They also got Stowers in round 2B and Ortiz (the guy they traded for Burnes) in 4. That 2019 draft was absolutely loaded, though. I don't blame other teams for not taking a chance on a high school guy with all the talent that was available. Look at who was taken in the first round that year: Bobby Witt Jr., Andrew Vaughn, Riley Greene, CJ Abrams, Josh Jung, Shea Langeliers, Alek Manoah (his career started strong at least, despite his current issues), Bryson Stott, Corbin Carroll, George Kirby. You also can't fault a team for taking a position of need (as long as the player pans out) over somebody who _might_ be a little better overall. For instance, Arizona took Carroll and he's currently their MLB CF (struggling, yes, but he was also RoY). You might argue Gunnar is better, but the Dbacks don't need another SS. And you can argue Gunnar is better than Abrams or Stott or whoever, but that could be more due to the team and situation. In retrospect, the one team that absolutely should have taken Gunnar over who they got is the Yankees at #30. Volpe is not the guy, and I know it's hard to think about, but Gunnar as a lefty in Yankee Stadium would be even BETTER right now.
This team is going to go down as one of the best teams ever assembled, we are witnessing the birth of a dynasty. New ownership and third lowest payroll in baseball means this roster is staying together. Next year getting big Felix back and Jackson Holliday getting major league ready to be the everyday 2nd baseman will be like two massive free agent signings. When Kremer comes back our starting five is Burnes and 3 #2 starters with ace caliber potential with Grayson, Kremer and Bradish. Imagine if Means was healthy? But I think Povich is gonna be a stud and there’s more depth in the farm system there. Which adds Irvin to the pen with Felix and that additional talent in the minors making our bullpen tops in the show like the starters, and while we play elite defense, it’s the offense that will remain our biggest threat. Imagine this line up with 2-3 years maturation from today(hard to believe that’s even possible). 1. Holliday 2. Westburg 3. Rutsch 4. Gunnar 5. Mounty 6. Tony Taders 7. Basallo/O’Hearn(DH) 8. Cedric/Hayes 9. Cowser. Who wants to face that in a 7 game series with Stowers, Mayo, Norby, Herjstadt, Matteo and more off the bench. Hits for average, 2 outs, 2 strikes, power outta control and run the bases very well. This lineup is going to be the model everyone tries to follow as they master being aggressive early and still running up pitch counts. With the five starters we have, the back end of the bullpen, the defense allowing them to pitch to contact comfortably and the offense that can put up a crooked number in a heartbeat, I’m comfortable with saying I’m no longer concerned with the checks the rest of the AL East can stroke because we hit the fuckin lottery. All that losing was so we could have this team, the wait is over Baltimore, we are gonna bring home over a dozen division titles and AL pennants, and we will have the rings to correspond with those banners. Mark my words. Basallo will be the #1 overall prospect next year and that four year streak will never happen again, but all four will be MVP caliber players in baseball. You see the progress Rutsch has made in plate discipline? Multiply that by 4 over the next 4-6 years as the rest get the experience Rutsch has now. Holliday, Basallo, Rutsch, Gunnar is going to be the next Murderer’s row, 4 players with 30+ HR capabilities and Westburg, Cowser & Mounty are gonna be right there with them and guys like Stowers, Mayo and Norby as the last two slots in the line up as Tony, Cedric and Hayes get into the second half of their careers. Then there’s the specific role players like Matteo and Urias and the extensive farm system depth, so we are going to win enough games to allow Hyde to rest everyone all year, giving us the freshest bodies possible in October. They picked us to win 86 games this year, this team is definitely not done sneaking up on people. These next 10 days are gonna speak volumes. After we sweep Tampa it’s Atlanta and Philly in the yard, then off to the Bronx for the biggest series of the year, and I genuinely can’t wait. The bigger the situation the harder these guys compete, they’re relentless and young enough to be so. The Yankees have a great ball club, they signed all the checks needed to do so, but they simply are overmatched and the reason we are so good on the road is because that’s when the team is forced to live together without any personal distractions. That’s how serious the clubhouse vibe is, and no player is excluded from it, who else salutes the bullpen guys after every homer on the trot around the bases? A small part of me wants to close my eyes and wake up 10 years from now just to see how many fall classics they win, but the other 99% of me can’t wait to savor every moment of turning the regular season into a formality, the capability to challenge Seattle’s record for regular season wins and to beat the post season record for consecutive wins in October-November. How sweet it’s gonna be to watch these good ole country boys dominate the 2020’s and 2030’s, and restore Baltimore to its rightful place of baseball dominance with homegrown talent. Apologies for the lengthy message, I’ve just been a die-hard all my life, but was born just after Cal caught that soft liner to end it in ‘83. So I’ve been waiting all my life and it’s felt even longer since I grew up 45 minutes from Yankee stadium, but it’s been well worth the wait because this team is going to be talked about more than Brady and the Patriots and Murderer’s Row. Watch us cover 50% of the top 10 MVP spots……. And do it more than once.
Wow! That's some narrative. You make a lot of valid points. But doubt it will work outt that way. Injuries play such a big part of baseball players careers. So who knows what will happen with the players you describe-----especially the pitchers. You need look no further that what has happened the past couple of seasons with the pitching staff. The other is economics. Highly likely that some of the players you described will move on to other teams because of the cost associated with trying to sign all of them. Just too much money (probably even for the Yankees) to digest. But I do agree with you, enjoy it while this team is together for the next couple of years and see how much Orioles magic occurs!
They need to lock this guy up long-term.Adley too
And Mountcastle, and Westberg.
They took Adley and Gunnar in the same draft 😮
A lot of it too was he was going to college if he didn’t get a certain signing bonus amount. Signability had a lot to do with his fall
They also got Stowers in round 2B and Ortiz (the guy they traded for Burnes) in 4.
That 2019 draft was absolutely loaded, though. I don't blame other teams for not taking a chance on a high school guy with all the talent that was available. Look at who was taken in the first round that year: Bobby Witt Jr., Andrew Vaughn, Riley Greene, CJ Abrams, Josh Jung, Shea Langeliers, Alek Manoah (his career started strong at least, despite his current issues), Bryson Stott, Corbin Carroll, George Kirby.
You also can't fault a team for taking a position of need (as long as the player pans out) over somebody who _might_ be a little better overall. For instance, Arizona took Carroll and he's currently their MLB CF (struggling, yes, but he was also RoY). You might argue Gunnar is better, but the Dbacks don't need another SS. And you can argue Gunnar is better than Abrams or Stott or whoever, but that could be more due to the team and situation. In retrospect, the one team that absolutely should have taken Gunnar over who they got is the Yankees at #30. Volpe is not the guy, and I know it's hard to think about, but Gunnar as a lefty in Yankee Stadium would be even BETTER right now.
This team is going to go down as one of the best teams ever assembled, we are witnessing the birth of a dynasty. New ownership and third lowest payroll in baseball means this roster is staying together. Next year getting big Felix back and Jackson Holliday getting major league ready to be the everyday 2nd baseman will be like two massive free agent signings. When Kremer comes back our starting five is Burnes and 3 #2 starters with ace caliber potential with Grayson, Kremer and Bradish. Imagine if Means was healthy? But I think Povich is gonna be a stud and there’s more depth in the farm system there. Which adds Irvin to the pen with Felix and that additional talent in the minors making our bullpen tops in the show like the starters, and while we play elite defense, it’s the offense that will remain our biggest threat. Imagine this line up with 2-3 years maturation from today(hard to believe that’s even possible). 1. Holliday 2. Westburg 3. Rutsch 4. Gunnar 5. Mounty 6. Tony Taders 7. Basallo/O’Hearn(DH) 8. Cedric/Hayes 9. Cowser. Who wants to face that in a 7 game series with Stowers, Mayo, Norby, Herjstadt, Matteo and more off the bench. Hits for average, 2 outs, 2 strikes, power outta control and run the bases very well. This lineup is going to be the model everyone tries to follow as they master being aggressive early and still running up pitch counts. With the five starters we have, the back end of the bullpen, the defense allowing them to pitch to contact comfortably and the offense that can put up a crooked number in a heartbeat, I’m comfortable with saying I’m no longer concerned with the checks the rest of the AL East can stroke because we hit the fuckin lottery. All that losing was so we could have this team, the wait is over Baltimore, we are gonna bring home over a dozen division titles and AL pennants, and we will have the rings to correspond with those banners. Mark my words. Basallo will be the #1 overall prospect next year and that four year streak will never happen again, but all four will be MVP caliber players in baseball. You see the progress Rutsch has made in plate discipline? Multiply that by 4 over the next 4-6 years as the rest get the experience Rutsch has now. Holliday, Basallo, Rutsch, Gunnar is going to be the next Murderer’s row, 4 players with 30+ HR capabilities and Westburg, Cowser & Mounty are gonna be right there with them and guys like Stowers, Mayo and Norby as the last two slots in the line up as Tony, Cedric and Hayes get into the second half of their careers. Then there’s the specific role players like Matteo and Urias and the extensive farm system depth, so we are going to win enough games to allow Hyde to rest everyone all year, giving us the freshest bodies possible in October. They picked us to win 86 games this year, this team is definitely not done sneaking up on people. These next 10 days are gonna speak volumes. After we sweep Tampa it’s Atlanta and Philly in the yard, then off to the Bronx for the biggest series of the year, and I genuinely can’t wait. The bigger the situation the harder these guys compete, they’re relentless and young enough to be so. The Yankees have a great ball club, they signed all the checks needed to do so, but they simply are overmatched and the reason we are so good on the road is because that’s when the team is forced to live together without any personal distractions. That’s how serious the clubhouse vibe is, and no player is excluded from it, who else salutes the bullpen guys after every homer on the trot around the bases? A small part of me wants to close my eyes and wake up 10 years from now just to see how many fall classics they win, but the other 99% of me can’t wait to savor every moment of turning the regular season into a formality, the capability to challenge Seattle’s record for regular season wins and to beat the post season record for consecutive wins in October-November. How sweet it’s gonna be to watch these good ole country boys dominate the 2020’s and 2030’s, and restore Baltimore to its rightful place of baseball dominance with homegrown talent. Apologies for the lengthy message, I’ve just been a die-hard all my life, but was born just after Cal caught that soft liner to end it in ‘83. So I’ve been waiting all my life and it’s felt even longer since I grew up 45 minutes from Yankee stadium, but it’s been well worth the wait because this team is going to be talked about more than Brady and the Patriots and Murderer’s Row. Watch us cover 50% of the top 10 MVP spots……. And do it more than once.
You can only have 13 position players.
You listed 16 and said "more".
Some of your list won't be Orioles.
Wow! That's some narrative. You make a lot of valid points. But doubt it will work outt that way. Injuries play such a big part of baseball players careers. So who knows what will happen with the players you describe-----especially the pitchers. You need look no further that what has happened the past couple of seasons with the pitching staff. The other is economics. Highly likely that some of the players you described will move on to other teams because of the cost associated with trying to sign all of them. Just too much money (probably even for the Yankees) to digest. But I do agree with you, enjoy it while this team is together for the next couple of years and see how much Orioles magic occurs!
I’m sticking to my pre-season prediction of 112 Orioles wins in the regular season.
Gunnar needs to remain leadoff, he needs to have the most chances at the plate over everyone else
He is AMAZING. He will soon get an insane money offer!!!!
At the time I wanted my Phillies to take Gunnar over Stott. But we took Bryson at like 16
Why was he passed over? Because y'all don't know the future. Next video please.
It is dumfounding
Fools! Fools I tells ya! #OriolesDynasty