General Sports Water Cooler

We should be a lot closer to it than we are now. If we are not in it despite Machado, Bundy, Schoop, ect being here, we'll never get there.

I agree but I also remember when we were suppose to be contending by 2011-2012

25 HRs is definitely the expectation going forward. Health is and always has been the main issue.

Really, 2012 is critical towards the direction of the franchise. How Wieters/Jones/Matusz/Arrieta/Britton/Chen perform this year will let us know what direction to move going forward. IF enough of them take steps forward this year, you can look at the arrival of Bundy/Schoop/Machado/2012 #1 pick in 2014 as the chance to really go for it.

Eventually, having a 2nd wildcard team in the AL will be a good thing for the Orioles. Also, more than likely the schedule will become a little less unbalanced starting in 2013 when the Astros move to the AL.

I'm going down to OC during the 27th-29th this month....praying I get to see Bundy.

I suppose so but Hardy had some arm issues in spring and to me it looks like his arm is still bothering him a little, a little weaker than last year (although he did make that nice relay throw last night). If that remains an issue going forward, a move to 2B might be more likely.

Hardy is such a good defender that they'd be foolish to move him to 2B instead of 3B unless there were legit concerns about his arm strength. I haven't really noticed any issues with his throws since the season started so I'm assuming that is behind him.

Bundy's second start is tonight!

Bobby Bundy is on the mound at 11:05am today for Bowie.

I think 25 homers is fair, but you have to remember he's about to hit 30. With his past injury history, we should probably temper our expectations some.

And I think it's dumb to automatically assume that his plus defense would carry over to 3rd. If it didn't, 25 homers at 3rd Base with average D is a LOT LESS valuable than plus D at SS with the same offensive output.

Position scarcity at 3B isn't that much better than the position scarcity at 3B. Not to mention that if, in this hypothetical scenario, we didn't have an answer at 3B Hardy would be much more valuable to us as a 3B down the stretch run than his return would be.

Bobby Bundy with a 2-hit shutout through 5 innings for Bowie. One strikeout, one walk.

Machado with a walk and run scored.

Especially the guys that don't have +defense because of ++range. Speaking strictly about the Fielding aspect, I see no reason why he wouldn't be a good-great 3b. If he stayed healthy his whole career, he would've been a 100MM SS in Boston.

What's the meltdown going to look like if/when Bundy gets roughed up one of these days? I'm pretty sure people here are going to be screaming bust if his first bad start comes before May in his rookie MLB season.