Camdencast: A Baltimore Orioles podcast.

For the first time this season, the Orioles are in first place as Mark recorded an episode. The O's taking first place by winning three of four games against the Yankees, with the Yankees whining like a bunch of losers along the way, is something that can have all of Birdland in a bit of a gloating mood. Plus, some excitement about Kyle Bradish's return and where it leaves the rotation with him in and Grayson Rodriguez out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's not much to feel good about when your favorite baseball team's closer blows two saves in three games. Mark's trying to figure out what, if anything, can be done about it. In a rant-heavy and bullpen-focused episode, Mark wants Brandon Hyde to have a better plan for knowing when Kimbrel's ready, and a listener asks what the Orioles will end up doing to patch together better ninth innings. Hopefully something! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles could end up squeezing both John Means and Kyle Bradish back in to the rotation by this time next week. After surveying the roster of the next O's opponent, the Athletics, Mark turns to the question of how the rotation and the bullpen could be impacted by these earlier than anticipated returns, and who would seem to be candidates to get squeezed out of the organization entirely as that shuffle happens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is something about the Royals where even when the Orioles beat them, they manage to do it in a way that maximizes agony in Birdland. Or maybe this is just Mark's enduring grudge over the 2014 ALCS. Whatever the case, the O's closed out a 5-1 week even with so much going wrong, especially in the bullpen, and now they head on to the Angels. Also in this episode, Mark looks at Wins Probability Added to see who's clutch and who's not so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles have hit 30 home runs in 18 games, leading every other MLB team and every Orioles team in history through the same number of games. Mark looks at the six O's batters who've contributed the most to the dinger tally to see who's likely to keep it up and who might not be. Also in this episode, some guarded excitement about Albert Suárez and his possible impact on the rotation mix, and some thoughts on the coming pitching matchups with this weekend's Royals series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the Orioles lost the first two games to the Brewers, the haven't-been-swept (in the regular season) streak was in danger, and early on Sunday it was in danger too even with Corbin Burnes on the mound. Mark takes a look at the good and bad from the Milwaukee series, surveys a couple of real problem areas for the O's so far, and looks ahead to this week's games against the Twins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark is still plenty ready to be hyped about Jackson Holliday being on the Orioles, but the fact is through his first two games the most exciting development has proven to be the return of the homer hose. In this episode, Mark is singing the praises of Colton "the Milkman" Cowser - who seems to have been at the front of bringing back the water celebrations. Also, some talk about how Holliday's looked so far, and what a few smaller news developments this week might mean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark is fired up about the Orioles reportedly having Jackson Holliday join the team in Boston tomorrow and he's not afraid to tell the world about it. In this episode, some eating crow over accusing Mike Elias of service time games, assumptions about where Holliday fits into the playing time mix, and some consideration of his likely competition for the AL Rookie of the Year, if he plays well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The last week has been brutal for the Orioles offense, especially (but not only) for Austin Hays and Ramón Urías. Mark runs through some of the rough numbers for those guys and a few others before recognizing that there won't be any knee-jerk reactions from the front office - nor should there be. Hopefully the patience pays off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A prospect-heavy Norfolk lineup is blasting through Triple-A every night, which provides a lot of excitement for Orioles fans who want to follow things down on the farm. With the remaining full-season minor league affiliates starting up, Mark runs through where to find each of the top prospects in the system and what to hope for their progress as the season moves along. This could be another great year up and down the organization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles played two great games and one underwhelming one in their opening series against the Angels. Mark is in a good mood about the team because he attended the great games and got to bask in the immaculate Camden Yards vibes, and didn't watch the loss. This episode discusses all that's gone great over the first few days, and some things that haven't gone as great but will hopefully work out fine in the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between Corbin Burnes dazzling in his Orioles debut, Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins homering, and David Rubenstein's new ownership group spreading good cheer - and free beer - all across the Oriole Park at Camden Yards environs, Opening Day 2024 could hardly have gone any better. Mark came away from it all with one dangerous thought: Maybe Orioles fans really can have nice things sometimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you, like Mark, a sucker who spent all offseason and spring training assuming that Jackson Holliday would make the Orioles out of camp and that we could all be excited about this? Tough luck, we've got Tyler Nevin on the roster instead! Before a monologue about the disappointment over the Holliday decision, Mark reflects on the checkered Orioles legacy, and much more clearly positive Baltimore legacy, of Peter Angelos, who passed away over the weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Entering the final week of spring training, the Orioles are going to have to think long and hard about who gets the last couple of spots on the bench and in the bullpen. Mark looks through the outfield options as well as the relief ones, with the Orioles needing to choose wisely because they don't want to lose a useful player on waivers for nothing and they don't want to have a non-useful player costing them games that matter in 2024 either. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything from spring training gets erased when it's over, so of course it doesn't matter, but also: The Orioles are 14-2-1 in games so far, and they're getting great performances from exciting young players like Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo. Mark is here for that excitement, and also the excitement that Corbin Burnes is officially the Orioles Opening Day starter. In the mailbag, a reader assembles a 21st century Orioles rotation superteam and wonders what would have to happen for the 2024 rotation to beat that group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, the Orioles used a total of 50 players and nearly all of them were part of spring training. The 62 players in Orioles camp this year will be who determines success or failure for most of this season. Mark rolls through the whole list both to give the grinders their due and to try to see who might be a diamond in the rough - and to remind us all who's there to excite us that they're going to be on the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles have started their exhibition league schedule with a couple of wins, featuring one Colton Cowser walkoff homer and a Cole Irvin velocity bump. Mark looks at the early games and some improving injury news before looking at the state of MASN. The one game MASN showed over the weekend had some real video quality problems and Mark wonders if it's all a sign that the network isn't actually making money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We were all taking it for granted that the Orioles would have a strong top 2 in their rotation between newly-acquired Corbin Burnes and returning 2022 ace Kyle Bradish. As camp opened, Mike Elias revealed a UCL sprain for Bradish that looks like it will delay him for at least six weeks. The same presser, we learned that John Means is a month behind on a previously-planned schedule. Mark tries to figure out how the Orioles rotation shakes out without these guys for the early parts of the season and whether they should be thinking about signing someone else to shore up some early-season depth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The start to the follow-up act to last year's 101-win Orioles season begins today with pitchers and catchers reporting to Sarasota to begin spring training. Mark's got the one big question on his mind: Will Jackson Holliday make the team? Also in this episode, thoughts on how almost the whole roster is locked in before camp even opened, hopes for no secret injuries, and who might be the candidate for "Oh no, this guy looks horrible, does he suck now?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The path to success for the 2024 Orioles is built on a variety of assumptions, a few of which are that players who were hurt in different ways over the course of last season will be able to come back looking more like the best versions of themselves. Mark puts Cedric Mullins, John Means, and Dillon Tate in this category and talks through his hopes and worries for each. In a mailbag segment, an explainer of the qualifying offer process and what might have to happen for Means and Anthony Santander to be QO-worthy players. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An already-amazing week for Orioles fans with the news of the ownership change was taken to a whole new level on Thursday night as the team traded for 2021 NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes. Mark talks through his stunned disbelief to try to break down what Burnes brings to the Orioles and what the O's gave up in making the deal. There's risk, as there is in everything, but this is the most exciting offseason move the team has made in maybe 20 years and it's okay to ignore the doubt and get pumped! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Angelos haters can rejoice now that reports have hit mainstream media that the Angelos family has agreed to sell its stake of the Orioles to a group led by Baltimore-born billionaire David Rubenstein. This news reached the "Mark's dad called to talk about it" level, and it is big news - hopefully good news for O's fans. Mark discusses what's been reported so far and what might or might not change after the change in control takes place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not long ago, the late offseason ritual of top prospect lists getting released was one of the most exciting days of the year for Orioles fans. Mark is glad that the Orioles are better so the spring and summer months are fun too, but with six O's prospects still on top 100 lists, there's still a lot to be excited about there. In this episode, we look at who's improved and who's fallen back, as well as what's going to be important going forward for the O's farm. Plus, another young player on another team signed a contract extension. Could/will the O's do one of these? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In order for an Orioles pitching acquisition to make sense, the cost of doing nothing has to be greater than the cost of getting a better pitcher. Mark remembers his public policy undergraduate days in tackling a no-action analysis for the O's rotation, a step that national media members complaining about the O's lack of a trade seem to have skipped. Could they actually be good enough without a big move? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Still waiting for the Orioles to do something to improve the starting rotation? Mark is too, but after running through what little is in the rumor mill this week, it's on to discuss the start of the international amateur signing period. If you don't know what that is, there's a quick explainer of what's happening and what it means, with a breakdown of what's happened with the players the O's have signed since Mike Elias took over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles did not bring any Christmas gifts to Birdland fans over the Christmas break, so we're all still left wondering when the big starting pitching move will happen, or if it will. In the meantime, it's the season for Hall of Fame ballots to be revealed, and Mark has noticed something fun: When articles are written speculating on which current players are off to Hall of Fame-level career beginnings, young Orioles are appearing on them again. It'll be a while before we're booking summer trips to Cooperstown, but it's cool anyway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 11th hour reversal of the previous tentative lease agreement was resolved within the span of a week after all. Mark runs through where things stand there and then gets back into the state of the Orioles roster, surveying some of the potentially available starting pitchers and trying to figure out who's a good fit for the O's. Maybe Mike Elias hasn't made a trade yet because he's not excited for what he'd get for the price. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a wild several days for Orioles fans that ultimately resulted in nothing changing from the status quo. Mark runs through the saga of the last few days, from a reported possible future sale of the team to a reported tentative lease agreement, on through to the lease being put back on hold and John Angelos telling the governor he's not planning to sell. Oh yeah, and there was all that Shohei Ohtani stuff too, to remind everyone that the O's division foes are trying to improve for next year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Craig Kimbrel to the Orioles! It's weird just to say that, but it's true. Baseball's eighth place guy on the all-time saves list, who has a strong chance of being in the top five by the end of 2024, is now an Oriole. Mark is cautiously optimistic about this signing over the course of this episode, because while Kimbrel isn't the elite reliever he was, he's more of a known quantity than many other free agent pitchers, including ones in his price range and above it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As baseball's winter meetings begin, Mark is convincing himself of why the Orioles absolutely must do something substantial even though he knows better. Discussion in this episode centers around several relievers coming over from Japan, as well as recent Rays pitcher Robert Stephenson. Plus, thoughts on the Jackson Chourio extension with the Brewers and what that might mean for top-ranked O's prospects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first big free agent signing across MLB happened on Sunday as the Phillies re-inked Aaron Nola. That could be the move that sets the top of the market and informs everything below that. Will the Orioles sign someone who is an interesting signing? Mark talks about why he thinks getting a better starter is important, then goes through some of the free agent pool, including the impossible dream of Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the end of this week, the Orioles will have set their 40-man roster with players protected from next month's Rule 5 draft, and decided whether or not to tender 2024 contracts to each of their arbitration-eligible players. Mark looks at the pool of Rule 5 eligibles and the bubble players on the potential non-tender list. In the mailbag, listeners asked for a "from 1998 to present" ranking of Orioles managers, so we dive in to 25 years of mostly mediocrity that was occasionally better and often worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles bullpen did not end up looking a lot like the one we might have all imagined before the 2023 season, with few innings pitched by expected contributors Dillon Tate and Mychal Givens, and an early rough patch for Cionel Pérez necessitating some shuffling through the year. The All-Star duo of Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano were a big part of the success, but so was spring arrival Danny Coulombe, and in the second half, Pérez. Mark runs through the '23 performance and '24 salary/roster status of all of the incumbents before trying to figure out who should actually come back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot went wrong with the Orioles rotation over the course of the 2023 season, with three of the six pitchers who made the most starts getting demoted to the minors during the season and two others spending significant time with poor ERAs. Mark looks back at how things went for each of the starters relative to expectations and what the rotation should look like next year if everything stays the same. He'll be driving the hype train for Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez as a 1-2 punch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles had a bunch of infield prospects who seemed like they might be knocking on the door in 2023, but by season's end only Jordan Westburg had earned regular playing time. Mark looks back with surprise at how little the O's infield changed through the year, assessing who did what at each position and who might not be brought back for next year. There's a lot to be excited about for 2024, though there will have to be some unsentimental choices made first. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 101-61 Orioles record this season makes this the best regular season O's team in the Camden Yards era and every part of the team contributed. Mark reviews the performance of the outfielders this season, focusing on the five guys who played the most and how they filled their roles, plus the outlook for each of these guys - Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Aaron Hicks, and Ryan McKenna - continuing on with the Orioles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2023 season is over and Mark recorded this episode minutes after the end and is feeling really sad about it. This Orioles team played its way to a great place and wasn't able to make the most of that, or much of anything with it, in the postseason. That's a bummer. Mark looks back on what went wrong over the three days along with why we'll all be happy about this team eventually. It's just harder to see that right in the aftermath of losing in the playoffs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The two ALDS games the Orioles have played at home have been absolutely crushing to everyone who's gotten their hopes up for the team. Even Mark, who was already feeling pessimistic as usual, is not immune to drafting on the hype vibe and is now feeling glum that was obliterated. In this episode, some thoughts on what went wrong in Game 2, and why it's not worth getting mad at the team's best players even if they don't play well in this short playoff series. Now, Bryan Baker on the other hand... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you were to be told ahead of time that the Orioles would only give up three runs to the Rangers, you'd probably feel good about their chances of winning Game 1. They lost anyway. Mark, feeling extra hopeless after getting stuck in Billy Joel gridlock leaving the loss, is thinking about what has the potential to go better but not full of hope that it will go better. Still, the O's didn't play their best game and only lost by a run, and that's something. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a week of working to stay sharp, the Orioles begin their postseason with the ALDS against the Rangers tomorrow. Mark previews the series with the AL West runner-up with a focus on how the two teams fit into a recent postseason trend: It's better to score first and it's better to hit more homers than the other team. Based on the regular season, Texas is more likely to do both of these things. Maybe the Orioles can join the trend or maybe they can win in their own way, like they've been doing all year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At least until Saturday, there's nothing that Orioles fans need to worry about, and that feels pretty good. Mark offers some thoughts on the wild card games that were played on Tuesday, with the Rays falling on their faces and the Twins finally getting a monkey off their back. Also in this episode, a look at the kind of elite hitters the O's offense lack but could find for the rest of the month if one or two guys get on one of their signature hot streaks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unlike so many recent seasons, the end of the regular season doesn't mean the Orioles are done for the year. They get the week off to rest thanks to their 101 wins. Their last regular season game offered enough to worry about if you want to be a worrier, but Mark is going to try really hard not to worry and instead focus on all the exciting possibilities. No team should want to face these Orioles, which doesn't mean the O's will win it all. They could, though, and that's pretty cool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it sound like when a normally pessimistic Orioles podcaster records an episode right after his favorite baseball team wins its 100th game and clinches a division title and first season bye? It sounds like this. Mark goes from top to bottom to try to say something nice about every player who has appeared for the 2023 O's. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can be said about a legend like Brooks Robinson about whom everything has already been said? Mark shares his own brief encounter with Brooks, the nicest guy there ever was. The Orioles, fittingly, won a 1-0 game with a Gunner Henderson home run in the game after we found out about Brooks. The win lowered the AL East magic number to 2, setting up a possible Wednesday clinch. Mark looks at who's pitching in Baltimore and in Boston. In the mailbag, thoughts on Brandon Hyde's possible path to an above-.500 record as O's manager. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Friday's walkoff loss, it seemed like the Orioles might be on the ropes for holding on to their AL East lead, but as they've done so many times this year, they bounced back in a big way. Mark runs through some of the recent developments that have gotten the magic number down to three, with John Means and Kyle Gibson coming through in the clutch over the weekend. Are you ready for the tension of postseason games? In the mailbag, some thoughts on trade deadline what-ifs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles bullpen has gotten heavy use lately and that showed in Thursday's loss to the Guardians. Mark looks at some of what's gotten the team to the point it's at with its relievers and what their options are to try to do something about it in the short-term. With a lot of chatter among baseball websites lately about how "lucky" the Orioles have been, Mark offers his own thoughts about where the good fortune has been for the O's this year and why they're still great even if they are lucky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the way to Tuesday's Orioles win over the Astros, MASN's broadcast asked rhetorically, "Can't you just be normal?" It seems to Mark that they can't, but this is working out for the O's so far. They clinched at least WC1 on Tuesday. In this episode, Mark runs through another game where the O's were simultaneously dominant and nerve-wracking, runs through the math of what's left, and in the mailbag, takes a look at Wins Probability Added and how some recent Orioles games have looked through that context-heavy stat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The nearly-unthinkable has happened with 13 games still to play. The 2023 Orioles are going to the postseason. It's only a wild card clincher for now, but with a two-game lead plus the tiebreaker over the Rays, they have a pretty good chance to get the bye. Mark is riding a wave of exuberance about all of this, and in this episode talks about some of what got the Orioles here both this year and through the recent dark years, and how he was wrong to brush off the idea of the O's celebrating "only" a wild card berth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The failure by the Orioles to win at least one of the final two games against the Cardinals really hurts in the aftermath of Thursday's loss to the Rays. Mark's feeling pretty bummed about a game that the O's kept close despite generating almost no offense, so the few mistakes and missed opportunities loom quite large. Also bummed: Jack Flaherty's pitching tonight. Mark also goes through the possible outcomes from this crucial series, celebrates the arrival of Heston Kjerstad, and in the mailbag, fields a question about how many other teams usually get as good a reliever as 2023 Félix Bautista. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Orioles offense did a solid for struggling Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright in letting him finally get career win #200 but Mark would have much rather seen them do a solid for their own playoff hopes. Fortunately, the Rays also lost. The big positive story from the game is John Means making his return, what was an encouraging outing even if the basic line of 5 IP, 3 ER is not so encouraging. From the mailbag, a listener wants to know what would count as a successful playoffs for these O's. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices