As the start of the regular season draws closer, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world heading into the weekend:
1. Roberts, Dodgers nearing extension?
Working out an extension with longtime manager Dave Roberts has been a clear priority for the Dodgers all offseason, and reporting yesterday indicated that the sides are not only making progress towards a deal, but that an agreement is likely to be finalized before the club’s trip to Tokyo next week. With Roberts entering the final year of his contract, getting a deal done should be a major relief for both sides. Roberts has spent all but one game of his managerial career in Los Angeles, and the partnership has certainly been very fruitful. Since Roberts first took over as manager back in 2016, the Dodgers have a sensational 851-506 record with nine consecutive playoff appearances, two World Series championships and two additional NL pennants.
2. Rodriguez being evaluated:
The Orioles are dealing with another injury scare, as manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun) that young right-hander Grayson Rodriguez is dealing with soreness in his right triceps. A more comprehensive update on Rodriguez’s status is expected sometime today after they receive test results. Word of a potential triceps issue comes just days after Rodriguez downplayed an alarming velocity drop in a spring start against the Twins, one in which he felt “sluggish” and felt as though all of his pitches were “flat,” to use his own words.
It’s a concerning situation with Opening Day just three weeks away, especially for an Orioles club that’s light on potential impact rotation talent after losing Corbin Burnes to free agency this past winter. If Rodriguez were to miss time due to the issue, the club would seem poised to utilize a quintet of Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, Dean Kremer, and Albert Suarez in the rotation, although youngsters like Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott could also be viable depth options.
3. Walker undergoing MRI:
Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) yesterday that first baseman Christian Walker was headed back to Houston yesterday in order to undergo an MRI. Walker’s been dealing with an ailing oblique in recent days, and depending on what the imaging reveals it’s possible that the veteran won’t be ready for Opening Day. That could clear playing time for last year’s first baseman Jon Singleton to return to the lineup, though third baseman Isaac Paredes and backup catcher Victor Caratini also have some level of experience at the position. Even so, the loss of Walker for significant time would be a major blow to the club given his long track record of steady work on both sides of the ball in Arizona, which convinced Houston to offer him a three-year, $60MM deal this winter.
Uh oh, O’s.
Kyle Gibson is still available if Grayson needs some time on the IL, plus Orioles are already familiar with Gibby.
I hope my gut is wrong, but I got a baaadddd feeling about G-Rod’s noodle.
I could be wrong, but isn’t a triceps issue not as severe or long term as a pitcher having the elbow issue or the “sprained ACL”?
ACL is the knee, but generally speaking yes, the triceps is generally “less severe” than a full TJS but it could still mean “season ending” and I sure hope that isn’t the case here.
Beer : I think it’s UCL, which is in the elbow so hopefully it won’t be as bad as TJ’s surgery.
My bad yes UCL that’s what I meant
My bad definitely meant UCL…you can see that’s why I have nothing to do with the medical profession lol
It all depends on whether the triceps soreness is it’s own problem, or an indicator injury. Sore forearms are an indicator of a damaged elbow because the forearm has to take extra work for the weakened elbow.
A sore triceps could be an indicator of a weakened shoulder placing extra load on the upper arm. If that’s the case, it’s very concerning.
But it could be nothing more than the usual spring training aches and pains.
Hopefully for the O’s, it’s just a minor spring soreness, although that sudden lack of velocities is concerning.
Canuckle – this injury in isolation would not be concerning. This injury combined with the remainder of his history including a major injury just last year definitely is a waving red flag.
O’s need to try harder for Cease, since they refused to spend on a TOR starter this offseason.
@Fever Pitch Guy
Why would the O’s be spending on Toronto starters?
/s
York – When I first saw others use that acronym, I thought the same thing.
I guess this place is rubbing off on me ;O)
Just don’t rub off on me…!
😉
Fever: It always seems strange to me that the Padres were thinking about trading Cease since they won’t have Musgrove this season. I don’t know if Cease or Darvish is their ace but, like everyone else, the Pads can’t afford an injury to a SP.
Not sure if that’s better than him rubbing you off
Padres will rightfully rip off anyone for a Cease rental since they themselves want to remain a WC team. Tough to pull off. They’ll say pass on Mayo since he’s getting exposed until proven otherwise or an ok/not special Kjerstad…..Basallo would be the type of sting to headline.
Seven years of pro ball and Grayson has never gone more than 122 innings in one season. That’s a major red flag. Flaherty and Lorenzen were there for the taking. Now it’s Gibson or whatever is in the minors.
He pitched 162 in 2023 when you add his AAA stats. Unless you’re saying a dude is who has only pitched 1.5 seasons of major league ball with 2024 being on dl for a while is a “red flag”
The Orioles didn’t “refuse” to sign a TOR SP, the TOR SP we wanted and were trying to (re)sign just happened to want to specifically play for Arizona due to personal reasons. Can’t be mad about that.
Also, SD clearly doesn’t want to trade Cease, so that’s probably not happening either.
Os were also believed to be 2nd in the running for Snell. Fried wanted to be a Yankee and they way overpaid. There’s your 3 aces that were available. Flaherty would have been nice but that could also not work out and ppl would have complained about that signing too. I’m only concerned if this is a long term thing. Right now Povich is slated for AAA because pretty much no one else has options left, but Cade is looking like he belongs in the rotation
Fried just got a long contract to lessen the AAV. His contract is market rate for his talent. He’s been one of best pitchers in baseball since 2020.
They shouldn’t have paid $10 million a year for Kittredge. That money could have gone towards the pursuit of a starter.
I think it would be hilarious if Pittsburgh did what Seattle should have done at any point in the last 3 years (trade an MLB-ready Starting Pitcher for an MLB-ready bat). Go Pirates
Yeah so freakin’ hilarious.
You would probably hear a thud if the Reds actually did that. (That would be all the Reds fans having cardiac events)
@Troy: It’s a great idea. Pirates should offer the several years of control on Jones for Basallo and Westburg. It would provide Pitt offense they need to help Skenes and company. Elias has only been willing to trade his second tier position players, so more likely they pick up a low cost veteran if this injury becomes a long one.
Westburg, yeah. Basallo hasn’t proven anything yet and too many O’s “can’t miss superstar prospects” have been disappointments.
Hell no to Westburg and Basallo for Jones, and I say this as someone who really wants Jones.
King: If the Pirates are really trying to rebuild, I think pitching is the place to start. Skenes, Jones and Keller, I wouldn’t trade the first two, and it would take at least some promising prospects to trade Keller. (Don’t jump on me, Pirates fans. Just an observation.)
Teams with cheap controllable starters aren’t going to sell for players that are convenient for the buyer to trade (or fading overhyped prospects). Clubs got tired of Elias’s amateurish lowball offers last deadline until he arguably overpaid to settle on Rogers with time running out.
Keller is just an overpaid Dean Kremer, so I’d have very little interest in him.
is rogers not even an option to replace
an injured starter at all? several options listed, rogers notamong tj
is rogers not even an option to replace
an injured starter at all? several options listed, rogers not among them
Rogers tweaked his knee and is likely to be unavailable for opening day.
If Grayson ends up missing time, it will likely be Suarez or Povich filling in for him, although Brandon Young’s increased velocity might give him a shot at it if he performs well the rest of the spring.
Orioles already horrid offseason will go down as the worst in the league if Rodriguez misses significant time. The only saving grace they had was him turning into an ace.
The Orioles’ offseason wasn’t “horrid.”
I think Orioles fans are blinded as to how badly this team goes about making moves. The only way they are better this year is if the young stars continue to grow (which I think they will). But they at best replaced Santander with O’Neill and natural progression, but did not replace Burnes. Getting rid of Webb and Coulombe is still a head scratcher to me. They have all of the resources to go out and get whoever they want basically. Why not go get crochet? Max fried? Blake snell? These are difference makers. At some point the lack of an aggressive move will come back to bite them. This rotation isn’t good enough for the playoffs imo. What is the plan with Mayo and Basallo? Wait until mounty and Mullins are gone to give them every day at bats? So now it’s 2027 and there’s a lockout. Idk. I’m pretty pessimistic with the orioles, but I don’t have much history to look at and say they’re gonna make the best move. Not saying to just blindly ship away top guys if the move isn’t there (and maybe it wasn’t this offseason), but when you have a low payroll and a super stacked prospect pool and you get jack flaherty at the deadline that’s a concern. I get it’s new ownership, but Elias hasnt been what I thought he’d be. Still should be a very good team for years to come. I just hope they give themselves them best chance to win a World Series
The SP staff in camp this year, IMO, is far superior to the one that broke camp in 2023 … ya know, the 101 win team. And both are built similar. IE. no TOR. Their secret in 23? Outside of Wells, they stayed healthy all season. Here’s to a healthy season, including Bradish and/or Wells being able to contribute on the back half of it.
It’s easy to forget the Rockies are still in the league 🙁
The Roc… who again?
Not the worst offseason. It was a D+. There have been worse. Glenn Davis for Pete Harnisch, Steve Finley, and Curt Schilling.
This feels like a good place to note that Crochet looks exceptional in spring training – 14 Ks in 6 1/3 innings. Maybe the Os didn’t have the top end offensive prospects the White Sox were looking for…
Oh wait, that’s not right.
Let me know when he proves he can be an elite starter for a full season.
Until then, I’m not going to be too upset about the Orioles missing out on a guy with a half season track record of success as a SP.
I get it King, and I suspect that’s part of why they didn’t do it. The problem is that if you wait for that, then you lose out on a potential superstar while hoping and praying for guys like Mayo (who’s 1-20 this spring again) to come through.
So – would you rather have Crochet who has actually shown that he can do it (even if not long enough for you) and is projected in most places as a top 10 starter, or Mayo, Kjerstad and maybe one other who have never done it at all. Your answer, Elias’ answer, and seemingly most other Os fans’ answer it that you’d rather have the “unknown” prospect than the mostly known SP coming off a strong (yet restricted) year.
It’s just a difference in philosophy, but with the Os pitching injury problems I’m surprise that so many of you are still clinging to this mentality.
I’m sorry man, but you just aren’t going to talk me into being upset that the Orioles didn’t beat the Red Sox offer, which was already an overpay, for a guy who only has 1 good half season as a starter in his entire career and who also has a very lengthy injury history.
The Red Sox can easily weather it if the deal goes belly up because they can afford to run $200+ million dollar payrolls every year, and so they can just sign big time FAs to fill any gap that arises from important prospects being dealt, but the Orioles need to be much more cautious in how they deploy their assets.
It seriously seems like I’m talking to Mike Elias when I respond to you man. Sometimes, it really is okay to NOT agree with 100% of what he does. If you can’t see that the Os need pitching depth and have a surplus in offensive prospects, when every single analyst and fan can see it, then I’m done trying to convince you (and 98% of Orioles fans). Insane really.
I don’t agree with 100% of what Mike Elias does, but given the information available, he was 100% correct to not beat the Red Sox offer for Crochet, although I can definitely see why, as a White Sox fan, you wish that he did.
I do, however, agree that we probably still need another higher end SP for the playoffs, but I am fine with waiting until the deadline to get that guy.
I’m ecstatic, as a White Sox fan, with the return we got for Crochet, while at the same time wishing the organization wasn’t so pathetic that we had to trade a pitcher I think finishes top 5 for Cy Young this year. I said the exact same thing to Os fans last year when Dylan Cease was available at a similar price and he ended up 4th in CY voting, yet all the Orioles fans didn’t want to give up their superstar Norfolk team. You and others were wrong then, and I believe you are wrong now about Crochet as well. And until the Orioles win an actual playoff series it’s really hard for a sane non-Homer Orioles fan to be happy with the fact that they have an insane amount of offensive talent and Dean Kremer / Trevor Rogers being considered for starter innings.
Let me know when he proves he can be an elite starter for a full season
Floch, I call that the Jeff Ballard hurdle. If he had a full season and comes back the next year and still performs, he clears the hurdle. This is also why I haven’t been sold on Crochet either.
Bradish is the closest on the Orioles, but has not had a full season at that level. Half of one season and part of another. Even w/ Mussina, in 1991 i thought that’s promising, but by the end of 1992 he’d cleared the Ballard Hurdle.
(for those wondering, Jeff Ballard put up a miracle 18-8, 3.43 season in 1989 and got Cy votes. He was awful before and after. The underlying metrics that we’d see through today weren’t readily available then, like 4.00 FIP, 1.379 WHIP, which would give pause)
Big Hurt: Crochet’s numbers don’t surprise me. If Elias didn’t want to trade players like Kjerstad and some prospects for Crochet, I guess there’s nobody he would trade for.
Or maybe Elias saw Crochet’s 5.00+ ERA from the second half of 2024 and decided overpaying for him wasn’t a great idea for the long-term health of the organization.
Yeah, like any smart GM is going to evaluate a pitcher based on his second-half ERA. Crochet is a top starter and what the Red Sox paid was a fair price for him.
I had the Orioles’ offseason as a D+, as in we’ll pass you because of No Child Left Behind. Not because you’re trying to be competitive, but replacing offense and going the wrong way with rotation (bullpen was upgraded a bit – but Kittredge also banged up so we’ll see on that).
This is exactly why I will only continue to harp upon them not getting top of the rotation help. Because now they are down to just 1 pitcher who you can safely project as a top-half guy (Eflin). Depth at the bottom end of the rotation because you are being cheap and hoping for a miracle is not the same as having a strong rotation.
Seattle has young controllable pitchers and needs hitters. I honestly would not want them to chase Cease unless there is an extension signed because next winter they’re right back in the same place and down a prospect.
Mountcastle – a known quantity as a bit above average hitter who doesn’t walk much and K’s too much. Still an improvement over what numerous teams have, and has some control.
O’Hearn – can either trade him for something now or lose him for nothing at the end of the year.
Kjerstad and Mayo – let them rot in AAA or actually give them a chance?
Those not blinded by orange colored glasses agree that they are not behaving like contenders and seem to be content with being decent and hoping for miracles to happen.
Posts like this (and your bizarrely intense and totally unjustified hatred for Jorge Mateo) make it very difficult to take you seriously sometimes.
A D+? Seriously? Like, I can certainly understand being a bit underwhelmed by our offseason (and to some extent, I am as well), but let’s not be completely histrionic about it.
And Kjerstad is going to be getting plenty of ABs on the MLB roster to start the year, not in AAA, and Mayo still doesn’t have a position he can play competently, so while he will be getting reps at 1B and maybe RF in AAA to start the year, he will not be “rotting” there. He simply isn’t ready.
Floch, the top of their list was make an impact acquisition to the starting rotation and sort out which kids are viewed long-term as infielders, outfielders, and/or expendable.
Any decision is better than no decision and as seen by the Crochet trade and the asking price for Cease and the asking price for *insert Seattle Starting Pitcher here*, both of the Orioles’ top two needs could have been addressed in a single trade.
They allegedly have money but their new billionaire didn’t feel like paying Burnes or Fried or anyone that can sit atop a Rotation, so within the constraints of what ownership is allowing, they needed to make a trade to address both of their top two priorities.
But, they did neither, so they get an F, and then they get bonus points to get them to a D per the No Child Left Behind Act
They got an F because they didn’t sign Juan Soto, but it’s an uglier F because one trade would have solved both of their off-season needs and they didn’t do it, so 20/100 plus 40 bonus points from NCLB so 60/100
TPI- That is simply not accurate, the top offseason objective for the Orioles was significantly improving the offense against lefties, which was borderline awful last year, and Elias accomplished that with flying colors.
And Burnes specifically wanted to play in Arizona because that is where his wife and newborn twin daughters live. He approached them himself and said “I want to play for you, please sign me.”
… The rotation that topped out at “Eh” even with Burnes at the top of it was less of an issue than if Baltimore’s opponent ran a lefty out there?
That’s great that Burnes and his wife/twin daughters are happy but excusing his leaving does nothing to address their rotation need. The rotation has gotten worse every year since Jon Means finished 4th in CYA voting that one year.
I can see where your concern against LHP is a bigger issue in your opinion, and that opinion is not without merit, but I think that the rotation is a much much much bigger problem. O’Neill (health permitting) should be a big help with lefties, but subtracting Corbin Burnes and adding Tyler O’Neill doesn’t make them a better team in my opinion
He never finished 4th or anywhere ever in the top 10. I pulled that out of my rear end.
Correction:
The rotation has gotten worse every year since John (also spelled his name wrong) Means’ last good season in 2021
The headline change in the Orioles’ non-incumbent players in terms of hitting against lefties is:
Tyler O’Neill (.313 with 16 HR in 156 PA against lefties) in, Santander (.229 with 12 HR in 180 PA against lefties) out. This appears to be a plus, but…
Tyler O’Neill in 2023 vs. LHP: 227 with 3 HR in 79 PA
Tyler O’Neill in 2022 vs LHP: .256 with 4 HR in 91 PA
Tyler O’Neill in 2021 vs LHP: .289 with 7 HR in 98 PA
His two relatively healthy seasons were 2024 and 2021, those were the two seasons he was productive (in general, but also compared to Santander).
This is an example of the Orioles hoping everything falls right, because he’s only been healthy 2 of the past 4 seasons. Based on his record, there’s a 50% chance he misses half the season or more and his production is a downgrade from Santander. Certainly him being cheaper than someone more durable on the market contributed to this move.
Outside of incremental improvements from the young core who have not matured as hitters, Elias did not improve the club’s offense against LHP.
I guess to be completely fair you could add Laureano into this mix, and he’s pretty good in his career against LHP (OPS .802, 21 HR and .274), but as far as I am aware he is the #4 or even #5 OF so impact is limited unless they would platoon him with Mullins. I have not heard any Orioles sources attribute this as a significant chance, and you are further pushing Kjerstad backward. (limited size, Kjerstad has done decently against LHP).
How many OF are needed?
Yes, drastically improving the offense against lefties was much more important than finding a 1:1 replacement for Burnes.
Burnes threw 8 brilliant innings of 1 run ball against the Royals in the playoffs, but our lineup was completely and utterly helpless against Cole Ragans. Now we have added O’Neill, Laureano, and Sanchez for those situations, all of whom have a proven track record of mashing lefties.
The current rotation definitely isn’t sexy, but it is plenty good enough to give us a solid chance to win most nights, and with our elite offense and high octane bullpen, I expect that we will, and if another higher end SP is still needed for game 1 of the playoffs, I fully expect that we will get one at the deadline, especially after we add 6 top 100 picks to the farm in this year’s draft.
TPI I even went above and beyond with the D-plus!
But thanks for refreshing on the offseason goals, as we were informed that top flight pitching was coming. Instead we got a snarky remark at the winter meetings from the GM about moving the LF wall in was because they signed Sanchez and O’Neill.
“Elias did not improve the club’s offense against LHP”
He added 3 lefty mashers in O’Neill, Laureano, and Sanchez. I genuinely cannot fathom how you can say that isn’t a clear and obvious improvement with a straight face, but you also think that $3.5 million for an objectively excellent bench piece like Jorge Mateo is an insane and utterly unforgivable overpay, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised by it.
Did I just hear that O’Neill is banged up (already)? Supposedly fresh news, I can’t find in quick search.
I don’t remember mentioning Mateo, though they did decide to pay him $3.4M for another .267 OBP season. If he plays a lot of it as he is hurt too.
I gave them a passing grade because they largely replaced their offense, if O’Neill doesn’t miss too much time, but certainly not an upgrade. They also attempted to address the bullpen. The starting rotation was not helped by adding more guys at the bottom and losing the guy at the top. Whether they had a chance at Burnes specifically or not, he was not the only 1-2 starter out there. They did not approach the offseason aggressively like contenders, which is the standard we are supposed to be holding them to right now.
I don’t think they got a failing grade. There are several teams I’d give an F to whether contenders or not, including my local Rockies.
Man, that doesn’t sound good on Grayson. He was on my “to draft” list this season in fantasy, but so far I haven’t. Gotta take him off the list for now. Hoping for the best for the guy overall.
Once Burnes walked, an upper half of the rotation starter should’ve been signed or acquired via trade. Still unsure what the problem was: Rubenstein didn’t OK the free agent spend or Elias wouldn’t pull the trigger on a free agent or a trade of prospects.