Orioles Take Series Against Yankees + Beltway Series Preview - Ep. 12

In today's episode, Tyler and Clay breakdown the Orioles series win over the Yankees, along with a look ahead on their upcoming series vs the Nationals. Additionally, they dive into some of GM Mike Elias' BEST and WORST trades during his Orioles tenure. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Yo yo yo, what is going on, ladies and gentlemen? Welcome back to Orioles Theory, your number one one-stop shop for all things Baltimore Orioles related. I'm Tyler Barbaras, your co-host and creator of O's Theory. Join with me, as always, is my right-hand man, Clay Selgen. Clay, how are we doing today, brother?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

It's a great day, brother. Orioles just took two out of three from the Yankees, surprisingly. It's uh scheduled release day. So uh got a fun day ahead of us, don't we?

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no doubt. And um that's what we're gonna talk about first. We're gonna talk about the O series versus the Yankees. They obviously took two out of three at home. Much needed. Kyle Bradish twirled a gem, uh, back-to-back consecutive quality starts now for Bradish. Maybe we're starting to see the 2023 Kyle Bradish um come up to the surface right here, but we'll dive into that start and what he did and what the O's did in that series. We're also gonna preview the Beltway series that is starting tomorrow. This is gonna go out uh Friday morning, so we're recording this Thursday, but we got the Beltway series three game set against the Washington Nationals, who I believe are 21 and 22. They have one of the best offenses in baseball, and the Orioles pitchers aren't the type of people that you want in a series against a top three offense in baseball. But we're obviously gonna dive into that, and then we're gonna change it up a little bit here. There's been a lot of uncertainty with Mike Elias' future in Baltimore. So I thought, and me and Clay were talking about it, why not revisit some of the trades that Mike Elias has done in his tenure as a Baltimore Oriol? And we're gonna grade them. We're gonna see how it looked for the other team, how it looked for the Orioles. In hindsight, how was it? Did we like it at the time, but we hate it now? We're gonna dive into all that stuff. But before we get into that good stuff, let me give a quick shout out to our sponsor, O Squared Residential Design. Look, we know what it takes to build a winning team, and O Squared knows what it takes to build winning spaces. They're a woman-owned family operated company right here in Maryland, specializing in kitchen and bathroom renovations. Whether you're you're looking to restore, replace, or completely remodel, they deliver excellence in every square inch. Serving homeowners across the state of Maryland, check them out at osquedesign.com. That's osquaredesign.com. All right, Calais, we got to dive into the Yankee series before we get into that fun Mike Elias segment that we have. But the O's obviously took two out of three in Baltimore against the New York Yankees. They have now won three out of their last four after going on a three-game losing streak to the Marlins Athletics and Athletics again. It's nice to see that the offense, you know, strung together a very, very good game against one of the league's best pitchers in Max Freed. Obviously, Freed was pulled after three innings because of something going on in his in his left elbow or shoulder, uh, but he had discomfort on that side. But nonetheless, the Orioles worked the pitch count. They were driving in runners with scoring position, they were playing small ball, they were moving the runners over. And even though some players didn't get hits in high leverage moments, they were beneficial to the team. It was fundamentally sound baseball. And I tweeted that yesterday. And I go, if the Orioles always played this way, I believe that they would be a much better team. And it's starting to look like that. Play your original thoughts on the series, and then we'll kind of go game by game.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Yeah, I like you said, it was great to see them win three out of four, take two out of three against a really good New York Yankee team. Um, you know, I didn't expect to win Monday night. You know, you got a little lucky, and we'll talk about that. But you know, I I think you take what you saw yesterday and and you'd be very proud in it. You know, you saw the Kyle Bradis that we all expected. You know, you can't expect that every start right now, but if he can keep building towards being that kind of guy, you know, we have a chance. You know, Trevor Rogers Tuesday look didn't look great, but there is signs that I took from that game that, like, okay, this isn't bad. The velocity was there, which we talked about in a recent episode, you know, coming off the flu, that's something it's hard to come back from. And Jake mentioned that.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

It is, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

You know, so his velocity being there, obviously, you know, he's got to limit the walks, limit the long ball, but you know, I I all signs are there that he's gonna continue to build back. And you know, I'm excited. I think the series against the Nationals is gonna be a great litmus test. And uh I think I think this is the most positive I've been about them in the last probably month or so.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Wow, look at that. Play Selton positive about the O's right now, and on and honestly, wait till we get to Elias. Well, yeah, until we get to Elias. That's that's true. But you know, the thing is though, is we could be sitting here right now saying the Orioles only won one game out of the three game series against the Yankees if it weren't for Kobe Mayo's three-run home run the seventh inning. And um, I didn't really have a chance to watch that game. I was actually at Monday Night Raw. Uh, my older brother works for WWE. So me, my younger brother, and him, it was in Knoxville, Tennessee, where I'm at right now, and uh went to Monday Night Raw, which was actually a pretty surreal feeling. But um, other than that, I was kind of following the game on uh some some apps. I tried watching a little bit of it. Uh, then I turned it off when the Orioles were getting no hit through six by Ryan Weathers, and then all it takes is a walk, a single, and all of a sudden the O's have guys on first and second. Nikobe Mayo takes, I believe it was an outside, I want to say cutter or slider, uh completely pulls it, goes around about 400 feet, 100 miles per hour off the bat, and all of a sudden the O's are up 3-2. And then from there, that's when Craig Albernez starts to play his game. Goes to Dietrich Ends um for um an inning and two-thirds. Um, he was fantastic. Ends only gave up one hit, has now a 1.69 ERA on the season. Um, I've always said Dietrich Ends is the best lefty reliever on this Orioles team, or at least he's the guy that I trust the most. And in a situation like that against the Yankees, where you have a one-run lead, um, and Brandon Young only gives you five and a third. Um, Trick Ends definitely did his job there. And then obviously, the big decision was Rico Garcia, right? Do you throw him in the eighth against the top of the order, or do you throw him in the ninth for maybe a save opportunity if it gets there, or do you give him both the eighth and the ninth inning? But Craig Alvarnez, being Craig Alvarnez, throws Rico Garcia into the fire and he goes up against Rice, Judge, and Bellinger and doesn't surrender one base runner. Rico Garcia is one of the best relievers in baseball. You could honestly make an argument that he is the best reliever in baseball. And you could say right now, too, that Rico Garcia is deserving of being the full-time closer once Ryan Helsley gets back. Play, what do you think of that?

SPEAKER_01 6:55

I I don't know how I could disagree. I mean, you could sit there and say tenure, but I mean, shit, dude, Rico Garcia is playing Mason Miller type ball out, you know, in the back innings of the game. I don't know how you could take that from him. You know, Ryan Helsley, he's been good this year, but he's been inconsistent. And you know, you think back to the White Sox series early on, you know, it kind of burned in my mind. You know, it was like 30 pitches each inning. He's walking guys, and it's like, you know, he's had good outings, but I'm like, Rico Garcia, I can't think of one time where I'm like, all right, Rico's out there, I don't feel good. Rico's out there, I feel good.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

You know, so I I would stick it with Rico. You know, I'm interested to think what hear what you you have to think, but you know, I don't see why not. I mean, we have Rico Garcia when you know people have to pay, you know, the number one prospect in baseball last year for Mason Miller.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Yeah, right. And and the thing with like closing pitchers is right, like we were so spoiled to have Felix Baltiz stuff for like two really, really good seasons.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

And I read when we were kids.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yeah, yeah, it felt like it, like it was 10 years ago, but you have the privilege of going into the ninth inning with the lead, maybe even the eighth inning, if like your closer is that good, and you're like, all right, he's gonna give us at least three outs. Maybe he'll give us six, maybe he'll give us four or five. That's what it feels like with Rico Garcia. When you're closing pitcher, you want that guy to have the you want to have the most faith in that guy of any other uh pitcher pitcher on your pitching staff. And that's what Rico Garcia is right now. He is the number one guy. You trust him the most. He has the lowest whip in baseball, he has the lowest uh opponent batting average in baseball. This is just the guy that if you throw him in the fire, even with the bases loaded, he did it last year against the Red Sox where he struck out the side. Like you kind of got a hint last year, like, all right, maybe the O's have something in Rico. But the big thing with Rico right now is he kind of refined his pitch mix. Last year he was throwing his fastball over 50% of the time. This year he's throwing it about 33% of the time. The curveball is his favorite strikeout pitch. He's only really throwing it like 15% of the time, but that's his go-to strikeout pitch. And then that changeup, the fastball changeup overlay is deadly. And then when you pair in um a curveball, especially against, you know, left-handed batters, if you can get that thing right below the zone, that's when Rico Garcia is at his best. And I couldn't tell you a time where he wasn't at his best this season, outside of you know, the one hanging curve or the one hanging changeup that he threw um in the Royal series there in the eighth inning. But other other than that, man, Rico's been nails. He hasn't given up a hit. Yeah, maybe he'll walk a guy every two once every two weeks. But Rico Garcia, I think, right now is definitely the guy to be the closer going forward forward.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

And it's a young votes.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Shit, maybe you're not going to be able to do that. I mean, we talked about Mason Miller.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

I mean, look, Mason Miller at the end of the day, I'm not taking anything from him, but I remember we were talking about Mason Miller earlier in the season. They were like, Oh, you know, this will be like the set one of the second greatest like reliever seasons if he keeps this pace up. Yeah, to Zach Britton. As we know, we just talked about Zach Britton. What it really puts you into perspective how great Zach Britton was in 2016. And it's like Rico Garcia, Rico Garcia is on pace to be better than Zach Britton if he has the innings. He's not gonna have the saves, we're just too far into the season for him to try and match what was a 54. But I I'm I mean, numbers-wise, he's given up one hit in 45 games. He doesn't pitch 45 games, but 45 game season so far, he's given up one hit.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

It's ridiculous. How do you argue that? He's an all-star. I mean, he is and who would have thought that the bullpen would be our knight in shining armor this year, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:34

He has seven holds, he has three saves, he has 22 strikeouts and 19 innings. He's only given up one hit, one run, that being the home run. I mean, I mean, outside of that, he has been the best pitcher in baseball. And um, it's a luxury to to have, and some people are gonna still want to scold Michael Eyes, but you know, the reality of it is he saw something on the on the waiver wire, Enrico Garcia, and it's paying off big time right now. But other than that, Orioles one game one. Um, Anthony Nunez sh uh slams the door, got a little scary there on the uh steal opportunity, but Ali Rutchman to Blaze Alexander uh textbook defense right there, and then all of a sudden the O's Tyler O'Neill ball he caught at the wall. Yeah, it it was just defense, man.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Like it was like the scene in Major League when he hits the ball and it's like oh shit. And then he goes up and climbs the wall.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Yeah. It's it's it's fundamental baseball, Clay. And that's what the Orioles have to play. And that's what you thought, that's what the brand of baseball you thought they were gonna play when they brought Craig Albanez over from the most fundamentally sound baseball team in the world, being the Cleveland Guardians. You expected Albanez to, you know, be like, all right, boys, small ball, no sh limit these strikeouts, you know, just put the ball in play. Like, and this series, you really started to see that. Now, outside of that Yankees um game, game two, uh the hoes, they were down six-nothing, but they had bases loaded with zero outs, and um they got no runs. That game was kind of just one of those games where it's like, all right.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

That happens, it happens unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Yeah, and you know, I don't want to talk about I don't want to talk about it too much. I mean, Trevor Rogers wasn't good.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Like I said, we we highlighted the bright spots from that game. Trevor Rogers had a couple bright spots, his velocity was there, the rest of it was shitty.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

But you know, are you concerned about are are you concerned about Trevor Rogers after this start? No, because now it's because Clay, now it's like four straight pretty poor starts, at least Trevor's standards. Like they're not even good starts. Brandon Young is picking better than he is right now.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Hey, Brandon Young's had a hell of a year, and I'll give Brandon Young all the props in the world. He just came up, and I was a Brandon Young hater, and he said, you know what? Even if I have a rough ending, I'm gonna go through five shutout innings. He did it in Chicago. I'm like, why the hell is Brandon Young starting? It's April 5th. Brandon Young comes in through six innings and he gets pulled at 70 pitches, and then the bullpen, you know, decides to scare the hell out of me. But you know, I I I'm not scared. I I'm happy we didn't pay him. I'll I'll tell you that. I it's kind of getting to the point where it's like, okay, you know, who is Trevor Rogers? But I want to see him get a couple more starts after coming off the flu. If he gets it back together, then it's like, okay, you know, maybe he was just sick and it was prolonged.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

And yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

I I mean it's a hard start to come back and have to play the New York Yankees. I'll say that.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

That is true. My my my one concern right now with Trevor is like his last good start, like quality start, it was April 7th against the Chicago White Sox. And he didn't even look great in that game. I mean, he gave up six hits, two earned runs, but after that against the Diamondbacks, four and two thirds, nine hits, four four earned runs. Uh, against the Guardians, five innings, uh, five earned runs. Um, gave up two home runs, and then against uh Boston, right before he got diagnosed with that flu, an um 1.2 innings pitched, four hits, three earned runs. You can just tell that he didn't have it. The Red Sox were just working him, working him, working him. And then he comes back against the Yankees, looks good in the first like two innings, and all of a sudden gives up some base runners, and then the two out, you know, woes um um start to affect the Orioles once again. That Trent Grisham three-run homer really, really took the top off this game. I can't say that I'm fully, fully concerned. Like I'm not smashing the panic button yet, but everyone expected at least Bradish and Rogers to, you know, carry the boatload of the rotation. And then we were just hoping that, you know, one of Boz, Povich, Young, Kramer, um, Bassett, Efflin, even. We were just hoping that one of those five guys that I just listed would step up, and none of those guys have stepped up yet. So, in order for this Orioles rotation to actually start to, you know, catch a stride, they need Trevor Rogers to figure it out. And he'll have an opportunity to do that against the Tampa Bay Rays, um, one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. But if there's a time that you need Trevor Rogers to have a good start, it's 1000% against this Tampa Bay Rays team. We're not gonna talk about that series. Um, but definitely, you know, not at the panic level yet, but I'm definitely at like a six, maybe a seven on the panic meter. Um, we gotta see where we're at there with Trevor after his start against Tampa Bay next week. But I want to rotate over to this final game, Clay, because that's the one that we want to talk about the most. 7-0 Orioles win. And this was arguably the most complete game that the O's have played all season long. You could argue it was this one. You could also make an argument. I still love the Giants game where um Cade Povich, it was on Sunday, it was the rubber match. Cade Povich went six and a third or six and two-thirds. Um, and um, I think he only gave up one earn run. So, I mean, I think that game and this uh seven-nothing victory were by far the most complete games this season. The Orioles' first shutout of the season two, mind you. Um they one hit him.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

They one hit him.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Well, yeah, and it's not a coincidence that or two, yeah, yeah, one one hit him. And it's not a coincidence that it happened on Kyle a Kyle Bradish day where he was absolutely on. When this guy's firing on all cylinders, he is one of the best pitchers in baseball. I've said that for so long. And the big concern with Kyle has been his fastball sinker um control. And in this one, it was working from you know the get-go. Um, he did have a lead-off walk to Trent Grisham, but he worked his way around that, Clay. Is this the Kyle Bradish that you're expecting to see going forward? Six innings, one hit, seven strikeouts. Zero Ray is now down to uh 4.21. Is this the Kyle Braddish that you're expecting to see here going forward, or do you think it's just back-to-back good starts and he'll come back to uh you know his earlier regular season form?

SPEAKER_01 17:06

I sure as I sure as shit hope so. I mean, the Orioles need it. I mean, I there's nothing else to say. The Orioles need, I don't expect him to go out and throw six, you know, six innings, one one hit ball, seven K's. Obviously, I hope he limits the three walks. If we're gonna take one negative from the starts to three walks, but sure, you know, it was a health.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

They were later in the game, too.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

They were later in the game, his arms getting tired. You know, I still something still seems off with me when it can't comes to his health.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

It's just not just weird to it's just rapid orals thing. That's an oral thing.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

We'll get into that with Michael Eyes, but I you know, I it looked great. He looked great if he can continue to do that. If he can continue to give you six innings and two runs, you know, every fifth day, you take it. If all of a sudden, you know, he could finish the season with an ERA around 3-2-3-1. How do you not take that? Especially when you're looking at you know Shane Baz with a with a probably what five ERA? Let's just look at it. 5-4-8.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

I think four eight. That's gotta come down at some point.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

That's gonna gotta come. You hope.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

You hope well, fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Chris Bass shit, you know, 5-2-1 ERA.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

You know, these get like the way that I look at this rotation right now, and I don't want to talk about it too long because we got other things that we gotta that we gotta get on, but the way that I look at it is I tweeted this the other day. It was after Trevor Rogers's like blow up start two days ago, and uh and and I think Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Sun tweeted just like the current state of the Orioles rotation, their ERAs, and how many wins they have and their win-loss total and the innings, and like you didn't have one person whose ER whose ERA was in the threes, uh, and I think you had one, maybe two ERAs in the fours. And I was like, does it really get worse than this? Like, does Trevor Rogers really really continue to be like a five ERA pitcher for the remainder of the season? Same with Shane Boz. Like, you gotta think that at some point Boz is gonna give you that, you know, six inning, two hit, eight strikeout gem against a good team, and then that's what you were thinking with Kyle Bradish, and he did it today. And it's like, all right, well, Kyle Braddish is starting to, you know, progress. You thought Shane Boz was after he was giving you some good length, and then he just has a real, really, really poor start um against uh Oakland or Sacramento A's, well, whatever the hell you want to call them. And it's like Oakland, yeah, that's how I'm always gonna call them Oakland, but at what point does this rotation like start to just slowly improve? And I think right now the floor is set, the bar set so low that it would be virtually impossible for this rotation to get worse from where they're at now. And to only say that you're what one and a half games out of a wildcard spot, to say that you're only what four games below 500 right now, that's that's honestly like a good spot to be in.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Four games under 500 and a game and a half out of the wild card. Yeah, it goes to show how bad the American League is.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

That and your rotation is the second worst in baseball behind the Colorado Rockies. Like it's not gonna be the second worst rotation in baseball all season long.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Who took our shit and turned it to gold?

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Let's not forget that.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Right. So you're at a point now where it's like I mean, it's embarrassing.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

I mean, you you spent, I mean, you spent $18 million on bass and we'll get into that, and that's Shane Bosh, we'll get into that. But you know, Tommy Yuki Shagano goes to Colorado, a known hitter's park, and is pitching great. Their rotation's filled with fucking fossils, sorry, the cost fossils like Jose Quintana, you know, and somehow they're the only team worse than us. Like, yeah, they gotta improve. I mean, I just I feel like we've seen the I feel like we've seen the worst of what this rotation can be. And at some point you gotta hope that they can become mediocre. Because if they're mediocre, it means that we're probably three or four games above 500.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

Yep, and the best is yet to come too. I mean, and and and well, I hope I feel like I can say that confidently because you know, these like back-to-back really good Kyle Bradish starts make me feel good. And it's like, all right, I know that Shane Boss is a talented pitcher. There's gonna be a game where he, you know, taps into that talent. Uh, Chris Bassett, you know, he's given us uh uh six innings in his past two outing or two out of his last three outings, right? Brandon Young is gonna give you five innings every single day, and that's not even to go that you know Dean Kramer could come back. Maybe Trey Gibson actually gets a spot on this team. Like they're like the floor is going to be much higher than it already is. Um, the big difference is what is the ceiling for this rotation? And I don't think it's good, but if it's middle of the pack and if this offense can turn it around and if they can get healthy, I think the So team has the potential to get hot. Now, with that being said, there are still a lot of things that have to go in our favor. And It all starts by just winning series against good baseball teams like the Yankees. The Nats, they're no slouch either. And we're gonna dive into that right now. The Nets are no slouch either. That's a series that you kind of have to win, though. I know that it's on the road, but it's gonna be like a home game for the O's. Your pitching isn't good. Neither is theirs. How much better of a team are you than a team that was projected to be a bottom three team in all of baseball this year? It's time to prove it. And I think in this series, the O's are going to be able to prove that. But before we dive into that, one more quick shout out to our sponsor, O Squared Residential Design. Just like we build winning sports content. O Squared builds winning kitchens and bathrooms. Woman-owned, family operated, right here in Maryland. Excellence in every square inch. Check them out at OSquaredesign.com. All right, let's dive into this Nats series. You know, the Nats are a really gritty team. They are. They have great bats. CJ Abrams looks like one of the best shortstops in baseball. James Wood is unreal, but they're getting production from other players too. Dalen Lyle, um, Brady Howes, Luis Garcia. They're getting help from other players that you know you weren't really expecting big breakouts from this year. They have a very, very stout offense. But the big difference is can the Orioles get to the Orioles, have they they should have a better offense than this Nationals team?

unknown 23:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Can they attack?

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Talking about the Orioles that we're supposed to win 90 games. Yeah. Yeah, the Orioles should have a better offense. I mean, we're playing Friday night. You got Zach Litel who's a known loser.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

You know, 6'5 ERA on the year. He's one in four.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Yeah, you gotta beat him. And if you can't beat Zach Lytell, then it takes away everything that you just said for the last week that they're looking hot. And and just to you know, close that thought, you know, yes, the Nationals are no slats, and we need to beat them, but I'm not gonna get my hopes up until you know the next two weeks are over because you got two series against Tampa. You got the Nets who can hit. You're talking, I mean, the Orioles' downfall. I mean, we've talked about this so many times, is the nickel and diming, the small hits and the small ball. That's what Tampa does. I tweeted it on X three days ago. I, you know, Tampa plays, does the little things right. The teams like the Orioles with a whole lot more talent should be doing, but they don't. We talked about Albernaz. We're not playing small ball, we're not bunting, we're not getting guys over, we're not doing any of that. We're not hitting behind the runners. Teams like the Nationals, why are they 21 and 22? They're pitching a shitty too, but they do the little things. You know, I I forget Butera's first name. It's not Drew Butera, but you know, Butera's their new manager, he's 32 years old and he's doing the little things. He's doing the you know, the things you gotta do to try and win ball games on a team that's not good. I mean, like you said, guys like Dalen Lyle or you know, majority.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

They're breaking out, man.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

I mean, yeah, breaking out. I mean, you know, so you got Friday night, you got Shane Boss, you got Zach Lytell, just a battle of two guys playing horribly. You know, I gotta think Shane, I gotta think Shane Boss figures it out. Yeah, he's got the stuff. I mean, at the end of the day, he's got the stuff to do it, and it's you know, it's time to kind of sink or swim. You got a five-year extension, you know, go go give us a couple starts and say, hey, this is the guy that we went and got, and we're proud of it. Because I I like Shane Boz a lot. But when he's on, man, he's when he's on, he's on. But until we start getting contributions, it's it's kind of like Pete Alonso for that first month. It's like, yeah, I love Pete Alonso, I'm thrilled about the signing, but then it's like you're hitting 210. Like, do something, do something, I mean Taylor Ward was great, and now he's not.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

Well, yeah, I mean for a while. There was that whole thing with the Taylor Ward getting hit on the hand, and now he's just gotten healthy, and that was completely swept under the rug.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Um, why is it with the Orioles that someone gets a minor injury, they die?

SPEAKER_00 25:43

Like yeah, it's whatever.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

I mean, Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

But hey, I wanted I I I do want to get in into this series though, and I do want to talk about this this this pitching matchup and you know not just go back and forth with like Pete Alonzo. Like I kind of do want to dive into this pitching matchup because I do think it is a really, really good opportunity for Shane Boz. Um, if you guys remember the O's play the Nats in like an exhibition or two, like the week leading up to opening day.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

Good game, Shane Boss.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Shane Boss went five innings of no run ball with like five or six strikeouts in this exhibition game that happened like two months ago. And it was in Nationals Park. Maybe Shane Boz, you know, can tap back into that and give us, you know, five innings of no run ball. The one thing, too, that I'm also looking at here is Zach Lattell, his 14 home runs that he's given up. That's gotta be up there amongst. He's given up 14 home runs this year. Yeah, so it's an opportunity, yeah, already. So it's an opportunity to really, really yeah, that's honestly ridiculous. I saw that and I was like, wait, I have to double check that.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

We're a month and a half into the year.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Zach Patel's 14 home runs this season is a first by any pitcher in all of baseball by three. Uh Jamison Tallion um is second with 11. Eric Lauer, Brady Sanders.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

I think I'm gonna lose my mind if we if we let him go like six innings and like just a one.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Well, hey, but I will mention a Baltimore Orioles thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

We're gonna talk about the pitching matchup. You know, the the Nats have not faced Shane Baas outside of that exhibition. There's nobody on their current roster that has an at-bat against Shane Boss. On the flip side, looking at the Orioles, Gunner Henderson's hitting 304 against him in 23 at bats with two homers. You look at Taylor Ward, Taylor Ward's hitting 508 at bats with two homers. Leone Tavares, 500, six at bats, one homer. Adley Rutschman's hitting 250, no homers. Tyler O'Neill's hitting 125. Look to not see him in the lineup tomorrow. Shocker. But you know, Colton Kowser is hitting 235. He has two homers against him. I'd love to see Colton Kowser get in the lineup tomorrow. I, you know, you're gonna have Tavares in center, Kowser and right, Taylor Ward and left. I if that is if the Orioles are smart and you know, reading the Excel sheet, you know. But I I mean that's just I mean, the Orioles have decent stats. You know, Peter Lanz is 0 for six, but guys like Pasayo haven't seen him yet. Well, what can Samuel Basayo do? We know he's a proven hitter. Samuel Bisayo has been one of the biggest bright spots of the season. Yeah, I I feel good about tomorrow. I think tomorrow with them not really having seen Shane Boss, I think it's a good good place for us, you know, outside of that exhibition, to really step on it. And with us seeing Zach Lytell, you know, former Ray, it's something we got to jump on. All of a sudden you win four out of five, then you go into the weekend with the momentum. Bay talk about Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Let's do it. Saturday, we got Chris Bassett versus Kate Kavali. Kate Cavalli's actually been Washington's best pitcher this season, has a 402 ERA. However, he does have a 1.59 whip, uh, walks a lot of batters. He has uh 18 walks in 40 innings pitched. Uh now he is a big swing and missed guy, 44 K's in 40 innings, 46 hits though, in 40 innings. This is either gonna be one of those games where the Orioles just completely they they they get on base, they draw walks, they play fundamental baseball, or it's gonna be one of those games where they draw walks but they strike out, and Cade Kavali has nine strikeouts through like five. And I have a feeling it'll be one of those two. You know, it's not gonna be one of those where like Cavalli is like sit like gives you five innings of like three run balls. It's either the Orioles are gonna shell him or the uh or the Orioles are either gonna look like a full against him. But Chris Bassett, though, um don't know how I feel about this matchup, especially because Washington has a lot of these, you know, really, really strong contact hitters, guys like Dylan Lyle, Luis Garcia. Um, the big question is, you know, can you keep the ball in the park in this one? I think if you limit the home runs, as I'm talking Chris Bassett's start, if you can limit the home runs in this start, solo shots won't won't kill you. Two home runs, two RBI homers are like, all right. And then Earl Weaver's specials are where they really, really start to kill you. If James Wood hits a leadoff homer in the first inning, it's fine. Offense just has to find a way to bounce back, but just don't now give this team free base runners.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

I want to mention, Tyler, you know, Mother's Day. We had uh Keegan Aiken do it as an opener.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Do we see another lefty opener with James Wood leading off? I mean, Chris Brass gave you six innings, you know, second through seventh inning. I mean, I I don't hate the idea. I hate you know feeling like Mike Elias is the one in charge of doing all this, and Albert Naz isn't getting you know his his own choices, but I don't think that's a bad decision with James Wood top the order.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Yeah, yeah, no, that that that actually is a very, very smart way of thinking of it. The one thing I will say though is I know that Elias said that, you know, he lets his man his manager make all the decisions, but they did it with Keegan Aiken, and I think Aiken's only pitched once during the weekday. Um if we didn't see Keegan yesterday, if we don't see Keegan tomorrow, maybe Keegan does get this Saturday um uh start quote unquote, gives you one inning against James Wood, CJ Abrams, and then you throw Bassett in there and hopefully he can get you to the sixth. And then as soon as it gets to the sixth, if the O's have a lead, you feel good about the bullpen, or at least I feel good about the bullpen. I don't hate that idea at all, Clay.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

If Keegan Aiken gives you, you know, a clean first inning on 12 pitches, I say we'll let him run out for the second and then have Chris Bassett come in for the third. Now all of a sudden, Chris Bassett's looking to cover innings three through eight, potentially, maybe even three through nine.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

Yeah, who knows? Crazy idea.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

I think it all depends too on you know how they look on Friday, especially Boz. Like if he can give you a quality, lengthy start, then I think the idea of that is more likely. Um, if you are just banking on, you know, Bassett giving you five innings from the second to the seventh. Um, but overall, I think this is this is a game where the Orioles once again can win. Uh, the big difference is what type of Chris Bassett are we gonna see? Do we see the Chris Bassett against the athletics and against the uh who did he make the really good start against? His first good start that he had this season. Houston, Houston. Do we see Miami? Um, do we see do we see the Bassett against Houston and the one that we saw against the A's, or do we see the you know Rangers, Miami Marlins version of the faster we saw against everybody else? Sure, exactly. All right, but moving on to the final game. We'll move on to Sunday. This one's gonna be fun. Miles Michaelis versus Brandon Young. I do not know what the over-under for this game is, but I would bet my house on the over. Miles Michaelis has a seven ERA through 36 innings. He's given up 42 hits through 36. He's won 14 batters. He is a fossil. If the Orioles cannot score at least five runs against Miles Michaelis on Sunday, then it's just not meant to be. Like they you have to beat Miles Michaelis any chance you can get. Like, genuinely. There's no excuse.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

Hey, Maverick Hanley, Maverick Hanley's one for one for two off of uh Miles.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

Uh well, there it is.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

Maverick Hanley has a hit off of there.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

There's your random uh Maverick Hanley start at catcher.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

And we need to give Adley ambassade a day.

SPEAKER_00 33:39

Well, yeah, right. Yeah, no, it's like the uh it's like the uh the uh Colin Coward meme. Like, no, we're good. Maver can lease here. We're good. We're good. We're good. Maverick and Lee's here. But yeah, no, but jokes aside though, uh Brent like Brandon Young's been good this year. I mean, he's three and one. Um, the O's do give him some good run support. Um, outside of you know the start that he had against Houston, where I kind of just had a gut feeling on like a doubleheader, Brandon Young against Houston, whose offense hasn't looked good throughout that series. He was gonna get shelled, shelled, and he did, but exciting win game one, and it was like, well, this isn't gonna end well. Yeah, exactly. But like uh I mean, other than that, he hasn't given he hasn't had a start this whole season where he's given up uh more than three runs outside of that, where he's where he gave up four. The Astros scored 10 runs off of him, but only four were earned. Uh I turned that game off fairly early after we went down like what five or six nothing in the first. So I don't really know how they graded it, but um you're just hoping that you know you can get a good version of Brandon Young or a good enough version of Brandon Young. Like if he's been keeping the walks or the the hits down. Now the walks is my main concern with him, but he's over.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

If he limits the walks, he's he's a rotational arm for good.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

He is, he is, and and and I mean, like I mean you can survive if you give up two, three walks a game. It's it's it's when you get to that four or five walk category. Young hasn't done that yet this season, but there's always like the scare that it could happen. But I have more faith in Brandon Young right now than I do most people in this rotation, which is kind of crazy to say. Um, but he has been a very, very pleasant spot, and I think you're gonna have an opportunity here during a day game 135 to really go get after it. Hopefully, the O's win the first two games of that series. Or even if they don't, if they go one and one, it's a rubber match. I like Brandon Young more than I like Miles Michaelis.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

There's not much to say. I mean, Miles Michaelis is about a thousand years old, and Brandon Young's you know, Brandon Young's been pitching well. I mean, obviously, you take the Astro game, 10 runs, four earned, but I mean, his numbers are a little inflated. You limit the walks, and all of a sudden Brandon Young is he's that guy. I mean, it sometimes it takes guys a couple years to figure it out. Brandon Young, but even when he was down in triple A this year, was pitching good. I you know, if Brandon Young is that guy, then so be it. I'm thrilled. I will say that.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

I mean, that's the ocean.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

In a year where you expected Zach Efflin to be there, you know. Unfortunately, he got hurt. I love Zach Efflin. You know, Dean Kramer, you counted on him. I don't count for shit with him. Um, you know, I just Brandon Young's the guy, so we'll take it. I say Orioles take two out of three, and then we go on to Tampa Bay and have a week of angerness.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

O's take two out of three, probably sweep. All right, now it's time to get into the fun stuff. But before I do that, let me give one a final shout out to our friends at O Squared Residential Design. If your kitchen or bathroom needs a championship level makeover, these are your MVPs. Family operated excellence serving the state of Maryland. Hit them up at osquaresign.com. That's osquaredesign.com. All right, Clay, it's your favorite segment.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

Michael, they are accepting job applications.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

Well, we're not gonna bash on Michael in this one as much as I know Clay wants to. What we're gonna do here is we're gonna revisit some of his trades over the years. Am I being censored? Am I being censored? You're not being censored, but you are being limited because if you want to bring up a trade that Mike Elias did poorly, you can bring it up. I may bring up a few trades that he did poorly, but what we're gonna do here is we're gonna look at three, maybe five, depending on how quickly we get through these. Three, maybe five of Michaelis' trades that he's made in his career. And the first one that I do want to talk about is the Orioles trading away Dylan Bundy to the Angels, where they got Kyle Braddish, Kyle Burnovich, Zach Peak, and Isaac Madison. Now, Burnovich, Peak, and Madison have not been guys at all. None of them made the minor leagues for Baltimore. But obviously, that prize possession is Kyle Bradish. Now, Dylan Bundy, throughout his time here in Baltimore, he had a uh 4-6-7 ERA uh with a 38-45 record. Um, but he was never really on the level that Kyle Bradish was at. He's been a bona fide top of the rotation arm for this Orioles team ever since he got called up in 2022, um, finished among AL leaders in ERA after the all-star break in 2023. This is a guy that is a legitimate top-of-the-line guy. And then you kind of look at what Dylan Bundy did for the Angels, and he was fine uh during 2020, had a 6-3 record, 3-2-9 ERA, finished ninth in Cy Young voting, actually. But the the 2021 season is where it all started to unravel, and you started to see the Orioles really, really, really win that trade. He had a 2-9 record, 6-06 ERA, 90Ks and 90 innings pitch. His velocity dipped, gave up a lot of home runs, and he couldn't overcome the injury bug. Overall, Dylan Bundy during his Angels tenure had an 8-12 record, 4-5-8 ERA and 156 innings pitch. They then non-tendered him F after the 2021 season, making him a free agent. And I don't think Bundy pitched again after that. So it does seem like the Orioles won that trade. Now, Clay, I know you're probably going to want to bring up a trade that Mike Elias lost. Who do you have in the back of your mind?

SPEAKER_01 39:16

Yeah, and I'm going to, but I do want to touch on Dylan Bundy real quick in that trade. You know, Dylan Bundy's a little special to me. The Orioles took him fourth overall in 2011.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

Nah.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

It just couldn't stay healthy. It was the same thing as Hunter Harvey. You know, I Dylan Bundy was special to me. I remember his first couple starts. I think he had like six no-hit innings and then gave up a hit six inning in both of them. Dylan Bundy was nails. I have nothing bad to say about him. I think the Oriolced the Angels in that trade. I think we kind of, you know, Dylan Bundy was at the end, and unfortunately, Dylan Bundy couldn't stay in shape and the stamina wasn't there. But you know, we got lucky Kyle Bradish as a dog, and you know, I'll give Michael Iasis credit on that one. That was a good move.

SPEAKER_02 39:53

Look at that.

SPEAKER_01 39:53

The first trade I'm going to bring up, that it wasn't really a win or a loss. I kind of nobody won this one, was the Corbin Burns trade. I it was a great move at its time for us, and and giving up Dale Hall was hard. Giving up Joey Ortiz is hard. Um, but as we all know, you know, we didn't win a playoff game that year. Corbin Burns pitched great, wildcard series. You know, um Dale Hall mounted really to nothing. He's a reliever for the Brewers. God bless him. He's a great guy. Joey Ortiz, decent middle infielder, nothing special. Um, just sucks we didn't re-sign Corbin Burns. I think what angers me more about that trade with Michael Ias is we did that thinking, oh, we were gonna have you know a great top two. And then we show up to spring and it's like, well, you know, that guy we just talked about from the Angels, Kyle Braddish, his uh, you know, his arm doesn't work. So yeah, that's great. Yeah. So it it's just like every time that there's good news with this guy, Michael Ias, it's like, well, there's a shit sandwich waiting for you at the end of the state.

SPEAKER_00 40:51

Exactly. And you know, the one thing I I will say about that trade is like Ortiz and Hall, they still have years and years of team control. Like they could still become very, very good pitchers. But Joey Ortiz, as good of a defensive um player he is, the bat hasn't come around for him. Dio Hall, as talented of a pitcher he is, he thought he was going to be a starter. Now he's kind of just like a one, maybe two-inning guy in your ped. Now that can be valuable, but I think when you're trading away, you know, a former Cy Young Award winner, and the way that Brad or the way that uh Burns, excuse me, pitched when he was here in Baltimore, it does kind of seem like Baltimore got more out of it at the time. Now, with that being said, in two, three, five years, we could revisit that trade and you can maybe say, like, all right, what if Dio Hall becomes one of the better left-handed relievers in the National League? What if Joey Ortiz sticks at third base and is like their guy there going forward? Then it's like, all right, the Orioles probably lost the trade. But what Corbin Burns did for us that season, the Orioles definitely got more out of it in hindsight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:59

Like, and you know, I love Dio Hall. Dio Hall is about the Asta boy. He loved being here, so it sucks, but he couldn't stay healthy just like you know, Dylan Bondy. So moving on, Tyler, what's the next trade that you want to discuss?

SPEAKER_00 42:11

This is a fun one because I think you're really gonna start to see this one come to fruition um like this year. Uh 2022, April of 2022, the Orioles traded away Tanner Scott and Cole Sulser to the Miami Marlins in return for Antonio Velez, Kevin Guerrero, Yaqui Rivera, and a competitive balance round B draft pick. Do you know who that competitive balance round B draft pick turned into?

SPEAKER_01 42:36

The right-handed version of Colton Kowser.

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Am I wrong? Is it Judd Fabian? It is Judd Fabian.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

The right-handed version of Colton Kowser.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Well, the one thing about Judd right now is Judd has had quite the start to his 2026 year. Like you said, low batting average guys who strike out a lot, but they slug the crap out of the baseball. Judd Fabian this year has a 758 OPS, but he has a 219 batting average, but his on base percentage is a 367. He has a 391 slug. But the thing that's so uh enticing about Fabian is that he could steal bases and he's a good defender. And a lot of people, Judd Fabian hit another home run, I believe, yesterday. Um, if I'm not mistaken. Uh no, it was two days ago where he hit another home run. But this is a guy that could very well be called up soon, especially, you know, if like O'Neal gets on the IL again or if Beavers' injury is worse. The Orioles could use another righty in that outfield. And Fabian, he's a guy that can steal bases. The Orioles have not been doing that this year. As of right now, the Orioles lost that trade, but Fabian is the only guy that can make this be like. Like, all right, the Orioles got at least some sort of value from it, from him, and or from that trade. And Fabian being 25 years old, the clock is ticking. But I've seen a lot of people on Oriol's Twitter say, you know, I think Fabian's ready. He's in triple A right right now. He's playing well. At what point does he get the call this month? Uh he is 12 or wait, no, that is wrong. I was looking at total basis. He's nine for 42, but he has a 313 on base percentage. The slug is not there. But Fabian's a guy that, you know, if he can get on base, he has a good eye, steals some bases. That opens up a lot for this Orioles offense. As of right now, though, the Marlins definitely won that trade, especially because um Tandis Scott just was a very, very valuable arm for them. And they traded him at the deadline to the Padres, in which they got a lot back for him. Um Robbie Snelling being one of those guys who made their MLB debut like three days ago. Um, so in hindsight, the Marlins definitely won that trade. But I think if we see Fabian get called up this year and, you know, start to produce a little bit for us, maybe that starts to shift in our favor depending on how good Fabian looks. Your quick thoughts on that one, Kaline, then we'll dive into one more.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

Yeah, I mean, we lost that trade. I mean, Tanner Scott, we were talking about acquiring Tanner Scott two years ago at the deadline, and it was gonna cost an arm in a league. Yeah, Tanner Scott turned out to be the guy. Unfortunately, he just didn't have the control here, and it took leaving Baltimore to figure it out, just like most 90% of the pitchers that come through this organization. But you know, it it was it was a good risk at the time. I I pissed me off at the time, though, because you know, we really didn't have the bullpen arms that we needed. So trading away two guys was like, what are we doing? But you know, I mean, if Judd Fabian can come up and be productive, I still don't see where he has a place really in the future with you know Enrique Bradfield, you know, Nate George. So I don't know. I I think that trade's a wash, but probably a loss at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 46:01

You got you got one more?

SPEAKER_01 46:02

I got one more on me. I think we have to talk about the Shane Baz trade. I think how could we not talk about that? You know, we obviously acquired Shane Boz. Obviously, we traded away Slater DeBrun, Caden Bodine or Bodine, Michael Ferret, Austin Over Earn, and the number 33 pick in the draft this year. Um I'll I'll bring up Caden Bodine stats as we're talking. He's been nothing short of elite in single A for the Rays this year, which doesn't surprise me. Uh Michael Ferret, we'll talk about two. He's in double A for them. Right now he has a three 3-0 ERA with a 1-7-1 or 3-0 record with a 1-7-1 ERA. He has 32 strikeouts with 14 walks with a whip of 0.98. He's killing it. Shocker, anybody that goes in the Rays organization kills it. Slater DeBron doesn't have any stats for this year, so it doesn't look like he has played quite yet. Caden Bodine, you're looking at him, he has a 382 average Bodine. 435 on base percentage with five homers, 25 ribs, 12 walks, and only five strikeouts. He has over two times the amount of walks than he has strikeouts. Wow. And they have the number 33 pick this year.

SPEAKER_00 47:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:17

They have the number 33 pick from us.

SPEAKER_00 47:20

Well, you know, that's what that's what Caden Bodine's like profile coming out was was he's a simple swinger, clean, clean swing. He'll make contact with the ball. He's not gonna strike out a lot. Great defensive catcher, but to have a 385, what batting average like a 450 on base is unreal. Now incredible. Now we're gonna have to follow his you know development and what he looks like when he gets to double A and triple A.

SPEAKER_01 47:45

Don't worry, we're gonna see him, we're gonna see him in Tampa next year. Yeah, probably it's one of those moves where it's like, I'm not knocking Michael Ias for going for it. What I'm knocking Michael Ias for is trade because I'm all for trading prospects. What I'm knocking is the fact that we're looking at an Excel sheet and saying, well, Shane Boss, you know, his the torque on his arm and the and the and the spin on his curveball and fucking shit like that. Well, we didn't we could have gone out and acquired somebody that you know has the stats to back it up, not just well, you know, we played in a string training ballpark last year and he looked better on the road.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

Yeah. I mean that's I get it.

SPEAKER_01 48:25

We're eight starts in one and four with a five-four ERA and and Bodines looking like you know, Willie Mays in single A, Fourette's looking great.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

Like it's just it's one of those trades, play that that that you're gonna have to give a little bit of time to marinate now, especially because Boz is gonna be here for five more years. It's like this is gonna be one of those trades where you're just gonna have to simply wait. Because all we know maybe in three years Boz does have that breakout year. What if Boz turns it around this year and ends the season with a 3-9-1 ERA and and has 170 strikeouts and like 180 innings, and all of a sudden Boz starts to get it going, and then all these prospects are still two years out, and you're like, all right, maybe the O's did win this trade. But that's the one thing about trades that literally happened like five months ago is like you're not gonna be able to, you know, put a finger on a winner or a loser yet. But I'm sorry to cut you off. I have one more, and I may be wrong, but this is a very interesting one. What if I told you that Trey Mancini, that trade turned in to Blaze Alexander? Would you believe me?

SPEAKER_01 49:36

If you do the backtrack of it, yeah, it was Seth Johnson and uh all that.

SPEAKER_00 49:40

Yeah, here it is. Trey Mancini got traded to the twins, Houston, excuse me, for Chase McDermott and Seth Johnson, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 49:54

Yep, Seth Johnson, and then we traded Seth Johnson to the Phillies for uh Greg Soto. Greg Soto.

SPEAKER_00 50:00

And then we traded we go to the butt.

SPEAKER_01 50:03

Traded Greg Soto for Cade Stroud, I believe, correct?

SPEAKER_00 50:07

No, no, no, no, no, no. No. Here it is. All right, I got it now. Ready? All right. Trey Mancini has been turned into Blaise Alexander. The Orioles traded Trey Mancini to the Astros for Seth Johnson and Chase McDermott. Seth Johnson was then traded to the Phillies for Gregory Soda. Gregory Soto was then traded to the Mets for Wellington Arsena. Wellington Arisina and Cade Stroud were then traded to the Diamondbacks for Blaze Alexander.

SPEAKER_02 50:45

Yippee.

SPEAKER_00 50:47

Look at that. Who would you who would you rather have right now? Gregory Soto or uh Blaze Alexander?

SPEAKER_01 50:53

Doesn't Greg Soto have like a one ERA right now?

SPEAKER_00 50:56

Greg Soto's been been really, really good this year.

SPEAKER_01 50:58

I mean the guy Wiley Coyote, but I mean I love trade trade webs.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

Trade webs are so cool because like, yeah, there are other players involved.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

The Orioles end up losing most of them. That's that's the shitty part.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

They do, but I mean, hell, we have Blaze for what four more years, and he had three hits the other day. So I mean, Andy plays great defense. So Andy is fast. He hasn't really stolen a whole lot of bases yet this year, but I mean Gregory Soto's gonna be a free agent after this year, anyways. Um, right? No, he was a free agent this past year. Um, so the Orioles they basically turned what one more year of team control in Trey Man, or no, like he was a free agent after that season. They turned half a year, half a year of Trey Mancini into four years of Blaise Alexander, and I guess Chase McDermott, who gave us like four stars.

SPEAKER_01 51:48

But what we're forgetting from that, I mean, obviously, obviously you hate trade and trade, but I think what pissed me off the most was we also, I mean, that was the same year we traded Jorge Lopez. That 2022 team wasn't out of it. That's no, they weren't. And it still bites me. I mean, we weren't winning a World Series that year, but it's still I think that was the the probably the origin of my Michael I's hate was when we got to the trade deadline, this team showing signs of life, and he just said, We're gonna give it up. We're gonna give up. We're gonna trade everybody. And you know what?

SPEAKER_00 52:19

The trades worked out, but you would like to see you shove your chips in a little bit back then. Yeah, I don't blame you. The way that I thought about it though, Clay, was like because you stood pet at the deadline in 2022 and sold off, you had a you won't you were able to win 101 games because you stood pet for like going into 2023. Because like if you keep Mancini, then like you're not getting Johnson, who eventually down the line turns into Soto. But also, if you don't trade Lopez, you don't get Kano, who was a massive part in that bullpen in 2023. And it's like you could argue that Soto or uh uh uh Kano excuse me had way more of an impact.

SPEAKER_01 53:05

Yeah, these guys, I'm not denying that these guys had more of an impact, sure. And Yen Your Kano's having a great year this year, but it just at the time it was it was the wrong message to send to that clubhouse that you know I don't believe in you guys.

SPEAKER_00 53:18

Sorry, I mean, yeah, no, that's fair. And and I mean I remember they won like nine games in a row. Uh they went into Wrigley, yeah. They went into Wrigley and one went above 500.

SPEAKER_01 53:27

I mean, it was they were doing all the right things. It was probably one of the funnest years we've had. That shit, that team's played better than this year's.

SPEAKER_00 53:34

Yeah, I mean, they just didn't have the they moral of the story, they just did not have the pitching. I mean, Jordan Lyles was their ace. So what are you gonna do when Jordan Lyles is is your race? You're not gonna do a lot. Then you went from Jordan Lyles to Kyle Gibson. Yeah, anyways, winning. Winning. But I don't know, dude. I think trade webs are so cool. And I honestly I'm I'm gonna dive into more Orioles trade trade webs because I mean Elias has been trading a lot recently. Like, I bet you the guys from the Ryan O'Hearn Ramon Moriano trade to the Padres, I bet you that's gonna turn into something at some point down the line. And maybe trading away Ryan O'Hearn and Ramon Moriano gets you like a future like Cy Young candidate or like all-star. Who knows? I mean, that's just how baseball is, and it it really is cool. I know that the Milwaukee Brewers have one of the like crazier like trait trade webs of all time, and I think it involves like who does it involve. Do you know what I'm thinking, Brad, about huh? Like the Brewers have one of the like craziest trade webs in like history. It it it starts with that some crazy ones. It starts with like Braun.

unknown 54:47

I hate Ryan Braun.

SPEAKER_01 54:49

I hate Ryan Braun so much, dude. Guy is such a loser, he's a lying loser.

SPEAKER_00 54:53

Yeah, well, maybe if you have a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 55:01

They're few and far between. Yeah, yeah. I don't see a lot on it. Yeah, I don't really see them on Twitter, but I don't know. Ryan Braun cheated and then and then lied and said he didn't cheat, and it was someone else's fault, and then it came out again and he cheated, and it's like, dude.

SPEAKER_00 55:14

Well, should have just came out clean the first time. Yeah, yeah. Well, there's a lot of that nowadays with like PDs and all that stuff, but um Milky Cabrera. Yeah, all right, exactly. But um, yeah, that's gonna wrap things up for this episode of Orioles Theory. It was a little bit of a longer one, Clay and I go down rabbit holes quite often. So if you if you like going down Orioles Rabbit holes with us, this is the podcast for you. Uh O's, they start tomorrow at 6:35 against the Washington Nationals, or should I say today? But for those listening live tomorrow, for those listening Friday morning or Friday during the day, or Friday during the game, if you want, starts at 6 35 on Friday.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

Depending on how the game is going, you you ought to tune in 6 30 or 3 3 05 on Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 55:58

All right, there we go. Well, we'll make time for it. Uh, actually, can't make time for that. I uh graduate this weekend. So look, I got my uh capping down over there.

SPEAKER_01 56:08

Congratulations are in order. Tyler Barbaras, the official University of Tennessee graduate. Do we have any closing words or speeches that you want to give now that you aren't the valedictorian?

SPEAKER_00 56:21

When life gives you lemons, don't watch the Orioles.

SPEAKER_01 56:26

How about that? The great Tyler Barbaras.

SPEAKER_00 56:29

There it is. I'm actually gonna be going to a lot of games this summer. So if you guys want to meet up with Clay, I know he's in Dallas now, but he'll be back. So we're gonna be back, buddy.

SPEAKER_01 56:38

I'll be back Memorial Day weekend, buddies.

SPEAKER_00 56:40

Boom. There we go. I think we're going to um try and you know do some more like street interviews, maybe do a podcast outside the stadium. I'm gonna have to see how that that works. But um, got a couple people that I can contact there. So got a lot of fun things planned. Obviously, it's been hard for the past year or two years, consistently being able to, you know, cover things, especially when I'm in college uh with work, job, all that other stuff. But this summer, as soon as I get back in about like a week and a half, um, it'll be a fun time. So make sure to stay tuned for a crap ton of Baltimore Orioles content. Literally going to be multiple, multiple posts and videos every single day. Um, we got a really, really, really good team being built here on Orioles Theory. So make sure to uh stick around for all that. You guys can listen to O's Theory on all platforms, Spotify, Apple Music, or Apple Podcasts, I should rather say, Amazon Podcast, Pandora, wherever you get your podcast, we got you guys covered for the whopping price of $3.99. Make sure to follow us on all socials at O's Theory on Twitter, and that's just it. And then at Orioles Theory on Instagram and TikTok YouTube page will be up and running by the end of the month as well. So we're gonna get to you know pull clips from this. We're gonna have people on. I'm gonna make videos on my own. Um, it's gonna be a really, really, really, really, really, really, really fun summer. I'm super, super pumped to uh just nail content out for you guys. But that's gonna wrap things up. Go O's for Tyler Barbaris, Clay Seljan. We'll catch you guys in the next one. Peace out, peace out, fellas.