Good to be an O’s fan today. We don’t know what sort of proprietor David Rubenstein shall be, and it may very well be he’s simply as within the “ballpark village” that John Angelos secured the tax cash for earlier than promoting up. However his standing as “Not An Angelos” will present Orioles followers with optimism regardless. Thursday evening, they received one other dose of that optimism straight to the vein, when GM Mike Elias received a wild hair on his ass and tapped into Baltimore’s unholy inventory of younger expertise to amass Corbin Burnes from the Brewers.
Burnes might be one of the best pitcher who was out there this winter both by free company or by way of commerce. Whereas Yoshinobu Yamamoto might change into that, Burnes has already finished it in MLB and for just a few seasons. He runs a profession 3.11 FIP, a 30 % Ok-rate, and an ERA- of 77 (100 is common, the decrease the higher). At his finest, he can dominate a lineup. True aces are uncommon to have the ability to choose off, and the Orioles simply did so.
If Grayson Rodriguez can proceed to flash the shape he did after his recall from the minors within the second half of final season (2.76 FIP in 76 innings), the O’s can have maybe one of the best 1-2 on the prime of their rotation within the AL, and definitely within the division that they only received (sorry, Yanks, however there’s nonetheless not a lot behind Gerrit Cole). With Kyle Bradish now correctly slotted as a No. 3, the Orioles actually solely have to fret about well being.
Making it higher for Baltimore is that they didn’t have to surrender something they’d miss. DL Corridor couldn’t discover the plate with a workforce of foxhounds within the minors as a starter and was shifted to the pen final yr. The O’s churn out relievers. Joey Ortiz massacred the ball in AAA final yr in simply over half a season there, however actually had nowhere within the infield to play at Camden Yards. The O’s have so many good gamers that there was no approach in between Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, and Gunnar Henderson.
Are there some warning lights with Burnes? Yep, which can be why the O’s wait on a contract extension past this yr for him. His Ks dropped from 30 % to 25 %, and he misplaced a tick on the cutter he makes use of primarily to 94.1 MPH from 95. His walks went up two proportion factors, too, and as he’s 29, it’s truthful to surprise if he’s already on the draw back of his peak. However he has choices. He has a depraved curve that runs a whiff proportion up close to 50, and he might lean on that extra closely, together with a change-up that will get a ton of grounders. Perhaps his orgy of strikeout days is behind him, however there are nonetheless greater than sufficient instruments right here to get loads of hitters out each 5 days.
Merely operating again final yr’s workforce would possibly nonetheless have stored the Orioles as favorites within the AL East. They simply added the most effective pitchers in baseball. We don’t know that the brand new proprietor received’t sanction extra strikes on the deadline, which they’ve a lot in inventory to commerce to make occur that also isn’t even on their MLB roster. Camden Yards has at all times felt like a spot that ought to be the middle of baseball. It is perhaps now.
Don’t cry for Milwaukee
On the Brewers’ aspect, there may be this narrative that given the scale of town and market, that is simply how they need to function, mainly abdicating the division this yr to the stationary Cubs or not-as-augmented-as-they-should-be Reds whereas they reload with younger, low-cost expertise. Here’s Ken Rosenthal espousing that proprietor propaganda.
It’s horsesh-t. The Crew drew 2.5 million followers final yr, which even going by their common ticket worth ought to have netted them someplace between $170-200 million. Sure, their TV deal is with Bally and may very well be going any variety of methods, however it’s rumored to get them one other $30 million per yr or so. They simply received the state of Wisconsin to pay for upgrades to no matter they name Miller Park now to the tune of $500 million. Proprietor Mark Attanasio purchased the workforce for $220 million 20 years in the past, they usually’re at present estimated to be value $1.6 billion. Perhaps extra after the stadium deal.
Does anybody actually care if he loses a pair million a yr, given what he’ll promote this workforce for someplace down the road?
Michael Buble’s magic mushroom journey
And now, Michael Buble wanting like me on the final Queens of the Stone Age present I attended:
Legalize mushrooms so everybody can know this pleasure.
