Josh Phelps

[DrungoHazewood]

Sent packing by the Yanks, picked up by the Pirates. In August he went 16-for-31 with eight extra base hits and six walks, good for a 1.643 OPS, helping the Pirates to a very unexpected 17 wins (4th-most in the majors for the month).

For the year he's hitting .326/.403/.541.

Just a hot streak, I know. But his career line is now .274/.343/.480. Aubrey Huff's: .283/.340/.471. Kevin Millar: .284/.367/.468. Jay Gibbons: .260/.314/.453.

Oh, and Phelps has dusted off the tools of ignorance and is now the Pirates' 3rd catcher.

I hope Andy McPhail does a bit better in handling free talent than did his predecessors.

[BillySmith]

Just curious Drungo, what is your opinion on the value of platoons these days, when American League benches are basically limited to four bench players: a backup catcher, a middle infielder, an outfielder, and one more guy who can do whatever.

I know, you know, this is not Earl Weaver's bench, but don't you have to admit that platoons are not what they used to be? Doesn't the value of having a platoon at one position drastically limit other options?

I think the answer may be that it depends on the player. Not an easy answer to give.

[66-70-83-??]

Sent packing by the Yanks, picked up by the Pirates. In August he went 16-for-31 with eight extra base hits and six walks, good for a 1.643 OPS, helping the Pirates to a very unexpected 17 wins (4th-most in the majors for the month).

For the year he's hitting .326/.403/.541.

Just a hot streak, I know. But his career line is now .274/.343/.480. Aubrey Huff's: .283/.340/.471. Kevin Millar: .284/.367/.468. Jay Gibbons: .260/.314/.453.

Oh, and Phelps has dusted off the tools of ignorance and is now the Pirates' 3rd catcher.

I hope Andy McPhail does a bit better in handling free talent than did his predecessors.

I agree. And I think he (McPhail) will do better.

But, there was room on this team for both Huff and Phelps.

To be fair to the FO- Huff was the one guy left in the FA market who had a chance to be special AND was willing to come to Baltimore.

Disclaimer: I really Huff personally and hope he has a few career years here.

I look at Huff as more of a full time player than Phelps. Huff has put up his numbers playing everyday. Phelps put his up almost strictly as a platoon/part-timer.

[DrungoHazewood]

Just curious Drungo, what is your opinion on the value of platoons these days, when American League benches are basically limited to four bench players: a backup catcher, a middle infielder, an outfielder, and one more guy who can do whatever.

I know, you know, this is not Earl Weaver's bench, but don't you have to admit that platoons are not what they used to be? Doesn't the value of having a platoon at one position drastically limit other options?

I think the answer may be that it depends on the player. Not an easy answer to give.

Carrying 12 or 13 pitchers seriously limits your ability to platoon at more than one or two positions. Even two requires quite a bit of flexibility out of your bench players.

That's part of the reason I'm in favor of a pen made up of mainly former starters who can go multiple innings. That should allow you to go with a 10- or 11-man staff, and keep a longer, useful bench. I firmly believe that much of the "need" for 3, 4, 5 relievers a game is invented and that teams could do well with a smaller pen and the advantages of a real bench.

[NewMarketSean]

What happened first, losing Phelps or signing Huff?

[TGO]

What happened first, losing Phelps or signing Huff?

Losing Phelps. Rule 5 draft was in December. Huff signed January 3.

[NewMarketSean]

Would keeping Phelps mean we wouldn't have signed Huff?

If that is the case, losing Phelps could have a bigger impact that we could have imagined.

But thats OK, Huff is producing now, when the O's are 20 games out.

[TGO]

Would keeping Phelps mean we wouldn't have signed Huff?

If that is the case, losing Phelps could have a bigger impact that we could have imagined.

But thats OK, Huff is producing now, when the O's are 20 games out.

IMO, Phelps was signed to form Norfolk's "murderer's row" with House, Knott, and Dubois and to maybe, maybe compete for a spot in ST. I think we still would have signed Huff.

[DrungoHazewood]

IMO, Phelps was signed to form Norfolk's "murderer's row" with House, Knott, and Dubois and to maybe, maybe compete for a spot in ST. I think we still would have signed Huff.

Yea, I'm not sure they ever planned on giving anything but emergency playing time to House, Knott, Phelps, Dubois, etc. I think they saw them in exactly the same light as Terry Tiffee, Mike Cervenak, Luis Hernandez, Brandon Fahey, John Leicester... guys who theoretically could sit on the end of the bench and talk to Paul Bako if a real (read: approved via their former jobs with other major league teams) player got hit by a bus.

[glenn__davis]

Yea, I'm not sure they ever planned on giving anything but emergency playing time to House, Knott, Phelps, Dubois, etc. I think they saw them in exactly the same light as Terry Tiffee, Mike Cervenak, Luis Hernandez, Brandon Fahey, John Leicester... guys who theoretically could sit on the end of the bench and talk to Paul Bako if a real (read: approved via their former jobs with other major league teams) player got hit by a bus.

Yup, and I thought this was pretty clear by about May, which is why I find it mildly humorous that people still get so incensed by it. In fact, I'd go a step further and say that I'm pretty sure the Orioles think Fahey can be a more valuable contributer than Knott or House.

Now, I was hoping that a lot of that philosophy was Perlozzo's, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

[DrungoHazewood]

Yup, and I thought this was pretty clear by about May, which is why I find it mildly humorous that people still get so incensed by it. In fact, I'd go a step further and say that I'm pretty sure the Orioles think Fahey can be a more valuable contributer than Knott or House.

Now, I was hoping that a lot of that philosophy was Perlozzo's, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Agreed... was hoping it was a Perlozzo fetish with benches made up solely of 150-lb utility guys, since he was essentially one. But it appears to be an organizational blind spot. Very disappointing.

For a team that loves to talk about the Oriole Way they seem hell-bent on doing things exactly the opposite of the 1960s-80s Orioles.

[RShack]

Carrying 12 or 13 pitchers seriously limits your ability to platoon at more than one or two positions. Even two requires quite a bit of flexibility out of your bench players.

That's part of the reason I'm in favor of a pen made up of mainly former starters who can go multiple innings. That should allow you to go with a 10- or 11-man staff, and keep a longer, useful bench. I firmly believe that much of the "need" for 3, 4, 5 relievers a game is invented and that teams could do well with a smaller pen and the advantages of a real bench.
I agree with all of this 100%. I wish we could get Roch to ask DT and AM their opinions about this. I don't think they'd change the by-now-std philosophy, but I would like to hear their answers...