00:00Joining us now to talk Orioles and Ravens, Fox 45.
00:03So in the Window Nation guest hotlines, Bob Heddy, Vistrata, Nola McGraw.
00:06Let's bring in A.J. Gersh.
00:08A.J., good morning. How are you feeling?
00:11Incredible, fellas. How about yourselves?
00:12If you're feeling incredible, then I'm ashamed to admit how I'm feeling right now.
00:17But let's talk about the Orioles first, the original birds of Baltimore going down to Sarasota.
00:22We were talking earlier, A.J., first segment of the show about Hester Kerstad
00:27having a pretty strong, an incredible, if you will, beginning to the spring training schedule.
00:33Three hits last night, or yesterday, I should say.
00:35His OPS is around 12.
00:38Might not be, you know, Carter Stremski when it comes to catch-a-fly balls out in the outfield.
00:43But, boy, the bat can play.
00:44How much has he done to, you know, re-instill confidence within the organization
00:49that he can be a guy, and the assumption is he's not going to make the team out of Sarasota.
00:54So what does he have to do down in Norfolk to, you know, turn heads, whether it's in Baltimore or
01:00elsewhere?
01:01Well, yeah, Kerstad is certainly giving the Orioles a confidence boost in his ability to bounce back
01:09from what seemed to be a real stagnation due to injury after injury.
01:15It's not too far removed that Hester Kerstad got called up in 2024 and was quite literally one of the
01:22best hitters
01:23in all of baseball for an entire month, not just on the Orioles.
01:26He was one of the most consistent hitters in baseball.
01:29He was batting over 400 for a month in 2024.
01:33But, of course, the injuries derailed his season last year,
01:36and it looks like whatever he did with the holidays in the offseason,
01:42getting rid of the step before his swing,
01:45and, of course, his health issues look like a thing of the past, at least for the time being,
01:51what he needs to do is go down to Norfolk, stay consistent,
01:57hit somewhere between 260 and above, and just wait for his time.
02:03Because right now there is a major, major log jam in the outfield,
02:07especially after acquiring Taylor Ward and also another guy who was injured last season
02:13but is having an incredible spring, Tyler O'Neal, is going to get a whole ton of playing time.
02:18The Orioles are paying him for a reason.
02:20So, of course, you've got Couser there and Beavers you want to get reps, too.
02:24So there's a big log jam in the outfield,
02:25and Kerstad needs to force his way in in Norfolk to find some reps in Baltimore this season.
02:31AJ, if Kobe Mayo is the Orioles' starting third base on an opening day,
02:35is that a good or a bad thing?
02:37I think it's a good thing.
02:38I think Kobe Mayo, much like a guy like Kerstad, needs consistent reps,
02:45and coming into this year, he wasn't set to get that.
02:49And I think this is probably the best case scenario for both his development and the Orioles.
02:55If Jordan Westberg is going to go down to have a guy like Kobe Mayo waiting in the wings,
03:00who could play every day.
03:02Now, will he turn into the guy, the top prospect that everyone expected him to be?
03:09I guess the jury's still out on that.
03:11But I think what we've seen out of him so far in Sarasota is that he hasn't lost a beat
03:16at third.
03:17His defensive ability is at least average, if not a little bit above average.
03:23And we know what his back can do when he gets going.
03:25So they just need to get it going.
03:27What is Ryan Mountcastle's role going to be this year, AJ, for the Orioles,
03:32given the fact that the guy they just signed in the offseason literally plays every game for the last two
03:37years?
03:39He does.
03:39He does.
03:40I think Ryan Mountcastle is a platoon DH first baseman type of player right now.
03:46Well, the Orioles are waiting for him to get back to literally his first full season in the bigs
03:53when he looked like a guy who was going to turn into what Pete Alonso has become.
03:59But that's never come to fruition.
04:02So what's going to happen with Mountcastle is the Orioles probably are hoping that he can stay hot
04:07for the first few months of the season and then utilize him as a trade ship come the deadline
04:12when they're probably going to be looking to upgrade a bullpen that's their weak point
04:16as they have a really strong rotation for the first time in years
04:19and, of course, a really strong lineup as well.
04:22They're going to want to upgrade something else.
04:24So Mountcastle, if he could get hot at the beginning of the season
04:27because Mayo moves over to third and there's no one in front of him at first behind Alonso,
04:32that's going to be a good thing for the Orioles in the trade market come midseason.
04:35Now, A.J., come March 11th, week from Wednesday, is Lamar Jackson have a done deal
04:41and is Tyler Lindenbaum still on the Ravens?
04:46I want to say the answer is yes to both of those questions,
04:49but that might be the eternal optimist in me talking, Vinny.
04:53I think Lamar Jackson has proven to be a difficult negotiator, to say the least,
04:58as we remember the saga from a couple of years back, him being his own agent.
05:03But I do think that what I've been hearing from DaCosta
05:09and the fact that the Ravens quite literally will be in a cap purgatory
05:14with $74 million going to one single player,
05:18I want to say that there will be an extension.
05:21And if not, Bashadi wasn't blowing smoke when he said he'll restructure it in a second.
05:27He'll give him a signing bonus and we'll move forward.
05:30But, as for Tyler Lindenbaum, I do think that he'll end up with the Ravens
05:37after a restructure, after an extension.
05:39I think that DaCosta putting out into the public eye that he has a market-setting offer,
05:44which is something DaCosta doesn't like to do, but I think that that was purposeful.
05:49I think that he put that in the public for a reason,
05:51and I think that that probably will give a little bit of leverage back to the Ravens
05:55in negotiation.
05:56And I think he'll end up in Baltimore next year.
05:58AJ, let me ask you this.
06:00Why do you think that it gives leverage back to the Ravens?
06:04The only thing that I'm thinking is, is Lindenbaum's a free agent.
06:07He's the best lineman on the market, and everybody's looking for old linemen.
06:11You know, so I don't see how that gives any leverage to the Ravens.
06:17I think, my personal opinion, if he gets to the ninth, a week from today, he's gone.
06:25Yeah, I think that the fact that you put out there saying, okay, we've offered him a market-setting
06:31offer may, if you're another GM, if you're other teams, it might say, oh, man, what is
06:38this guy even asking for?
06:40And if the Ravens, who is a team that has always re-signed their top players to market-setting
06:48offers, can't get a guy to agree to a deal, what is this agent like to deal with, number
06:54one?
06:54What are they asking for, and what will he eventually be getting?
06:58So I think that that might actually dissuade other teams from negotiating with this agent,
07:03who seemingly is a tough cookie to crack.
07:06And if Eric DaCosta has had a head start in doing that already, I think that that puts
07:11the Ravens in pole position to land him.
07:14But I do agree with you saying, if we get to the point where we're a day or two out
07:18from
07:18the new league year, and number one, a restructure, an extension hasn't happened with Lamar, and
07:23then number two, Linderbaum hasn't signed in turn with that, it's more unlikely, I'd say.
07:30What do you think they're going to do at backup quarterback, AJ?
07:35That's a great question.
07:35I think I would not rule out Tyler Huntley returning, but obviously that's going to
07:41be a discussion with the new regime.
07:44He's a guy that obviously is very familiar with Harbaugh and playing under him for the
07:51last however many years.
07:52But he played well when Lamar was hurt last year, and I feel as if Jesse Minter probably
07:57noticed that.
07:58So I wouldn't be shocked if he's back.
08:00But I also wouldn't be shocked if the Ravens went out and drafted a guy in the mid-late
08:05rounds who fits the scheme that Declan Doyle wants to run in 2026.
08:12So I think also, you know, a third option is they do both of those things.
08:16So time will tell on that.
08:18Well, you are the eternal optimist today, AJ Gersh, Fox 45, AJ, appreciate the time as
08:24always.
08:24Enjoy the rest of your Monday, and we'll catch up with you soon here.
08:27Opening day just weeks away, believe it or not.
08:30Oh, man.
08:31Can't wait, fellas.
08:31Appreciate you having me on.
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