With the Baltimore Orioles circling the drain the next two weeks and then watching the postseason once again from the outside, Luke Jones and Nestor begin to wave goodbye to any reality of a normal offseason in Birdland or anywhere MLB is played with the pending offseason labor war. The decisions about everything will fall to owners David Rubenstein and Michael Arougheti, who have proven hapless and feckless thus far in accountability regarding Mike Elias and the fans paying the freight. Baseball fans here are watching…

The discussion assessed the Orioles’ disappointing season, uncertain organizational direction, and difficult offseason outlook.

Season Outlook

• The Orioles are effectively out of contention after a 3–9 September, despite not being mathematically eliminated.
• Luke said the team’s performance has become uninspiring, with the core roster regressing and few reasons for confidence.
• Positive signs remain in parts of the farm system and with players such as Pete Alonso, Samuel Basallo, Kyle Bradish, and Dylan Beavers.

Organizational Concerns

• Both questioned whether Mike should continue leading baseball operations after more than two years of decline.
• Matt Blood’s departure was viewed as an insufficient change by itself, particularly if Mike remains in charge.
• Ownership’s willingness to recognize deeper problems and provide meaningful direction remains unclear.

Open Questions

• Will Mike remain in place, or will ownership make a broader leadership change?
• How will the Orioles reshape the roster and front office before the reported December 1 labor deadline?
• Can the organization restore confidence among fans, employees, and potential ticket buyers?

• Host a breakfast and baseball discussion at State Fair in Catonsville next Thursday, the 24th, with Casper Wells and Alan McCallum. (@Nestor Aparicio)

Season Assessment

• The Orioles’ late-season collapse has ended meaningful discussion of a playoff run.
• The team’s collective performance was described as disappointing and difficult to watch.
• The farm system is viewed as improved, but the major-league core has not developed as expected.

Roster Evaluation

• Kyle Bradish needs to return to his pre-injury level next season.
• Samuel Basallo’s long-term offensive potential remains encouraging, despite a difficult finish.
• Jackson Holliday has not shown enough consistent impact to justify expectations associated with a top draft pick.
• Gunnar Henderson’s decline has raised concerns about whether the organization can restore its best players.

Leadership And Labor

• Matt Blood’s dismissal was discussed as a limited response to broader player-development concerns.
• The Orioles face an uncertain offseason because of a possible league lockout beginning December 1.
• Ownership’s plans for Mike, the front office, spending, and organizational stability remain unresolved.

Future Coverage

• Nestor and Luke expect to continue discussing the Orioles, the offseason, and postseason baseball while shifting attention toward football and other coverage.

Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We call it Baltimore positive. It is football season around here, but we’re going to pretend it’s still baseball season, which is why I’m wearing my Orioles Hawaiian gear because it’s almost golf season down at Camden Yards. I will be doing breakfast at State Fair and talking baseball with my pal Casper Wells. Alan McCallum’s coming over. That’s happening next Thursday, the 24th. We were planning a playoff weekend, but so much for that. Either way, you’ll get lucky because I will have Raven Scratch also in the Maryland Lottery, including the Kiss Face Bird. Kiss being very, very instrumental, a part of our 28th anniversary countdown of musicians and bands because they are number 28, but still number one. You wanted the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the world, Kiss. And then there’s Oriole baseball. By the way, thanks to GBMC. Still haven’t had a French fry. Had some fried shrimp the other day at Costas, but mixed in a salad, mixing in a lot of greens around here to stay healthy, and farting and Derma, of course. And I kid, Luke, I know you’re wearing some Farnin and Dermer gear, but Zach gave me the. Doesn’t it look like I’m about to like play 18, or that I need to get a proper chilled glass of wine on some resort right now and have the baseball season be over.

Luke Jones 1:22
Well, that’s not a bad look. I mean, even even if it is right, and and I’m ready for the Orioles cruise is what I’m ready for. I think, yeah, yeah. I mean, I I’m not gonna lie, I barely watched this past weekend. I mean, I’m not I’m not like I I went back and watched the extended you know, recaps where they’ll give you like 12 minutes worth of highlights, but it’s

Nestor Aparicio 1:45
that time.

Luke Jones 1:46
I mean, it’s just they’re three and nine in September, right? I mean, I said it to you before we even started recording that the Colton Cowser, the Colton Cowser catch feels like it was three months ago, not two weeks ago, right? And I mean, it’s just. I think. I don’t say this with any level of personal. Like, it’s nothing personal with any of these guys whatsoever, right? I mean, they’re they’re all decent enough guys. I have nothing personal. I think I speak for many. I think everyone’s sick of watching this at this point in time. Like, as much as I don’t want baseball to go away entirely, because we also know what’s looming with the lockout and when exactly are they going to be back on the field, and I am absolutely going to enjoy postseason baseball because I always do. But this has not been a fun product to watch. Really, it in very few ways has it been enjoyable to watch. Like, okay, I’ll give you Pete Alonso, I’ll give you some other good stories. I mean, you know, Encarnacion Strand and Brandon Young, and but all of that is overshadowed by the absolute disappointments on this ball club collectively and individual performances that it’s tough. I mean, I look at this thing right now and look, the cupboard’s not bare. Yeah, the the farm system’s in better shape than it was over the last year or two, in part because they sold the last two trade deadlines. But it’s just really tough for me to look at this thing and be overly enthusiastic about where it’s going, and it starts at the top with Michaelias. I mean, it’s just that simple. Why should why should anyone trust his vision and his execution of a vision at this point in time, after what’s transpired now for going on two and a half seasons? When you consider the second half of 2024, so yeah, they’re playing out the string here mathematically. They’re not eliminated yet. Although at this point now, when you’re trailing multiple games by multiple teams for the final wild card spot, it’s as bleak as it can be without it being officially over. But I mean, no one believes in this thing. And for as much as you can point to some individuals here and there and say, “Hey, Pete Alonso did everything asked of him this year, there’s just so much going on that’s just been so disappointing, so uninspiring, and it’s going to take a lot more than saying, “Oh, well, we parted ways mutually with Matt Blood to think that anything’s going to change to the meaningful degree that it needs to for this franchise to get back on track after this thing has gone off the rails the way it has for two plus years now.

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Nestor Aparicio 4:29
I’m going to invite. I have Casper Wells coming out, who is obviously a member of the Baseball Players Association, played in the league at a high level, and it’s Towson at a high level is now selling insurance at a high level for Heller Ko’s, and I’m gonna have Alan out. We’re gonna talk some baseball next week. But everything, and I warned you about this last week. It was all fun and games when there was a pennant race, and there was trade deadlines, and there was a start tonight, and the Red Sox were coming to town this week, and the Rays were coming to town next week, and we’re. See the Yankees at the end, and blah blah, and no, no, no, no, no. And by the way, Alan texts me in the middle of the night, like the Rockies have won like one game since since then, right? Like literally, they are the worst of the worst. And this outfit’s won three games since, or whatever. Existentially, there’s nothing to talk about with the off season. Existentially, there is no let’s fire Elias and let’s go get this guy and we’re going to get that bat. We’re existentially where they are is they gave a lot of money to Bradish, a lot of money to Boz, a lot of commitment to Pasio, certainly huge amount of money to Alonzo. You know, those were the decisions that Elias made on behalf of this ownership group that they’re going to have to live with, strike no strike before, during, after. Right? I don’t know what we’re going to talk about. We’re going to talk about the World Series next couple weeks in the Dodgers, and whether they win or whether the Brewers can actually do it. Finally, the beer would flow that night for Laverne and Shirley in the Shots Brewery. Um, so there’ll be drama. There’ll be baseball in October. It’ll be good. Baseball in October’s good. It’s weird pitching matchups and all that. The little short series, all that that we won’t be a part of that. We’re going to be watching on the outside, waiting for it to burn down, and waiting for the Orioles to do nothing. I mean, Zach Roger. I mean, like, what? Where? Where do they go in the off season? To they can’t do anything. They they’ve spent a lot of money. I don’t know how much more they’re going to spend. They can’t market because they’re going to be a last place team that failed. And the notion that like they’re they’re gonna open the doors again in like whenever maybe they solve it in March. Maybe it only cost them three weeks of spring training. I don’t know, dude. I haven’t met anybody, anybody, and and I’m not. I’m Baltimore positive. I’m not even like a pessimist about this. I’m trying to be realistic about you and I talking about this team right now, where you stop watching, I’ve stopped watching, everybody’s going to stop watching. The games are going to end in a week and a half. It doesn’t even matter. They’re doing National Hispanic Night next week. I I did finally send Mark a fine a text and told him how offended I am in a general as an Aparicio. The 66 World Series thing two weeks just in general everything about the organization top to bottom other than Pete Alonso. I mean we’re gonna sit here and bitch about the baseball operation. Then they fire blood this week, right? So there’s there’s a great headline there somewhere about blood on the bricks or whatever. But now there’s this desperation for Elias to keep his job. Rubinstein’s out running around promoting his book, being himself, and is going to have not much to say. The whole sport’s gonna probably not have much to say. I think in the modern era they’re gonna run and hide, which is I don’t know, man. If I’m working at the Oris, I mean, there are executives resigning now. I see that on my LinkedIn because it’s that time of the year to say like I’m not staying around here and work. I’m gonna get Marty Conway and get some Rick Vaughn people to work during strikes to say like back in the day, mr. Jacobs came in, or mr. wasn’t Jacobs. Believe me, it wasn’t. Maybe mr. Angelos came in for sure. mr.

Nestor Aparicio 8:27
Angelos came in and said, “All the employees there in 1994, you’re going to keep your job. I’m going to pay. And these billionaires have the ability to do anything they want. But like, you work inside a baseball right now. This is not everything about this is really, really nerve-wracking for people that give their lives to this in whatever way to see billionaires and let alone people that give their that love the Orioles and treat them like their family and feel that feeling about them that the team wants you to feel about them. They want you to love them and respect them. I don’t know where this goes, dude. I don’t know the next time you and I are going to do a like we might do some World Series segments and have a little fun with this, but like I don’t know how this segment plays a week from now, week and a half from now, two weeks from now, other than whatever drama goes on with hirings and firings that they’re going to do to the finish line, because like this is the weirdest of weird, right? Like in any normal case, we’d say, “Well, they’re going to fire their general manager. I don’t know, and I and that and that would be what blood for the fans, and then not having anybody run the thing during the most tumultuous thing you can go through is ownership, which is keeping some level of stability when the whole thing’s shut down and falling apart, and you’re trying to get minor leaguers into the Arizona fall camp, and you have some Australian kid you’re looking at, and you got to do some scouting over in Korea this winter and like I mean that that’s what they do but selling tickets and selling optimism and you and me talking about balls and strikes and the off season and free agency and which player is vested and which player needs arbitrage like the whole industry is going to need arbitrage not arbitration when this is. With man,

Luke Jones 10:00
well, I mean a couple things. First of all, there is going to be an off season at least till december 1. And now, how much does that alter how teams proceed and operate?

Nestor Aparicio 10:11
That’ll all just be wartime operation, right? You know, getting getting the the boats right on the tank before they go to war. Like, right? I mean, that’s what it

Luke Jones 10:20
is. Oh, but I don’t think you’re not going to do anything at all. But there’s going

Nestor Aparicio 10:22
to be some financial considerations for sure. The bottom half’s going to play poor no matter what. They’re all going to play poor. They’re the owners.

Luke Jones 10:29
And I mean, 111 someone that comes up is Trevor Rogers. I mean, you’re going to give him the qualifying offer at the very least, right? Now I assume he’s not going to take it. What did they try to sign him? I mean, you look at it now. Call

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Nestor Aparicio 10:42
him Zach Rogers. I don’t know. I heard you transition to it.

Luke Jones 10:45
Yeah, you know, I just

Nestor Aparicio 10:47
knocked down with Trevor, but go ahead. It was fun.

Luke Jones 10:49
But Trevor Bauer. So there’s going to be business that’s conducted because you know, I mean, the the off season begins very rapidly after the World Series, right? Doesn’t mean doesn’t mean there’s going to be nine-figure contracts handed out left and right. I don’t think you’re going to see that. I mean, you don’t see that most November’s anyway, but especially this year. But yeah, it’s this is a very. I mean, it’s obviously it’s an uncomfortable position for the sport, and we’re going to have plenty of time to talk about that once the World Series wraps up and the Dodgers are probably a three-time World Series champion, right? Which we’ll just add to the discourse and the narrative and all that. But you know, in all seriousness, whoever it is, it’s going to be a quickly turn the page to fitting in maybe some savvy moves here or there around the league, and you know everything that you take care of before it shuts down on december 1, right? I mean, it’s just everything here

Nestor Aparicio 11:42
right now smells like Elias trying to keep his job, though, right? It

Luke Jones 11:44
does. I mean, how can it not, right? I mean, Matt Blood was one of his first hires. I’m not going to sit here and say that Matt Blood deserved to keep his job when I’m talking about the the entire scope of where the organization is because he was very much integral with player development, and we’ve talked a lot about player development issues and and all that. So I’m I’m not crying the blues for him, but this is one of those things where I look at it and say, oh, I’m sure that’s going to fix all all that plagues them, right? So I think they’re when you see Matt Blood show him the door, even if you know the the official party line is mutually parting ways, right? I mean, that’s you hear teams try to soft sell the these kind of moves all the time with such language, but you know, I think everyone asks, okay, is Sigma Del safe? You know, Eve Rosenbaum go down the the list of Elias’s top lieutenants, right? But for me, it’s really tough to to be moved by any of that whatsoever if Michaelia is still at the top, right? It’s just that simple. And no, it’s not to sit here and say that all is bad, right? It’s not to say that there’s no good and all is bad, right? There’s more nuance than that. You know, you mentioned some of the contracts. I’ll still sit there and say that before it’s all said and done, I still think that Samwell Basayo extension signed when it was was a good bet. You know, not Basayo’s had a bad finish to the season. It’s been a difficult second half for him, but I still think the upside for whoever the general manager in the front office and and player development and coaches and managers going to be, I’ll still bet on on that deal being good long term, right? Kyle Bradish, I still I’m still going to I’m not going to bail on the idea that I like that deal. I am disappointed with how his season finished. You’ve heard me say for a couple weeks now, and really going back a couple months, the idea of where he was going to be innings-wise, where he was going to be workload-wise, how strong was he going to be late in the season? And we’ve seen it. And it’s not like the velocity fell off a cliff where you’re like worried about an injury. You know, they they next year would be the

Nestor Aparicio 13:56
bounce back on that circus of what you know about the kinetic chain. Yeah, I mean, right. Next year would be the year he gets strong. Next year, Bob’s kind of got it this year, right? Yeah,

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Luke Jones 14:04
next year should be the year with Bradish, where I would say none of that should even be on the table. Now it’s go out and pitch every five days and and get back to being the guy you were a couple years ago, point blank. And if he’s not, that’s when I would question: Is it going to happen, right? Is he going to make it back to that level where three or four years ago we were talking about Kyle Bradish being a legitimate ace at some point in the future, right? Where he was looking like he was trending that way, whereas the way he pitched the last six weeks of the season kind of pitched like a fourth or fifth starter at best. Right. I was going to say, and this is, I think, I meant to say at the beginning. Forget all the labor discord. If we were just talking about this, like, oh yeah, there was no labor discord, we’d look at some of this and say, what do we have? If we had to come back and play in March in normal circumstances, what do you have? And there’s nothing normal about this. Yeah. And and to be clear, when when I kind of laid that out there, and I I mentioned obviously the sports shutting down, I’m when I’m talking about the team itself and where they stand right now, I’m putting aside the lockout. I’m just looking at it in terms of okay, what you have on the 26 man roster, the 40 man roster, who’s in triple A, who’s in double A, who might get a look next year at some point in time, right? And I look at it and say, man, don’t get me wrong, the cupboard’s not there. I’ll continue to say that there there are still players to be optimistic about. There are still things that can go well and go better, and things that I think you know. Like I said, I think Kyle Bradish will will be better next year. But I’d be lying if I said I’m not a little disappointed with how his season finished, I’d be disingenuous in saying that. But that doesn’t mean I’m panicking on him either. But next year, boy, if he’s not back to being what he was in in 23 and pre-injury 24 or pre-surgery 24, then I start to question: Is he ever going to be that guy again? Right this year, you know, we saw he had a really, really good run in the middle of the season where he looked like he was getting closer and closer to being that. And then in August he he faded. Right? I mean, it’s just that simple. And I think they did the prudent thing here. Right? For whatever microscopic playoff chance you have remaining, Kyle Bradish really wasn’t getting it getting the job done for you anyway. These last few starts. Well, and you have

Nestor Aparicio 16:25
this investment in these guys now, exactly. And you

Luke Jones 16:28
got to be smart. You got you do have to be smart, and you do have to look at the long term. In the same way, right now we’re talking about Zay Flowers with his hamstring and saying no. The ultimate goal is not to have him on the field against New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys the next two weeks. The ultimate goal is to have him healthy and available and right for as much of the season as possible, especially with November, December, and January in mind. Right, so you always have to juggle the short term with the long term. So I think they’re doing the right. They’re doing right by Bradish, you know, doing right by him to to proceed in this way. As I said to you, I would have been doing some things along the way. I would have skipped him here or there. I would have given him extra rest here or there. And they really didn’t do that, other than what out of the All Star break. If you remember, they they slid him to the back of the rotation coming out of the break right around when they when they did his contract extension, so, but but yeah, it’s tough. I mean, putting aside the business and the CBA and all of that, it is tough for me to look at this thing and and and be. I mean, you just you have so many guys. I mean, Jackson Holiday. I was really really encouraged by what I saw in July from him, he’s been a real disappointment since then, and I get it. It’s going to be 23 in December. I was going to say with him, I don’t know what we’re. I mean, that’s another season. I don’t know what to expect, right? But I just, I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say this. He’s played in the majors enough now, where I’m just not seeing enough flashes of dynamic ability in the way that even Gunner Henderson, as frustrating as discouraging as this season has been for him, you still see Gunner do special things on the field. Not nearly as consistently or as often as he did in the past, but you still see that and say, oh, there’s Gunner, right? What’s happened to that guy? But with Holiday, I, I just wish I saw more flashes. And I’m just, I’m not trying to say he won’t be a decent ball player. He won’t be a solid player. He can’t get better. I’m not saying any of that. But man, for me at this point in time, at the very least, the clock’s ticking for me to really think he’s going to be something special. That when you look back and say what you’re hoping, what you’re dreaming a one-one to be, that that’s where I’m concerned, right? You know, I mentioned Basayo. I still I love the bat long term. I just don’t think he’s healthy. I think he’s worn down. This is the first time he’s played a full major league season or attempted to, and he still has some maturing to do. He’s 22, right? But you see the power for him, where you say, “Okay, I think that’s in there. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to shake out in terms of how much he’ll catch, how long he’ll catch, all of that. But I see a bat that has the potential to be a cleanup bat for a decade, right? So I, you know, I still have some hope and optimism for Dylan Beavers. I, I really do. I, you know, I’d like him to be better defensively. I think that’s that needs to be a big point of emphasis for him. He’s got to get better at a corner defensive spot, but I like that he works walks. I like his approach, where it’s not this obsession with hitting the ball in the air poolside that is just that just plagues this organization to the degree to the extent that it does. But you know, and and there’s other guys. They’ve got you know they got some young pitchers at the high levels of the minor league system now that certainly I’m looking forward to seeing what happens there. But man, the collective there that I just threw out there, and you know who knows what’s going to happen with Gunnar Henderson at this point, right?

Luke Jones 20:16
I mean it feels like it’s a matter of when, not if, that he gets the Adley Rutschman treatment, right? Because Scott Boris is not someone who’s going to sign an extension, and I’m guessing privately, I would opine that Scott Boris probably behind closed doors is kind of like, why can’t these guys get him back on track? What the heck’s going on here? This is a guy that whether he’s going to be an MVP or not is one thing, but about getting them back to being an all-star caliber shortstop in the way that he had been for his first two seasons in the league, and even even last year, which wasn’t a great year for him home run wise. Well, if they’re

Nestor Aparicio 20:51
going to do anything, their best players have to be great. And as we sit here at the end of the season, that’s no different than the beginning. Question marks. Yeah, I mean, like like

Luke Jones 20:57
I I’ve said this. Adley Rutschman’s

Nestor Aparicio 20:59
not coming back to rescue them, by the way.

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Luke Jones 21:01
Well, and and and he was part of the problem the last couple years before they traded him, even right. So what’s going to

Nestor Aparicio 21:06
replace that to rescue them? Yeah.

Luke Jones 21:07
So so that’s the thing. I just kind of look at the and look. It’s not even about oh you need one superstar, right? It’s just the collective, right? This this core, I’m calling it. It’s a bust, right? It’s a bust, you know. And I’m not the first person to say that, and I won’t be the last person to say that. But when you consider the level of excitement of where this was three years ago, mind you, with so many of those players that were guys that Elias actually inherited, and look, he deserves credit for his, you know, his regime and and this front office and this baseball ops deserves their part in having finished develop Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle. Go down the list of those guys, but man, there was just such a thought three years ago of, wow, look how good this team is, and the best prospects haven’t even gotten here yet, right? How many people said that? You and I said that how many times? And to see what it’s degrade, you know, what what it’s just completely regressed and fallen into, man, that’s where I look at this thing and say, okay, yeah, your farm system’s a top five farm system again. Oh yeah, okay, you’re you’ve got a little more of a pitching centric thing going on, which, by the way, isn’t a bad thing. I don’t necessarily disagree with that. But why exactly should I trust that this is going to go any better this this time around than how it ended up going the last few years? Right. I mean, are there enough truly special talents in this organization right now to really think they’re building anything that has the chance to truly be special, but does

Nestor Aparicio 22:44
ownership recognize that?

Luke Jones 22:46
And that’s all that matters, right? It’s like I said to you a while back. I mean, you always think in a vacuum. You want an owner who’s going to spend a bunch of money and get the heck out of the way, unless you have a baseball ops part department and you have a president of baseball operations. You know, whoever your decision maker is, if you have someone who, frankly, is proving to be not as up to the task as people thought years ago, and that’s where you say, okay, it’s great to have an owner who’s hands off, but you need to have some level of discernment, or someone that you trust that has a level of discernment to flat out tell you this isn’t working anymore, and that’s where I have my major doubts. Right? I mean, I just I can’t sit here with any level of confidence and say I’m confident Michaelias moving forward. I’m just not. Does that mean he’s going to get fired? I don’t see that unless unless we’re interpreting him firing Matt Blood, and we’ll see what happens with any of anyone else. Maybe a couple other people get let go between now and the official end of the season. Well, he’s attached

Nestor Aparicio 23:56
to Sig. He’s apparently attached to Eve, right? Because I brought her in, right? But I

Luke Jones 23:59
guess my point would be unless Elias is doing this as a hail mary from his perspective, and maybe ownership behind closed doors, we’re all going to get

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Nestor Aparicio 24:09
fired anywhere.

Luke Jones 24:10
Maybe, maybe, but that’s not the sense I’ve gotten over the last couple months. I mean, again, go back to what Rubenstein said six weeks ago, right? At some, I can only go off of what we know and what we hear, right? Until they change course. It’s why so many people doubted that John Harbaugh was going to be fired last January, right? Because Steve, I mean, Steve had given him a contract extension nine months before that, right? Same thing with Billick, exactly, exactly. So you don’t know until someone literally changes course and changes the narrative that is out there and goes against what they had previously said. And I’m not, believe me, I’m not. You know, David David Rubenstein might have genuinely believed six weeks ago that Michaelias was still his guy, but things can also change. I mean, I don’t think Steve Bashadi was going to. John Harbaugh in November last year. I think what really did it to me, in hindsight, I think was what happened with the back-to-back AFC North games, Thanksgiving in early December. And I think the last straw for Steve was probably that Patriots game. I really do think that a Sunday night home game where they choked away another lead. To me, that was probably the last straw when you kind of look at the timing of how it all worked out, but but until we see David Rubenstein or Arigati or you know Cal Ripken having more influence than anyone thinks he might right now, until we see any evidence of that, it’s tough to expect anything but Elias continuing, and then that’s when you get into okay. Even if they were to make a change, do you hire the right person? What what disadvantage is that individual going to be in terms of okay? You can hire. It’s not like you know you’re only in a position where you know signing players and making trades and things of that nature. I mean, you could hire people. You know, you front offices aren’t subjected to. You know, they’re not part of the players’ union, so you could do those types of things. But but then you look into it and say, okay, how hamstrung would a new GM be in trying to reshape this thing, revamp this thing, making trades, making changes, changing infrastructure, all that, and that’s where you look at it and say that’s just another layer to add to this to to be skeptical that anything truly meaningful is going to change. That that’s just how I see it right now. Who knows, Nestor? Two weeks from now we might be talking about a WNS tech WNSD text going out that the Orioles have fired Michaelias. I don’t know, but man, I have to believe it when I see it at this point in time. And you know, the Matt Blood dismissal kind of feels like you know it’s tough for that not to feel like that’s that’s kind of the shield, right? That’s the you know you’re going to make a couple moves like that to say, hey, look, we we change this, this, and this, and this is going to be different, and we’re gonna, hey, we’re way more of a pitching centric farm system now than than all the hitters like like before. I mean, I’ll hear it to some degree, and I don’t think they’re gonna, you know, I don’t think they’re doomed heading towards being 105 loss team next year. No, I don’t think that, but man, it’s tough for you to sell me on the idea that this is going towards anything special at this point in time. And if you’re not building anything special, and you’re not at the very bottom where, and obviously now you know rules are in place that you know the 110 loss team isn’t even guaranteed to have the number one pick anyway. That’s where you you just kind of say you’re you’re kind of in that stuck in no man’s land where you’re not really so bad that it’s it’s easy to make wholesale changes, but you’re not good enough to really get anyone to really buy into this thing, and that’s when you get into the business side and selling tickets and what that the lockout’s going to mean for all of that.

Luke Jones 28:01
I mean, this is just this is at best really, really, really messy to kind of see what path they’re going to chart to get this thing back on track. It was easier to sell that last year when you were just talking about one bad year and chalking it up to injuries and you know, development isn’t linear. But when you have two plus calendar years of this thing going in the direction it has, and it’s it’s really tough to sell me on. Oh well, you’re going to make one or two moves here or there in the off season, and you’re going to revamp this, and

Nestor Aparicio 28:38
and then Elias is the guy who’s going to be the one doing at this point, any of us

Luke Jones 28:41
really, real that’s really tough. That’s a extremely tough sell for me to buy into that. But I’m guessing that’s what they’re going to try to do. And obviously, the lockout is going to complicate this thing in ways that no one really understands. Because frankly, when you whenever they come out on the other side of it, whether it’s late March or May or July or who knows, maybe the season gets canceled entirely. I hope not. I certainly hope not as a baseball fan, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. You’re going to be dealing with an entirely new system, which maybe will be better for a team like the Orioles right now, which is not a a big market team, right? Salary cap and all that. But until we get to that, man, I mean, this is just this is not something where I’m remotely encouraged going into the off season to think that they’re going to fix this thing, regardless of who the GM is. But especially if they’re just going to stay the course with Mike Elias, I just no more confidence, no more benefit of the doubt, and regardless of how ownership views it, I think it’s going to be a tough sell to everyone else, and that’s just not a good place for the franchise to be.

Nestor Aparicio 29:50
We are going into a very, very weird place here, as we had predicted earlier. If this thing wasn’t going toward, hey, maybe we’re going to have some playoff games here, so. We will be next Thursday at State Fair in Catonsville discussing all this with our friends from the Maryland Lottery in conjunction with Farnan and Dermer and GBMC. Where I’ve said I’m not going to eat French fries and gravy at Pizza John’s until the Ravens lose, so that might be like Thanksgiving. Hopefully, it’ll work out that way. I will have the Kiss Face Birds, and Kiss, of course, is number 28 on our 28th anniversary countdown of musical acts. We’ll have a good time with that, and also just getting out into this thing here. My Peach John’s going to get punted on because it has been a music week around here. Mark Bryan, my buddy from Hootie and the Blowfish, checked in. His band’s playing down at Dewey Beach on the 24th, and of course Hootie is playing on the 25th, and Dave Matthews, whom I’ve never seen as part of my whole musical experience, I gave my tickets to Pika and Luke out in San Francisco, and of course my kid ran all around the country seeing Dave Matthews. So maybe next Friday, weather pending and beach willing, I’ll get to see Dave Matthews band. So in the meantime, I’ve seen a couple 1000 concerts. I’m going to be talking about all of them, as well as some of my travels and sort of personal enrichment that comes along with listening to music that doesn’t really come along with Orioles baseball these days. We just spent 30 minutes talking about that. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We’re going to ignore them and go back to football. Just stay with us. You’ll see.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai