A no vote on a proposed Reimold deal

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

December 07, 2010, 8:11am

Comments

If the deal that is rumored -- Nolan Reimold to Tampa for Jason Bartlett, one for one -- is truly in the works, I vote no on that. I can still hear the words of one-time Aberdeen manager Andy Etchebarren in my ears."Nolan Reimold will hit 40 homers in the Majors one day," Etchebarren said a few years back. While some now may think that is far-fetched, Reimold still is pretty young and has big power potential. Do the O's need Bartlett bad enough to give up a promising young player? Have they soured a bit on Reimold and feel like he won't be the player he was in 2009 when he hit .279-15-45 in 358 at-bats? I would take Cesar Izturis back at short before I would give up Reimold. What happened to all the talk about how much the O's and manager Buck Showalter liked Izturis? I know Bartlett had that big year in 2009 (.320-14-66) and maybe he has that in him again. But he is signed only through 2011. He hit .254-4-47 last year. Remold for Bartlett? I don't think I would make that move.