Per Roch: Bench depth being addressed...

[El Gordo]

A nice pickup who might turn out to be nothing. However, after being drafted as a 3B he's become a pretty good defensive 2B. He's also show flashes of power in the minors, with 21 homers a AA in 2007. He was terrible in AAA for 2 years and the missed 2010. Looks like he reworked his swing a bit and finished very strong last year, with 8 doubles and 5 homers in August. Maybe he found something. Maybe it's nothing. I like the pickup though. He can play 3B and SS (in a pinch) as well.

I'd like to see him at 3B, it would really improve the IF D.

[crawjo]

I'm happy that he's doing this first. A better backup catcher is a cheap way to improve this team fairly significantly, I think, both by getting better production on days when Wieters is not starting and then also being able to give Wieters a little bit more rest, which might make him more productive overall. And with Roberts's status and the possibility that Andino will have to be a close to everyday player, we need another infielder, so long as people feel Ryan Adams is not a solution there.

One thing I want to see from the Orioles next year is a stronger 1-25 roster, so that black holes like Felix Pie don't drag this team down further than necessary.

[GoldGlove21]

I'm happy that he's doing this first. A better backup catcher is a cheap way to improve this team fairly significantly, I think, both by getting better production on days when Wieters is not starting and then also being able to give Wieters a little bit more rest, which might make him more productive overall. And with Roberts's status and the possibility that Andino will have to be a close to everyday player, we need another infielder, so long as people feel Ryan Adams is not a solution there.

One thing I want to see from the Orioles next year is a stronger 1-25 roster, so that black holes like Felix Pie don't drag this team down further than necessary.

I like the idea of upgrading our team when we can, but this team needs to upgrade positions verses backups. If we have the best backups in the game, but holes in the starting rotation, 1B and 3B in addition to possibly LF and 2B than we are going to have some real problems IMO. This team still needs a great deal of help.

[MarylandAaron]

Here is a nice write-up about Antonelli. Looks like a somewhat promising signing.

Word. Really liking this guy's minor league stats. It's a wonder this guy didn't get more of an opportunity in the bigs. So is he a decent defender at SS or 2B?

[crawjo]

I like the idea of upgrading our team when we can, but this team needs to upgrade positions verses backups. If we have the best backups in the game, but holes in the starting rotation, 1B and 3B in addition to possibly LF and 2B than we are going to have some real problems IMO. This team still needs a great deal of help.

Of course, but one of the pieces of low-hanging fruit for us right now is improving our bench. It doesn't take many resources to find a decent backup catcher and utility infielder, which is why it's good to get these things out of the way now while the market for big time players "percolates."

[Bradysburns]

Of course, but one of the pieces of low-hanging fruit for us right now is improving our bench. It doesn't take many resources to find a decent backup catcher and utility infielder, which is why it's good to get these things out of the way now while the market for big time players "percolates."

I think we could be shopping for more than this - yes, we need a backup catcher. But I suspect no position on this team is "in the bag" right now... which puts the bench up for grabs. I think DD could wind up landing another power bat for the bench - a reserve corner outfielder/first baseman type of guy. Someone who might pinch hit for our left fielder in a two-outs-bottom-of-the-ninth situation... But more of a veteran.

[andrewrickli]

I think we could be shopping for more than this - yes, we need a backup catcher. But I suspect no position on this team is "in the bag" right now... which puts the bench up for grabs. I think DD could wind up landing another power bat for the bench - a reserve corner outfielder/first baseman type of guy. Someone who might pinch hit for our left fielder in a two-outs-bottom-of-the-ninth situation... But more of a veteran.

Lance Nix?

[section18]

Eric Fryer 26, a catcher with the Pirates, has been designated for assignment. In limited action mostly in September he hit .345 with 5 HR's and 16 RBI's. The Orioles should try to acquire him.

[MrOrange82]

Eric Fryer 26, a catcher with the Pirates, has been designated for assignment. In limited action mostly in September he hit .345 with 5 HR's and 16 RBI's. The Orioles should try to acquire him.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure those are AA stats. He also hit .203 in about the same number of games at AAA.

[StottyByNature]

http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2011/11/orioles-getting-closer-to-adding-bench-help.html

Good news. Wonder who these players are?

And, incredibly important...

Bench depth is a concern for good teams. We should be more concerned about our starters.

[Frobby]

Bench depth is a concern for good teams. We should be more concerned about our starters.

This is not an either/or situation, in my opinion. You want a team where the pieces fit together. A good bench can make the starters better, by getting them rest and by getting them out of games where the situation doesn't fit their strengths. And, a good bench comes in handy when starters are injured. I'm all in favor of a strong bench, regardless of whether we make moves to strenthen our starting lineup.

[BilboBaggins]

This is not an either/or situation, in my opinion. You want a team where the pieces fit together. A good bench can make the starters better, by getting them rest and by getting them out of games where the situation doesn't fit their strengths. And, a good bench comes in handy when starters are injured. I'm all in favor of a strong bench, regardless of whether we make moves to strenthen our starting lineup.

One could make an argument that the manager not using his available bench strategically has more of an effect than signing great bench depth. I happen to agree with your assessment, but wasn't Buck criticized about not using his RP correctly during a few games last year?

If we augment our bench support and Buck doesn't use them, wouldn't that defeat the purpose?

[jiminnj]

I think we could be shopping for more than this - yes, we need a backup catcher. But I suspect no position on this team is "in the bag" right now... which puts the bench up for grabs. I think DD could wind up landing another power bat for the bench - a reserve corner outfielder/first baseman type of guy. Someone who might pinch hit for our left fielder in a two-outs-bottom-of-the-ninth situation... But more of a veteran.

Seems like our LF was up with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth in our last game of the year. He certainly didn't need hitting for then. Drive up the gap in right center, off the track over the wall for a ground rule double, scoring the tieing run. A bigger hit than the one that Andino got.

[Frobby]

One could make an argument that the manager not using his available bench strategically has more of an effect than signing great bench depth. I happen to agree with your assessment, but wasn't Buck criticized about not using his RP correctly during a few games last year?

If we augment our bench support and Buck doesn't use them, wouldn't that defeat the purpose?

Yes. Personally, I didn't have big problems with how Buck used his bench last year, except I think he should have given Fox more playing time early on, coming off a very strong spring training. I also didn't have a big problem with how he used the bullpen, since it is my personal belief that moving Gregg out of the closer role would have just moved the problems he created to some other inning of the game.

[scOtt]

Yes. Personally, I didn't have big problems with how Buck used his bench last year, except I think he should have given Fox more playing time early on, coming off a very strong spring training. I also didn't have a big problem with how he used the bullpen, since it is my personal belief that moving Gregg out of the closer role would have just moved the problems he created to some other inning of the game.

I don't have a problem either. Like you said earlier, a good bench can help the starters, and the whole team. If Buck had a chance to PH for Adams last year but all he had on the bench was Matt Angle, what's the point? We need to improve the starters (if we can) AND improve the bench so Buck has options. We need to improve ALL 25 spots if we can.