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It sure looks like Britton is pitching his way onto this team. The ST stats are a small sample size, but with Duchscherer still a question mark, and Tillman looking like he still has a very straight fastball, things might get interesting as the time nears to come north.

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Why not get all the pitches out of Britton's arm at the ML level that you can?

By the time 5 years is up, you may not want to keep him anyway.

Keeping pitchers down for service time only is extremely stupid. If he's the best arm for the rotation, he comes north with the team. Right now he's the 2nd or 3rd best starter on this team already. Only if he were to need more seasoning, would you send him down.

Winning this season is more important than saving a few million on a pitcher that may or may not still be effective 5 years from now.

Now if this was a super 2 issue I would agree with you but the idea that a couple starts in 2011 > Year of team control is ridiculous.

There is a reason no top rookies break camp with their teams (Heyward was a special case).

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Unless Tillman is giving up a home run in every single at bat, I'll be very annoyed if Britton gets the nod over Tillman. It wouldn't make sense for Tillman's development, and it wouldn't make sense for Britton's service time. The best decision for the Orioles, assuming Duke is down, is to give the fifth spot to Tillman. Fortunately, I can't imagine MacPhail making the wrong decision here.

Keeping pitchers down for service time only is extremely stupid. If he's the best arm for the rotation, he comes north with the team. Right now he's the 2nd or 3rd best starter on this team already. Only if he were to need more seasoning, would you send him down.

Winning this season is more important than saving a few million on a pitcher that may or may not still be effective 5 years from now.

It's not just about Britton. It's also about Tillman. In your head, Britton comes up and doesn't struggle at all, while you've long since given up on Tillman. Your approach, not surprisingly, is the shortsighted one.

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Unless Tillman is giving up a home run in every single at bat, I'll be very annoyed if Britton gets the nod over Tillman. It wouldn't make sense for Tillman's development, and it wouldn't make sense for Britton's service time. The best decision for the Orioles, assuming Duke is down, is to give the fifth spot to Tillman. Fortunately, I can't imagine MacPhail making the wrong decision here.

It's not just about Britton. It's also about Tillman. In your head, Britton comes up and doesn't struggle at all, while you've long since given up on Tillman. Your approach, not surprisingly, is the shortsighted one.

Winning is the most important thing this season. If Tillman is outpitched by Britton, then he should be the one that is cut, not the better pitcher in Britton.

Audition time is over. If Tillman can't prove he belongs, then he shouldn't be in the Majors. We shouldn't hand over roster spots just because somebody has more experience at the ML level. It's about how well you can pitch and what you can do to help the team win.

It's time to stop thinking this is 2008 or 2009. We should take the best 25 north period.

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Why not get all the pitches out of Britton's arm at the ML level that you can?

By the time 5 years is up, you may not want to keep him anyway.

Keeping pitchers down for service time only is extremely stupid. If he's the best arm for the rotation, he comes north with the team. Right now he's the 2nd or 3rd best starter on this team already. Only if he were to need more seasoning, would you send him down.

Winning this season is more important than saving a few million on a pitcher that may or may not still be effective 5 years from now.

I agree. The Orioles are in no position to worry about four-five years from now. Besides, if Britton is everything we think he'll be, why not extend him before he becomes expensive in arbitration?

If he's one of the best five starters, he should go north. So far he's leaving little doubt that he is one of the best five.

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I agree. The Orioles are in no position to worry about four-five years from now. Besides, if Britton is everything we think he'll be, why not extend him before he becomes expensive in arbitration?

If he's one of the best five starters, he should go north. So far he's leaving little doubt that he is one of the best five.

Exactly.

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I agree. The Orioles are in no position to worry about four-five years from now. Besides, if Britton is everything we think he'll be, why not extend him before he becomes expensive in arbitration?

If he's one of the best five starters, he should go north. So far he's leaving little doubt that he is one of the best five.

I have to agree. And I think Buck brings that mentality where you reward performance only. A spot on a Major League pitching staff isn't something you should be given for any reason other than being one of the best five starting pitchers in the organization.

The Orioles have been playing the waiting game too long. The time to win at the MLB level is now. And if Britton outpitches Tillman, he must go north. He has been in the system for four years now - and has excelled at every step along the way: rookie ball, low-A, high-A, AA and AAA. Next step: Baltimore.

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That, I will have to see to believe. Bedard's yakker was the single most devastating pitch I've seen from an Oriole since Olson's. Even Mussina didn't have one offering quite as good as Bedard's curve, though he had about 4 great pitches.

I agree with the Moose assessment - but just barely. That knuckle-curve was a friggin' thing of beauty.

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I agree. The Orioles are in no position to worry about four-five years from now. Besides, if Britton is everything we think he'll be, why not extend him before he becomes expensive in arbitration?

If he's one of the best five starters, he should go north. So far he's leaving little doubt that he is one of the best five.

With Boras as his agent that is easier said then done.

I think Britton is one of the top three pitchers the O's have right now and I would love to see him break camp and head North. I do however, feel you have to keep him down long enough to get the extra year.

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we're finally at a point where the present is a bit more important than the future. we'll cross those hurdles when we come to them, but the Os cant waste the chance to lose any games. Not a single one. This team needs to get as much as they can from everyone that they're able to play in every single game if they want a shot at the playoffs.

if we get to the playoffs, its not going to be by more than a game or 2 over the next team. Britton for 10 starts or so could be that difference. That 'could' be is worth the risk. The could be problems we could face in a few years are worth the risk, imo. We win, we become more attractive to everyone. We win, we have more money.

winning solves everything, as they say, and britton has clearly been someone who has earned a spot so far and has pitched like someone who gives us the chance to win.

If boston or NY took us seriously, they would rather see britton in the minors for a couple months.

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If this was a position player, i'd agree and say keep him down to get the extra year. But with as fragile as a pitcher can be, I think that philosophy should be different for them. They are always just one pitch away from a career ending surgery. You can't worry about resigning them 6 years down the road. Alot of times, a pitcher doesn't even make it to FA without first having an arm injury of some type. Look at Bedard, Webb, Sheets, Wainwright, Harden and the list goes on. This seems to be a win now mode the O's are in, and if Britton can help reach that goal now, then that should be the teams main focus. The core of young guys now (Markakis, Jones, Matusz, Wieters, and company) will be at or on the wrong side of 30 in 6 years. The window should be now.

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What worries me a bit about Britton is what makes him so effective. With all of those choppers in the dirt, he's going to be fielding a ton of balls from the mound/covering first on balls to the right side. He's going to be getting a workout for sure.

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Gotta agree with Tony and JTrea. If Britton is clearly the best 5th starter, he should get the job. If it's close then let him start out in the minors. IMO, it's not close.

What do we do with Britton's inning limit?

I can't see him pitching much past 170 innings. I suppose that would be awesome if he got 170 ML innings this year. This is barring injury, of course.

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Buck will need to watch his innings. He probably gets 28-30 starts on the year. Most pitchers don't average much more than 6 anyway. I think you have to limit him to 7 IP for the most part. If the innings limit becomes a problem, that's a really good problem to have. Matusz threw 175 and he made every start (32) last year.

Good point. If he averages more than 6 ip per start, we might be talking about ROY status, which would be incredible.

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What do we do with Britton's inning limit?

I can't see him pitching much past 170 innings. I suppose that would be awesome if he got 170 ML innings this year. This is barring injury, of course.

Building his innings will happen anyways. They count the MiL innings too of course. I think he had 153 last year so he should get to 180 this year.

I think he's looking pretty special, no doubt. I just don't think he's THAT much better than Tillman (and the extra year of control) for only two months.

People complain and complain that Boston and TOR and TB are doing every little thing in their power to get ahead of us. Collecting draft picks, making smart moves. Then they want to turn around and throw a year of control away for ten extra starts. :confused:

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