Keeping your Sano-ty
Back in spring training, I was hearing about this 16-year-old Dominican shortstop who caught the Orioles' eye, and there were plenty of other teams interested in finding out more about him. Readers were asking about him in March. Rumors churned that the Orioles were prepared to make him an offer, or had already done so, or were on the threshold of topping all the others.
So here we are, on Sept. 22, and Miguel Angel Sano remains in the Dominican without a team.
The MLB investigation into his age was inconclusive. They can't confirm that he's 16, "or deny it, in fairness to the kid," said Andy MacPhail, president of baseball operations.
The Pirates reportedly made him an offer for less than $3 million on July 2, but pulled it off the table in August out of frustration that the process was taking so long. Other teams, including the Orioles, have been in a holding pattern.
"It certainly impacts how far out there you're willing to go," MacPhail said.
The Orioles aren't necessarily worried about Sano being a few years older, but they didn't want to make a sizeable financial commitment to the kid, find out that he falsified the age on his birth certificate and have him remain in the Dominican as punishment.
"Inconclusive" doesn't clear up the matter.
So is Sano on the backburner?
"I would say it would be fair to categorize it as backburner," MacPhail said. "It's been a long process for everybody, not just the Orioles."
Maybe the issue will be resolved by spring training 2010.
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Any word on whether the O's will pursue the Cuban defector Chapman? It seems like there's a young impact arm that we may be able to pursue. Landing him may make it easier to part with a young arm or two and get that impact bat we need.
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I'll have something on Chapman in another entry. I'm spacing them out. That'll get me to 4,000 a lot faster. - Roch
What about the O's looking into Yu Darvish from Japan? He looked really good during the WBC and he's still pretty young.
Wow. Andrew invested all that money in Dominican scouting and the Os still have nothing to show for it.
UNBELIEVABLE!
And you can forget about Chapman coming here. He didn't defect from one of the world's harshest dictatorships to pitch for a sub .400 ball club that no one can place on a map outside of the US and Canada ( Wire fans excluded).
Aubrey seems to be on base everytime up. Who would have thought he'd be our best hitter during the September swoon?
MLB Trade Rumors reported yesterday that the Orioles were one of three teams who had shown serious interest in Chapman.
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Just an FYI: They're not "reporting" it as much as they're collecting articles from various sources and providing one-stop shopping. If one person tosses the Orioles' name in the mix, it can wind up there. I've come across countless "Orioles about to make Sano offer" stories, and we're still waiting for that offer. I'll have something on Chapman later. - Roch
roberts just got thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. slides head first and goes right by the base and is tagged out. why don't players learn to slide feet first. learn the straight in slide, hook slide and fade slide. everybody always wants to go head first. just stupid baseball.
Nice inning and good hustle by Roberts still, he went in hard and wide (shhhhh) so he over slide the bag. No worries on that. Wieters is on fire, he crushed that 2B and Luke hit to the deepest part of the park, great swing on the ball.
Great plate coverage by Matt again as well.
and then, back to back.
I still don't understand moving Hendrickson out of the bullpen.
Is Sano some sort of Lebron James or Kobe Bryant type, right out of high school?
Bill In Elkton said:
Is Sano some sort of Lebron James or Kobe Bryant type, right out of high school?
September 22, 2009 7:54 PM
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No that would be....BRYCE HARPER!
No lead is safe with Hendrickson on the mound!
Roch,
I thought that bone scan had him at 16-17?
If he's 17 is that the worst thing? Even if he's held back a year as punishment for saying he's 16 when he's 17. Seems like it's worth the risk considering we have signed absolutely zero international prospects while all the other teams have.
On that note: looks like the Cards didn't due their due diligence before they signed Mateo. Although they at least showed the initiative to go after a top prospect. Something we haven't done yet.
Roch,
If Roberts slides over the bag and is tagged out, shouldn't he be credited with a double?? Because he was safe if he doesn't slide over it, so by rule, he was safe at second then was tagged out for over sliding. Just wondering??
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Thorne and Martinez were discussing that rule. Guess it's up to the umpire to determine if it's a continuation. Or something along those lines. - Roch
The talks with Sano were probably put on the back burner when they found out he wanted millions and wouldnt give a "hometown" discount to Baltimore...lol If you were Sano, think about it. Why would you want to come to Baltimore to lose 100 or so games each year when there are other teams out there who are willing to invest to improve the team?
Roberts makes a simple baserunning mistake and takes us cost us a big run. It is the simple things which this team continues to NOT execute. Everyone from Andrew down to the players need to be held accountable for this annual second half meltdown.
So no Sano, but why haven't the Orioles signed any amateur international talent of note since the July 2nd date? Sano didn't slow the Pirates down from making other international signings
What's MacPhail's excuse for that, Roch?
This batting lineup is rediculous.
Is this the best you can do Andrew?
You look at this lineup..and then look at Boston, Angels, Detroit and so on ....and then you have to tell yourself....No wonder we can't compete and have the worst record in the American League
This is just plain TERRIBLE
"I still don't understand moving Hendrickson out of the bullpen."
He's a warm body. If he gets shelled in his starts, he can deal with it as a veteran (unlike a guy like, say, Jake Arrieta, who might lose confidence - notwithstanding the high number of innings he's thrown this year). Hendrickson hasn't thrown a lot of pitches this year, but even if he gets injured, who cares? He's gonna be a free agent and it's not like we have a shortage of mediocre swingmen on our roster. Arguably he is the best of the lot though - out of all of our relievers, including Brian Bass and Danys Baez (who could theoretically also start today), he actually has the lowest ERA right now (ignoring the small sample sizes of guys like Henn).
And at some point it doesn't matter. Whether you throw Hendrickson, Chris Lambert, or Chris Waters out there, you'd be happy to get 5 innings and fewer than 3 runs given up. Hendrickson's gotten there and that's all we wanted from him.
Roch: Sorry to bug you on a night off, but what happened with Jason Werth and the Orioles? I was at the Yard when he signed his contract and was introduced to the fans ( '96 or '97 I think?). Next thing I know it's 2004 and I'm up late one night in London and the Dodgers are on TV and he's batting for them. Now he is a star in Philly.
Did he leave as a minor league free agent? Or was he DFA? Or traded?
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The Orioles decided he wasn't going to cut it as a catcher (probably right). They traded him to Toronto for John Bale (definitely wrong). He's bounced around, but he really blossomed in Philly. - Roch
David, well thought out and yes I understand where you are coming from. Waters is really the logical choice though. Hendrickson has excelled outta the bullpen (albeit this debate is sorta mute because he pitched fantastic tonight). Fantastic is right. Amazingly low pitch count for 6 innings. I still want him in the BP next year.
Btw, I thought we signed him to a 2 year contract?
I don't see Chapman happening, he's going to demand big bucks, not Dice-K money but it will definitely be way too much for the O's.
There has been alot of talk as well (mlbtraderumors) that Sano will eventually have to move off of SS and end up at 3B or in the outfield so keep that in mind with our pursuit of him. I hope we sign him though...