Baltimore Orioles: 2018 FanSided MLB faux GM simulation

As the Baltimore Orioles offseason moves sluggishly forward, FanSided’s MLB division is reviving the faux GM exercise this week. If you’re unfamiliar, here’s a primer on the simulation

FanSided’s MLB division is once again running the faux GM simulation this offseason. During the simulation, each MLB team will be represented by their respective FanSided site’s expert or a contributor, and we’ll simulate the offseason in just a few days. We’ll be going live Wednesday afternoon, and concluding on Friday night.

The faux GM exercise allows us to simulate a day-in-the-life of a front office member in an organizational role and we’re allowed to run the team as we see fit. As site expert here at Birds Watcher, I’ll be taking charge of simulating the Orioles path through the offseason, though it may be similar to how the real Orioles’ offseason plays out. We’ll be trying to craft some trades but with few tradeable assets, it’s to be seen whether or not we’ll be able to make them.

We’ll certainly look into the free agent market but for the sake of realism, we can assume that a very limited pool of players will be open to the idea of signing with the Orioles during the simulation. We just published a piece on potential free agent starting pitchers and have recently discussed cheap relief options, as they’re both glaring weaknesses right now in Baltimore.

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As for potential strategy, we’ll be actively shopping several players and listening to offers for everyone on the active roster. On the pitching side, we’ll be actively trying to move Dylan Bundy, Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, Mychal Givens, and Miguel Castro. There are fewer options on the hitting side but we’ll be looking to trade Mark Trumbo, and we’re listening to offers for Trey Mancini and Jonathan Villar.

Our goal is to bolster the farm system and return as much value as possible for any player roughly over the age of 25. As for the big league roster, if we’re able to move major leaguers for prospects, we’ll look to fill holes in the free agent market. We’ll potentially be looking to upgrade at catcher, shortstop and right field, and of course in the rotation and bullpen.

The 2019 Orioles will likely not be a good baseball team; we’re all aware of that. During the simulation, I won’t be pretending that the 2019 Orioles can make a playoff push. It probably looks like the goal is to actively tank this team, but it’s quite the opposite. I want the Orioles to be competitive as much as anyone. Unfortunately, the most likely path to sustained success involves trading current value for organizational depth and building the team from there.

The Orioles do have a handful of tradeable assets and hopefully we can find suitable partners to make some moves and acquire young, talented prospects.

What do you all think? How do you want to see us navigate the faux GM simulation? Are there any players you want to be traded, or held on to? Likewise, are there any free agents you’d like us to look into? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted as the simulation plays out.