Episode 150: Farm Aid

Published by Bird's Eye View at February 7, 2016

Leading Off

Hey, we claim this is a weekly podcast, but it’s only true during the season. After a three-week hiatus, we have returned to bring you all the lack of insight and baseless opinion that can be mustered from what the Orioles have been up to lately. This might get a little bumpy, so buckle up. We start, as always, with The Drink of the Week. Make sure to tell us what you’re up to via Twitter (@birdseyeviewbal), or on Untapped (jakee4025 and magn8606).

This Week on the Twitters

Girl, if you think more than two feet is impressive, you never spent a weekend with me. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww yeah.

— Seductive Tommy H (@SeductiveTommyH) January 23, 2016

working on something exciting and new, i suggest you bookmark https://t.co/WWPHqByanj

— Josh Sroka (@joshsroka) January 26, 2016

I wonder if Dave Matthews and Willie Nelson will perform at Camden Yards for Orioles Farm Aid. On proceeds go to fix our farm system.

— Orioles Uncensored (@OsUncensored) February 1, 2016

Dear O's fan on Amtrak who commented to me at 5:30 am that they still need pitching – I'm now awake and agree with you. I'll pass it on Thx.

— Jim Duquette (@Jim_Duquette) February 4, 2016

How important is a fifth starter to #Orioles? Maybe not so much. #OriolesTalk https://t.co/D85TiUBoH7

— Rich DubroffMLB (@RichDubroffMLB) February 1, 2016

Mortgaging the Farm

Embed from Getty Images

Remember FanFest, when Dan Duquette told us not to read the “crap” in the national publications about how thin the Orioles farm system is? Yeah, that makes for a great line, but the “crap” is still being written. The Orioles farm system is thin.

The question is: should the Orioles be trying to win right now, at the expense of improving the system? Yes. We’re talking about the 14th pick that might be sacrificed if a player like Yvonni Gallardo or Dexter Fowler.

Cobbling Together the Rotation

Embed from Getty Images

We’re going to warn you now: this might get weird. Scott wonders would it be possible for the Orioles patch together the fifth rotation spot out of their leftover parts? Could Despaigne, Worley, Wright and Wilson serve as a collective fifth starter, while also logging innings in the bullpen and riding the Norfolk Shuttle?

We talk through this approach, and how the 2016 Orioles might resemble the 2012 Orioles in approach to the pitching staff.

Blowing the Save

Embed from Getty Images

Most podcasts try to end on a high note – the perfect coda to a quality program. That’s just not our style. Each week, we’ll end on a weak note, blowing the save with an item that didn’t quite fit into the episode, or something they simply need to get off their chests. It’s our version of taking the ball and pulling a Kevin Gregg.