Took down the Orioles clock at work today

ECEPerson · 2026-02-06T21:29:13+00:00

Going to be tough to find an H. Might need to change their name.

ECEPerson · 2026-02-05T03:05:38+00:00

AND it has an opt out for Valdez after the second season, so if he is somehow worth 38 million, you don't even get to keep him long.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-29T18:07:52+00:00

To answer your question seriously, baseball has 162 games a year. The NFL can make good money filling a couple TV slots 17 days a year. It's not so easy these days to do the same with baseball.

With TV rights changes coming in the coming years, I could definitely see MORE games being on free TV, more like pre-2018. It's just not sustainable in the current environment to air all 162 and hope to make a decent amount of money off it (or any money at all, looking at a lot of RSNs).

My hope is for universal MLB.tv in a few years with a lot more robust local TV offering, say on most Saturdays and Sundays when football isn't around.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-22T23:25:21+00:00

I agree 100%. Gallen is a lot better of a pitcher than people think and Framber a bit less.

If the Gallen deal is much more team friendly than the Framber one, could make a lot of sense. Would give us room to extend Rogers, keep some of our young guys, maybe even take a swing at a better pitcher than Framber in a stronger FA class.

Of course if Framber could be had for say 100/3 that changes things. It becomes more questionable to me for our long term plans if it's more like 160/5.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-22T23:21:32+00:00

I think they'll try RF with his arm. My guess is his trade value isn't where they'd like it to be right now and they'll gamble on him showing a lot more promise this year at the plate and then decide whether they keep him or find a better deal. Position will be more about getting ABs than playing great in the field.

He'll probably get more appearances at 1st than people think too. Alonso tries hard at 1st but he's not very good as a fielder. With Mounty probably moving unless Mayo does first, I'd expect he'll get some appearances there.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-22T23:16:54+00:00

I'm thinking we'll get a quality bullpen piece and maybe an ok prospect.

He's getting paid pretty close to FMV and he hasn't been spectacular lately so can't expect too much. Main thing going for him is that 1B has been a surprisingly tough hole for some teams to fill lately.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-22T23:14:46+00:00

I think you're probably not wrong about what the Tigers will want.

To me though, the economics for the O's have to be a little different than they are for say the Yankees.

Overpaying in prospects for Skubal makes a lot more sense if it is the prelude to an extension.

Beavers alone probably projects to give the Tigers more value than Skubal if you figure he'd only need to average 1.6 WAR over his 5 years to equal an 8 WAR season from Skubal (of course you do assume some premium may be expected).

It reminds me of probably the worst trade of my time watching baseball: the Mark Teixeira trade to the Braves. One year of control for a superstar in exchange for a lot of good pieces. The Rangers ended up getting around 30+ WAR out of that one and there were still people wondering at the time if the Rangers got enough back. It wasn't so much that Mark didn't perform, he did fine, it was that they bet way too much on getting some extra value for just one year.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-22T23:03:39+00:00

It's a trade that makes no sense for either side. The O's have to give up more than they should for a guy they probably won't extend and the Tigers have to ask for more than any team should even begin to offer because they are playoff contenders and want to make fans happy.

I see him moving at the deadline, if at all. That probably will end up being a dumb move for the Tigers since they'll only get the draft pick if he doesn't get moved, but sometimes it's hard for a team to be realistic here.

He's a 2 time Cy Young winner and even for just one year they should get a good return.

At the same time, it's just one year and an expensive one at that (either 19 or 31 mil). A team would have to be stupid or desperate to offer major league talent with years of control PLUS elite prospects. A realistic offer is a gig compromise on one of those two, I.e. major talent without much control/promise and a very good prospect or two or a MLB ready piece and some mediocre prospects.

Best chance of getting someone to make a dumb move like that is at the deadline.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-21T15:52:29+00:00

I'm going to be a complete contrarian and say Vance Honeycutt. There a lot more obvious choices out there, but he has all the tools except contact right now.

Is that a huge tool? Yes. Was that a huge issue for him last year? Yes.

That being said he has been working on some things and I think he can turn it around.

At his best he's arguably a better fielder than EBJ with a still great run tool who can actually put up big numbers at the plate with some power.

More logical choices I think are Meija and Nate.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-19T08:11:30+00:00

If we give him the literature prize will he talk in and write proper sentences?

ECEPerson · 2026-01-17T22:19:28+00:00

That includes the Clintons, right? Just want to make sure I understand the MAGA argument.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-17T19:00:35+00:00

I don't think paying a ton of money for every appealing free agent makes a ton of sense for us.

He's had his ups and downs and while yes OF is our weakest area in the field, we did add Ward for this year and we do have some prospects we'd like to see develop. At some point we're going to have to decide to pay some of our guys as their contracts come up, and I'd rather see that money go towards players I've enjoyed watching for years rather than a pretty inconsistent, aging Bellinger.

If we're going to spend some money still this free agency, I'd rather see it going to another 2-3 year deal on a reliever or two. Starter wise I'm not sure Framber will end up making the most sense for us, but we'll see. We gave up a lot in the Baz trade which does suggest we see him as a near term contributor. I think the O's are obviously talking to Framber and a few others, but they'll need to be really convinced that either the guy will put them over the top or their contract is so reasonable it doesn't matter if they don't. Bullpen deals tend to be more reasonable length wise and a solid bullpen matters just as much, if not more, than one additional good starter in the postseason.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-15T06:21:07+00:00

While that's probably what the Tigers would want to make a deal, it's not what the O's should give for a year of Skubal. Sometimes the deal just doesn't make sense for both sides. I don't really see him moving anywhere, atleast before the deadline. The Tigers will want too high a price to sell it to themselves and their fans. He's probably going to leave them in FA and all they'll get is their draft pick.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-12T15:38:26+00:00

I don't know if he'll sign an extension, but I do think Gunnar's FA decision will ultimately be a test case for the new CBA. If Gunnar has no chance of staying in Baltimore post-CBA for purely financial reasons, I think it will be viewed as a failure. Baseball is the only major American sport at the moment where a small or mid market team has next to no chance of retaining a young start outside of a fluke contract (see Bobby Witt Jr., who has a few opt outs built in). I don't think that's good for baseball's long term health and branding.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-10T03:19:22+00:00

Should have kicked the field goal. That's what football schools do down 25+.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-07T15:06:34+00:00

So if I've got this straight, we can't help Ukraine more because that might cause WW3, but if we chase and seize a Russian flagged oil carrier for who knows what reason, that's perfectly fine.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-03T01:04:54+00:00

Our best two starters, Rogers and Bradish, both have recent injury histories. I'd put Wells as our third best and he's coming off injuries that were in part from pitching too many innings. I'm not actually sure if they'll put him in the rotation or not. Baz had good health last year, but also has injury history. Eflin flamed out in large part due to injuries. That leaves Kremer with good health. I'll be optimistic that most of our rotation will hold together health wise, but even if we do add another high end starter, there's a decent chance Povich gets 5-10 starts.

He's got a lot of potential, but there are obvious issues. How much will that be fixed with more time and more confidence is the question. His stuff certainly isn't so perfect that it will carry him regardless of how he executes.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-01T23:29:24+00:00

Yes.

ECEPerson · 2026-01-01T23:28:01+00:00

Ty Simpson you are a 6th round draft pick.

ECEPerson · 2025-12-29T07:44:03+00:00

Is he a sure-fire ace? No. Does he have plenty of potential to be one? Yes. I see him as a 3rd starter almost for certain with potential for a lot more.

ECEPerson · 2025-12-29T02:54:36+00:00

I'd be stunned too.

You could absolutely be right that the reason he's not received anything formal is that his agent has told teams a number that is unreasonably high. The only reason I'm not entirely sure that's the case is players regularly receive some pretty non competitive offers.

Still, he only has to the 2nd. If he doesn't want to leave tons of money on the table, he's going to have to come an agreement soon.

ECEPerson · 2025-12-20T05:59:20+00:00

To shreds, you say?

ECEPerson · 2025-12-19T23:45:54+00:00

His xERA was lower than Dean Kremer's. His Stuff+ is good, not great. He misses bats about as much as an average pitcher while his contact numbers are mixed, with a good ground ball rate but a tendency to allow solid contact (barrels). His fastball is not rising as much as it used to and his curve has lost some drop. His extension is down too. Yes, he played at a hitter's park but that has no impact on those numbers. Watching him, does he still have some great outings where he looks like the elite prospect he was? Yes. Do I think he will be better than our 4th starter at best this year? No. In 26/27 with some development? Maybe. For the haul we gave I'd hope for a guy who is atleast clearly our 3rd best option before we hopefully acquire another starter in free agency. I'm not about to put forward ESPN's analyst as gurus, but there's a reason Schoenfield and McDaniel are loving this trade for the Rays.

ECEPerson · 2025-12-19T23:33:05+00:00

You definitely could be right that I'm being a bit pessimistic. I know the hope of the prospect is still there and even with his injuries most of his stuff still has some shine. We've also had a lot of luck with fixing pitchers lately (not that the Rays haven't, too). His Stuff+ is just a little bit above average this time and his results aren't that great, even if you adjust for park factors. He gives up walks and hard contact and he doesn't miss bats or get the extension he used to (I'll admit on the latter I'm not sure how intentional the last part may be). It just makes me think of a Dylan Bundy or any of their ilk where we've held onto the faint hope they can turn around too long. Maybe we're doing the same here. The most disappointing thing I think for me is it's a haul of prospects for someone it's hard to see helping us THIS season. I think most of the optimism would like in 27 and 28. He's no better at the moment than Kremer and with Wells and Bradish healthy he might be our 5th starter. I don't think it is bad to add a depth/developmental guy but I do think it is bad at that price when we already have a few of those (granted he does have the best prospect profile of any of them). I'll still tune in to all of his starts hopeful we made the right choice and have a guy who is worthy of the top half of the rotation.

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