Goodbye George, welcome Steve and Josh
One of the perks of the job of reporter covering the Orioles is that you get to meet and talk to Orioles' players.
That's a pretty neat thing for a kid from Baltimore like myself.
What's cooler yet is when those players turn out to be quality people that are easy to root for. The Orioles have many such players on their roster but they just lost one - George Sherrill.
In his less than two years here, Sherrill impressed just about any reporter who ever had a chance to interview him. He was always available, courteous and engaging. This is a guy who smiled a lot and enjoyed his job.
You could tell he was popular with his teammates too.
On the mound, the guy had guts and piled up saves for a team that didn't win that often. It would not surprise me even a little to see Sherrill get huge outs in October for the Dodgers.
In fact, I'll be rooting for him.
So, probably, will just about any fan or person who met George during his time in Baltimore.
I completely understand why this trade was made. But moving forward, the O's need more, not less people, like George Sherrill.
As for Josh Bell and Steve Johnson, welcome to the organization. I hope to get to watch them play soon at Bowie and before too long, in Baltimore too.
I've hosted many pre-game and post-game O's radio shows with Dave Johnson since 2007 and it's been cool to sit with him and hear him talk about Steve.
He doesn't go around bragging about his son, but you can tell how proud he is that Steve has achieved what he has. The O's didn't draft him out of high school, but they are bringing the kid from Baltimore home now.
I could work another 20 years in this business and not have a day like yesterday - being in the next booth over when Dave got emotional hearing the news from Tom Davis while on the air that Steve was traded to the O's.
Anyone who heard that exchange I'm sure felt the emotion through the radio dial. It was just special, no other way to describe it.
Thursday, as we said goodbye to one quality person and welcomed two others, made me realize sometimes what we can easily forget.
There are humans inside those uniforms. They have dads and wives and friends and family and problems like the rest of us.
Sometimes we have amazing days that we will remember forever. For the three players involved in that trade and their families, Thursday was one of those days.
 |
Categories (click for archive)Orioles News | Steve Melewski |
"I completely understand why this trade was made. But moving forward, the O's need more, not less people, like George Sherrill."
I don't understand it Steve. Sherill was under our control at a reasonable price for another year. If it was about getting a 3B, Marte with AAA Cleveland is knocking the socks off the ball. He's a minor league FA. Bell has serious reservations. (1) Weight - He's a young guy and having weight issues. He'll struggle with that AND his fielding as a result. (2) He can't hit lefties. .212 in AA Ball? Disastrous for us. (3) He's a huge if. Never played AAA ball yet, and strikes out a ton. Ranked a 2nd tier prospect by the Dodgers and only a C+ ranking. His power nubmers are overrated - 1-33 per AB in AA ball? This is NOT that good. His pwoer numbers are below that of one of our other 3B prospects Brandon Waring and the OPS of Waring is higher.
I understand the sentimental aspect with Johnson, but if we're putting sentiment aside. He was a 13th round pick who has pitched about 10 innings in AA ball, and was less than stellar ar high A ball.
This is mind boggling to me this trade. Sherill was certainly worth at least a AAA player for God's sake. Why the panic by AM? A poor, poor trade if anyone looks at the numbers of these players.
I understand we want to get rid of anyone over 30, but c'mon, good closers are not as easy to find as you think. Just ask Mike Flanagan he spent 20 mil on Walker, Bradford, and Baez. Here we got a good one and we trade him for a bag of peanuts.
This is one of the worst O's trade I have ever seen, and yes that includes Glenn Davis.
I woke up today hoping this was just a bad, bad dream. Best ofluck to you George. At least you're going to a winner. Maybe we are a farm team for other clubs despite what AM says. Seems that way lately. We get two non-AAA minor leaguers and send our closer. I'm so mad i could spit.
________________________________________________________________
Doug, there is probably nothing I could say to change your mind. National reporters are complimenting the O's on the trade. Comparing this to Glenn Davis is crazy at this point. We won't know on this one for a couple of years. I think your panic over this is and reaction to this is a little excessive. You've got to have more faith in MacPhail and the scouts than that after what they've done to this point. - Steve
Great piece Steve. I always liked Sherrill and it is good to hear he really was a quality person. He seemed like a standup guy from the outside and he pitched well for the Orioles. He really earned his opportunities working up from international league ball. Too bad we were not a contender these last two years or we could have kept him; however, I understand the trade. I just hope he succeeds with the Dodgers. No doubt he gets to pitch in the post season this year and he deserves the opportunity. As for the Orioles, we keep adding pieces. I am sure this team will be a winner soon-next two or three years.
Finally, I did not here Dave Johnson today. I feel happy for the guy. It sounds like Steve Johnson is coming on and we can always use more quality pitchers. It would be nice if someday Dave was able to do a post game show when he son pitched the team to victory in the playoffs. Okay I am getting ahead of myself-just feeling positive energy today.
__________________________________________________
Thanks, Keith. - Steve
Here is a free link to baseball America about our new youngsters and Scherrill, enjoy
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/majors/trade-central/2009/268623.html
Steve, any shot of linking to the audio of that? Sorry I missed it. I am not a big Dave Johnson fan as a commentator, but he seems like a good guy and showed a tremendous amount of heart in uniform for the O's. As a father of three boys, I can only imagine what that news felt like for him. Good stuff.
Steve,
Great article Steve, Sherrill will surely be missed but if Steve Johnson is anything like his dad (class act all the way) the team and it's fans will be better for it.
I am so happy for a guy like Dave Johnson, a straight shooter and always gave his best when playing for the O's
Good Luck to George and I will root for him also and welcome aboard to Steve and Josh.
Steve,
I totally missed the radio bit with Dave and Tom and all the emotion. Anyway we could get a link to hear a replay of it. I checked out 105.7 The Fan and was not able to find a replay of it. Like most Os fans I wish George the best, but I'm real excited about Steve and Josh and the future of my beloved Birds. GO Os!!!!!!!!!
Jen
______________________________________________________
If I get the radio show tape I will put it on one of my blogs. - Steve
I was at the game yesterday. George was out there signing autographs for the fans prior to the game knowing how much his name had been thrown around in trade rumors and that he may not still be in Baltimore past the deadline. I was down there and the thought went through my mind, "I should try to get his autograph because this might be my last chance." I wasn't able to get it and sure enough it was likely my last chance (A friend of mine is a Dodgers fan and we might go to Washington in September to see them. If so, I will try to get George's autograph on the baseball card I have of him in a O's uni.).
I grew to really like Sherrill this season but was rooting for him to be trade for some players that would help this team moving forward. I was excited to hear he had been traded on the radio during the drive home. When Davis said he had been traded to the Dodgers, I said, "Elbert and Bell please!" However, I was excited for Dave to hear that his son was coming home. I thought about how excited I would be if I were in his shoes. Steve seems like a quality guy and a quality pitcher.
Lets hope they will both be part of the Orioles future!
I think this is a win for both the Dodgers and the O's.
Great blog Steve. You're so right. Human beings reside inside of those uniforms. We often forget this and treat these people as if they are robots. To all of my sabremetric friends, chemistry is important and we just lost a huge dose of it.
Steve, can you help me to understand how the minor leagues work. Frederick had a pitcher, Kenny Moreland, that was doing well in a limited role. (2 starts) he was sent down two levels to Aberdeen where he has been great. 6-1, era of 0.80. Should we totally disregard those impressive stats because he was sent down 2 levels? Is he a guy with good upside or no upside, hence his demotion?
______________________________________________________
I think the O's had been planning for Moreland to pitch at Aberdeen. They may have needed a spot starter or had a doubleheader or something, so they added him to help out for a day or two with Frederick.
He pitched well there and has at Aberdeen. He is proving to be someone to keep an eye in the future. The O's have pitching prospects throughout the system and Moreland is one of those at the lower levels of the system. He could be someone that skiips Delmarva and starts next year at Frederick.
I just understand all this negative talk about the trade. Like you said Steve, several outsiders are complimenting the O's for the value they received. While Sherrill was likeable, and reliable for us, no other team seeking a reliever viewed him as a closer. Considering that, we received good value for him. I read that Bell was scouted for two months, indicating that they are not worried about his weight or bat. All this talk about receiving AA players is ridiculous also. If we had received Bumgarner (AA Connecticut) in the deal, would it have been bad? The value for the young players is in their upside. Thanks, as always, Steve.
_____________________________________________________
Some fans look at a players stats and feel they know all they need to know about a player. As with any trade, we can all have an opinion on it. Whether it works out or not, we won't know for years. Some folks will be negative on anything. Three years from now they may be proved right, but not right now. - Steve
Steve,
Great great great piece.
First, I hope George Sherrill gets to read this at some point, and understands that your words echo how most Os fans feel about him. I will always have warm feelings for a special player in Sherrill. In the future, I will remember the losing years, and think fondly of the losing team that refuses to turn on itself, as demonstrated by the comraderie of post-win flat-brimmed handshakes as a joke. Those teams didn't win much, but they did have fun together. I think that clubhouse comraderie may end up becoming a foundation that future Os teams will build on. Sherrill is a part of that.
Second, if you could find a tape of that Dave Johnson response, it would be a very special thing for us Os fans. I personally would LOVE to hear it. I'm a huge fan of Dave. These stories really humanizes these young prospects.
_______________________________________________________
If we can get the tape, we will. Thanks for the nice comments. - Steve
I have mixed thoughts about this trade. I had hoped we would have gotten a 3rd baseman that would be ready for Opening Day 2010. But I'm excited to see what these guys have. I will miss George, though. I got the opportunity to meet him at Brian's Baseball Bash last year and also at FanFest this year and he was very personable and generally a nice guy. Makes me wonder how he is going to deal with being in LA. I wish him well and I will be rooting for him and I hope he is able to be a big part of October baseball.
Doug...worse than the G Davis trade? Do you even watch baseball?
Your comments were absurd. As Steve pointed out, all of the national evaluators have said this was a good trade for the O's. Here is an example from a generally negative ESPN analyst:
• ESPN's Keith Law breaks down the players in the deal.
[Sherrill] closed for a bad team in Baltimore but is more of an emergency closer on a contender because of the platoon split. If Hong-Chih Kuo is effective for the Dodgers after spending most of the year (and most of his life) on the disabled list, they'll have two good lefties in their bullpen, both of whom are better than specialists, and they'll be able to avoid overusing Kuo. If the Dodgers face the Phillies in the playoffs, two lefties in the 'pen won't be just a luxury.
The main return for Baltimore is third baseman Josh Bell, who alone is probably worth more in asset value than a good but sub-Joe Nathan, 60-inning-a-year reliever with two years of control left. Bell is a strong, athletic switch-hitter with ridiculous bat speed from the left side -- so much that his bat might be in and out of the zone too quickly. He has improving power that probably is above-average to plus in the future. He's a little rough at third but projects to stay at the position, and he has the athleticism to be above-average there with more work. His walk rate has improved this year even with the move up to Double-A, typically considered the toughest promotion for a player before he reaches the big leagues. His platoon split became more pronounced this year, so there's some chance he eventually ends up needing a right-handed caddy, but he's young, and getting him to keep his weight back when he hits right-handed could help matters.
The second player Baltimore acquired, right-hander Steve Johnson, has a solid to average fastball that will touch 92 with a fringe to average changeup and a below average to average breaking ball. But Johnson has a long arm action; he shows the ball to the center fielder, pronates his forearm and comes around with a "pie-thrower" action that really looks like it's costing him command. ...
Sherrill was by all acounts a good guy, but he is considered more of a setup guy than a closer on a good team. I'm guessing that you have never seen either of the prospects play so why don't we give the front office and scouts the benefit of the doubt. They have a pretty good history with regards to recent trades.
________________________________________________________
Good post, Paul. Just because Keith Law says that doesn't make it so, but at least it's an outside objective opinion that fans and all of us can look at.
Steve
Great piece, Steve!
I didn't get a chance to listen into the radio show yesterday, but I've heard Dave talk about his son many times before and when I saw the news, I got excited for him so I can only imagine how Dave felt hearing it live on the air.
Steve,
Doug said,
"This is one of the worst O's trade I have ever seen, and yes that includes Glenn Davis."
Quickly, take down that lightning rod that is drawing comments from Doug -- the boy ain't right.
Nicely crafted: the appreciation of George, the valuable reminder that our heroes morph back to people like us when they take off their uniforms, and sharing the emotion that poured out of Poppa Johnson.
As you might say, not bad for a local kid.