Hey Orioles fans! My name is Andrew, and I had the privilege of being the GM of the Orioles for two days earlier this week, courtesy of our friends over at Royals Review. Max from Royals Review gathers one representative for each team every year to "become" the GM for a few days, make free agent signings, and of course, engage in trade talks with the other 29 "GM's".

This was my first year participating in the sim. A lot of the other GM's were writers for their respective SB Nation blogs, or fill-in writers from other blogs. However, I believe (and hopefully you agree!) that I represented the Orioles well as the faux GM.

It's no big secret that 2018 was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for our O's. Guys that we thought would perform well performed poorly. Guys that we expected to perform averagely performed.....poorly. There was very little to like about the 2018 season. For someone like me who follows the Orioles minor league affiliates and prospects, there was a small cause for optimism. The trade deadline this past year tore down most of the existing Orioles team, netting the club 15 prospects along the way (some good, some not so good).

In this simulation, I continued the trade deadline thought process of breaking the team down to build it up, while acquiring low-cost bridge players so that 2019 isn't even more of an embarrassment than 2018 was. Overall, I was very pleased with the results, and I think I set the Orioles up to succeed by 2020-2021.

My goals heading into the sim were pretty simple, really.

Goal 1: Get as much upside as possible for anyone who could be traded.

Goal 2: Sign bridge-type players to one year contracts to get the team through 2019

Goal 3: Remove Chris Davis and his contract.

So a quick summary of my goals. I attempted to trade people with control left who would reasonably fetch a hefty return. Bundy, Givens, etc. Goal 2 is about, as listed above, having guys on the team that may not be the best in the world, but they'll hold their own until the young guys get here. Finally, we get to Davis. Here's the thing. I like Chris Davis as a person. He's a great guy, involved in the community, and a veteran presence in the clubhouse. He doesn't want to be bad at baseball. I think getting him out of town with his contract would go a long way to putting both him and the Orioles in better situations.

That being said, here is a recap of everything that went down. Happy reading!

Trade 1: Chris Davis, Jonathan Villar, and Paul Fry to the Minnesota Twins for Nick Gordon and Anthony McIver

Wow. Probably one of the best trades I made was the very first one. I put out to the other 29 GM's that I was planning on moving Chris Davis. I wasn't expecting anything to come of it, figuring I was going to have to eat most of, if not all, of Davis' contract for it to be moved. Then the Twins came calling. The faux Twins GM must have either been a huge fan of Villar, or is betting on a Davis rebound. In any case, he took the entirety of Chris Davis' contract. In return for Davis and Villar, I got Nick Gordon (who is coincidentally the younger brother of MLB regular Dee Gordon). Gordon was the Twins #4 prospect, and is the #10 SS prospect in the MLB. He has slashed .273/.328/.376 over 5 levels of the minors with 88 stolen bases. He could be the Orioles shortstop by late next year.

Trade 2: Alex Wells, Branden Kline, and Brett Cumberland to the Miami Marlins for Starlin Castro, Isan Diaz, and Jeff Brigham

Honestly, this one was probably my least-favorite deal that I made during the sim. Luckily though, I didn't lose anyone that hurts me too much as a prospect, except maybe Alex Wells. What I got out of the deal was a 3+WAR second baseman salary dump (Castro), a power-hitting 2B prospect (#4 2B prospect in MLB), and a David Hess-type pitcher who dominated between Double and Triple A last year, posting a 10-3 record in 17 starts with a 2.36 ERA over 95 innings. I compare him to Hess because he doesn't have gaudy strikeout numbers and won't pitch extremely deep into games, but he'll take the ball every fifth day and keep your team at least somewhat competitive. I liked him as a throw in piece.

Free Agent Signings: Jon Jay and Jordy Mercer

I signed two guys to relatively low-cost deals. Jon Jay signed for 1 year/$3 Million, and Jordy Mercer signed for 1 year/$4.5 Million. Jay projects as the opening day LF, and he can be a top-of-the-order hitter if Mullins struggles early on. Mercer I like as a JJ Hardy type, though with lesser defensive skills. He's a decently solid veteran who'll hit about .250 and play generally great defense. By the end of the sim I realized I wouldn't need Mercer, but even if he ends up getting cut, it's pretty low cost.

Non-Tenders: Tim Beckham, Caleb Joseph, Jace Peterson

There were a few players who were arbitration eligible that I saw as extremely replaceable for the O's this coming year. Their names are Tim Beckham, Caleb Joseph, and Jace Peterson. I non-tendered all three. The hardest decision of the three was Beckham, as there's still some hope that he can reach his #1 overall pick hype, but he's streaky and plays mediocre (that's me being nice) defense. Joseph is a good clubhouse presence, but it's time to let Chance Sisco take the reins for good, so Joseph was expendable. And I'm pretty sure I don't even need to say anything about Peterson.

Free Agent Signing: Bartolo Colon

About this time in the sim I looked again at the free agents and realized I really wanted to see Bartolo Colon in an Orioles uniform. I don't think that needs explanation. If you're unsure why, please stop reading right now, go to YouTube, find a "Best of Bartolo Colon" compilation, watch it, and then come back. He's signed for 1 year/$4 Million. He's not going to be great, he gave up a lot of gopher balls last year and had a rough ERA. But I would go to the ballpark on a night when Bartolo was pitching, on the off chance that they'd let him bat. He's a stable veteran presence and brings an element of fun to baseball.

Trade 3: Dylan Bundy, Cody Carroll, and DJ Stewart to the Colorado Rockies for Colton Welker, Riley Pint, Garrett Hampson, and Ian Desmond

Okay so this one was by far my biggest trade. There's a lot to unpack so I'll start with the Orioles side first. If the Orioles actually trade Bundy this offseason or this coming year, it will be fair to say his time as an Oriole was disappointing, to say the least. He's never reached his perceived potential, and I'm sure as soon as he gets traded he will be winning Cy Young Awards every other year. But he's a big part of the tear down, and could net a huge prospect haul. Also in this deal, I dealt Cody Carroll (reliever from the Britton/Yankees deal in 2018), and DJ Stewart. Stewart is a former 1st round pick, but as I'll discuss later, could easily be supplanted by another prospect in Baltimore. Given that he's about Major League ready and yet is still expendable, I was comfortable shipping him out.

I am pretty pleased with the return. Welker is a top 100 3B prospect, and he's earned Nolan Arenado comparisons. He's the 3B in 2020 for the Orioles if he keeps up his production from this year. Pint is a SP prospect who's been injured a little, but has frontline upside (think Hunter Harvey but with more upside). Hampson is a major league ready middle infielder who can handle SS and 2B, batted over .300 in Triple A this past year with 10 homers, 25 doubles, and 36 steals. He can do a bit of everything. Desmond is a salary dump, plain and simple. With Davis off the books I had plenty of salary, so I took on Desmond's contract.

Trade 4: Richard Bleier and Tyler Erwin to the Detroit Tigers for Alex Faedo and Anthony Castro

Going in, I had plans to trade Givens away and maybe Bleier too. I didn't foresee Bleier fetching a top 100 prospect, but he did. Faedo is the #79 prospect in Major League Baseball, and has a chance to be really special. Castro is another high-floor innings eater type starter included as a throw-in.

Free Agent Signing: Jonathan Schoop

Imagine my surprise when I glanced at the free agent list about halfway through the sim, and noticed that the Brewers non-tendered Jonathan Schoop. He was mostly going unnoticed, only receiving minor league deals. I signed Schoop to a 1 year "prove it" deal for just $3 Million, which is insanely cheap. He's a popular guy around here who has the potential to post great production and I got him for dirt cheap. Score.

Trade 5: Mark Trumbo and Rylan Bannon to the Miami Marlins for Wei-Yin Chen and Zac Gallen

In moving Mancini to first and acquiring Desmond (and his contract) from the Rockies, I had no need for Trumbo. I did a bad contract swap with the Marlins for Wei-Yin Chen, who again, wasn't good this past year, but will take the ball every fifth day and probably get you five innings. He's at least a bridge until prospects are ready to start pitching in the majors. I know his time in Baltimore ended in an ugly fashion, but the team is under entirely new management and it's something both parties should leave in the past. Gallen is another high floor type guy who cruised to a 3.65 ERA in Triple A for the Marlins this year. Having all these high floor guys allows the team to have a lot of starting pitching options going into 2019.

Trade 6: Robert Neustrom and $7 million to the Detroit Tigers for Jordan Zimmermann and Matt Hall (Tigers eat Zimmermann's contract)

This wasn't a deal I planned to make, but the way I see it, I'm paying $7 million for a starting pitcher who will be very average, and whose salary is currently $25 mil per year. The Tigers are basically paying $43 million for Zimmermann to go away, and giving me an extremely decent starter/reliever who pitched well at Triple-A last year. And all so they could have cap room to sign our old friend Jeremy Hellickson. Works for me, I guess.

Trade 7: Isan Diaz to the St. Louis Cardinals for Austin Gomber

At this point in the sim, Diaz' progress to play 2B in Baltimore is blocked by Jonathan Schoop, Starlin Castro, and Garrett Hampson. He's at this point unnecessary, so I traded him for a guy who as a prospect last year projected as a "mid-rotation workhorse starter" according to MLB.com. Again, works for me.

Trade 8: Cash considerations to the New York Mets for Tim Tebow

At this point in the sim I was pretty bored. I reached out to the Mets and asked how much for Tebow. They originally wanted $2 million, but I negotiated down to $1 mil (500k over the next two years). This move basically does nothing, although it will help sell tickets to Bowie and Norfolk games. And hey, when the major league club is 30 games out of first at the All-Star break, Tebow can come up and play LF so we can have a sellout at Camden Yards for his debut.

Minor League Deals: Mark Reynolds, Rajai Davis, Aaron Loup, James McCann

Yes I brought back the Sheriff of Swat-tingham. No I do not have any regrets. Rajai Davis (if he performs in a mediocre fashion) can be the 4th outfielder instead of Joey Rickard, and will provide more speed and a veteran presence that Rickard doesn't have. Loup will be bullpen depth. McCann will be catching depth on the off chance that Sisco and Wynns are both terrible.

And with that, my time as the faux GM of the Orioles is done. Here's the projected 25 man for 2019.

C - Chance Sisco 1B - Trey Mancini 2B - Jonathan Schoop SS - Starlin Castro 3B - Ryan Mountcastle LF - Jon Jay CF - Cedric Mullins RF - Austin Hays DH - Ian Desmond

Rotation - Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, Jordan Zimmermann, Wei-Yin Chen, Bartolo Colon

Bench - Austin Wynns, Rajai Davis, Garrett Hampson, Mark Reynolds

Yeesh. Not so good. But could definitely win more games than in 2018, if people play to their projections. The 2020 outlook is glorious.

C - Chance Sisco 1B - Trey Mancini 2B - Garrett Hampson SS - Nick Gordon 3B - Colton Welker LF - Yusniel Diaz CF - Cedric Mullins RF - Austin Hays DH - Ryan Mountcastle

Rotation - Alex Cobb, Hunter Harvey, Alex Faedo, Riley Pint, DL Hall

Bench - Austin Wynns, Ryan McKenna, Steve Wilkerson, Starlin Castro

Bullpen - Michael Givens, Tanner Scott, Zach Pop, Jimmy Yacabonis, Miguel Castro, Austin Gomber, Evan Phillips

I would have traded Givens as well, but other GM's didn't value him as highly. I think the team I've built can succeed in the future, and won't be an embarrassment in 2019. And it was all accomplished while staying more than $20 million under the recommended budget.

If you've read this far, thanks so much for sticking with me! I really enjoyed my experience doing this, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it!

How'd I do? What would you have done different?