Signing Vlad was big mistake

[tennOsfan]

I think Vlad winds up with decent numbers in the end. His style is unorthodox, but he's always been that way. And he still looks plenty strong and flexible enough to put a charge in the ball.

One thing I noticed tonight was how happy the man looks playing baseball. I hope his spirit infects the rest of the squad.

[NattieO'sHon]

Are you seriously comparing Vlad to Nolan????? A future HOF player who can still rake. Do some of you have any idea what Vlad has done in his career?

[BaltimoreTerp]

Are you seriously comparing Vlad to Nolan????? A future HOF player who can still rake. Do some of you have any idea what Vlad has done in his career?

You're right. We should also sign Hank Aaron and Stan Musial. Maybe even Bob Gibson to lead the rotation.

[El Gordo]

You're right. We should also sign Hank Aaron and Stan Musial. Maybe even Bob Gibson to lead the rotation.

This is a pretty stupid comparison. Vlad may not be the hitter he once was but he doesn't look finished to me and Reimold sure doesn't look like he's tearing up Norfolk. Vlad looks as good if not better than any hitter on the team right now, although that isn't saying much.

[BaltimoreTerp]

This is a pretty stupid comparison. Vlad may not be the hitter he once was but he doesn't look finished to me and Reimold sure doesn't look like he's tearing up Norfolk. Vlad looks as good if not better than any hitter on the team right now, although that isn't saying much.

So you don't understand the point?

[Pedro Cerrano]

So you don't understand the point?

You're both right. Obviously Vlad isn't the guy he once was and you can't use his past numbers too much -- but his past numbers do afford him the benefit of the doubt somewhat...if that makes any sense...

[El Gordo]

You're both right. Obviously Vlad isn't the guy he once was and you can't use his past numbers too much -- but his past numbers do afford him the benefit of the doubt somewhat...if that makes any sense...

It's beyond idiotic. A guy puts up numbers for 16 years that make make him a HOF candidate, he has numbers last year that make him a MVP candidate, and because you aren't happy with his numbers after 87 AB the following year, you want to replace him with some guy who is putting up a .740 ops in AAA?:rofl:

[LookitsPuck]

I think you give a HOF hitter more than 87 AB before you replace him with a kid who had a .610 OPS last year.

Especially a kid who isn't doing squat in the minors right now.

[MrOrange82]

It's beyond idiotic. A guy puts up numbers for 16 years that make make him a HOF candidate, he has numbers last year that make him a MVP candidate, and because you aren't happy with his numbers after 87 AB the following year, you want to replace him with some guy who is putting up a .740 ops in AAA?:rofl:

His OBP is still .287, he's on pace for 100 SO's (which would surpass his career high of 95...set in 1998 as a 23 year old during his first full year in the majors) (also, he's averaged 63.5 SO's since moving to the AL), and 17 of his 22 hits this season have been singles.

Whatever his track record, he looks like a shadow of his former self. He's currently projected to finish as follows...

.287 BA, 23 HR, 69 RBI, .287 OBP, .414 SLG, .701 OPS.

While it might be fair to argue that he stands a good chance of finishing with numbers better than those, it's also fair to observe that he doesn't look anything like the hitter he once was. He's swinging even more wildly, and more frequently, than he has in past years. But regardless...he's here for one year. If Reimold is supposed to be any part of the Orioles' future, then, IMO, if Reimold could come close to Vlad's current projections (and I think he could), Reimold should be the player getting those AB's.

Vlad absolutely is a HOFer...surefire. But that doesn't have anything to do with whether he's juuuust about finished as a player right now.

[xKHx]

I think People are way to enamored with Nolans rookie year. He just has not done anything the past year and now this one to say he is a surefire MLB player. No one year does not supplant sixteen years of hof numbers. The arguement holds no water if you look at last years samPle size alone.

[sangar]

His last year in Anaheim he stopped catching up to the fastball a foot off the lower outside corner. Sure he is growing old, but he is still an outstanding talent and is far from finished.

[Orioles_Magic]

This is ridiculous.

Vlad, a surefire Hall of Famer with a 16-year track record, should be dumped after 87 ABs for a guy that is doing worse than him playing at a lower level?

Doesn't make a lick of sense.

If we're going to dump somebody, and I'm not advocating it, it would make more sense to dump Lee and bring up Snyder. Seeing as Snyder is outhitting Lee, even though its at a lower level.

I like Nolan, and he was great in 09. But he was godawful in 2010. If he were ripping the cover off the ball at Norfolk, then it would be much easier to consider dumping Vlad in favor of him. But the fact is, he's not.

And Nolan is 27 now. So it's about time he starts producing.

[DrungoHazewood]

It's beyond idiotic. A guy puts up numbers for 16 years that make make him a HOF candidate, he has numbers last year that make him a MVP candidate, and because you aren't happy with his numbers after 87 AB the following year, you want to replace him with some guy who is putting up a .740 ops in AAA?:rofl:

Beyond idiotic? I think that's pretty ridiculous. Vlad was a DH with an .841 OPS in a big hitter's park last year, and he's 36. No, Reimold hasn't done much to indicate he's a better player, but Vlad's 2010 performance was closer to replacement level than MVP. It's not unreasonable to think he's going to be of marginal value this year. Plenty of Hall of Famers have gone from .800 OPSes to out of baseball in six months at his age.

And, no, I don't care that enough sportswriters fail to understand park effects or position adjustments to give him a 6% MVP award share last year. He wasn't a bad player, but he probably wasn't one of the 50 most valuable players in the league.

[21xxxv]

Let the weather heat up, and he will be leading the team in most offensive categories. I have bigger issues with Luke Scott, who could have been traded with another for arms during ST. Felix with Scott's AB's would have better #'s, and much better defensive results.

[jamalshw]

His OBP is still .287, he's on pace for 100 SO's (which would surpass his career high of 95...set in 1998 as a 23 year old during his first full year in the majors) (also, he's averaged 63.5 SO's since moving to the AL), and 17 of his 22 hits this season have been singles.

Whatever his track record, he looks like a shadow of his former self. He's currently projected to finish as follows...

.287 BA, 23 HR, 69 RBI, .287 OBP, .414 SLG, .701 OPS.

While it might be fair to argue that he stands a good chance of finishing with numbers better than those, it's also fair to observe that he doesn't look anything like the hitter he once was. He's swinging even more wildly, and more frequently, than he has in past years. But regardless...he's here for one year. If Reimold is supposed to be any part of the Orioles' future, then, IMO, if Reimold could come close to Vlad's current projections (and I think he could), Reimold should be the player getting those AB's.

Vlad absolutely is a HOFer...surefire. But that doesn't have anything to do with whether he's juuuust about finished as a player right now.

I find it funny that you used stats from 87 ABs to help make an arguement against a post that discredits the credibility of a sample size of only 87 ABs.

Lets put it this way: could this be real Vlad? Sure. Could this just be Vlad in a slump, pressing, and consequently swinging at even more pitches than his normally extremely aggressive self? Sure.

If he's pressing, he's likely to swing at pitches that are even more out of the zone than normal. That is likely to lower his BB count and he rate at which he can make strong contact, which, in turn can cause him to bloop more singles than XBH. Is that what is happening? I don't know, I'm not Vlad, but it could be.

I'm confient that some other time in Vlad's career, he had a similar stretch of mediocre (at best) hitting and he came out of it. Sure, he's older now and that might not happen, but how can you know for sure?