Maestrobjwa

Perfect temperature for that, haha Christmas a little after Easter? Merry Eastmas Congratulations and blessings on your new home!

Funny thing about your 4th paragraph...This off-season is the first time in his tenure that he actually started to reversed the prospect-hugging narrative...and the spending one. Some people don't believe we offered Suarez an identical deal, but that rumor makes sense given how agressive we were for Alonso. And then we gave up 3 prospects for Baz...while he may or may not be good, that was still more agressive than he has been--probably because ownership gave him an ultimatum. But yes overall? I have no clue how the talent here has been so disappointing--I mean what the heck did Elias do to these bats? Too much analytics? It doesn't seem to be a swing for the fences approach as the homers haven't been there...I'd love to know what the heck he and Sig have going on in those coaching rooms to mess stuff up like this, smh This will be Elias' last year for sure if things don't turn around. He's the only thing left that hasn't been changed, lol (That "promotion" last year isn't necessarily an indicator of any commitment from Rubenstein & co, imo)

Man why does everything we root for in Baltimore disappoint us? We root for snow: we can't get it most of the time Root for the Ravens: We get disappointed (but hopefully not this year) Root for the Orioles: We get disappointed Literally nothing here goes our way in terms of these three, bigger-than-us pleasures that we enjoy. It always finds a way to go sideways, smh I am thankful there are far more important things to enjoy, and these things are certainly not THE most important...but dang it how long does out losing streak with these have to continue??? Oy, lol

There were issues with the offense from a coaching side, imo. But either way we cannot afford to ignore the trenches: that is the main reason we lost last year. Could not get to the QB late in games. Could not protect Lamar. You HAVE to address that. I feel like our fanbase in general has a never-ending appetite for 1st rd WRs every year just out of habit, lol Adding a rookie WR doesn't help when the OL doesn't give Lamar any time. Trenches, trenches!

Yeah but we lost many games in the trenches last year...WR is not our biggest need, imo No trenches no time to throw to said WR, lol

He did? Lol This must've been just after he came up! I mean yeah obviously ya had to see how he did, but...now nobody is gonna want him...oy. Was rooting for him (quite a story him making the majors after surviving the Parkland school shooting as a kid). It's too bad...Man are qe gonna have to start treating the Orioles like we did during the 14-staright losing seasons? Lol And yep, draft time indeed! Ravens have to be better this year...not sure where they go at 14. I'd imagine it's OL or pass rush?

Not completely stuck...there is still the trade deadline. Now the DH problem...that's not poor roster construction. It's just a rather rare problem of having two catchers that you don't wanna take out of the lineup. You don't have a ton of room to navigate that in any case. Somebody is gonna get less playing time. But it'll be worth it if the outfield defense improves. No idea how Ward is gonna fit in here. I guess he's gonna have to platoon with Cowser (or Cowser just gets less playing time overall since he sucks at the plate). Ward is a FA at the end of the year, so if ya gotta sacrifice the bat some days... Guess they shoulda kept Grayson and gotten a better OFer? Or perhaps just kept Laureano

@Chris78 I could see a Cowser, EBJ, and JJ outfield later in the year...that could play. And they could also trade for somebody as well. Infield defense is going to improve, imo

@CAPE @Chris78 Quote from a few weeks ago about the defense. And Alby also said during ST that when he first talked to the players individually when he got here, they all said the same thing: they wanted to focus on fundamentals. So you can see just how much things had slipped under Hyde, smh But this also tells me that perhaps things will get better as the new coaching sets in more. We shall see!

Oh absolutely. I'll admit I hadn't been 100% convinced by JJ (that is, whether this is an early flash before the league gets a book on him, or is this actually a thing), but has shown some legit mental toughness this week. I mean he makes the error, but then looks completely unflappable and just goes down a gets that pitch in his next AB. Like Big Ben says: "No scar tissue", lol A very good sign. Now of course, he's gonna eventually cool off and have to struggle a bit like they all do, but...if he gets through that and still hits like this? We've truly got something!

Too early to tell that for sure though, lol Now once JJ struggles and is able to overcome it at the same level, and JH hasn't improved any...then yeah I think we can say that! That being said...Jackson Holliday is not gonna be benched for JJ I don't think. Wonder if JJ can play outfield...or 3B?

Bring up Enrique Bradfield for one. Put Cowser in left, and ya may have to platoon in right. Behind the plate I think we gotta give Basallo some time to figure it out--he is just a rookie after all. He could be better later in the season for all we know. And once Adley comes back that'll help to mitigate the shortcomings in the meantime.

I meant that he said they weren't stressed BEFORE he got here. Which means he and his staff have had to rebuild that foundation.

Not necessarily. Alby said last week that fundamentals were not stressed, and indicated that they're working to fix it. I think that's one of several issues that may not be permanent, but may simply take some time to fix as the new coaching sets in. I think the idea of the promotion being a sign he's here for the long haul is a little overblown. This Rubenstein & Co. are now starting to spend like they wanna win a championship. I think this year is Elias' last chance--we miss again...or get in and still not win a series...I think he's out. Overall...we gotta remember that there are a lot of new faces in this clubhouse. So we may not know for SURE exactly how this is gonna shake out. But for now...we just need to be .500 at the end of the month. I think that'll give us enough time to sort things out.

Yep, smh Monday seemed like they were turning a corner...but obviously still a lot of work to do.