What do we do with...

[Youngfan9886]

Jason Hammel (15 day DL) - Due to be reactivated soon. Where do we put him? You aren't removing Chen or Tillman. Miguel has been rock solid, Feldman is ok, and Norris has only had horrific start. I would pitch all 5 guys before Hammel so what do you do with him?

Zach Britton - With the O's acquiring 2 starters at the deadline, Zach finds himself on the outside looking in. He's had some good starts in AAA recently but I would hesitate to move him into the bullpen up here. You want to see if he will figure it out and replace Hammel or Feldman next year as a starter.

Kevin Gausman - Same as Britton. Looked really good in AAA but do we really want to move him into the bullpen? And who do you take out?


We went from having the cupboard empty and trying every AAAA starter to having it full with no place to put guys in just a couple years. And its only going to get more packed when Bundy and Harvey are ready.

 

[tedman2012]

Jason Hammel (15 day DL) - Due to be reactivated soon. Where do we put him? You aren't removing Chen or Tillman. Miguel has been rock solid, Feldman is ok, and Norris has only had horrific start. I would pitch all 5 guys before Hammel so what do you do with him?

Zach Britton - With the O's acquiring 2 starters at the deadline, Zach finds himself on the outside looking in. He's had some good starts in AAA recently but I would hesitate to move him into the bullpen up here. You want to see if he will figure it out and replace Hammel or Feldman next year as a starter.

Kevin Gausman - Same as Britton. Looked really good in AAA but do we really want to move him into the bullpen? And who do you take out?


We went from having the cupboard empty and trying every AAAA starter to having it full with no place to put guys in just a couple years. And its only going to get more packed when Bundy and Harvey are ready.

they are hinting gausman and betemit before the first of the month . i'm more wondering about guys like drake , schoop , wright maybe even caleb britton is very good vs the tigers .

 

[NJBuckO's]

I think eventually Gonzalez will be the odd man out, they just won't re-sign him, to make a place for either KG or Bundy. If Bundy is ready next summer then he probably will be in the BP for the rest of the year, or could flip flop with the worst starter. Britton I see as a good trade chip if he does well going forward. Who knows with Hammel the rest of the year, maybe he replaces McFarland? I think next year will be Tillman, Norris, Chen, Gonzalez, KG..with maybe a Feldman type as an extra.

 

[NJBuckO's]

Hear anything on getting Kendry Morales? Someone said Cleveland but they are below us in the waiver order i think.

 

[hattersgonnahate]

My answer is simple:

Once the rosters expand in September, call up every pitcher on the 40-man roster and put them in the bullpen. That way, every game could be played with a relay of multiple pitchers-- Buck could have two relievers warming up in the bullpen throughout the entire game so that the current pitcher could be replaced at any time. Yes, I know that this is extreme... but if that's what it takes to minimize the number of runs given up, so be it. (It's a strategy that could work if you have 20 pitchers or so.)

 

[Youngfan9886]

I think eventually Gonzalez will be the odd man out, they just won't re-sign him, to make a place for either KG or Bundy. If Bundy is ready next summer then he probably will be in the BP for the rest of the year, or could flip flop with the worst starter. Britton I see as a good trade chip if he does well going forward. Who knows with Hammel the rest of the year, maybe he replaces McFarland? I think next year will be Tillman, Norris, Chen, Gonzalez, KG..with maybe a Feldman type as an extra.

Miguel and Tillman are still a year away from even their 1st arbitration years. Which means they will be around so long as they are cheap. They both have a chance to be "super two's" but right now it is predicted that the cutoff is 2 years 119 days for 2013 and Tillman will come up 6 days short of that while Miguel will be 12 days short. The O's have some big decisions to make on some players. Maybe we can package some pitching for a DH and a cheaper RF

 

[tedman2012]

we need to sign tilly to a extention

 

[tedman2012]

btw wada and uuuuuuuuu will be call ups

 

[calfan810]

I think eventually Gonzalez will be the odd man out, they just won't re-sign him, to make a place for either KG or Bundy. If Bundy is ready next summer then he probably will be in the BP for the rest of the year, or could flip flop with the worst starter. Britton I see as a good trade chip if he does well going forward. Who knows with Hammel the rest of the year, maybe he replaces McFarland? I think next year will be Tillman, Norris, Chen, Gonzalez, KG..with maybe a Feldman type as an extra.

Gonzalez odd man out? gonzalez is better than feldman..we'd be foolish to trade britton...him and chen = 2 solid Lefties in the rotation we trade britton that leaves only chen coming from the left side

 

[calfan810]

Miguel and Tillman are still a year away from even their 1st arbitration years. Which means they will be around so long as they are cheap. They both have a chance to be "super two's" but right now it is predicted that the cutoff is 2 years 119 days for 2013 and Tillman will come up 6 days short of that while Miguel will be 12 days short. The O's have some big decisions to make on some players. Maybe we can package some pitching for a DH and a cheaper RF

Why is everybody so quick to jump on markakis?...the man is the best RF'r defensively in the game...and before this last power outage he's been a lifetime .290 hitter and the toughest strikeout in the game...a team full of people willing to strikeout rather than hit the ball to the right side to move runners over, we need a lot more of Nick...

I believe he re-injured his wrist up against the wall 3-4 weeks ago, but is toughing it out...Markakis chose to sign an extension here while we were in the midst of 17 straight losing seasons...we owe him the benefit of the doubt of 1 bad month and us making the playoffs and him missing them last yr

 

[NJBuckO's]

Gonzalez odd man out? gonzalez is better than feldman..we'd be foolish to trade britton...him and chen = 2 solid Lefties in the rotation we trade britton that leaves only chen coming from the left side

I didn't realize Gonzalez was still that cheap I thought since he was older he was out of the arb process coming from Mexico or whatever. Britton I'll believe it when I see prolonged consistency, not one good start then 2 bad and 1 mediocre. He's been up and down too many times so far, and with everyone else on the way he could at least be a decent piece in a package. Can't have all farmhands on the staff, plus Norris and Chen will be there another 2 years. If KG or Bundy falter maybe he sneaks in from time to time.

 

[Youngfan9886]

I forgot about Wada....I disagree with the call up 20 reliever strategy.

1. We don't have that many great relievers. Even if they are only pitching for a batter or 2, they can still get into trouble.

2. Can you imagine watching a game with 9 calls to the bullpen in the last 3 innings? It would be painful to watch.

3. We would be converting a lot of starters into bullpen guys which, as proven before, some can't handle it and could risk injury.

 

[Youngfan9886]

Why is everybody so quick to jump on markakis?...the man is the best RF'r defensively in the game...and before this last power outage he's been a lifetime .290 hitter and the toughest strikeout in the game...a team full of people willing to strikeout rather than hit the ball to the right side to move runners over, we need a lot more of Nick...

I believe he re-injured his wrist up against the wall 3-4 weeks ago, but is toughing it out...Markakis chose to sign an extension here while we were in the midst of 17 straight losing seasons...we owe him the benefit of the doubt of 1 bad month and us making the playoffs and him missing them last yr

His defense is overrated. Just because he doesn't have an error doesn't mean he's great. He's had a negative UZR/150 the past 4 years and negative -.7 DWAR this year according to ESPN.
Nick Markakis » Statistics » Batting | FanGraphs Baseball
Baltimore Orioles 2013 Fielding Statistics - ESPN

His bat has declined every year and he's making 15M. I still like him, but he's not worth his money right now which is my main issue. His 15M could be given to Chris Davis or a more important position (ie. Catcher...though I dislike Wieters hitting .230)

 

[NJBuckO's]

It would be nice if Markakis could hit a few more HRs here and there.

 

[hattersgonnahate]

I forgot about Wada....I disagree with the call up 20 reliever strategy.

1. We don't have that many great relievers. Even if they are only pitching for a batter or 2, they can still get into trouble.

2. Can you imagine watching a game with 9 calls to the bullpen in the last 3 innings? It would be painful to watch.

3. We would be converting a lot of starters into bullpen guys which, as proven before, some can't handle it and could risk injury.

Personally, I could tolerate #2 if such an extreme tactic is what it takes to get the needed results. I do agree that #1 and #3 are real issues, though... so here are a few ideas:

a) Use a 6- or even 7-man rotation (say, by adding two of Britton / Gausman / Wada. Hammel would probably have to be demoted to the mop-up role in September.)

b) Another possibility is to use a two-man team to complete a start on a regular basis. For example, Gausman could pitch for the first three innings in a game, followed by Britton for innings #4-6, and neither of them would pitch again for at least 4 days after that. (This would minimize the chance of injury due to converting starters to relievers while still reducing the chance of giving up too many runs.)

c) If there is just too much pitching depth, then the long-term solution is obviously off-season trades.

 

[calfan810]

His defense is overrated. Just because he doesn't have an error doesn't mean he's great. He's had a negative UZR/150 the past 4 years and negative -.7 DWAR this year according to ESPN.
Nick Markakis » Statistics » Batting | FanGraphs Baseball
Baltimore Orioles 2013 Fielding Statistics - ESPN

His bat has declined every year and he's making 15M. I still like him, but he's not worth his money right now which is my main issue. His 15M could be given to Chris Davis or a more important position (ie. Catcher...though I dislike Wieters hitting .230)

His number will change...if u remember his contract number is 6 yrs for 66 million...so its 15 this yr but won't be 15 next yr...the 15 mil should be considered as back pay when the team was losing 100 games / yr and putting up all-star numbers...his defense is not overrated because his defense makes people not advance on his arm he gets to a lot more balls than most....that's why I love our defense more than others because not only do we get to the balls we should and make those plays we have more range and get to more balls that normal teams with good defense does...

 

[Youngfan9886]

His number will change...if u remember his contract number is 6 yrs for 66 million...so its 15 this yr but won't be 15 next yr...the 15 mil should be considered as back pay when the team was losing 100 games / yr and putting up all-star numbers...his defense is not overrated because his defense makes people not advance on his arm he gets to a lot more balls than most....that's why I love our defense more than others because not only do we get to the balls we should and make those plays we have more range and get to more balls that normal teams with good defense does...

I can understand the back pay thing because Adam and Chris are certainly underpaid for their production right now but Nick has never been an all-star and probably never will be one. His contract is reflection of how bad a team we were that we had to overpay for above average players to prevent them from jumping ship. I'm fine with keeping Nick so long as his salary doesn't prevent us from keeping Davis, Wieters, or Tillman.