Where are Dan and Buck headed with RF/1B?

The acquisition of Parra locks down one of the open spots in the outfield. But there is one position still unclaimed. Chris Davis will be in RF or 1B but there is still a player needed to make a complete lineup. Flaherty at 1B is not ideal. Wieters on occasion at 1B is not bad but he will not give up his day job behind the plate. So who will take that spot. Will it be filled internally or will Dan make a trade?

Here are some ideas thinking through the options:

1) When Pearce returns 100% healthy he takes over 1B. That might work if he return to 2014 form. However there are two problems. 1) Oblique problems tend to last a long time. Davis says he didn't get over his problem last year during the season. 2) We don't know if Pearce can return to 2014 form. Pearce may go on rehab to see just how healthy he is and whether he is ready.

2) Junior Lake takes over right field and Davis moves to 1B. Lake is hot at AAA. Has a great arm. Has speed. However, the has not had much success in the majors. And the Pacific Coast League is a hitters league. Numbers tend to be inflated. The O's will want to see what he does at Norfolk before making a move. Maybe two weeks to a month?

3) Promote Dariel Alvarez. He was hot for a little over a month. He is driving in runs. 61 RBI at 416 at bats. That is pretty good for playing in a pitcher's park. But his OBP is low (306) and will probably get worse in the majors. He also took a while to adjust to AAA pitching and may do the same in the majors.

4) Stick with the Snider, Reimold, and Lough rotation. Can't say I have a lot of faith in this. It hasn't worked so far.

5) Promote Walker to play 1B. Walker has put on a push the last two months. 890 OPS in June. 7 homers and a 779 OPS in July. Can he be trusted defensively with 1B on a daily basis in the majors. I am sure I don't know.

6) Promote Mancini from AA to play 1B. This guy has been on fire all year. 868 OPS in 207 at bats at Frederick. 927 OPS in 194 at bats at Bowie. They say he gets the job done at first defensively. Not a ringing endorsement but not terrible. He has HOFer Craig Biggio's endorsement.

7) Trade for a 1B or OF. I think Dan has about 5m to spend. With less than two months to go that will get you a guy that is making 15m annually if a team wants to do a salary dump. I don't know who would be available but we know Dan is on the job looking for a solution.

Those are the options I see. What do you think?

If DD had 5M to spend, they wouldn't have traded Hunter or gave away a draft pick.

I imagine you are over thinking this. There will be more of the same rotation. Davis will bounce between RF and First, with a group of at or below replacement level players moving in and out of the lineup.

It also may be time to accept that payroll is going down or at the very least remain the same.

If DD had 5M to spend, they wouldn't have traded Hunter or gave away a draft pick.

The logic doesnt necessarily make sense. If you have the chance to save on an asset like Hunter who isnt needed on this team for the role he was serving, save some money.

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If DD had 5M to spend, they wouldn't have traded Hunter or gave away a draft pick.

Dan traded away Hunter and gave away a draft pick so he would have 5m to spend.

Hunter was a salary dump because he had minor leaguers that could do Hunters job. He saved 1.65m in the deal.

He traded Webb and a draft pick to LA to save Webb's salary. Another salary dump. He saved 2.69m.

Dan makes trades mid season every year. He works the roster to save money so he can spend it in a playoff push. We have seen this for four years now.

They should just leave Davis at 1B and give Reimold more starts in RF. The Orioles put Davis in RF because they wanted to see if Parmelee could be the solution for them at 1B next year. Well Parmelee's no longer on the roster so there's no reason for them to keep playing Davis at RF.

Pearce, Snider, even Young and Parmelee when they were here got a chance to play everyday or nearly everyday for periods of time.

I think we know what Lough and Flaherty will give us with the bat. Reimold is the one guy I would like to see given a chance to play everyday in RF or LF. He has a .738 OPS in 80 at bats. If he can maintain or improve on that then he's the best option we have. Give him the rest of August or at least until Pearce gets back.

We can see what guys like Walker and Alvarez can do in September.

They should just leave Davis at 1B and give Reimold more starts in RF. The Orioles put Davis in RF because they wanted to see if Parmelee could be the solution for them at 1B next year. Well Parmelee's no longer on the roster so there's no reason for them to keep playing Davis at RF.

This is one of the things that Buck does that I don't understand. He knows more about baseball than I will ever dream of but I can't follow his thinking sometimes.

I have heard him say that playing Wieters every other day hurts his offense because it doesn't allow him to get in the groove. But he rotates the outfielders, not allowing any of them to get in a groove. Its one of Bucks strategies that I can't quite follow.

They should just leave Davis at 1B and give Reimold more starts in RF. The Orioles put Davis in RF because they wanted to see if Parmelee could be the solution for them at 1B next year. Well Parmelee's no longer on the roster so there's no reason for them to keep playing Davis at RF.

I'm with you, I think Buck is just hesitant to move guys from positions in the field/lineup when they are producing at the plate. You have even seen him reference it in interviews. Manny at leadoff and Davis in RF are examples.

With Parra we really don't need Lough. Lough as had two years to win a corner OF spot. Right now we need a righty bat. Pearce is out. Id try and trade for Valencia once he is claimed. In the mean time I'd consider DFAing lough or snider and bringing delmon back or calling up Alvarez, Walker, Mancini.

Garrett Jones was just cut by the Yanks, he can play 1B and RF, and he's a little better hitter than Parmelee

Personally I don't think Duquette has a plan for 1B or RF.

However, there is A LOT of money coming off the books next year. And the perfect target is Jason Heyward. Then you can fill the other OF spot w/ a Parra/Reimold platoon and call it a day.

1B is a disaster next year as far as FA is concerned. And the minors have nothing aside from Christian Walker.

So, I think the best case is to just resign Pearce to a 2 year deal and hope he stays healthy. Basically treat 1B as a down year position if he gets hurt. If you have a solid enough OF (Parra, Jones, Heyward) and a relatively complete INF (Machado, Hardy, Schoop) you can afford to have a down spot at 1B if Pearce doesn't perform/hurt. As for C? Platoon Joseph and Clevenger.

I feel a Parra, Jones, Heyward, Machado, Hardy, Schoop, Joseph (Clevenger), Pearce, Paredes (Reimold) lineup is more balanced then this year, personally. Less homers, but better throughput and less K's.

Personally I don't think Duquette has a plan for 1B or RF.

However, there is A LOT of money coming off the books next year. And the perfect target is Jason Heyward. Then you can fill the other OF spot w/ a Parra/Reimold platoon and call it a day.

1B is a disaster next year as far as FA is concerned. And the minors have nothing aside from Christian Walker.

So, I think the best case is to just resign Pearce to a 2 year deal and hope he stays healthy. Basically treat 1B as a down year position if he gets hurt. If you have a solid enough OF (Parra, Jones, Heyward) and a relatively complete INF (Machado, Hardy, Schoop) you can afford to have a down spot at 1B if Pearce doesn't perform/hurt. As for C? Platoon Joseph and Clevenger.

I feel a Parra, Jones, Heyward, Machado, Hardy, Schoop, Joseph (Clevenger), Pearce, Paredes (Reimold) lineup is more balanced then this year, personally. Less homers, but better throughput and less K's.

The O's will not spend the money that Heyward will get. They haven't in the past and they will not in the future. It falls under Buck's "We have to know who we are." saying.

The O's will not spend the money that Heyward will get. They haven't in the past and they will not in the future. It falls under Buck's "We have to know who we are." saying.

Then they're in a lot of trouble going forward. Alvarez isn't the answer. Nor is anyone in the minors for the OF.

We are seeing how much trouble the O's offense is in due to having to sign Parra. And then the other OF spot is a black hole. With Davis, Wieters gone and nearly every AAAA/fringey player picked up by Duquette failing (Parmelee, Snider, Lough, De Aza, Young, etc.)...what are the O's going to do with nearly $50m+ off the books next season?

At some point, you have to open the pocketbook for the RIGHT player. And I don't know about you, but:

Heyward will be 26 at the start of next season. He's put up 4-6 WAR per season. He's solid offensively. He's solid defensively. He's young. The O's HAVE to make a play for him. Look at this cluster of a list of FA OF'ers next season:

Left Fielders

Jeff Baker (35)

Willie Bloomquist (38)

Yoenis Cespedes (30)

Endy Chavez (38)

Tyler Colvin (30)

Rajai Davis (35)

Alejandro De Aza (32)

David DeJesus (36) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Chris Denorfia (35)

Jonny Gomes (35) – $3MM vesting/club option

Alex Gordon (32) – $12.5MM player option

Matt Joyce (31)

Don Kelly (36)

Nate McLouth (34) – $6.5MM club option with a $750K buyout

David Murphy (34) – $7MM club option with a $500K buyout

Gerardo Parra (29)

Steve Pearce (33)

Sean Rodriguez (31)

Ryan Sweeney (31) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout

Justin Upton (28)

Chris B. Young (32)

Delmon Young (30)

Center Fielders

Endy Chavez (38)

Rajai Davis (35)

Alejandro De Aza (32)

David DeJesus (36) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Dexter Fowler (30)

Tony Gwynn Jr. (33)

Austin Jackson (29)

Nate McLouth (34) – $6.5MM club option with a $750K buyout

Gerardo Parra (29)

Colby Rasmus (29)

Cody Ross (35) – $9.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Skip Schumaker (36) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout

Grady Sizemore (33)

Denard Span (32)

Drew Stubbs (31)

Ryan Sweeney (31) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout

Shane Victorino (35)

Right Fielders

Nori Aoki (34) – $5.5MM club option with a $700K buyout

Jeff Baker (35)

Jose Bautista (35) – $14MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Marlon Byrd (38) – $8MM vesting option

Endy Chavez (38)

David DeJesus (36) – $5MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Chris Denorfia (35)

Jason Heyward (26)

Torii Hunter (40)

Matt Joyce (31)

Nate McLouth (34) – $6.5MM club option with a $750K buyout

David Murphy (34) – $7MM club option with a $500K buyout

Gerardo Parra (29)

Carlos Quentin (33)

Ryan Raburn (35) – $3MM club option with a $100K buyout

Cody Ross (35) – $9.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Ichiro Suzuki (42)

Ryan Sweeney (31) – $2.5MM club option with a $500K buyout

Justin Upton (28)

Will Venable (33)

Shane Victorino (35)

Chris B. Young (32)

The O's will not spend the money that Heyward will get. They haven't in the past and they will not in the future. It falls under Buck's "We have to know who we are." saying.

Agreed, Heyward is a pipe dream. I think whoever inks his exorbitant contract will make a mistake. When Heyward's (stellar) defense goes, his value goes with it, and fielding fades faster than hitting.