We’re pretty sure that the surprises of the Baltimore Orioles offseason are just beginning. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss where Mike Elias will go next in search of improving a last-place roster still in need of more pitching and punch than whatever help Taylor Ward will bring from Anaheim in the absence of Grayson Rodriguez.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Orioles’ offseason moves, particularly the trade of top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels for Taylor Ward. Jones defended the trade, citing Ward’s 36 home runs and 100 RBIs in 2023. Aparicio expressed skepticism, questioning the Orioles’ decision to give up on Rodriguez. They also debated the tendering of Ryan Mountcastle’s contract, noting his declining performance and the potential for trading Kobe Mayo. The conversation highlighted the Orioles’ need for significant offseason moves to regain fan enthusiasm.
Orioles Offseason and Grayson Rodriguez Deal
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles’ offseason and the trade of Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels for Taylor Ward.
- Nestor expresses surprise and confusion over the trade, questioning the Orioles’ decision to give up on Rodriguez.
- Luke Jones acknowledges the trade’s unexpected nature but defends it by highlighting Ward’s 2023 performance.
- Nestor and Luke debate the potential impact of the trade on the Orioles’ future, with Nestor skeptical and Luke more accepting.
Taylor Ward’s Role and Grayson Rodriguez’s Future
- Luke Jones explains that the trade was partly a mea culpa for the failed Tyler O’Neill experiment and a recognition of Ward’s power.
- Nestor and Luke discuss Ward’s potential to replace Anthony Santander or Colton Cowser, with Nestor expressing skepticism.
- Luke mentions Mike Elias’s comments about Ward being an everyday player, despite his high strikeout rate.
- Nestor and Luke speculate on Rodriguez’s future with the Angels, with Nestor hoping for a successful career for Rodriguez.
Mike Elias’s Management Style and Player Relationships
- Nestor criticizes Mike Elias’s management style, describing him as cold and unapproachable.
- Luke defends Elias, noting that many general managers are not warm and fuzzy, but Nestor remains skeptical.
- Nestor shares his experiences with Elias and other Orioles executives, expressing frustration with their lack of communication.
- Luke and Nestor discuss the broader implications of Elias’s management style on the team’s culture and player relationships.
Orioles’ Offseason Moves and Future Plans
- Luke Jones expresses frustration with the Orioles’ offseason moves, particularly the lack of significant free agent signings.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the potential impact of the Orioles’ decisions on the team’s future, with Nestor remaining pessimistic.
- Luke calls for the Orioles to make impactful moves, such as signing a top-tier pitcher, to improve the team.
- Nestor and Luke speculate on the Orioles’ future plans, with Nestor hoping for a more transparent and exciting approach.
Ryan Mountcastle’s Future with the Orioles
- Luke Jones discusses the Orioles’ decision to tender Ryan Mountcastle’s contract, despite his declining performance.
- Nestor and Luke debate Mountcastle’s value to the team, with Nestor questioning his long-term viability.
- Luke explains the financial implications of Mountcastle’s contract, noting the team’s limited resources.
- Nestor and Luke speculate on Mountcastle’s role with the team, with Nestor hoping for a more productive season.
Brady Anderson’s Return to the Orioles
- Nestor shares a personal story about Brady Anderson, highlighting his love for baseball and pop culture.
- Luke Jones discusses Brady Anderson’s return to the Orioles as a hitting coach, noting his past contributions to the team.
- Nestor and Luke speculate on Brady Anderson’s impact on the team, with Nestor expressing admiration for his dedication.
- Luke acknowledges Brady Anderson’s role in the team’s past success and his potential to contribute in his new capacity.
Orioles’ Ownership and Fan Relations
- Nestor criticizes the new ownership group, led by John Angelos, for their lack of communication and transparency.
- Luke Jones defends the ownership group, noting their efforts to engage with the community and improve the team.
- Nestor shares his experiences with the ownership group, expressing frustration with their approach.
- Luke and Nestor discuss the broader implications of the ownership group’s actions on the team’s reputation and fan relations.
Orioles’ Social Media and Fan Engagement
- Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ social media strategy, noting the team’s recent blocking of fans on Twitter.
- Nestor expresses frustration with the team’s approach, highlighting the importance of engaging with fans.
- Luke acknowledges the issue but defends the team’s actions, noting the challenges of managing a large and active social media presence.
- Nestor and Luke speculate on the team’s future social media strategy, with Nestor hoping for more open and transparent communication.
Thanksgiving Week and Orioles’ Offseason Outlook
- Nestor and Luke reflect on the Thanksgiving week, noting the unusual focus on the Orioles’ offseason rather than football.
- Nestor expresses his continued interest in the Orioles, despite the team’s challenges and the new ownership group’s approach.
- Luke calls for the Orioles to make impactful moves to regain fan enthusiasm and improve the team’s future prospects.
- Nestor and Luke conclude the discussion, expressing hope for a more exciting and successful offseason for the Orioles.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Orioles offseason, Grayson Rodriguez, Taylor Ward, Mike Elias, Ryan Mountcastle, Kobe Mayo, free agency, baseball trades, team flexibility, player health, ownership changes, fan reaction, offseason moves, pitching acquisitions, team strategy.
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. Happy Thanksgiving for Baltimore. Positive from Luke, from i, from we, from us, from my kitty cat from the from all of our sponsors as well. And I got my clean bill of health last week from our friends at GBMC, and I had my colonoscopy. So I’m screaming everybody out there, get yours done. Get yourself checked, make sure you don’t have precancerous polyps, as I did, and then you find out about that, and your kid even brings you cookies after that’s over with. So a good week, a good weekend for the ravens, a good week ahead for Thanksgiving and all of that. But Luke and I are not here to talk about crab cakes in the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery, although we will and we’re going to be deepest qualities in a couple of weeks doing that, but football and Lamar and injuries and Joe Flacco and Joe burrow and the Bengals and all that stuff aside, rare is it the Thanksgiving week Luke that we have to take a breather from talking about the first place Baltimore Ravens, despite all their warts and issues and lamar’s health and all of that, to talk some baseball and the curiosity level of Angelos being dead and gone, new owner, new manager, some promising players that have underperformed another much like the Angelos era, last place finish. I mean, a really awful, terrible turd of a baseball season, and yet, Thanksgiving week, we’re still talking about All right, what are they trying to do now, if they just dealt the number one pitcher in their organization, according to all of them, for five years, up until recently, and got sort of a player, a rental player, really kind of sort of for what it is that that was the bang of the beginning of free agency, The offseason, and then the tendering period comes, and it left even further curiosity. Look, are the Russians running our baseball team too? I
Luke Jones 02:12
don’t know about that, but it’s it’s been a weird start to the offseason. Let’s put it that way. I mean, for all the frustration about Grayson Rodriguez, I don’t think anyone could have predicted that the Orioles would be trading him for Taylor Ward, who’s a good player, right? I mean, I, in our previous conversation, I probably didn’t have quite the proper tone that I wanted to express. He’s good player. I mean, he had 36 home runs last year. He drove in 100 over 100 runs.
Nestor Aparicio 02:42
They’re trying to replace Santander. That’s what they’re trying to do,
Luke Jones 02:45
right? I don’t know if it’s as much that or it’s more of a mea culpa and an acknowledgement of how badly the title the Tyler O’Neill year one anyway, worked out for them, right? Because, you know, it’s another right handed bat. He historically has hit left handed pitching very well. He does have pop right he thinks, you know, they, Mike Elias said it on Friday, that they feel he’s an everyday player. I mean, really at the moment, and I guess you’d have to put cows are there by default, really the only true everyday outfielder they have right now. That would warrant that. You no questions asked. Want to play him every day so, but all of that being said strikes out a lot. You know, his walk rate is good, but the fact that he hit 228 masked, the fact that, you know, it ended up being a 317 on base percentage, as opposed to, you know, 330 or, you know, go back a few years ago, he had a 360 on base percentage with the angels back in 22 but
Nestor Aparicio 03:44
it’s one year, dude. It tells me that the more I think about it, and I didn’t express this last week in the first segment, we went on an hour about this of what a turd They must think Grayson Rodriguez is to give a picture with that kind of arm away, or that they think he’s a turd or his arms it’s it’s not going to happen for them to give up on him. And he got chippy since you and I got together, in regard to maybe he didn’t like them so much either. So I don’t know how it works out. Yeah, but if he goes on, he’s got Jake arieta stuff, dude, right? Yeah. I mean, he’s got Kevin Gosman, who just started World Series game stuff, and they gave him away for the best side of Tyler O’Neill, or the worst side of Anthony Santander, whatever you would say, or the best side of Colton cowser, I don’t know, but like, and only picture away Like, I like, unless you really didn’t like him well and he didn’t like you. And I tell you what that, that little piece that showed up on the internet is the beginning of I’m gonna, we’re gonna be following that kid now and saying he gonna make 28 starts in the big leagues next next year, win 14 games and pitch to a three, three era, I don’t know, pitch 180 innings at. Some point, two, three years from now, I don’t know, but I was stunned when I got the text, and now, a week later, I’m scratching my head even more and seeing him get chippy and saying, maybe he said, they screwed me up. They screwed me up. I’m glad to be gone from them. It a little bit like that, dude. I
Luke Jones 05:21
think there’s some of that i i full disclosure, I listened to the entire interview. It was on what it’s, I can’t remember the name. It’s very prevalent on the internet. Ken Rosenthal’s on it. Former players are on it. You know, he’s for as much as he didn’t have much interest in giving any updates to local Orioles reporters over the course of last season, he, he likes going on that show, so he went on there and, look, it wasn’t over the top disdain, but you could definitely sense there was, I’ll show them, yeah, never it was funny. He referred to all the new angels people by name, right? You know, like, first name basis, like, even people where he’s like, I don’t know who he’s talking about there, but at no point did he mention Mike Elias. He just said their GM, and that was a few different times. So I thought that was interesting. But that said
Nestor Aparicio 06:16
Elias has a reputation for being like, not warm and fuzzy with his players, right?
Luke Jones 06:21
I mean, in all honesty, Nestor, that’s probably most general managers in this day and age, not every and I’m not saying that’s even right, that that’s okay, necessarily, but it’s
Nestor Aparicio 06:31
these guys are real Yale Frick nerds, aren’t they? It’s a very you know what? I mean, like, I’ve been up on Elias twice. He’s been pleasant enough with me, but like you have a press pass, I don’t that’s a I’ll never let that. Somebody came to me the other day and said, You should stop talking about that. What? Stop holding them accountable. That ain’t happening, not, not if I’m fogging the glass up, they’re going to be held accountable for whatever discrimination they have thrust upon me, or whatever their Khashoggi of me in the media has been, but that being said, with Elias, the relationship with people, with players, with his former manager, with the city, With the fans, with Katie Griggs, like with whatever. I just these are not people, people like, I don’t, I don’t want to say like that press conference he had with the former manager that he was firing at the end of the season. I don’t know, man, I mean, I’m waiting for something that feels normal. That’s all the only thing that felt sort of normal to me, that wasn’t normal at all when they were winning two years ago, that felt like that felt like good I’m like, no matter what they do, no matter how weird they are, no matter how awful they are, discriminatory in the media and whatever they are, they’re winning their last place team now dealing away their number one pitcher, for a guy that if he hits 336 home runs next year and in post up and plays 130 games and like whatever, great, great. But it is odd. I don’t know. It’s just odd all of it. None of this leads me to think they’re rushing back to first place sometime soon. Well,
Luke Jones 08:20
we’re going to find out. And I want to be fair about this. I mean, Grayson Rodriguez wasn’t their number one pitcher because he didn’t pitch last year, so you can’t say last place, right? But I guess for me, and we talked a lot about the Rodriguez for Taylor Ward trade last week, I don’t want to rehash too much of that, because we do have some new material to talk about here, as far as the tenders and Ryan mountcastle and Albert Suarez and signing Felix Batista, and what that could mean, all that. But I guess for me, with the way this off this offseason has started with the way last off season went, I’m ready to see more moves where it’s not I have to twist myself into a pretzel trying to really see the logic and the reasoning and trying to fully understand it. And you know, when I look, or in our case, go on the radio and justify it, sure, and now I will say, interpret it this. This is a smaller move, and by no means can this? This better not be one of their top one or two moves for the bullpen. I love the fact that they got Andrew Kittredge back, right? I mean that they rented them for two months and they got them back, and they got them back for cash, right? And that’s good to see. There’s no Yeah, unless you’re telling me he’s gonna be your closer. There’s to me, there’s nothing to dislike about that move. So check off on
Nestor Aparicio 09:42
that. It also says that they liked him and he liked them, I guess, right.
Luke Jones 09:46
Sure, sure so. But that said, when I look at this deal, you know, with the Rodriguez for Taylor Ward, deal, here lies herein lies the problem, even if Taylor Ward has a really good year for them. Am in 2026 that’s still not going to necessarily justify this trade. I mean, the bar is so low on the angel side that even if Grayson Rodriguez steadies himself physically and becomes Dean Kramer, that’s still not a very good trade for the Orioles then, because you’re talking about someone who’s under especially now, I mean, he’s still, you know, he’s not even at arbitration yet, a cost controlled, even if he’s a league average or slightly above league average, kind of guy for three or four years, that’s still quite valuable, as much as fans.
Nestor Aparicio 10:40
Yeah, his arm didn’t fall off, right? He didn’t have a Tommy he didn’t have massive surgery.
Luke Jones 10:46
And that’s the, that’s the TBD part of this, right? And that’s where my best effort to rationalize this is, they have such a low degree, even taking into account what you mentioned, which I’m not gonna, I can’t source and definitively say that, but I also can’t say that I haven’t had my suspicions about whether they’ve been on the same page. Go back to last spring. Remember, he was talking about changing his mechanics, and, you know, it didn’t feel like it was a fully lockstep kind of situation right there. I don’t know if he did that on his own, or maybe they had some recommendations that he didn’t like, or whatever like. Again, I don’t know every intimate detail to say that definitively, yeah, and locker room talk, would say there’s a reason he’s gone, sure, right? I mean, and that’s what we’re trying to discern, right? However, if that is part of it, and if that’s a bigger part of it than we think, I would still say, shame on you. Then for that’s all you got. Was one year of Taylor ward for him. Then that tells me you could have done better. That’s why I keep coming back to they just think there’s such a low degree of confidence that he’s going to stay healthy. And they wonder if there’s a, I don’t know if this lad issue is a chronic issue. Maybe there’s something in the MRA MRI that says, structurally, they’re, they’re not loving the back of his shoulder. And that’s, you know, there’s a breakdown that, remember, I, I talked a lot about this. I use the term kinetic chain, right? And, you know, as much as Grayson, even in that interview he did late last week, was talking about the bone chip, you know, the bone spur in his elbow, and how he, you know, there’s a thought, you know, the at least doctors that he’s talked to is that they’ve spoken about that, perhaps putting too much stress on his lat, and that’s what’s caused some of these lat strains that he’s had, going back to his last year in the miners, I don’t know, but I still come back to to deal four years of Grayson Rodriguez, and look, was he going to Throw 160 innings this year. I certainly would bet strongly against him throwing 160 innings for the angels this coming season, if for no other reason that you’re gonna have to manage him, because he didn’t throw a pitch in the major leagues this past year. Hasn’t thrown a pitch since late July of 2024 in the major leagues. So there’s absolutely a question here, and that’s why I was saying all along. I don’t want to hear Grayson Rodriguez is one of your five in terms of how you’re planning. I want him off to the side, and he’s a wild card for you right now. And if he’s healthy, then you figure it out. And if that means you move Dean Kramer or Tyler wells to the bullpen or whatever,
Nestor Aparicio 13:14
and in their mind that that means, if we can get 36 home runs out of him, let’s trade him right here, right now, I guess. And we don’t have to go spend $200 million on an outfielder,
Luke Jones 13:30
I guess. Okay, I guess. I mean, I, I’m not disagreeing with you saying that. I I think that’s the last
Nestor Aparicio 13:37
calls. Are welcome. 481, 15, you know, I don’t, you know, literally, I don’t know where
Luke Jones 13:41
we are like that. I don’t think you’re wrong in expressing that. I I have a tough time buying into that. Is my problem in terms of, you know, put it this way, and this is where we can also transition into tendering Ryan mountcastle at $8 million and there’s more nuance to that. We’ll get into that a year ago. So a year ago, how many tickets? $8 million is just wait. But a year ago, not three years ago, not you know, this isn’t a year ago, if I had, if I were the angels General Manager calling up the Orioles and say, How about Taylor ward? For Grayson Rodriguez, laughed your freaking head off at how absurd that sounds. Now, in fairness, Taylor Ward had a career season in his age, 31 season, although batting average wise, not so much, but power wise, you know, 31 doubles, 36 home runs. Right slugged 475, I guess for me, I’m reluctant to sign off on a deal that just a year ago sounded insane. So that’s where I just look at this and say, look, look, this wasn’t me counting on Grayson Rodriguez for 2026, at a high, high confidence level. Level, but he was still a wild card. He was still represented some level of upside, whether he was going to be your number three starter for half the season in the way that Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish came
Nestor Aparicio 15:11
about your number three or number two starter in 27 and 28 and 29 of course, that but
Luke Jones 15:16
even, even a lesser scenario, maybe he becomes a back end bullpen arm, I don’t know. I mean, you know, I’m not saying that that’s Tommy Hunter kind of thing, or Zach Britton. You know, Zach Britton became a,
Nestor Aparicio 15:29
Oh, you think a closer. You say, you think, okay, maybe,
Luke Jones 15:33
look, look, I don’t know. Like again, we’re all spitballing here again. This guy might have Tommy John surgery the second week of March, and then, already it’s starting to look different.
Nestor Aparicio 15:43
Well, that’s why I’m not burying Elias on this, sure, but he also had some chipiness. And he has the thing that nobody around here has they compared on the Palmer and Messina, right? They could, you know what I mean? And we saw it. We saw it. It was rocky Coppinger. We We saw him go out and pitch in the big leagues with a great degree of effectiveness, as well as injury, as well as injury. But when he went out and pitched, he didn’t look like Dean Kramer. Topside. He looked like Mike Messina. Topside, yeah, especially,
Luke Jones 16:15
especially if you throw out his first 10 starts as a rookie, when he struggled to the point where they sent him down, remember, came back second half of this of 23 I mean, he and Bradish were a heck of a one two punch. I mean, forget about the lack of experience or anything like that. The numbers were. The numbers they were, they were that good so and pennant race games too. No, yeah, yeah. So we’ve covered this, and this is going to be an ongoing discussion. You know, I have heard some good things about Taylor Ward, even from a leadership standpoint, maybe there, maybe there is a dynamic there. And look, this guy’s played for the angels and has won nothing, right? So I don’t want to, I don’t want to overstate that part of it, because this isn’t acquiring Derek Jeter or Kevin Millar or guys that have won, you know, Freddie Freeman.
Nestor Aparicio 17:00
This is also this. This is me being an old school baseball guy that had a press pass 30 years ago And hasn’t the last 15 years. They hire the new manager, and they bring him in, and the new manager has been in San Francisco, he’s been in Tampa, he’s been in Cleveland, he’s been in every dugout. He’s, he’s, he’s a baseball head, right? And how does he feel about him. Do they talk to him and say, Craig, you’re new here. What do you think of that guy? We know our guy. We know Grayson better than you do, and we know his you know his mechanics, his head, where he is, how he feels about us, like all of that, we think we might need a fresh page. We’re going to deal him for something, somebody we need a big bad uncle Money Bags doesn’t want to spend money on a free agent. So, you know, let’s go get somebody that can hit us 30 home runs. How do you feel about that? Do you think they bring Albert as in on that? I don’t know. I literally don’t. And that’s the part of me that says who liked him, Taylor Ward, above and beyond Mike Elias and Eve Rosenbaum, I
Luke Jones 18:05
guess, right, well, and, and Elias did say, when he talked about this late last week, he did say that he is someone that they’ve eyed up the last few years. You know I mean, and this is the other acknowledgement that I will make here, in favor of trying to defend this deal, which, as I, I think you can tell I, I don’t absolutely detest it or anything like that.
Nestor Aparicio 18:26
Well, they know more than we do, and you and I are smart enough to acknowledge, right, that Mike Elias has more information than we do. So to call him a thunderhead for doing this it, but it is a
Luke Jones 18:38
he still could end up being one, dude, you and I have been
Nestor Aparicio 18:40
at this 20 years together. I’ve been at this 40 years on the radio, longer than that as a fan, longer than you’ve been alive. There haven’t been a lot of these kind of trades in this organization, or many organizations in my lifetime where you give up on a pitcher. In any era when you have a lot of money, or you think you have a lot of money, or you don’t, or the way baseball is you don’t give up on young pitching, unless you think it’s shot right, like, I don’t like, that’s our conjecture. But you also think, well, the angels aren’t dummies, either. And do you know, what do they see here, where, you know, where are their doctors in all of this? And the manageability of money, and how much money it costs to buy a 36 home run outfielder or to buy a pitcher who has how bad you have to be to draft a pitcher that you can find a right handed arm that say, Hey, this guy could be a horse out of Texas one day. He could be a Roger Clemens kind of guy for us, and then give him away for a bag of beans for a year. All of it’s weird. So therefore we’re talking about that Thanksgiving week, as opposed to the ravens and Lamar Jackson. We talked about that Kyle Hamilton and Joe Flacco and Joe burrow. But like the fact that we’re talking about this, it’s. Unusual in the history of the organization, and it’s Barry Bloom’s going to want to talk to me about this, you know, but real baseball people are going to want to talk about this, because this doesn’t happen very often. Where you wake up and see a picture with this sort of topside dealt in this way. It does make us all scratch our heads and wonder, what if? But we don’t have the information. I go back to
Luke Jones 20:19
Sure, and again, the part that it’s four years hypothetical, as they might be right now, if you’re concerned about his health, of Grayson Rodriguez, as opposed to one year. I mean, for the angels, there’s no rest risk here. They weren’t going anywhere in 26 Taylor Ward, it’s not really a guy that profiles, you know, you’re talking about a guy who’s turning 32 and coming off of a career year, power wise, that’s Gen and a corner outfielder at that generally, not a profile where, especially a team that is not like on on the cusp of winning. I’m chuckling
Nestor Aparicio 20:52
because Brady Anderson just became their batting coach. He did
Luke Jones 20:56
man that was, I did a double take when I saw that. That was but, but the point is, even if the angels looked, and I know Grayson Rodriguez made the comment that he didn’t undergo a physical and everything, teams exchange all the medical that they have, all the imaging, all the different medical documentation that they have, when there’s a trade like this, the angels may have looked at it and said, You know what, we don’t know if this is going to work out for Grayson. We’re not sure if this bone spur thing is going to help his lat issues or not, but we were going to trade Taylor ward at the trade deadline anyway, at best, you know, like that was the most likely scenario, if it wasn’t this winter. So what were we going to get that was going to be more interesting than this? Now, this Grayson Rodriguez might hurt his elbow in spring and undergo Tommy John surgery, and he might throw 100 innings over the next four years, right? I mean, it might be the angels will cry a shot, right? Yeah, they won’t, because the upside play for them makes perfect sense. I mean, this is the kind of move the Orioles four or five years ago? Well, Brady was around with racing. Rodriguez was around too, right? So, so, so, you know, so we’ve, you know, we, we will continue to talk about this, but I do want to give some oxygen to the tendering decisions
Nestor Aparicio 22:15
that they make before I do that. I got to do Brady Anderson with you, because I have a Brady story. I just want to throw in, sure, sure, because, I mean, I mean, Brady Anderson and I were close when he played here, not the second time around, but before he worked for Angelos. But he and I were friends. I mean, we ate dinner. He sort of famously didn’t drink. He wasn’t like a bar guy at all, and I liked Brady, and Brady’s super smart. So I mean, just let you in on Brady. Brady and I would always play this music game. He’s really pop culture guy. Brady loved music. Brady loved movies. Big time movie head. Brady was big time TV Seinfeld kind of guy, too big pop culture guy, but Brady’s favorite movie was, was Shawshank Redemption. But he loved the natural. And there’s a scene in the natural where Robert Redford says, God, I love baseball. And that was Brady Anderson’s favorite line of of of ever being a baseball player. And I knew him in the 90s, when he was on posters and all of that, that he loved that. So when I think of him coming back and being a hitting coach and putting a uniform on and coming back in his late 5060, now I got he’s in his 60s, gotta be, Well, God, he’s older, still older than me, still four years older than me, and I’m 57 so I did the math on this, Brady, I have some admiration for that. I wonder what happens when you’re rich and sexy and young and awesome and beautiful and everybody wants the day, everybody loves you, and you know, like the Billy Joel, everybody loves you now and and this reminds me of another uncle Nestor story, tio Nestor. Let’s call me Tio Nestor. Eddie Murray always had a reputation, right? Started by Stan Charles that, you know, he didn’t slide, didn’t get his uniform dirty, was disinterested, all all the things that Cal Ripken would that anybody had ever played with, Eddie Murray would tell he’s bunk Eddie didn’t like the media. Eddie didn’t trust, I mean, rasig famously tells the story about doing a cartoon that Eddie accosted Ken Rosenthal, who’s all a five foot one, so Eddie did not have a good reputation when he left back whatever. And I remember back during the Mike Flanagan era of GM Dom 2025, years ago, being down at Spring training on a cold morning. You know, one of those 48 degrees see your breath Fort Lauderdale mornings, where we were doing live radio at six in the morning, and the sun wasn’t it was dark, and we set up outside the dugout in Fort Lauderdale to do radio at six in the morning, freezing. You know, they’re cutting the lawn, sweating. Shirts on. Just awful. Sun coming up. It’s February 20 something, 21st 20th they’re not even in games, nowhere near games, not even an inner squad. They’re in like fungos. And there’s Eddie Murray with a cup of coffee at 612, in the morning, walk into the backfields with six guys wearing a uniform, wearing 33 with a fun go back cup of coffee with six guys. Number 7374 8291 you know guys that were a ball players, double a you know organizational guys, and he was out playing baseball with them at six o’clock in the morning in February, in the cold. So guys, I love baseball. I just want to say, that’s why you and I are here in November, talking about baseball, because we love baseball. And did, he always loved baseball and the hot stove. Part of this is, how do we get better? How do we win a World Series here? Well, you get the right manager. I’ll tip my cap and say, okay, they got top of class manager, and then they’re going to make all of these moves, but really curious moves, and you’re about to talk about tendering and money and getting into that. But I just wanted to give that story, because people were scratching their heads about Brady Anderson and I, and in a moment, I thought he always quoted that movie I got. I love baseball. And I’m thinking, yeah, he’s had a great life and a great you know, he’s just beautiful man and a sexy man and a healthy man, and he made a lot of money, and he had a lot of home runs, and probably did some things back in the 90s. But I would also say, going back to baseball and going back what you love to do. I’m not shocked by it. How about that? Because I don’t what. There’s nothing else he’d rather be doing.
Luke Jones 26:41
Yeah. I mean, I think, and, you know, I’ll chip in here a little bit with, with my thoughts on it that. I mean, you think about the role that he had, good or bad, right? And we know that the Duquette fuck show, Walter era, especially as it went on at times, was not Kumbaya. It wasn’t, you know, fully as functional as you’d like it to be. And Brady Anderson was kind of a wild card in that, right? Where, I mean, he famously would work behind the scenes with certain players, and sometimes that was considered a positive, and sometimes that was considered, you know, is he saying the same thing? Is what the major league coaching staff saying or what they’re saying in the minor leagues, right? And that whole issue of not having one consistent message from rookie rookie League and the Gulf Coast League all the way up to the majors, right? What it’s worth. When he was here, they won. When he was in, when he was in leadership at the Orioles, they won some games. So good, you know, he can associate with that, for sure, they did, but they also lost some games. And there was an end to that. And when Mike Elias came in, when John Angelos became the control person for the organization, I think, you know, it was never said on the record wise, but I think it was very clear that michaelias and sigma Idell and all the people coming over from Houston, that no Brady’s sticking around and being in this kind of roving instructor, half Assistant General Manager, half
Nestor Aparicio 28:16
he was an eye he was he was an Angelos was Famous for this. Angelo’s always put one of his people in every room. It was like a mafia deal. He was a constantly. He was a middle guy to speak to ownership, and was always perceived as such as was Rick Dempsey, as was a whole bunch of different people. Mike Flanagan, that was his whole role, was to be the eyes for Angelo’s and then he hired him that that’s that was an Angelo’s family tradition, and Brady kept that alive.
Luke Jones 28:43
Sure that said, considering that ended in 2018 I’m in agreement with you, and Brady certainly has forgotten more about baseball than you and I will ever know. I’m I’m glad for if this was something he wanted. I’m glad for him to get the opportunity to do this. It’ll be interesting to see how he does as a full blown coach, right? I mean, so, so definitely interesting to see that. But you know, as we bring it back to the Orioles, and you know, so much of the conversation has been about Grayson Rodriguez for Taylor Ward, and what that’s going to look like, we’ll continue to you and I are probably going to have that conversation. I mean, this could be a conversation we’re having three years from now, if Grayson Rodriguez blossoms into an all star pitcher for the angels, and Taylor Ward’s playing for, I don’t know, the Dodgers in two years, he knows whatever. But you know, I think you look at their list of players that they had to make a decision on tendering a contract, of course, for full clarification. Here, you tender someone a contract that is arbitration eligible, that does not guarantee their whatever their salary is going to be for the full season. There are still things that can happen here. They can still make a trade. You can cut someone at the end of the spring, and you’re only forced to pay a certain percentage. If you recall, they actually did that with Miguel Gonza. Is a decade ago, at a time where I didn’t like the move, but they saved some money doing that so but, but I can’t sit here and say that I was not surprised when they tendered Ryan mountcastle, who, let’s face it, has trended in a in the wrong direction for multiple years now. I mean, go back to 2021 since then, his home run rate has gone down every single year. His strikeout rate spiked this year. His walk rate has dropped quite a bit the last two years. And that’s saying something for someone who never drew a lot of walks. I you know, lots of people have drawn the conclusion that, oh, well, this must mean that they’re open to trading Kobe mayo. Look, this has not for me. This has little to do with that. If you’re going to trade Kobe Mayo to go get a frontline starting pitcher, fine, my argument would be Ryan mountcastle Being an everyday first baseman for a team that has eyes on contending and making a playoff run and getting to a World Series. I’m not feeling that it’s
Nestor Aparicio 31:04
been a long time since I felt good about him. Yeah, so
Luke Jones 31:12
Mike Elias talked a lot about depth. He talked about the fact that they had injuries last year, but I will say this, and this and this is kind of the same thing that I did when I talked about the rationalization of trading Grayson Rodriguez for Taylor Ward and how insane that would have sounded six months ago or a year ago. Put it this way, Ryan mal Castle’s numbers, we know what they were. They were they were not good this year. I mean, he had seven home runs. He missed 70 plus games with a hamstring injury. Well, and not, not, not just for that, but he was benched basically the final month of the season because they wanted to see Kobe mayo. But he had a 653, ops. He struck out 98 times. He walked 15 times in 357 plate appearances. He did not hit for power. He slugged 367, so my, my argument here would be, and I think he’s projected to make 7.8 million in arbitration if the Orioles signed an unnamed player to play first base with those numbers for 7.8 million. Look, it’s not my money, and I want them to spend money. But at the same time, I’m cognizant that there’s not an unlimited supply here. They’re not, they’re not the Dodgers that they’re going to, you know, even if they elevate the payroll substantially, it’s not a true blank check over and over and over. That’s where I look at this and say, Are you really going to be able to trade them, you know? I mean, is some team really going to want them for $7.8 million if you’re going to trade Kobe mailed? Is this, you know? I mean, he didn’t even hit left handed pitching all that well this past year. So I kind of look at this, and I kind of you think the money into him is bad money in a general sense, because, like, no one’s going to want him because of the money, right? Yeah, because I, because I kind of feel, I mean, you could have traded him at any point from the end of the world series until now, and look, maybe there is a deal. And let me be clear, if there is a deal, you’re getting a couple 17 year old Dominican prospect lottery tickets, right? I mean, I don’t think you’re getting, I mean, maybe I don’t know if there’s some scenario where you could him and something else for an okay, reliever, you know, I don’t know. I just, I look at that and that, that falls
Nestor Aparicio 33:23
Ryan male castle. And no offense, but who, who’s gonna deal for him? What is their role for him? That the Orioles role wouldn’t be other than maybe he’ll hit 28 home runs again sometime, if we give him 200 at bats, you know, I don’t know, but he,
Luke Jones 33:38
and you know, so much was made about the wall at Camden Yards. And, you know, in 22 and 23 and I’ll hear it to a point, but the Wall came back in this past year, and his power was not even close to being there. So I don’t know, for me, I just look at it through the lens of and look, this is not another I’m outraged by this move. Like, let’s be clear, there’s a lot that can happen here, and this doesn’t mean he’s going to be there every day first baseman, although, like I said, better not be, quite frankly, you know that that’s not doing well enough there. You know, even if you trade mayo, even if Passio is playing a lot of first base, I still, you know, because I just, I question whether it’s a great use of whatever, whatever your resource limit is, I question whether it’s a great use of $7.8 million in the same way that signing Gary Sanchez to an $8 million contract last year was, I questioned that, right? I mean, Tyler O’Neill, he was that worked that turned out way worse than I even thought it would be. Well, they need to
Nestor Aparicio 34:39
make some good decisions, and I don’t know, and it doesn’t need to be decisions that you and I think are good decisions that wind up being good. So if it’s we’re going to keep mount castle, and we’re going to show you, you know, first 200 at bats of the year, he’s going to be hitting 280 and he’s going to have a dozen home runs again
Luke Jones 34:58
to see power. Yeah. I mean, yeah. First base is a power position, right? I mean, and yes, his defense has gotten way better over the over the years, to the point where he’s a really solid first baseman defensively. I’m not paying $8 million for that like I need if he’s going to actually be on the roster. Boy, they need to see way, way better from him offensively than they’ve gotten the last year and a half. I mean, so that’s where I look at that, and say, look at the end of the day, if they’re going to take the payroll, if they’re willing to take the payroll to $180 million whatever, whatever it all ends up being, you know, I’m just throwing that out there as an arbitrary number. Then, okay, $7.8 million that’s, that’s not going to make or break you. It’s, you know, they didn’t sign him to a four year deal like I don’t want to make this out to be too much, but I certainly question, you know, is this going to give you the most flexible roster, even if he’s a part time player for you, you know, is this truly going to be Could you do better there? And that’s where I look at this and say, even if you’re not a believer in Kobe Mayo as the right handed part of a platoon with posaio at first B,
Nestor Aparicio 36:07
you keep saying they’re going to deal him. Say, so, you know, show me your hand here on this.
Luke Jones 36:11
I’m not saying they will, but I’m saying, but people have to deal somebody. To our point, right? If they’re going to get a pitcher in a deal of some kind of, no, they need to sign a pitcher. I mean, like, and this is part of my frustration with the Taylor Ward thing. And look, I will fully acknowledge there is not an abundance of right handed power bats on the free agent market. Okay, so I’m acknowledging that, and they got theirs without spending money. But this is also what’s frustrating to me, because you build up this farm system, and this goes back to last few years. Now you build up this farm system to have this core in place, you saved a ton of money in the process of stinking for five years, right? You didn’t spend money on major league payroll. I understood that. But now you get to this point where you have new ownership, and you should have all this flexibility to spend money, and you have all these assets which, look, I’m not, not opposed to trading, but when the majority of what you’re doing is coming via trades, what’s that doing in the process? It’s depleting your system. And I look at this, and that’s where I do, go back to the Taylor Ward thing, and say, you know, and the skeptical point, but a fair point nonetheless, is, hey, they got that for $13 million on a no commitment beyond 2026 compared to signing someone to a four year deal or a five year deal, right? So, but that’s where, you know, go spend money, go buy a pitcher, like buy one, not trade for one, spend money and get one right. That’s what I want to see, instead of, you know, because you’re doing that, and I’m not picking on you, lots of people are saying that. I’ve said that at times, certainly, and they did it for Corbin burns. I continue to say, two years later, I love the Corbin burns trade still would have done it, knowing exactly how it turned out. I do that 100 times out of 100 but especially since you went and traded for a bat. And I’m guessing maybe they’ll prove me wrong pleasantly, I’d be pleasantly surprised if they do, but I’m guessing Taylor Ward’s their big bad acquisition for the offseason. Well, if that’s the case, go sign pitching, because you have money to spend. Even based off of what they spent last year, they have plenty of money to spend. Go buy, go buy a pitcher if you want to trade for another guy, sure, you know, if you want to trade for a closer, I’ll hear that, but I you know they have money to spend in free agency. Go do it and go spend it wisely and go get a pitcher and hope he stays healthy, because that you’re at the mercy of that for any pitcher, right? I mean, so but, but seeing this Taylor war deal, and, you know, seeing this mount Castle tender that again, I was, I mean, all things being equal, Nestor, I was, I would have been of the thought of considering non tendering him last winter, let alone keeping them around for another year. I mean, so I hope he proves me wrong. I like Ryan mountain Castle a lot. Personally, he has dealt with some injuries the last year and a half. But, man, we’re a long way away from his 2021 season, where he had 33 bombs, had a 796, ops, and, you know, was looking like a guy that you could just confidently pencil in as a power hitting first baseman for the next six years. You know that that guy’s declined quite a bit the last few years. And you know maybe the new coaching staff, maybe Albert Nestor, maybe they’re hitting coaches coming in, they see a very obvious tweak that maybe the previous hitting coaches didn’t see. Maybe that’s part of the conversation here. To your point, you know your hope Mike Elias is asking for input here. It’s not that Albert Naz is calling the shots, but you want input. You want dialog. You want communication and discourse when it comes to your players. So maybe there’s some of that at work. But my read right now, understanding it’s Thanksgiving, and man, we’re a long ways from spring training, let alone opening day, I certainly am not going to sign off on the idea of just penciling in Ryan mountcastle As your everyday first baseman as they have the last three or four years. No, I mean, even if you trade Kobe mail, then I’m still not comfortable and enamored with the idea that you’re just going to play mount Castle every day and you know, we’re gonna see how it plays out. But it does kind of lead to, there’s only so many at bats to go around here. You Won’t you have so many of these first base, dH, corner outfield guys that you know, I hear depth, but you know, you can’t talk about how much you value depth when you just traded away your former number one pitching prospect for a guy that you’re going to have for one year. You know, at maybe. So we’re going to see how it plays out again. I’m not outraged by it, but I’m not going to lie. I was surprised. I thought we were going to see Ryan mountcastle, non tender, because, honestly, I think he’s a guy that they were probably, at times, at least willing to listen to trade offers and, you know, looking to deal him, probably going back to last winter, let alone what’s played out since then, with him coming off of a season where He was a replacement level first baseman. I mean, what do you
Nestor Aparicio 41:23
expect next for them at this point? Like I I keep waiting for whatever the other shoe to drop or whatever. I don’t know what that even means in their case, because I don’t say I’m stunned by the beginning of all of it. I will be stunned if they spend $142 million on a baseball player like like that hasn’t happened around here, and I’m just watching the new ownership flip around and him making a bobble head of himself and all of that, and just the way I’ve been treated, in the way that I see, the way that they’re operating and putting their tickets on sale and their corporate schmarm and all of that. I I expect the unexpected, but I don’t expect anything that’s going to wow me or move me in the direction of, Oh, I see what they’re doing, because I’m not. I’m very unclear, and they want me to be unclear. They do not want to communicate with the fan base with any sort of clarity about most of this, and yeah, and that, for that, they will get no offseason enthusiasm from any where, other than where they earn it, I guess. Yeah, that’s that’s fair, and their fans are pissed. By the way, whoever’s running their Twitter apparently blocked half of their fans last week I saw
Luke Jones 42:39
like, I mean, doing, what are they doing? Look, let’s face it, there are plenty of people on Twitter who weren’t being blocked, you know, if
Nestor Aparicio 42:48
Yeah, but these were people in the conversation of the fan base that two minutes of any sort of work on any of these people, they just love the Orioles man.
Luke Jones 42:58
And again, short of saying anything that you know, over the top, foul language, racist, hateful type of talk, yeah, I’m with
Nestor Aparicio 43:06
the last place baseball team, but the history of being awful all of your life that you don’t have any problem bringing it
Luke Jones 43:13
up, because it’s true. But I’ll go back to a point I made a little bit earlier in this discussion, and you know, probably a place where we could stop, because we’re gonna have plenty to talk about. And you know, I’m with you in terms of waiting for the next move, and that’s kind of just the nature of the business, right? I mean, pre agency has been open for a while now. The
Nestor Aparicio 43:31
fact that we’re still engaged when the football team’s playing, because we think like you’re not the angelos, be better. Do better, all of you, let’s act like you have your act together. I don’t think they do. There’s no, there’s been no. People come to me all the time. I’m like they they treat me worse than the Angelos people treated me, and they have no reason to none. That’s who they are. And the arrogance of Katie Griggs just oozed off of her two weeks ago, when I was in she didn’t care to meet anybody from Baltimore or hang out or learn about that. All she wants to do is get the all star game and sell you something. And, okay, okay, okay, you know, here comes the caravan. How much does that cost? You know, I’m just sort of like, I’m I’m blown away by all of it, but it doesn’t make me stop caring about it doesn’t make me stop talking about it doesn’t make me stop wondering. But I’m not smelling success
Luke Jones 44:26
here, right yet. I’m waiting for the move. And I said this earlier in our conversation, and I will continue to say it. I’m waiting for them to make the move. Boom, awesome.
Nestor Aparicio 44:38
That makes us enthusiastic. They they didn’t want to be enthusiastic as much as they think. I want to hate
Luke Jones 44:44
their team. There was nothing to question whatsoever, other than the fact that he was a rental when they got Corbin burns, right? DL Hall, sure. Could he have been in the back end of the Orioles bullpen the last couple years? Joey Ortiz, could he have been the. Orioles utility guy and replace for monarius or Jorge Mateo who’s now gone, sure, but there was no you didn’t have to rack your brain to kind of figure out what they’re thinking here, or what this means for this, this and this.
Nestor Aparicio 45:16
Hey, by the way, the one they dealt sours and Norby away. There was no questions. What they were thinking. They were thinking maybe, maybe Rogers will be an opening day starter in 26 and he will be,
Luke Jones 45:26
yeah, I mean, but, but even that was part of a, you know, Trevor, we’re trying to bring the lies some flowers here too. Be fair and balanced. Let me be clear. This isn’t me saying that ever like Ramon Laureano was a great signing last year, as bad as Tyler O’Neill was, gloriano was a great signing, right? And they
Nestor Aparicio 45:43
and Sanchez was a terrible signing. I mean, yeah, pitchers are so good, they went back and got him again, even though he was hurt the beginning of the year, he was hurting. That
Luke Jones 45:50
didn’t help. The time he started the pitch, they were 20 games out. But I, but I want to see that move where I don’t need to explain it to you, right? We had to explain why they’re trading four years of Grayson Rodriguez for one year of Taylor ward. And I follow it to a point, but even then, I’m making some very strong assumptions here about the long term health and viability of Grayson Rodriguez to rationalize that trade. Ryan mountcastle, again, I don’t tendering Ryan mount Castle is not going to make or break your offseason. I want to be clear about that. However, when we’re in this spot of not knowing how high the payroll is going to go, how many roster spots you’re going to have, wanting to have the most flexible roster you can have, right? Because you know you’re only going to have a four man bench, I look at that and say, Is that the best use of $7.8 million if he’s on your opening day roster, and even if that means you’re trading Kobe Mayo for something else potentially, do I want? Do I really want to give 500 at bats to Ryan mountcastle based on how he’s played the last couple years? I want? I’m ready to see a move or two, or hopefully more than that, even where I say, boom, check it off. That guy’s a stud of a late inning reliever. Or that guy’s maybe he won’t be their number one, but he’s definitely going to be their number two. And now they have that pitcher with Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers, or whatever it might be, give me, give me a move to get excited about that. I’m not sitting here. Like, what are they really trying to do here? Or what were they really thinking here? Or why would they do that? So that’s what I’m waiting for. Does that mean it’s going to happen here in the next three days or the next week, or before the winter meetings, early next month? Not necessarily, because you see how the market’s moving, all the top free agents are still out there, right? I mean, that’s baseball compared to the NFL or the NBA. I mean, it’s part of the part of the reason why the sport economically is broken, right? I mean, that you’re not seeing those players signed far more quickly than they are. But, you know, I just give me a move that I don’t have to do that with, where I just say, boom, they are absolutely a better baseball team than they were the day before. And look, I guess in some way you can say that about Taylor Ward if, if you just thought Grayson Rodriguez was never going to pitch again ever. And you know, I think that’s a little fatalistic, but I certainly have my doubts about him and his health. But you know again, go buy someone right go spend money and sign someone you know, and someone that you say right now, man, the Baltimore Orioles are a better team because they just signed that guy.
Nestor Aparicio 48:33
Make me excited. Get me excited. Come on. Katie, come on. Mike, come on. David Rubenstein, come on. Eric Getty, all right. Luke is here. He is Baltimore, Luke. We’re still talking baseball here as well as football. We got you covered on Thanksgiving night. Any breaking news in regard to injuries, in regard to injury reports, all on the wnst tech service that’s brought to you by our friends at cole roofing and Gordian energy bill. Cole and I were talking AI a couple of weeks ago. I have turned my AI ski cat backwards into working on things here through the holidays. And I’m around. I’m easy to find. I’m Nestor Baltimore, positive.com he’s Luke at W, N, S, D, we’re both out on the interwebs, out on the social medias. Throw us email. Say hello, happy holidays to everybody. Go eat some pumpkin pie. Enjoy your family. Get some eggnog while you can get your favorite ice cream. Get the good cool whip on top. Get extra cool whip on top, and especially on Thursday night. We got some football ahead as well, playing the big Thanksgiving game this week. So hey, Happy Thanksgiving. I’m Nestor. He’s Luke. We’re W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, baseball, football, all sorts of things ahead, including some great Baltimore positive conversations on the Maryland crab cake tour. Stay with us. You.
