The Orioles lacked a cogent direction heading into the trade deadline, backwards baseball czar Mike Elias seemed to revel in such, and so of course the final result of the transactions was a bit daft.
Elias gaslit the fans about buying and selling, because he bought nothing and he sold in a half-assed manner. Alas, that and bad baseball are The Elias Way. We’d expect nothing less. There is a trickle down to these moves in their totality, of course, and now we’ve had a chance to sus them out and dissect them and see what it really means for those most impacted by them.
This handful of moves – selling off Taylor Ward’s contract, dealing Adley Rutschman for teenagers (as talented as might be), moving their best relief pitcher (Tyler Wells) but no one else, dumping innings eater Dean Kremer for a lottery ticket but not accepting any lottery tickets for a free-agent lefty with an expiring contract who actually had been surging (Trevor Rogers) – are baffling. But that’s an eight-year rebuild, being rebranded and repackages by this feckless executive, just like we told you.
Winners
Samuel Basallo – The 21-year old catcher doesn’t have to act deferential to a player he is better than. He doesn’t have to be second-fiddle and listen to his bosses prop up a guy who hasn’t hit for two years. He doesn’t have to work about where he fits in. He will get a chance to catch four or five times a week and improve and keep mashing the ball at an historic rate along the way.
Dylan Beavers – Please, please leave this kid along and let him play everyday. Let him lead-off against righties, if not righties and lefties. But if Blaze Alexander comes back and they want him to lead-off against lefties, great. I’ve long thought Beavers is better than the Orioles give him credit for (similar to how they handled Kyle Stowers) and he needs to play everyday the rest of the season.
Tyler Wells – Good on him for landing with the Rays, who will do for him what they’ve don’t for Bryan Baker. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him in the All-Star Game next year. Elias jerked him around ever since making him a Rule V selection and asked too much his arm and threw all kinds of innings-asks at him and he was hurt a bunch. He’s with a top org and he’ll sine in the playoffs, watch.
Losers
2027 Orioles Rotation – If they bring Rogers back I strongly suspect they will regret it. Elias, epic fool that he is, couldn’t help but already take victory laps about his return for Rutschman, learning nothing from his idiotic statements of the past. He wants to prove he can do this on the cheap and from within, and now between Anthony Eyanson, his new top prospect, to the other arms he got from the Red Sox to last year’s second-round pick already at AA to Michael Forret, who he dealt for Shane Baz but is already talking up as an MLB arm despite his issues at AAA with the mighty Rays staff, be forewarned.
Like every other year this clown has been in charge, he will be short on playoff arms. He gets too cocky too quickly and with the rotation being a surprise this season, he and Blackjack Sig think they really have it figured out now.
Enrique Bradfield, Jr. – Either Colton Cowser or Tyler O’Neill needed to get out of here, if not both. Elias has zero feel for when to call up prospects, but for as injured as this kid has been and with a real need for an elite glove and elite speed and with smallball making a lot of sense for this team, of course they wouldn’t eat O’Neill’s deal to get him out of here. Would have like to have seen the kid get a look now, batting ninth.
Orioles fans – Looks like we’re stuck with this inept mook in charge for years to year. He’ll survie the lockout and this owner is the real problem. Having Elias as a shield seems to suit him now that he’s not throwing hats at people anymore. The joke is always on us.
Subscribe To “The Daily Flock” For The Boldest Orioles Coverage:
Add us as a preferred source on Google
