It wasn’t a good week for the Yankees.
The architect of the curse-breaking Red Sox, Theo Epstein, has rediscovered that franchise. Perhaps only the AI-generated major versions of Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz joining the Red Sox would have been more unpalatable to the Yankees than Epstein’s return at the macro level to a Boston leadership group that has been so uninspiring and vague.
Meanwhile, the Yankees’ much larger current concerns have grown even greater with the revelation that the reigning AL East champion Orioles have been purchased by two private equity billionaires who in the near future , should be able to help Baltimore significantly increase its payroll.
In the shorter term, the Orioles landed exactly the piece they needed most for 2024, acquiring durable ace Corbin Burnes from Milwaukee.
For the Yankees, it seems that as the Astros’ stellar career comes to an end due to age, the loss of key pieces and a fallow farm system, version 2.0 is flourishing in Charm City.
Mike Elias, a key lieutenant in Houston’s rise from tankers to titles, has as general manager since November 2018, started the Orioles using a similar plan of capitalizing on high draft picks to snag cornerstones such as Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman with Adley Rutschman and Jackson. Vacation. And when the time came to win, using a deep system to land a Verlander-style horse like Burnes.
Orioles general manager Mike Elias quickly improved the franchise with a similar plan to the Astros. P.A.
“We are in a time where measures like this make sense,” Elias said by phone. “It occurred to me that Jeff [Luhnow, former Astros GM] et [team owner] Jim Crane was with [Justin] Verlander and Gerrit Cole [trades] capable of exploiting the depth of the agricultural system to introduce these impact weapons at the right time. It’s really hard to do. I was a little pessimistic even though this was what you were going to establish as a plan for this offseason. It was unclear how many of these types would actually be present in the commercial market. So that was the part I wasn’t really sure about. But we finally got lucky and it worked. I hope it works during the season.
Here’s what should scare not only the Yankees, but the industry: The Orioles used two highly touted prospects, pitcher DL Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz, along with the 34th pick in July’s draft to land Burnes THURSDAY. Yet on Friday, Baseball America and The Athletic released their rankings showing which organization had the best prospect base, and both entities ranked the Orioles (even without Hall and Oritz) as their No. 1 prospect by far.
“The rankings obviously aren’t going to last forever, but I kind of looked at it as a good thing because it would mean players would advance in the majors in front of Orioles fans,” Elias said. “This young talent is going to be around for a long time. So we’re very excited. I believe we’re on the precipice of what will be a really great time for Orioles baseball, and we’re going to continue to invest in that as best we can.
The investment will soon be orchestrated by David Rubenstein and Michael Argougheti, who are buying 40 percent of the club with the intention of taking full control after the death of the current owner, 94-year-old Peter Angelos. Even their presence is unlikely to hold Burnes back long-term. He is represented by Scott Boras, who tends to have his best players tested in free agency, which often leads to relocation (see, for example, Cole, Bryce Harper and Corey Seager).
The Yankees were among the teams that inquired with the Brewers about Burnes. But it could simply be that with Juan Soto, they reached their tolerance by giving up important assets for a Boras client who was entering his running year. The fact that it was the Orioles who were willing to give up such a guarantee for a likely one-year rental speaks to their position in the contention cycle and the depth of their prospects.
Ortiz, for example, is a skilled infielder, but in 2023 AL Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jorge Mateo and Ramon Urias, the Orioles had depth here. Then there’s Holliday, so early after being the 2022 first-round pick that the Orioles considered elevating him for the final stretch last year before his 20th birthday. Reaching the majors as an American player drafted out of high school with fewer than 200 games is the domain of meteors such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez. But that’s the esteem with which Matt Holliday’s son is held.
Holliday has a chance to elevate an already strong/athletic positional group. And now Burnes, in the words of one NL executive, “is the perfect fit.” He pushes [Kyle] Bradish et Grayson [Rodriguez] down to the No. 2-3 starters, which should take some pressure off them and give Baltimore a true 1-2-3 for October. And how they’re set up is what they should be playing for: October. It was a trade they should have made.
Elias declared: “We have won [101] American League East games last year, and we have 90 to 95 percent of that team returning. We have a very good chance with this team and we recognize the arms race that tends to occur in our division. We could really use a rotation upgrade. So we went out and bought one. We have a deep, high-quality farming system, and we’ve been able to leverage that to get to a guy like this. We’re really excited about this.
The Orioles acquired Corbin Burnes from the Brewers. P.A.
Perhaps the biggest concern involves signing Craig Kimbrel to replace Felix Bautista, who will miss 2024 after Tommy John surgery. But this looks like an area the Orioles — if necessary — can address with this deep system as the season progresses.
He’s a long way from winning 32.6% of their games between 2018 and 2021. The rise is somehow (close your eyes Yankees fans) astronomical.
2024-02-03 19:11:57
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