It’s no secret that the Baltimore Orioles needed a better bullpen and at least one more quality starter to bolster a World Series run in October. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the additions of Mike Elias at MLB trade deadline and whether it will be enough to compete in late fall.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
orioles, bullpen, dominguez, soto, year, pitching, talked, good, batista, reliever, arm, october, point, craig kimbrel, month, play, closer, game, baseball, run
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
8
Welcome home we are W and S T am 5070, Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive the trading deadline is over. Exhale I’m doing that I’m wearing my curio wellness, Baltimore shirt, my orange and black get on over there and say hello to them they have sponsored our 25th anniversary. April be 26 years. So this Saturday. So how about that we’ll blow out the candles will 25 And I’ll just exit out and put a six there and we’ll think of Boog Powell or Johnny oats in this case or maybe even rod Woodson Gold Rush sevens doublers we’ll have these to give away a little later on in the month the cheat strokes are coming in will be fade Lee’s you know and it feels like summers flying by and we got some hooting the blowfish just we’ll hear from that had a soccer match down in Annapolis this week, but backfields of Owings Mills, we’ll get to that with Luke Jones. He’s out there sweating it out with Lamar and all the rest of that but this trading deadline has sort of taken all the oxygen when you have a first place baseball team with high expectations Luke and you know the Ravens can do a lot of things they can’t win the World Series in October the Orioles can and a lot of pressure on Alias a lot of eyes watching Rubinstein including me. They said my press pass is under review. Their ownerships under review and at least for a day on Tuesday afternoon, they took on some money and did some different things, but I’m not sure they fixed the bullpen, Powell.
Luke Jones 01:32
Yeah, I mean, we’ve talked about this. Really, we’ve talked about this for 11 months, longer than that, quite frankly. I mean, we were talking about the bullpen when they brought in Fuji. A couple of weeks before last year’s trade deadline, we were wondering if they had done enough to augment at that point. And then that was before Felix Batista hurts his elbow and ultimately undergoes Tommy John surgery and they’ve kind of been chasing the ghost of Felix Batista ever since
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:59
that’s it, right? Like the morning after that. While I have this, I have this delicious scone from Lucky’s cafe in Fremont. Thank you so much. By the way, munch is coming on the show because we’re we playing Cleveland this weekend. So I’ll get some thoughts from him. But, you know, just on all the stuff that happened, you know, over the course of time, fixing the bullpen, fixing the bullpen, fixing the bullpen. And that was one of the strengths of the 1416 that error I mean, part of the strength was book let Zach Britton pine away and last a season without ever pitching him. And we had that kind of guy. And the morning after you were the guy saying, Oh boy, here we go. You lose your knife. You make your eighth or ninth he’s not a nine. You go out you spend all this money on a sort of half washed up closer, who hasn’t been awful. He’s been okay this I’m gonna close everything you said he was gonna be. But really the morning after Batista, and let’s let them do some long toss. Maybe it’ll work out maybe it’ll be okay. They have been now 11 and a half months, a team capable of winning a World Series capable. And I don’t know that we wake up here on August 1 and say that we love the bullpen or that we wish we would have had Tanner Scott or something like that.
Luke Jones 03:17
Well, I mean, I think look, we also need to recognize Tanner Scott’s not feeling healthy Felix Batista either and Tanner Scott could go to San Diego and by the way, he still walks people he doesn’t walk them at the rate that he did with the Orioles a few years ago but he still walks people and still is apt to having some of those lapses now. Well keep can be great for San Diego and I’m not I’m not down on Tanner Scott. I just think you have to recognize what you have. So what the Orioles have added to their bullpen over the last week in seranthony Dominguez from the right hand side and Gregory Soto from the left hand side is they have indeed added swing admissibility that I’ve said for months that this bullpen needed more and more of they have added two guys who have had some closer experience in the past to the point where Gregory Soto recognized going to all star games for that I’ll be it with a Tigers team that was not very good. So I want to also throw out that caveat but I mean this is a guy who’s only a couple years removed from being the kind of guy that you know he was a closer and did well and fared very well to the point where now the Phillies wanted him a couple years ago so really live arm better sinker sinker ball than fastball that sinker is up in the high 90s seranthony Dominguez we’ve seen firsthand who’s been effective his first few times out for the Orioles throws hard from the right side. Lively fastball, good slider Gregory Soto good sliders. So you look at these two guys and you can see what the Orioles is what’s appealing to the Orioles. I mean with the velocity to swing and miss. They both of them have been really good at times in their careers. But they’re each about two years removed from the best versions of themselves. That doesn’t mean they’re washed up. I mean, we’re talking about guys that are not that old, right? We’re not talking about a 36 year old Craig Kimbrel, or someone like that. So these are definitely guys that bring a more little more upside to the equation that some of their other bullpen arms necessarily don’t have it for the swinging miscibility if nothing else, Dominguez has a better profile in terms of not walking as many people Soto can issue the free pass more than you like. But you do take a step back and you say, Well, wait a second. Who did they acquire these guys from? The Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Phillies, you know, that team that has the best record and has been running away with the NL East and the best team in the NFL and the best team in baseball for most of the season? Why did they want to? Why were they so
8Nestor J. Aparicio 06:08
eager? They can’t even use these guys, if they’re not.
Luke Jones 06:11
Even if he is not the right word? Why are they so willing to part with them. And that’s where you do take a step back and you say, oh, volatility. This has the potential to really help the bullpen and give them more options in the late innings. Give them more swing and miss which they absolutely have needed. And I’ve talked about that a lot. But it also has the potential to go in the other direction and to not really help them or for these guys to have a couple blow ups. You know, Soto was not very popular in Philadelphia seranthony. Dominguez had his moments, but was up and down in Philadelphia, neither guy is having his best season. Although I will point out, Soto had a 3.41 era until the Yankees got him for three runs on Monday night. So three points. I’d like
Nestor J. Aparicio 07:03
guys to pitch in full ballparks and know what’s up. And at least they’re not going to wet themselves coming into a game or as they play. I mean, it’s different pitches for the Marlins. I mean, that was one of the things around here this franchise was so god awful forever, that nobody knew how to win. And then rutschman comes in and rah rah is the place up two years ago. And it’s a it’s a change of scenery in a way where these guys are coming from a pressure packed situation. So at least they’re not new coming off the boat. And I think there’s something good for some players to be coming from sleepy into, hey, we’re in a pennant race here. That’s a beautiful thing. For a lot of guys. I mean, Austin Hays came from one to the other. And he feels more reawakened there just because trades do that for players, veteran players, especially when you’ve been moved two or three times.
Luke Jones 07:49
8Yeah, and especially if you’re in a situation where, you know, in Hayes’s case, he wasn’t playing as much as he had been accustomed to and in the case of Dominguez and Soto they’d had some challenges and you know, very well, you’ve got because you’ve attended games there, you’ve gone there, Philadelphia is a tough place if you’re struggling so and I don’t mean that in the sense of that they need to be nurtured or anything like that. But sometimes you get to a point where
Nestor J. Aparicio 08:18
the Orioles fans boot camp over the weekend made it feel right Oh right. Sure. Exactly. Exactly. So what’s the last time you heard a home
Luke Jones 08:24
crowd boo and an Oreo player like that? It’s been a while well, it’s been a while because I mean, they were so bad for that five year stretch where it’s just like whoa, what was that he wasn’t even paying attention closely enough to build and to be that angry about it but but look like I said there’s definitely some upside appeal to both of these guys. I think there’s a potential for both these guys to be really good for them. I think there is upside I think there’s appeal I think there certainly stuff you know, we’re talking about too hard throwing pitchers. They’re a little more splits dependent than I would like you know, Dominguez has been really good against right handed bats. Soto has been very good against left handed bats we’ve talked about Yeah, you don’t have the the lefty one out guy anymore. You’ve got the three batter minimum. So in both cases, you know, any pitcher you’ve got to be able to defend yourself against that the
Nestor J. Aparicio 09:15
game change that way I hate to destroy I mean, you and I could sit here and talk about it’s we’re blue in that but it’s changed the game.
8Luke Jones 09:21
It has sure I mean, you know, the Brian Madison’s of the world who you know was useful to the Orioles a decade ago even if he wasn’t, you know, didn’t live up to be a top five pick in the in the draft. That kind of player is kind of faded out. That’s why the Orioles have Miss Danny coulomb so much because go look at his splits. He gets right handers out just as effectively as he gets left handers out. So, you know, you’re still hoping Danny Coolum comes back in September. I think this bullpen is certainly deeper. You’re not going to be looking at Birch Smith Cole Irvin, Brian Baker types as far as the, you know, the front of that bullpen. But have they done enough for the back end of the bullpen? And this is where I kind of look at where the Orioles are right now, even though yes, you have a $13 million closer. Who is what fifth on the all time saves list, I think I think it’s fifth in that realm right now, someone who’s going to be in that hall of fame conversation Hall, a very good at the very least kind of career. But as I said to you, from the moment that they signed him, you have to understand what Craig Kimbrough is at this point in time, you know, over the last six, seven years of his career, he’s been up and down, he’s gone through stretches, where he looks great, like he did in the first three and a half weeks of April, how he looked from mid May until late June, early July. And now he’s in the midst of another one of these funks. Now, I’m guessing he’ll snap out of it. But do you want to be rolling the dice on that proposition? come October? So this is where I do say, if I’m Brandon Hyde, if I’m Michael is in the analytics department, you know, just looking at this from night to night game planning and all that in terms of your matchups, all that I’m hopeful, although not necessarily expecting this, that with Dominguez and Soto and considering both had had some experience closing games, and more. So Soto, you know, I’m intrigued to see if this does mean, not that Kimbrough was demoted. I think he’s still going to remain the primary closer, assuming he gets himself right, obviously. And, you know, if he’s continues to be bad, he won’t be. And we saw that back in May when he started coming in in the seventh inning. But I am intrigued to see if maybe they’ll pass the baton a little bit more and be willing to maybe go a little bit more matchup based, which is what they did in September. And they actually did it pretty effectively last September, if you recall, I mean, they made that work. As much as it felt uneasy. They held on really well and did it that way. Because they didn’t just say, Oh, well, quinoa is gonna close every single night no questions asked. No, they said, okay, it could be Cano, but it might be Danny Coulomb. You know, it might be trying to think who else is Tyler wells? What was in that picture by the end of September? So, you know, I do wonder if maybe we’ll see. Two main guys get potential save opportunities here and there. Again, not a lot. Soto potentially getting some swinging mitt or some save opportunities if the ninth inning happens to include two left handed hitters to up? You know, so it does give you an opportunity to to that a little bit more? Are they definitely going to do that? I can’t sit here and say that, because, you know, they, Brandon Hyde has treated Craig Kimbrel like his clothes are all year. And you know, even with the two and a half week stretch he had back in late April and early May, you know, they they didn’t just bury him completely. And I’m not saying they should bury him. But as I’ve said to you all along my ideally bury him if they have a better option. Well, and that’s the thing. So that’s where I do look at Dominguez who has looked pretty darn good his first couple of times out and certainly has had his stretches where he’s been excellent for Philadelphia in the past, maybe even if not in 2020. For Soto. I mean, there was a reason why the Phillies wanted him a couple years ago and no it didn’t plan it plan out or play out the way that they wanted to. But it’s kind of really live arm as well. So have you added some potential options for the eighth and ninth inning depending on a night by night? Who’s fresh who’s pitched the previous two nights kind of basis? Sure. But that said they are still extremely volatile arm so there could be some blow ups there could still be some situations where the Orioles have a one run lead in the eighth inning and you’re wondering how they’re gonna get their final five or six outs so they did not get that shutdown guy. You know, if you wanted the Orioles to pay what San Diego paid to get Tanner Scott for two months, then, you know, we’re probably just going to have to agree to disagree in terms of giving up that much for someone that is not Mariano Rivera, mind you. So it’s tough in that on that front. I would have liked to have seen them do more with the bullpen. I would have liked to have seen someone a little more consistent. But you know, so Tommy’s instead of a mike bay or use or guys that were right, exactly. These guys were more of that is the category two years ago and they’ve been more up and down since then. So it could work out really well. And I’ll also put this out for as much as we’ve kind of talked about the Orioles and their player development and obviously they’ve drafted so heavy on the college bat position player side compared to pitching. Take a look at their current bullpen look at the guys that they’ve quote fixed over the last few years. They’ve made Jacob Webb into a useful reliever. They’ve made CNL Perez even Perez isn’t as good as he was two years ago. Perez was a great story. They turned him into a stud reliever for a year and still a relatively useful reliever last year to Kula yen your cat No, you and your kin Oh, Danny coulomb certainly hit a different level, you know with the Orioles. So, you know, we know the Orioles like spin we know. And the thing I will also point out and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this I mentioned it briefly but both Soto and Dominguez have good sliders. You know, that’s something that’s something the Orioles have liked. And look, that’s been a baseball wide thing, you know, the slider sweeper phenomena. But so we’ll see if there’s a tweak, we’ll see if there’s an adjustment and I don’t think it’s dramatic. I think it’s more subtle with them. Whereas, you know, we talked about Trevor Rogers and whether there’s something the Orioles can do with him, that’s probably going to be something that’s a little more of drastic the right word, but might be something that’s a little more noticeable. Maybe not so much this year, but maybe over the next couple of years and how they work with him since he’s under club control. But, you know, is there a tweak? You know, is there a slight adjustment made for Soto or Dominguez or you know, emphasize their sliders a little more. I mean, I already said Soto don’t throw the four seamer stick with the sinker, which is just as hard as better movement and the slider Dominguez fastball slider combos good sodo you’re hoping the command can hold up a little bit better than it did in Philly.
Nestor J. Aparicio 16:16
But you know, we’re gonna have to throw strikes are coming out of the bowl. Oh, of course. I
Luke Jones 16:20
mean, I mean, of course, and, and again, this is part of why the Phillies were willing to part with Soto had walked a few too many people. Now Dominguez, his issue was more than long ball hurting him earlier this year. And I think that’s something especially for relievers that can be a little more volatile, where someone gives up three home runs in a seven, seven outing stretch where you know, you’re only pitching seven or eight innings, you know that that makes your numbers really look skewed in a negative way. But, you know, I think they’re hoping Dominguez home run rate normalizes a little more, you know, there’s some positive regression there to use a nerdier term. So what
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:00
8else the screws with your era because you guys are one and you’re not pitching more than anything to begin with. So right off the bet your ERA is nine by well, and
Luke Jones 17:08
if you look at Soto I mentioned Monday night, you know he had the blow up against the Yankees, was that the last straw for the Phillies minds maybe. But you also look at him. He had a really bad April, he had an 859 era, in the month of April, May, three, five to June 0.9. July had been good until Monday night. So if you’re looking at it through that lens, you know, maybe he hasn’t been quite as bad as what the perception was in Philly. After a really bad first month. So look, the neither of these guys are gonna make anyone forget Felix Batista. I think we understand that and short of going out and getting Mason Miller who, by the way banged up with the pinky fracture on his left hand anyway, but short of getting someone like him. You know, I’m not sure there was anyone on the market for what the market was commanding in terms of cost that was going to, quote, solve the Oreos late innings. So it’s still a concern of mine. I’m not going to sit here and say that I have the utmost great degree of confidence in this bullpen. But it is deeper now. considering some of the guys they’ve had in the front of that pen, the guys that have been coming out in the fifth six, seven thinning in over the last couple months. You know, now you’re looking at a bullpen and I mean, this is what I assume it’s going to be now moving forward and Suarez is in the bullpen or is is there so there’s some intrigue with him? You know, again, unknown intrigue, but intrigued nonetheless. And he looked pretty good in the pen in that briefs. Spot. What was that back in May when he was in the pen for for a mandrup?
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:43
Five, three in the fifth inning. You know, when Kramer starts, you bring him in, you get two three innings out of him. Give the ball domain guys give the ball to web, give the ball the you know, have Kimbrel go home. You know that’s kind of how you’re thinking about it. Well,
Luke Jones 18:59
and I think now I like Keegan akin profiling way more as a fifth and sixth inning guy than a guy that at times is as had to pitch in the seventh and eighth inning. You know, I like Keegan akin and more of a long or middle relief role rather than middle and occasional high leverage. So you have Suarez and Aiken kind of on the front end CNL Perez, you know, you’ve got another power arm lefty, you know, so you can pick your spots with Perez a little more. I think this will probably ease the workload on Jacob Webb a little bit, which is a good thing. He’s been good for them. But I also have had my concerns about him being run into the ground, you know, with the workload that they’ve asked him to
8Nestor J. Aparicio 19:39
spend their only decent reliever for at times, especially after coolrooms last
Luke Jones 19:43
time. Sure. Yeah, I mean, you can make it you absolutely can make an argument that Webb has been their most consistent reliever and it’s not like he’s been perfect. You know, he’s had his bumps in the road too, but he certainly has been a godsend for them considering some of the other challenges they’ve had you know Cano times canola Looks really good. I like to know coming in for a clean inning when he inherits runners, it usually doesn’t go very well. So and then Dominguez and Kimball so it’s a deeper bullpen. It’s on paper better in terms of potential and swing and miscibility. Now, is that going to equate to a bullpen that’s going to get the job done in October? I can’t sit here and say that I have full confidence in that Nestor. But I do like the arms in terms of just the arm talent to to use a quarterback term. I liked the arm talent. I liked the stuff that Dominguez and Soto have, but not quite as much consistency this year. And last year that you would have liked to have seen and that’s why the Phillies, who by the way, the Phillies have a ton of other really good arm. So you know, these weren’t guys that were pitching the eighth inning for them this year, by any stretch, but they’re guys that have profiled in that way in the past. So they were willing to part with that. And we talked about the Dominguez trade I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mentioned with Soto they gave up Seth Johnson, who was the arm that they got in the trade man Seanie trade so, you know, had Tommy John, right as the Orioles traded for him, you know, was he going to be a major factor for them? I think he had a chance to, to kind of fit somewhere in the back half of the rotation eventually but they parted with him and they also partnered with Moises Shaw say who lower level arm but an intriguing lower level arm in their system. So they did give up something to get Gregory Soto. So the Phillies, you know whether Dave Dombroski looked at that and said, Hey, this is a great opportunity for us that we can add some potential arms for the future and we weren’t really using Soto quite as much as as we had anticipated a couple years ago. So you know, we’re gonna see where how it plays out. As you know, Nestor and you’ve heard me say this over and over. I understand Mike Elias or any general manager, who doesn’t want to just start throwing money at bullpen arms because I mean, look at Josh Hader for the Astros this year, go look at his numbers, and how up and down he’s been. And he got what $100 million contract or close to it, whatever it ended up being. So it’s following you
Nestor J. Aparicio 22:13
pay that kind of money. There’s a perception of being perfect,
Luke Jones 22:15
8but it’s a little right and there. There are very few perfect relievers, very few even in the history of the game. We talked about this the other day, even guys that ended up having a 10 year career that ended up you say, Hey, that was a really good reliever. I’m not a Hall of Famer or all star or anything like that. But that guy had a really nice 10 year run as a bullpen arm in the major leagues. Out of those 10 years. He probably had two or three years where he was not very good at all. Even Jesse Roscoe. Yeah, I mean, that’s just how this works. So that’s where you kind of, you can kind of do what the Orioles did, which was kind of look at Hidden upside look at peripherals and say, Hey, we’re going to try and see if we catch lightning in a bottle here and see if we can get two months of Gregory Soto looking like he looked a few years ago. Same with seranthony. Dominguez, well, it worked out well. It didn’t work out with Fuji last year. These are better moves than Fuji a year ago. But it’s the same general principle in terms of saying lively arm ability to miss bats. Let’s see if we can tweak and adjust and maybe do things our way a little bit differently than what they did with their previous team and see how it works out. So
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:25
I am skeptical with the Phillies to say we don’t need. Sure, exactly.
Luke Jones 23:29
And again, they have a very deep bullpen. You know, they were dealing from an area of strength. But sure, I’m not gonna that’s why I keep using that word volatility, right? Volatile means it could be good. Or it could be the other way where it’s not very good. And suddenly these guys are just as problematic as Craig Kimbrel. So oh, let
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:49
me let me whisper I hear the baseball gods. You never have enough pitching. Never. Never. Not just I just heard the baseball Gods whisper that. And that’s why it’s like, you go giving away pitchers the today. You know, your clothes just got tendinitis or you know, you get Batista or whatever. You might need those guys in Philadelphia. And that’s why it’s weird to me. That’s all. Yeah,
8Luke Jones 24:11
well, sure. I think that’s fair and
Nestor J. Aparicio 24:16
20% of a first place bullpen? Yeah,
Luke Jones 24:18
that’s why, you know, I think it’s going to continue to be interesting to see if there’s anyone else that becomes part of that mix. You know, we’ve talked about the the young starters, the rookie starters who have not fared well in brief auditions and certainly Povich got a much longer look. You know, what could one of those guys end up being in the bullpen come late August into September, and maybe one of those guys surprises you in a role that suddenly you know in the way Tyler Wells was pitching the eighth and ninth inning at the end of September last year? Is there something like that that could happen? Maybe, but you don’t want to depend on that, you know, the one thing I
Nestor J. Aparicio 24:53
8would say is if you look at the totality of their pitching top, the bottom starting with burns, Rodriguez, and if you just Only Bravo them as an October playoff team, right. And the strengths that they would have that Mike Elias or sigma del can make their case on my show your show anywhere they are to see luck. Game one, we got burns game two we got right thinking about where they were last year. Think about you and I get on a plane in Arlington after you were in the clubhouse, and I was at the kids table. Burns. Rodriguez has made it so far halfway through this season three quarters of the way through this season, right? They’ve now added a three and a four in a different way. Kramer’s role changes dramatically in that there’s competition on that roll. Thinking about all the arms they lost. No Bradish no wells, you just get go, you know, go down the list of their Tommy John surgeries. No Batista, we knew that wasn’t gonna happen, where this team was on the trading deadline last year with a healthy Bradish at that point going for a sigh young. And how much architecture? How much baseball scouting money in the case of you know, taken on Eflin. Right. So it’s a transplant for their pitching staff. Over a year a transplant and all the costume was cost hours and Conor Norby AND, and OR t you know, these guys that weren’t gonna play, they were gonna play here in 2024, probably not even 25 Or even beyond. Yeah, and they’re gonna be a part of pile diving for this team. But, but if you go on paper with this pitching now, it’s way more formidable than it was a year ago. It’s way more formidable than it was. In June when guys arms are falling off, maybe not as much as when we thought we had six guys in the rotation back in May I remember that press calm. Right, right. Right, right. A week after the Preakness. You know, I remember after I lay on Memorial Day, we had six starters. And oh my god, Bradish is back knees is like, you know, hats off to Elias for trying to piece this thing together. And if they’re still playing baseball in late October, because you gotta be lucky to win the World Series. But if you’re still playing, and they get to a championship series, and they playing game five, and it’s too, too, you know what, you know, like where you want it to be? This This was navigating, navigating? Yeah,
Luke Jones 27:21
I mean, it’s, has it been overwhelming? No. Do I expect Orioles fans to be doing cartwheels over what they did over the trade deadline? No, because I’m not, you know, I’m not overwhelmed by it. I’m not sitting here saying wow, they are so much better than they were two weeks ago. But they were able to make some upgrades, even if more so in the margins, or even if more so modest upgrades. They’ve added stability to the rotation. They have more options in the bullpen. Even if they’re not 100% full confidence options. They have more swing and miss in the bullpen. They you know,
Nestor J. Aparicio 28:00
a man is like the added money like stuff that makes them feel fat and happy and country clappy and we need a backup big bat that might strike out anyway and had been very good laid like that. That’s the weird part for me.
Luke Jones 28:17
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I started like I said, we talked about we spent a whole segment talking mainly about Eloy Jimenez and what the, you know, the position talent on the roster, how that kind of shakes out, you know, because Jimenez is one thing but you know, Austin Slater and Christian pass che there’s only room for one. And if you’re keeping one of those guys, and you have Jimenez, then that sounds like casting curse that go into the minor leagues for the time being. So we’re gonna see how it plays out. And look, we you never know. Yeah, they called up a third catcher for one night on Tuesday night. Because mainly because I think they just had the roster spot more than anything to just do that for a day and give James McCann a full night off, even though he’s been fully, fully clear to continue playing, which is amazing, despite fractures in his nose. But you know, that that position player side, it’s gonna be interesting to see how it plays out. But I will say this, I’m not giving Mike Elias and a I don’t think it’s a B plus. You know, I think this is probably more B minus kind of work in terms of the actual players that they got, because again, I don’t know just how much impact it’s going to be. So I’m not going to sit here and say that they deserve an A, but he did address areas that they very clearly needed to address. And they did not give up any of their top shelf prospects
8Nestor J. Aparicio 29:37
and they’re calling all famer up to play second base.
Luke Jones 29:41
And you know what? I’m so glad you said that, because this will bring me back to the point that I’ve said to you over and over, I closed my column at Baltimore positive.com on Tuesday night in saying this for the Orioles to get to where they want to be which is back back to back alleys champions and You know, first round by and obviously, a deep October run and you hope a World Series run, it was always going short of actually getting Tarik Scoodle or Blake Snell, let’s say, because even crochet who knows if he was gonna even pitch in October, or what that was even going to look like short of getting a guy like that and gutting your farm system to do it because that’s what they would have had to have done when you look at the prices that these other lesser pitchers went for short of that. Whatever happens in October was always going to be much more about Corbin burns. Grayson Rodriguez, Gunnar Henderson, Adley rutschman, Jordan Westberg Anthony Santander go down the list the guys that were already on this roster, and now you’re adding Jackson Holliday back into the picture. And look, I don’t think expectation should be that Jackson holidays is going to be one of their two or three best players. But I think he can make an impact that will be an upgrade at second base, and start to give you another sign of why the future does remain so right for this organization, because you’re adding another premier, young talent to the mix. I’m so young and again expectations. I want them to look better than Yvette looked at April. And that’s the captain obvious statement. I want them to look like an everyday ballplayer, even if that’s an average one at age 20 in the major leagues, that would still be very successful and promising for his future. But this team’s fate When it comes to September and October. I’ll remind everyone, even after the last five weeks of struggles, this is a team that’s 20 games over 500 And right there with the Yankees, you know, just ahead of the Yankees that they go into Wednesday, but this is already they already have a whole lot that was going for them. They already were a really good team despite how it’s felt over the last month. So yeah, only marginally smaller upgrades for the Orioles to their rotation and their bullpen and you know, they’ve changed up the bench a little bit. But this is still a really good baseball team. And I still have a lot of conviction and belief that this team is going to play good baseball down the stretch, they’re going to pull themselves out of this funk that they’ve been over the last month because there’s a lot more of a track record that says they’re way better than what they’ve been since late June. So they do that. This is a team that’s going to be in the playoffs, of course, and a team that, hey, we’ll see how it looks come October. At this time. I looked at it. No one at the trade deadline last year, Arizona no one was talking about them. No one. And the Rangers had a losing month themselves back in July or July of 2023. And we know how that played out for them. So a lot of baseball left, we’ll see just how much impact these guys made. But if nothing else, you certainly can’t accuse Mike Elias of being lazy at the trade deadline because they certainly were wheeling and dealing. Even if it wasn’t the names ultimately that fans were envisioning Luke
Nestor J. Aparicio 33:03
Jones will be out in Owings Mills. This week the Orioles will be in the land of cleave where much bishops coming by. I’m gonna hit some like Cleveland mafia was out there for a couple of days in Ohio with my pal Thomas Dolby. If you follow along on social media, you can see all that stuff going on as well. We’ve got football on the brain. We’ve got baseball, obviously on the brain in the first place team and plenty to continue to go through on a day by day basis to see these matchups and see where Eloy Jimenez is at bats are coming from as well as curse that and Couser. And now holiday being a part of all of this and Norbi is now exited. So things will settle down a little bit. Here’s the Oreos go on the road and Luke goes out to Owings Mills. We’re going to settle down this month get back to the Maryland crab cakes were presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery in conjunction with Jiffy Lube, multi care and liberty pure solutions. We got a whole bunch of new sponsors coming on for football season as well. The website is up and rockin and rollin. Our tech service is currently under not repair but actually under motion. So I’ll be telling more folks about that as we get into the fall as well. If you miss it good because it was really good. Maybe doing it for 16 years and we still have your phone number we know where to find you. You can find me anywhere the internet travels on a LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter acts, that fascist moron that owns that place and runs into the ground every single day. But if you’re still out there, we’ll still talking to you. I have to investigate threads. I am Nestor. We are WNS TA and 1570, Towson Baltimore and we never stop talking. Baltimore positive
