career and through his own hard work
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: and guts, he brought himself up to where he is
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: now with the help of the support and organization. I'm
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: really proud of him and everyone involved in that. I
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: thought he had a really good year, and we love him,
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: and we would love for him to stay. And I'm
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: certainly going to be talking to his camp before free agency,
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: but then also during free agency if it gets to
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: that point. That said, I think as he said publicly,
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: He's a pitcher who's worked really hard since being drafted,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: and he's managed to get to the precipice of free
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: agency at a healthy spot and an impressive spot, and
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: the system affords him that right, and I'm sure there's
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: a big part of him that's going to value that too.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: So that's my take on it, but the interest is
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: very high from our side of the fence. They love him.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: They're going to be aggressive, and the interest is very high.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: they had a chance to do this three months ago
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: when he was begging them.
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: To do it.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: So to me, this one's really, if this one ends
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: badly in Birdland, it's going to be rough for Mike
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: because the guy was throwing himself at the team. And
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: now at the 11th hour, you're going to be aggressive. Yeah.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: It's a, it's just a, it's an odd kind of
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: thing just because it seemed like mutual interest from a
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: while ago. And it's both sides have said the same thing,
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: but it's, Now, like you said, now you're waiting to
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: the point where you're basically going to have to give him,
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: maybe he's willing to take a little bit less, but
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: when you get to this point of free agency, it's like,
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: you want to go to a team that that really
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: values you and uh i think the orioles definitely value
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: him and they really like trevor rogers but it's just
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: basically going to come down to the dollar numbers unfortunately
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: i mean good for him but for the team i
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: just think it's going to come down to can they
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: afford him at the cost he's going to be uh
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: looking for so It's unfortunate, like you said, Steve, just
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: because both sides have talked so highly of each other,
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: and now you get to this point where basically he
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: has all 30 teams that are going to want him,
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: and it's whether or not the Orioles can afford him
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: or want to pay the money that it's going to
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: cost to keep him.
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: I think what's really frustrating kind of gets back to
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: what you're saying. This hasn't been a complete failure from Mike,
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: where Trevor Rodgers is one of the success stories.
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: It wasn't initially, of course. Everyone was destroying the trade when.
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: Kyle Stowers is hitting the cover off the baseball, and
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: Trevor Rodgers gets sent down after just three starts when
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: the Orioles are fighting for a playoff spot in 2024.
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: But Rodgers obviously had a lot of success early in
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: his career. He was an all-star, I believe, in 2021.
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: But like Mike said in that clip, he was at
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: a serious low point when he came here, getting sent down,
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: really struggling at the AAA level. And then for him
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: to completely turn around his career, the Orioles deserve a
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: ton of credit for that. But then it's kind of
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: a double-edged sword because, all right, that's a success story
• 11:28
  Speaker 5: for your organization. Why are you not investing in that?
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: Especially because he's a left-handed starting pitcher. So it hasn't
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: made sense throughout all of this, quite frankly.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: It hasn't.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: And so.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: You know, fans said, well, they got Bradish. They got Boz. Well,
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: they got them for lesser dollar amounts because they can't
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: be free agents. They're under team control. In Kyle's situation,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: there's the injury history. So maybe he's guarding against that
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: a little bit, saying, I have a chance to get
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: $ 90 million. Now I'm going to take it. But Rodgers
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: can have 30 teams bid on him. So they're saying
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: he's a $ 30 million pitcher now, which some people would
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: say he's not better than Bradish. Maybe he's not. But
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: the situation is different. So now the dollars are.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Going to be different.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the dollars are going to be different. And like
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: you said, giving up Stowers, I feel like that would
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: end up being the worst part of it. If he
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: continues to hit like he has with the Orioles needing
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: the outfield, you end up getting a guy. I know
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: it wasn't a rental. You had him for a bunch
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: of years. But still, if he goes to free agency,
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: you lose him. And you have to watch Stowers hit
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: the cover off the ball for the next however many
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: years for the Marlins. it just kind of adds to
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: this whole story of just not keeping the guy you
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: want to have on your team. And hopefully they're able
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: to be aggressive. And I hope it's not just him
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: saying that they want him back. I really think that
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: this guy is big for this rotation and for the team.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: He's a big leader. I mean, I just think he's
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: able to speak to the younger guys on his struggles
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: that he had. And sometimes your career isn't going to
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: be this linear path that a lot of guys get
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: to go on. And I think his story of almost
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: redemption really coming back to the way he was pitching
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: this year is, is a really cool one and something
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: that he can speak to the younger guys that are
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: on this team. So I really hope that they are
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: aggressive and that they're able to keep Trevor Rogers here.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: But like I said, I just think it's going to
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: come down to the dollar amount. And if the Orioles
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: are actually able to be as aggressive as they want
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: to be to keep them.
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: I just think what makes it really tough is, yeah,
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: I think Trevor Rogers earlier in the season was absolutely
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: willing to sign.
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: Early, but at this point, I mean, you're a month away.
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: You grinded so hard to get to this point to
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: earn this opportunity where I'm sure Trevor Rogers will listen
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: and his camp will listen to Mike Elias and their
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: contract talks, but his agent would be doing him a
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: disservice if he didn't see what was out there in
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: the open market and then it gets to the point
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: are the Orioles willing to get into a bidding war
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: to bring back Trevor Rogers and I'm just not so sure.
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: I'm just not so sure.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: You know, 318 ERA for this guy the last two years.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: So is he at the top of the game?
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: No.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: There are guys pitching the 190s right now. You know,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: it's ridiculous how good some of these guys are. He's
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: not that. But 318 is better than most in the game.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: You're towards the top of the rotation. And so he's
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: 28 also. And also, there's not a lot of tread
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: on those tires because of injuries. He hasn't thrown as
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: many innings as some comparable pitchers at the career level.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: So there's so much going for this guy right now. Oh,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: by the way, he's left-handed. They love lefty pitching. So
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: right now, O's, you can get him. It's going to
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: cost more. And you say you love him. So they
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: got to show us they love him. And that's what
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Trevor Rodgers and his reps are saying. Show us the love.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: We're over here waiting to hear that. And we'll see
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: how that's going to play.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Out in Birdland.
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: We got a lot to do on this show, so
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: don't go anywhere. We're going to hear more clips from
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: the season-ending press conference and have more to do coming
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: up on this edition of Birdland Territory.
• 15:22
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• 15:25
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• 16:10
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• 16:13
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• 16:16
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• 16:22
  Speaker 1: So with the arrival of the season-ending press conference Monday,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: the offseason is here in Birdland. Just 79 wins, two
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: straight quiet Octobers in Birdland. So that's not happy, good
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: news for anyone from the team to its fans. Highlights,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Mike Elias, we've touched on him. Going to bring in
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: a GM that certainly looks certain at this point. Collaborative
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: between him and the owner as to who they hire.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Kyle Bradish having sports hernia surgery today as we tape
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: this Tuesday in Philadelphia. Trevor Rogers, they love him, and
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: he's very high, interest level high right now to try
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: to bring him back. LDL is going to be a
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: starting pitcher next year. We discussed that one, and that
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: was determined yesterday. We heard from Craig Albertaz that he's
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: moving back to a starter's role in 2027. And Jordan
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Westberg began a hitting progression this week. Of course, he's
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: coming off Tommy John surgery. So, guys, we talked about
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: this one a lot. Analytics. Do the O's rely on
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: it too much? Do they need the human element in
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: here sometimes? Here's Elias on that topic.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Look at the teams that are doing really well right
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: now and the way that they're caricaturized too. It's clearly
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: an enormous part of success in this sport nowadays. It can,
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: I think, get unfairly attacked when a team is not
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: being successful because it's by nature presents counterintuitive information. That's
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: like the whole point of it. And I totally understand
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: and appreciate all that. And my roots as a person
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: in baseball, over 20 years in Major League Baseball, or
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: 20 years in Major League Baseball, is as being a
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: subjective evaluator that does not provide analytical information but marries
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: it with stuff that's more traditional and more intuitive. So
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: I kind of think of full appreciation of that spectrum.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: To Craig's point, we haven't done well executing on that
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: front or well enough on that front by appearances of
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: the results. So we are looking at the particular inputs,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: the blends, the balances, the fine points of execution, but
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: there's no team in baseball or a lot of other
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: sports that are just going to completely run away from
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: using advanced analytical information.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: So what did you guys hear with that comment?
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I was honestly surprised to hear that
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: he was the one that was kind of not the
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: analytical guy, but using the information and kind of being
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: the one that was I guess, kind of comparing it.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: At least that's what I heard when he was saying
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: that quote. So I thought that was interesting because I
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: always thought he was the analytical guy and he used
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: it a lot. So yeah, I think it's an interesting thing.
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: Just watching this team, I just can't help think that
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: it's fully analytical and that there's not much rebuttal against
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: the information that they have just based on the way
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: they play the games. And yes, execution is You know,
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: probably one of the biggest reasons. But to me, that
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: is the difference in baseball is teams that execute their
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: plan compared to teams that don't. So I guess it's
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: it's kind of what I thought, but at the same time,
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: a little bit different because I thought Mike was the
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: one that was using it full go. But I don't know,
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: just watching the product on the field to me, it
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: just screams full analytical and fun. there's not much against it.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: So I just hope they bring in some voices that
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: are ones that are truly looking at the human element
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: and then they can marry them a little bit better.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: Just because I feel like there's a little bit of
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: strategy that can be changed for this team to help
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: them for the better.
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah, we've talked about this so much throughout the year and,
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: you know, my stance hasn't changed and Mike is right.
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: You know, you would be foolish to not use analytics.
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: That would be foolish.
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: But to your point, Brad, it's just gotten too deep
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: with this team and other teams in baseball, to be fair,
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: where the human element needs to be a big part,
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: a feel of the game.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: Needs to be a big part.
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: We bring up a ton how earlier in the season,
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: I think it was June, you know, Jackson holiday goes
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: four for four.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: All right, man, left-handed starter. The next day you're riding
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: the pine. It just doesn't make any sense.
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: Or how many times this year, guys, did we see
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: a player have two hits and then in their third,
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: that bad or fourth, that bad you get pinch hit
• 20:59
  Speaker 5: for because of who's strong.
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: It's just, there needs to be a feel.
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: And again, We've seen now two former Orioles go on
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: big rants about analytics. Ben McDonald back in May at
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: the Trop, and Mike Bordick on 105.7 The Fan.
• 21:16
  Speaker 8: That really made a lot of rounds as well. I
• 21:20
  Speaker 8: get both of their points, and we love Ben. Ben's
• 21:22
  Speaker 8: been on here, and we love Mike Bordick, all of us.
• 21:26
  Speaker 8: There needs to be more of a blend between... traditional
• 21:31
  Speaker 8: baseball guys, old school baseball guys, like a Ben McDonald,
• 21:35
  Speaker 8: like a Mike Bordick blended with a, I know Sig
• 21:40
  Speaker 8: is not running the analytic department anymore, but him as
• 21:43
  Speaker 8: an example with Sigma Dell, there has to be more checks.
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: And balances there as opposed to all in on analytics.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah. That's where I'd like to see this general manager
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: have a background where it's not, it's just not all
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: analytics driven. Now, Elias has said a couple times he
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: got his start as an old school scout sitting in
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: ballparks in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, by the way, Frederick Delmarva, Fredericksburg,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: so forth, for the Cardinals. That's his background. So that side,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: he says, is always with him. And when I talk
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: to minor league coaches, that's the message they give me.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: Some of these are young kids, 30, 28, who are
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: very analytically driven, but they also contend that old school
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: concepts are never gone. And that if a player comes
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: to them and says, my high school coach can fix
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: my bat. I don't need all this data. OK, let's
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: see what he can do. If he can make it 300,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: we'll just all tip our hat to him. So that
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: all that has to happen. And we'll see if it
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: will for the Orioles as they make some changes, both
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: on the roster and in the front office. And what's
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: going to be a very interesting few months of Oriole baseball.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: When we come back, let's talk about pitching depth in
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: the Oriole organization.
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: Vinny and Haney, three deep.
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: Live on YouTube, Monday through Friday, 6 till 6.
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: Search 105.7 The Fan, Baltimore.
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: And never miss a moment of coverage on the teams
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: you love.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: So when a team performs as poorly as the Orioles,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: we can focus often on what's wrong with them and their,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: that's a long list. Sometimes we forget what's right with
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: them or what might be good with them. And right now,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: pitching depth is it. The rotation has a good base
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: for next year. We'll see what happens with Rodgers. The bullpen,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: we talked repeatedly about some of the arms that impressed us.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: The minor leagues, depending upon what top 100 you look
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: at right now, has two pitchers in the top 100
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: or three and maybe more on the way. And oh,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: by the way, in this year, homegrown pitching, Brandon Young,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Luis De Leon, Trey Gibson. We saw evidence that Oriole
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: pitching development is finally making it to the major leagues
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: and doing it well. So that's encouraging. What about all
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: these pitching prospects on the O's farm? How are they
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: going to get them implemented to the big league staff?
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: How are they going to use them? At the moment,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: we do have a lot of pitching talent in the organization.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: We're happy with it. That can often be a femoral thing.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: These guys can get hurt easily, and there's a lot
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: of variability in pitching, so we're kind of paranoid about that.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: But I do credit, obviously, the players, but our development
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: staff at the major teams and minor league levels, um,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: toward the work that they're doing with those guys. I
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: think our pitching department is in really good hands at
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: the major and minor league level. And we're excited about
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: what by and large, most of those prospects did this year,
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: but also we had really good performances in the bullpen
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: and the rotation this year as well. So, um, you know,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: kind of trying to keep a strength of strength. We
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: hope to roll that into next year, but like I've
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: been saying, it's really hard to stay on top of
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: things in this business. But right now, We have a
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: lot of things. This has been a disappointing season. We
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: are in a good spot organizationally. We have talent. We
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: have flexibility. We have great owners. We have good people.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: We've just got to execute and put it to work
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: better next year, and I'm hopeful that our pitching in
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: the organization right now should be a strength going into
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: spring training.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Now, as it relates to the rest of baseball, the
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: bar is high. The Yankees led the major leagues in
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: ERA this year, For the first time since the 50s, oh,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: by the way. And so it wasn't close. The Yankees
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: separated from number two by a large margin. The Red Sox,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: look at what they're throwing out there right now. Toronto
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: signed Dylan Cease and still didn't make it. So guys,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: the Orioles have all this pitching. It has to get
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: to the big leagues and deliver like we started to
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: see this year.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think this year was a good stepping
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: stone for that development. Started to see some of these
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: guys make it to the major leagues and have success there.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: And I think that's the biggest difference is it's great
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: to have these minor league prospects and it's great to
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: have guys that make it to the big leagues, but
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: keeping them as starters to me is one of the
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: things that is the toughest thing to do.
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: And it's the separator in the, in the AL East.
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: And when you look at the teams that made the playoffs, it's,
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: it's almost every single top pitching team made the playoffs
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: this year. So the orders, I feel like are in
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: a good spot pitching wise. It's now just executing like
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: they said on the field. And that's a, That that
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: can always be a little tricky here or there because
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: injuries are always just going to be expected in today's game.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: And that's just part of it. So you just got
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: to have a bunch of guys and you hope that
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: you hit on the guys that you expect to hit.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: And then other guys can fill in, whether it be
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: in the bullpen or, you know, some spot starts here
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: or there. But I mean, having the type of pitching
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: they have right now is definitely not a bad thing
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: and good for 2027 moving forward.
• 26:51
  Speaker 5: I think what's really exciting is you look at the
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: top three guys that are under club control for 2027.
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: Kyle Braddish is going to be much better in 2027
• 27:00
  Speaker 5: than 2026. You know, that was his first full season
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: coming off Tommy John. We obviously know that he was
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: dealing with the sports hernia down the stretch, and that
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: really affected his performance. But we saw a nice 12-start
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: stretch of vintage Kyle Braddish. So we know that that
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: is still in him after the surgery. I expect him
• 27:21
  Speaker 5: to be much better. I expect Shane Boz to be better.
• 27:24
  Speaker 5: You know, now full year in the organization, him another
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: year removed from Tommy John surgery himself, Brandon Young coming
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: off his first full season. I'll say full, even though
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: he was in the minors to start the year. So yeah,
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: all those guys build on it, but the remaining two spots,
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: how do they handle that? We already brought up Trevor Rogers.
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: Is he going to be back? I probably side with no.
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: At this point, how do you go about replacing him?
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: I think you need a legitimate guy. And we heard
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: Mike Elias talk last offseason. He wanted to bring in
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: a top of the rotation guy. He did not land
• 28:02
  Speaker 5: that guy, but they were in on Suarez. They were
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: in on Valdez. Are they going to be in those
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: markets again this offseason? Do they make a trade? That
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: fifth spot, are you going to roll with maybe one
• 28:13
  Speaker 5: of your young guys, like a Trey Gibson, like a
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: Luis De Leon? Are you going to roll the dice
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: with one of those young guys?
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: You have options.
• 28:21
  Speaker 5: And then in terms of the rest of the prospect hall, pitching-wise,
• 28:26
  Speaker 5: are you going to package any of those guys for
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: a trade? Are you going to bring in a dude
• 28:31
  Speaker 5: in the outfield? Because we know that every team covets pitching, young,
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: controllable pitching, and the Orioles have a lot of that.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: It will be interesting to see if trade talks occur,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: how high up their prospect list with pitchers the Orioles
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: are willing to go. If you're willing to trade Ionson
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: or Jorwa, okay, now you might get an outfielder who
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: really could be something. If you go further down the list,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: maybe a lesser player who still could be very good
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: for you. And the good thing is if you want
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: to trade from a surplus and they have a surplus
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: of pitching prospects, they could trade one or two and
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: still have six or eight. So it's probably not a
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: bad spot to be in right now. Definitely.
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: I mean, pitching is, is gold. And anytime, even if
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: it's a prospect that can still help you get major
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: league talent. And I mean, the end goal is really
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: to have all these guys developing to be major leaguers
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: and to help your staff. Obviously, you know, that's, that's
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: not the reality in baseball, but still having this surplus
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: of pitching like they have right now and, having guys
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: who are considered top prospects throughout baseball is always a
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: huge thing to have. And like you say, you can
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: make your major league roster better by either creating some
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: of these guys or them developing. and helping out the
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: major league roster.
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: Look, it's great.
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: What Michael is obviously unfortunate that the Orioles were in
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: that situation at the trade deadline, but he got thumbs
• 29:53
  Speaker 5: up across the industry in terms of the haul that
• 29:56
  Speaker 5: he was able to get, the pitching haul in particular
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: at the trade deadline and replenish the farm system.
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: Where it was middle of the pack.
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: And now it's top 10, top five, depending on the
• 30:07
  Speaker 5: publications that you look for. So this farm system is
• 30:11
  Speaker 5: in a much better spot than it was prior to
• 30:14
  Speaker 5: the trade deadline. And this team is in a much
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: better spot this time around than when the farm system
• 30:21
  Speaker 5: was tops in baseball for multiple years. Now it's not
• 30:25
  Speaker 5: like you have to build an entire team, your farm system,
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: like the Orioles did have to do a few years back.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: I'll end with this note as fans want to see
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: the Orioles go from 70 some wins to 90. They
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: only have to look in their own division in 25
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: Toronto did it the year before they gained about 20
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: wins in couple outs from the winning the World Series.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: In 26, Tampa Bay did it. They were supposed to
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: finish last, 70-some wins. Look what they did. So the
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: example is there in Birdland, right in their own division,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: and fans should realize before you think there's no way
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: they can get back to 95 wins, it's happened two
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: years in.
• 31:07
  Speaker 4: A row in the AL East.
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and Steve, I also think you've got to be
• 31:11
  Speaker 5: much better against the Yankees and Red Sox in particular.
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: They just weren't good enough against them this year. You
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: have winning records against the Blue Jays and the Rays,
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: but the Yankees record was pretty brutal, and the Red
• 31:24
  Speaker 5: Sox was a losing record. You improve against those two teams,
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: that's going to go a long way to getting a
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: much better record.
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: We've said it before. It will not be dull around here,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: which is good for us when you have a 30-minute
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: show a couple times a week. A lot to talk about,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: a lot to see what happens in the front office,
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: on the roster, with the labor situation in the game.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: We'll be getting into that, of course, as the fall
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: and winter goes on. And so glad you joined us
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: again and glad you joined us today. We'll see you
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: next time on a new edition of Birdland Territory.
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: Check it out right here. And make sure you subscribe
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: to Birdland Territory for more Orioles coverage like this multiple
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: times a week.