I’m sure most of you have heard, but the big news of the weekend was the O’s trading Andrew Cashner. On Saturday, Mike Elias agreed to a deal with Boston that gives the Sox the back-end stability they coveted, while bringing two 17-year old international prospects to Baltimore’s system. Since the two position players don’t carry huge names or a known potential because of their age, there’s been a decent amount of backlash for the trade, as many feel Elias sold low on Cashner. However, in this week’s Hot Take […]

A Quantitative Analysis of the Birds Before the Trade Deadline We’re now past the halfway point of the 2019 MLB Season and trade rumors are already swirling. I don’t expect Mike Elias to be as active as Dan Duquette was at this time last year, but I do expect two or maybe even three Orioles to be dealt. I’ll take a look at eight potential trade candidates and show where they rank in advanced statistics. Front Offices value the advanced data much more in the modern day, along with contract […]

The All-Star break has come to an end and it’s time for real Major League Baseball games to start back up. With that said, I’d like to have a little fun with some bold – and some not so bold – predictions for the Baltimore Orioles for the remainder of the 2019 campaign. I’m curious to see which of these you agree with and the ones that will cause you to question my intelligence as a writer. Both reactions will be welcomed. Let’s get started. 1. The Orioles will trade […]

Griesser’s Suggested Change of the Week As I outlined recently, the 2019 Baltimore Orioles are not going to have a particularly active trade deadline. While the team is in no position to buy and likely would prefer to sell than stand pat, Mike Elias doesn’t have too many chips on hand. However, despite that unfortunate reality, it’s possible that the O’s could make moves to advance the rebuild. I’ll explain how in this week’s Suggested Change of the Week. If the Orioles want to move forward in acquiring prospects, there’s […]

While many O’s fans are still stinging that Trey Mancini was “snubbed” for the 2019 All-Star Game in favor of John Means, the fact is that Means had just as much of an argument for being included on the squad as did Trey. A glance at the three main providers of Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for fans tells the story. At FanGraphs, Means has racked up 1.9 fWAR to lead the team, compared to Mancini’s 1.6. Andrew Cashner even bests Mancini here, coming in at 1.8. At Baseball Reference, Mancini’s […]

I’ve railed on the man some fans haver endearingly referred to as “Crush” (or “The Crusher” if you’re Mike Bordick) for years. After the Orioles made the mind-boggling decision to compete against themselves in the bidding for then free agent Chris Davis and up the ante by $11 million, I opined that the Davis deal would set the O’s back years. And it has. Davis has been flat out awful and ironically the only thing saving his spot on the team’s roster is that bloated contract. Team owner Peter Angelos […]

In a frustrating 2019 campaign, the first year of a long rebuild that the Orioles are undergoing, it’s critical for fans to follow the exciting stories. They’re few and far between, that’s for sure, but it’s on us to enjoy them when we see them. To that point, there’s no easier story to enjoy than the emergence of John Means, the Orioles’ new ace. As the O’s All-Star representative, Means has quickly become a fan favorite and a household name in Baltimore. That’s impressive, especially given the fact that he’s […]

Hello Birdland! I am back after a bit of a hiatus, but I don’t think anybody could blame someone for not having much to write about when it came to the Orioles for the past offseason through the first part of the 2019 season, especially anything positive. Here we are at the All-Star break though, and the Orioles are what we thought they would be. However, we are finally seeing glimpses of the future in players that are finally making an impact in the present. This has finally inspired me […]

David Lebron, pitcher, a 26th-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers, acquired by the Orioles in February and now playing for the Frederick Keys, was kind enough to sit down with me this week. Matt: So David, you grew up in Miami-Dade County, is that correct? David Lebron: Yes Matt: So, with that area being such a talent-rich area, do you think that drove you to succeed? Lebron: Yeah no doubt. I mean, growing up, we’re playing a lot of good talent down there. It kind of brings out the […]

Last Monday, my fellow ESR blogger Dillon Atkinson wrote an article focusing on the numerous Orioles players that could be available for trade to the rest of the MLB. Honestly, Dillon sort of stole my thunder, as this post was about to be my Hot Take Tuesday. Luckily, it’s a story that could wait a week, so here we go. While there are a great deal of players that Mike Elias may consider moving, the Baltimore Orioles are not going to be legitimate sellers. Before you turn on me, understand […]

Griesser’s Suggested Change of the Week In all honesty, rather than making a whole new suggestion for this change of the week, I could stick to my guns and maintain the opinion that Bowie starter Zac Lowther should take a ride to Norfolk; his weekly start was strong once again, going 6.0 innings while giving up just two runs on four hits. At the same time, I’m not Mike Elias, and my opinion of extended success at a level may not quite match his. I respect his belief that players […]

In this episode of The Payoff Pitch Prospect Report, I give an update on some players headed to the All-Star Game for the Bowie Baysox, and a former top prospect making a move to the bullpen. And don’t miss this week’s full episode of The Payoff Pitch here.

After a brief hiatus, Andrew Stetka returns with his Thursday Thoughts column for ESR. 1. I was pleasantly surprised, for the most part, in the crowd’s reaction to Manny Machado’s return to Baltimore this week. It’s not that I expected to hear overwhelming booing from the fans, but I expected to hear more of it than I did. It’s great that, at least over the TV broadcast, it couldn’t really be heard at all. It looked all positive for Machado, who deserved all positive. Machado provided Orioles fans with some […]

As many of you probably know, our beloved Orioles will be playing host to the San Diego Padres starting Tuesday evening. While this series normally would carry excitement because of the interleague dynamic, it’s especially important to the city of Baltimore because it marks the return of one Manny Machado to Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Since his departure last trade deadline, Machado has been a member of the World Series runner-up Los Angeles Dodgers and signed an incredible contract with San Diego this winter. In just under seven full […]

It’s BEVy time again! Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday the Orioles walked down the orange carpet, took a lead against the Yankees into the late innings, and then saw the bullpen immediately shit said lead away. Of course, the bullpen shitting probably did happen again yesterday. And the day before. And it’ll happen tomorrow. Such is Orioles baseball in 2019. Only three-plus months left of it! Can the Birds lose fewer than the 115 game bar of awfulness set by last year’s squad? Stay tuned. Anyway, […]