Early-morning Orioles
The Washington Nationals unveiled their new uniforms yesterday. Strangely, the word "Baltimore" appears on the road jerseys.
My former Sun colleague, Jeff Zrebiec, was a terrific call-in guest to yesterday's Playmakers show on MASN. I felt like I had to reintroduce myself to the guy, but he hadn't forgotten me. Maybe it was because of that three-hour car ride to Harrisonburg, Va. a few weeks ago. Or because of the way I impact a person's life, through my wisdom, generosity and the strength of my personality, once you get to know me.
No, it had to be the car ride.
Anyway, Zrebiec - who still bears a striking resemblance to Placido Polanco - predicts that the Orioles will "take it on the chin" and eat catcher Ramon Hernandez's contract.
Hernandez already has stated that he doesn't want to play first base with free agency approaching, and the Orioles want to clear room for Matt Wieters and rid themselves of a player who's worn out his welcome.
Also, if he had to guess, Zrebiec believes Cesar Izturis will be the Opening Day shortstop in 2009.
I'm not sure a career .260 hitter with 12 homers and a .331 slugging percentage qualifies as an offensive-minded shortstop, but he'd be an upgrade.
And finally, in response to Zrebiec's notebook item in today's Sun concerning Danys Baez's interest in joining the rotation, I break it down this way:
Baez as a starter: Bad idea.
Baez preparing as a starter: Good idea.
I see no harm in Baez stretching out his arm and working on all his pitches in spring training. At the least, he returns to the bullpen with the ability to enter games early and eat up innings, since the backend seems pretty crowded if George Sherrill, Chris Ray, Jim Johnson and Jamie Walker all return.
It's much easier to go in that direction than the opposite way, where you prepare as a reliever and suddenly are asked to become a starter and go six or seven innings. Look how the process played out for Dennis Sarfate.
We first have to learn whether Baez's arm can hold up, since he's coming off ligament-reconstructive surgery. He's supposed to be full-go by the time pitchers and catchers report to Fort Lauderdale Stadium, but who knows how long that will last? I've seen plenty of guys break down in spring training for a variety of reasons (Kris Benson, Troy Patton and Ryan Keefer, just to name a few). And not all of them showed up with an injury or spent their winter rehabbing from a medical procedure.
I'm rooting for Baez simply because he's one of the nicest guys in baseball and I'd like to see his career move forward. And if that happens, I'm fairly certain it will occur in the bullpen - whether it's the Orioles' or another team's.
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Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko |
Is it me or did we experience this type of situation once already in the last ten years?
Oh yes, his name was Javy Lopez.
Little advice to you Roch. Not only don't you double up on monday not , you don't ever change your mind once you pick a game.You are going bad right now and are starting to press. We all know what happens when we do that. Take some time off and you will see better results.I will get you out this weekend with my lock game of the year.Thats right my lock game of the year
I wonder who in the Oriole organization pushed the hardest to acquire Ramon Hernandez in the first place. Roch, any ideas? Shouldn't that individual be held accountable? These are the kinds of mistakes the club cannot continue to make, though I do believe they are far less likely under Andy MacPhail.
Also, is there any credence at all to re-visiting the possibility of Luis Hernandez at shortstop if the Orioles fail to acquire anyone else for the spot. I know he won't generate much offense but he certainly has the chops in the field. I never did hear much about what kind of defense he flashed in Norfolk last year. If he lacked consistency at Triple A as well, then it's probably wise to move on with someone else.
Why pay for another back-up catcher when we already have Ramon?
I wouldn't mind Izturis for this year. I mean he's never going to be some great franchise changing shortstop but like you said he's an upgrade from last years mess and i like his defense enough. I don't know, such low expectations after last year, but I like him better then overpaying for Furcal or Cabrera. We need a SS that will be up in like two years, so why not sign this guy and trade for a prospect if you can find the right one. Get rid of B-rob and see if you can bring that position in amongst others.
Roch,
According to SI.com, the O's are showing some interest in Manny? What have you heard?
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I haven't heard one person in the organization say they'll pursue Manny. Not at that price. And I highly doubt that Manny would want to play here. - Roch
If Hernandez leaves one way or another, does that mean we will need a backup catcher? Calling Sal Fasano!
I wonder if Boston would have any interest in Ramon. Defensively he is no Varitek, but offensively he's better than what Tek has been. I wouldn't expect to get much of anything in return for him because of some of his defensive lapses in the past year or so, but Boston has a big enough payroll that they can absorb the cost of say splitting his salary for the 2009 season with the O's. It's a relative win/win for both teams. The Sox find a relatively cheap, yet established catcher for 2009 if they don't land a young prosepct and the O's don't have to eat Ramon's ENTIRE salary.
I like Baez, I just didn't like the way he lost game after game for us two years ago! I'm really rooting for him that he's able to come back strong. I don't think he'll ultimately be in the starting rotation, but if he can turn himself into a viable long reliever/spot starter that only helps him and the team in the long run.
Heyman over at SI seems to think the Orioles will be a player in the ManRam sweepstakes. Why in the world would the Orioles sign him to a 4 or 5 year deal? Especially when they have a habit of collecting immobile and aging LF/1B/DH types... This flies in the face of rebuilding. I could understand if Manny was... oh 26 or 27, but hes going to be in his 40s at the end of his new contract. I guess its just the normal for the Os to throw monopoly money at free agent sluggers. Guess it doesn't really matter anyways if they never sign here.
I caught the show yesterday it was entertaining, but knock off the funnies!! Will Anita be gone before the Messiah takes office? Sure hope so.....Glad to see she got knocked out of the "big" chair. - Keep up the good work my friend -Ocean City says hello !!
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Say hello right back for me. I miss it down there. - Roch
Roch, I can’t stand waiting to find out who we got for Bradford! Don’t even tell me it’s going to be a cash transaction. I don’t even want to hear it. All of this is written with the highest degree of sarcasm. Did MacPhail mention whether or not he had signed Teixeira yet? Some might think this would be big news, but you know how MacPhail likes to play it cool and deliberate.
The non-Gold Glove for Markakis is not a surprise. The competition is tough, and the winners are based on a vote by managers and coaches. Consider that in 1990, Cal Ripken had that fantastic season where he made only 3 errors and didn’t win. Also consider that in 1999, Rafael Palmeiro won an award at first base when he only played there 28 games. The award is important, but there have always been some obvious overlooked players and undeserving players. You would think that managers and coaches would be more in tune than anyone else with who is deserving in a given year (and they can’t vote for their own players). Markakis deserved one this year, but I think it’ll take a few years for him to break through and win.
If Zrebiec is right, I think Izturis isn’t a bad option (side note: he’s a former Gold Glover--Izturis, not Zrebiec). Light bat, decent glove—modest, but an improvement. In 2004, he had a power surge, hitting 4 home runs. Think we can see any of that? I’m predicting he can hit 6 if he plays in Camden Yards. You can laugh at 6, but that would’ve been good enough to tie the NL league leader in 1902.
And Hernandez not wanting to play first is no surprise. Personally, I think he would be a disaster there anyway. I wonder how long the O’s go before they eat his contract. His departure obviously would open the door for Wieters.
Why do the Nats need to update their uniforms? Didn't they just get new ones a couple years ago..when they moved to DC? weird...
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Same reason as other teams in other sports...$$$ - Roch
The only way I'd be ok with signing Izturis is if we're trying to be thrifty after signing tex and lowe... otherwise sign a real ss.
My Lord could the uniform that Lastings Milledge has on look any more like the Orioles uniform? The lettering, and the line/bar underneath 'Washington"...you could put Orioles on there and it would basically look like ours...
The Orioles, in my opinion, should go after Rafael Furcal – even if they have to overpay for him as he wouldn’t cost them a first round pick. Applying the same logic, they should sign Milton Bradley to an incentive laden contract. This would take care of offensive side with plenty of speed and high OBP.
For pitching they should think about moving both Jimmy Johnson and Matt Albers to the starting rotation and sign Class B free agent left-handed reliever for bullpen. O’s do have Chris Ray, Baez and Hoey coming back.
They could take some risk by signing somebody like Carl Pavano as he pitched fairly well after his return in September. Granted that these moves are risky but, then, so is the signing of A.J. Burnett.
I thought Washington was gonna put 'Taxation without Representation' on their road jerseys.
I can see Izturis playing here. He's cheapish, and has a very good glove. I'd rather have JJ Hardy or Jack Wilson, but it's not my money.
Good call about Baez. I see him as our little Carl Pavano. I quit expecting anything out of him.
Give Blake Davis the start at SS
Use the money to sign Burnett and another arm.
Well, mentioning Cesar Izturis is about the only thing that would have me excited about a Khalil Greene trade, but I would prefer Greene to Izturis, that guy couldn't hit at all in the NL. I also liked the idea I read a few posts ago of bringing back Jerry Hairston if possible, as a middle infield and centerfield backup. Would he want to return? Great to hear that we're going to move Ramon, isn't he as or more valuable that Khalil Greene if we're trying to move in that direction? And wouldn't a trade of Daniel for Javier Vazquez work if we're willing to take on his salary?
Ha, ha. You said "Hernandez." Then you said "eat."
Seriously, though, is Zreb guessing about Ramon's contract getting swallowed a la Jay Gibbons, or is this from an inside source?
I guess this means there are no real trade possibilities?
It makes more sense to let Johnson become a starter than Baez, esp. with Ray, Hoey and Baez back from injuries and relievers. One can surely fill the 8th inning void and let Johnson "stretch it out" to fill a void in the rotation since he was a starter prior to this year. And has anyone in the organization expressed any interest in Brad Penny since he got released? Might be more "gettable" than Lowe or Burnett and at a better contract too. He and Pavano can fill the slots until the kids are ready in 2010.
On a side note, I hope they skip the cheesy female models when the showcase the Orioles' new jerseys next week. I'm sure the guys appreciate the hot chicks modeling the new Nationals jerseys, but are they seriously wearing mini skirts and go-go boots? Like that is the least bit realistic in representing how female baseball fans dress...it's common knowledge that daisy dukes paired with hooker heels is the only acceptable outfit to wear to a ballgame!!
Talk about eating contracts...that's exactly what's going to happen to Danny Baez. Starter? You've got to be putting us on Danny. I couldn't stand to watch you pitch to 6 batters, now you want us to watch for 6 innings? Might as well get rid of all Flanny's wonderful signings and trade Huff too, before he forgets how to hit again. Eat Hernandez and Walker (it's not MY money)...anyone else left?