Me vs me: Debating the Baltimore Orioles
By Bill Felber
Spring training is a time when a fan’s mood can swing back and forth between boundless hope and deep despair. The following is a debate between the optimistic me and the pessimistic me regarding the 2021 Baltimore Orioles.
Opti-me: I don’t feel like we Orioles fans are asking very much. We don’t expect a pennant. We don’t even expect a contender. We do want to see improvement. If we get that, we’ll be happy.
And that goal is within reach. It starts at the top, with Mike Elias running things. No offense to Andy MacPhail, but he was hamstrung by the Angelos family. So for the first time maybe since Pat Gillick we have a guy making decisions who can judge winning talent.
We’re already starting to see that. The club was better last year than in 2019, and better in 2019 than before Elias took over. Only six players remain from the talent base he inherited, and with the exception of Chris Davis – whose contract makes him immovable – the other five look like a functional core.
Pessi-me: At least you’re not setting unrealistic expectations. I don’t know whether the Orioles will be better, but I do know Elias turned over the team’s entire infield this off-season. Who does that?
Unfortunately, most of the players he’s brought in look like stopgaps. You’re certainly not building around Maikel Franco, Freddy Galvis and Yolmer Sanchez, your third baseman, shortstop and second baseman. They’re all journeymen, and none has a career average better than Maikel’s .252.
Everybody wishes Trey Mancini well as he comes back from cancer. Whether he’s the same player remains to be seen. Your hope is to stick him at first base, but if you carry through with using D J Stewart mostly at DH that $23 million you’re paying Davis just rides the pines. Why not cut him and be done with it?
Opti-me: They key isn’t Garcia, Franco or Sanchez; they’re just stabilizers. The key is for the kids to continue to grow. We need continued development out of Pedro Severino behind the plate, and from the outfield, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander.
We began to see that development in 2020. Severino’s been a decent defensive catcher, and in 2020 he looked more comfortable at the plate. Mountcastle hit .333 as a rookie, and if he can replicate 2020 over a full 162 games we’ll be happy.
Mullins looked good and Santander produced an .890 OPS with 11 homers. Stretch that over 162 and you have a 40-homer, 120 RBI guy.
Pessi-me: I’m glad you raised the issue of youngsters because for a team that’s supposedly building, the Orioles sure had a funky off-season. What’s with releasing Renato Nunez, anyway? Do you have something against 26-year old power hitters? And are you sure it was time to quit on Rio Ruiz?
Finally, what’s with shipping Jose Iglesias to the Angels for a couple of rookie league pitching prospects? This is a career .278 hitter who plays a decent shortstop and is coming off the best offensive season he’s ever had.
Opti-me: Pitching’s another area we need to grow in. To do that you need prospects. But it starts with John Means, who by season’s end will be recognized as a legitimate team ace.
His 2-4 record last season is deceptive. In two of his losses Means only allowed one run, but his offense gave him literally no support. He beat the Rays Sept. 20, striking out 12 in doing so. That’s legit potential.
The guys I’ll be watching closely will be the other two kids, Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer. Akin’s a left-hander who looked good after getting a chance to start last September. Kremer kicked around in the farm system before Elias gave him a chance last September, and he really only had one bad game.
Pessi-me: The guys I’ll be watching closely are Wade LeBlanc and Felix Hernandez. On your depth chart they’re your No. 2 and 3 starters. But talk about lack of confidence; they’re both in camp on minor league deals and Hernandez came up with a sore elbow the other day.
When I put all that together, it sounds to me like your rotation is actually Means, then maybe LeBlanc, then who knows, then possibly Kremer and Akin. In all of baseball, I doubt there’s a less stable pitching situation.
Then with that rotation you turn around last month and trade your most experienced arm, Alex Cobb, to the Angels for a guy named Jahmal Jones. He’s an infielder who can’t even make your three-deep at a position where the starter is Yolmer Sanchez.
Finally there’s the matter of playing in the AL East. You won’t beat the Yankees or Rays, the Jays are moving up fast, and I don’t think the Red Sox are going to hang around in last place very long. Guess who that leaves in the division cellar?
Opti-me: There’s no question we need Means, LeBlanc, Akin and Kremer to give us at minimum a stable front four. There’s also no question we need Mountcastle, Mullins, Santander, and Severino to continue their growth. That’s the real key.
But if they do – if by May 1 it looks like a representative Oriole lineup can be built around those four young team leaders – then this team has a chance to grow into something in 2021.
Can it win the division? Probably not. But can it be a .500 team? Probably yes. And that would be the kind of progress that would put smiles on the faces of Orioles fans.
Other AL East me vs. me debates:
https://calltothepen.com/2021/03/07/2021-boston-red-sox-preview-looking-return-contention/
https://calltothepen.com/2021/03/04/debating-merits-2021-new-york-yankees/