Searching for the good in a bad season

Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter always said it's a mistake to take over a losing team and assume that everything is wrong and needs to be fixed or replaced. It wasn't his approach in the summer of 2010, as the Orioles were continuing a streak of losing seasons that reached 14, and Brandon Hyde won't make those assumptions after 115 losses fueled a teardown.

"No doubt," he said last week on 105.7 The Fan. "I have a ton of respect for Buck and he's got a ton of experience in that, so I have a lot of respect for that.

"My situations in the past, if you go in and just bulldoze right away or you go in and not evaluate what you have first, then you're not knowing what was there before or what the issues were. I think maybe it's just evaluating and seeing what's out there and seeing how everything just comes into play from the standpoint of ...

"I just think evaluating is the biggest thing and not just making snap decisions."

How many real nuggets can Hyde find while sifting through the rubble of the 2018 season? Not the fool's gold that in the past has turned the franchise into the Baltimore Pyrites.

Cue The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and continue reading.

* Trey Mancini is a promising hitter who, while miscast as an outfielder, is passable in left until the Orioles can figure out how to move him back to first base. The metrics are concerning, but this club has bigger issues.

How's that for providing comfort?

Mancini seems to have figured out why he struggled at the plate in the first half and he can become one of the franchise faces as the Orioles proceed with their rebuild. He checks the boxes for it, including his homegrown status, likeable personality and admirable work ethic in a city that demands it.

Hyde can figure out later where Mancini fits in the lineup, whether it's in the top third or lower, especially if the data and early results convince him that Chris Davis needs to be near the bottom.

* Cedric Mullins and Jonathan Villar can provide a nice one-two punch at the top, the speed and aggressive baserunning enabling the Orioles to present opponents with a different look from previous plodding, station-to-station teams.

This is assuming, of course, that Mullins breaks camp with the Orioles and is the regular center fielder. He's got new eyes on him and they can read his .235 average and .671 OPS in 45 games. His .187/.269/.243 slash line in September. His .156/.296/.156 slash line in 55 plate appearances against left-handers.

Is there really any benefit to returning Mullins to Triple-A Norfolk? To the player or a team that isn't anywhere near contending?

Give him center field, another drafted and developed player, and see how he handles it on a daily basis.

* Mychal Givens is a valuable asset in the bullpen who could emerge as a top closer if presented with more opportunities. And I don't see him blocking anyone else from doing it.

Givens was 18-3 in the majors before losing all seven decisions this year, proving that quirky stats can flow in both directions. His ERA rose from 2.75 in 2017 to 3.99 this summer and his WHIP from 1.042 to 1.187. He averaged 3.5 walks per nine innings, inconsistencies in throwing strikes a widespread malady on the staff.

He maintained workhorse status by matching his 69 appearances of the previous season and showed no signs of wearing down with only three runs and two hits allowed over 14 2/3 innings in September. Opponents batted .194 and .044 against him in the last two months.

Under team control through the 2021 season, Givens continues to bring interest in trade talks and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias must decide whether to bite on the right offer or resist parting with one of the few proven relievers in the bullpen.

Givens' value to the Orioles increases without Zach Britton, Brad Brach and a healthy Darren O'Day.

* While other teams include a left-handed reliever on their winter shopping list, and the Orioles routinely do the same, Hyde can carry Richard Bleier, Tanner Scott and Paul Fry. Not a bad southpaw trio.

Bleier is the most reliable of the group with three consecutive seasons posting an ERA below 2.00. He appeared in only 31 games, compared to 57 the previous summer, due to a lat injury on June 13 that required surgery.

He was missed and Showalter made certain that everyone understood exactly how much.

Scott could transition to the closer's role at some point in his career with his upper-90s fastball and a slider that averaged 89 mph and became an out pitch for him. Check any of Scott's dominant outings and the slider is prominent.

The former sixth-round pick averaged 4.7 walks and 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings. You can see where improvement is needed, but his command of the strike zone already is miles ahead of his early days in the minors.

Fry must earn a job in spring training, but his rookie season at ages 25 and 26 included a 3.35 ERA in 37 2/3 innings and an average-against of .218 versus right-handers, enabling Hyde to expand the role beyond matchup situations.

Fry tossed three scoreless and hitless innings in each of his last two appearances in Boston and against the Astros. Elias and Hyde weren't around to take note of it, but they're learning about Fry and will possess all of the necessary information heading into camp.

* No matter how critics grade the farm system, and the marks never seem to take into account the drafted players on the 25-man roster, Elias and Hyde can pluck prospects out of it who are in line to make contributions next season or within a few years.

Outfielders Austin Hays, Yusniel Díaz and Ryan McKenna, infielders Ryan Mountcastle, Cadyn Grenier, Adam Hall and Jean Carlos Encarnacion, and pitchers Branden Kline, Dillon Tate, Luis Ortiz, Keegan Akin, Hunter Harvey, DL Hall, Dean Kremer, Grayson Rodriguez, Zac Lowther, Blaine Knight and Zach Pop are just some of the names that bring varying levels of excitement or intrigue.

The cupboard isn't bare.

Left-handers Josh Rogers and John Means, right-hander Cody Carroll and outfielder DJ Stewart, counted among the Orioles making their major league debuts over the summer, will be further evaluated by the new regime.