O's Sign Endy Chavez

[clapdiddy]

I would've preferred Reimold as backup/4th outfielder to Cespedes. That seems to be what a team that actually may be looking to upgrade would do.

Hopefully that still could happen. But I don't know if my heart could handle even more excitement this offseason if it did occur.

C'mon, Bruno, where's your O's spirit? Teagarden, Eveland, Wada, and Chavez are going to turn this team into a winner!

[Frobby]

Right.

This is a strict depth move.

Gives you a good defender who probably sees every 9th inning of an Orioles lead, taking Reimold out for defense.

He gives them speed and gives them a CFer to back up Jones.

I would have preferred CPat but he may not want to come back or is hoping to get a starting job somewhere..or just wanted too much money.

Chavez is a better defender and a better hitter than CPat. CPat is the better basestealer. I'll take Chavez anyday over CPat. CPat will be lucky to get a contract as good as Chavez got. I would bet every GM in baseball would take the better, and much more consistent Chavez, over CPat.

CPat: .252/.290/.400, 6.2 rWAR in 1230 games

Endy: .274/.313/.373, 6.4 rWAR in 910 games

A slight edge to Endy, I suppose. Endy gives you a better BA and OBP, CPat gives you more power and speed. I haven't seen enough of Endy to know if he is better defensively.

CPat made $900k last year and posted a .632 OPS. He will not be getting as much money as we gave Endy.

[Roll Tide]

CPat: .252/.290/.400, 6.2 rWAR in 1230 games

Endy: .274/.313/.373, 6.4 rWAR in 910 games

A slight edge to Endy, I suppose. Endy gives you a better BA and OBP, CPat gives you more power and speed. I haven't seen enough of Endy to know if he is better defensively.

CPat made $900k last year and posted a .632 OPS. He will not be getting as much money as we gave Endy.

I would've been ok with Patterson.... Can we please sign somebody who actually matters?

[jamalshw]

I would've been ok with Patterson.... Can we please sign somebody who actually matters?

Agreed. While I disagree with some of the moves DD has made, as a whole I don't have a problem with the collection of players we've acquired. What I do have a problem with, however, is that he's focused his attention on utility players and role players and has failed to make any notable progress on the biggest areas of concern. I appreciate his attention to the lack of depth and feel that the team is a lot deeper across the board. While the bench and starting pitching depth is improved, the lack of talent atop our rotation and in the heart of our line-up (and atop it if Roberts is out or not his former self) are still concerns.

I would very much like to see a trade for another solid #3 type (or preferably better starter) and a bat that can help reshape our line-up.

[Frobby]

I would've been ok with Patterson.... Can we please sign somebody who actually matters?

Angle and Pie had 270 PA last year and produced a line of .206/.274/.276, -1.3 rWAR. Pie played very poorly in LF last year, and Angle struggled a bit with that position as well. Chavez produced 0.8 rWAR and is a good defender wherever he plays. A potential 2-win improvement from a guy who plays less than half the time seems pretty decent to me.

I know the small moves the Orioles have made so far don't seem like much, but they may mean a lot to how the team fits together.

[NewMarketSean]

Chavez is coming off what looks to be a career year at age 33. His numbers will almost certainly decline this season.

I don't like the signing. There is no upside. I know he's penciled in as a #4 OF but you have to think that Reimold will miss some time to injury or struggles and Chavez gets some regular playing time, at which point a .700 OPS or below OF is just another example of the Orioles giving AB's to mediocre/poor players.

[LA2]

CPat: .252/.290/.400, 6.2 rWAR in 1230 games

Endy: .274/.313/.373, 6.4 rWAR in 910 games

A slight edge to Endy, I suppose. Endy gives you a better BA and OBP, CPat gives you more power and speed. I haven't seen enough of Endy to know if he is better defensively.

CPat made $900k last year and posted a .632 OPS. He will not be getting as much money as we gave Endy.

If you look at the last few seasons, it's much more than "a slight edge to Endy;" Patterson's in a steep decline and could barely stay in the big leagues two seasons ago. Endy, one could argue, has not shown a down-trend yet. Chavez even out-SLG'ed Patterson last season!

[BrunoCherrytown]

C'mon, Bruno, where's your O's spirit? Teagarden, Eveland, Wada, and Chavez are going to turn this team into a winner!

Maybe a winning question on Jeopardy in 2017 when a contestant was asked "name the four "upgrades" made to the Baltimore Orioles in 2011 that helped the team best the modern day loss record for a professional baseball team."

[mskrulz]

I'll say the same thing that I said in the Eveland thread. This is a signing that a bad team makes. Instead of focusing on adding regulars and the trickle down effect that follows we are looking to add back-up's that will eventually start. Reimold will have a few bad games and Endy will be our starter. Why spend money on players that will not be part of the solution of this team. I 100% prefer to play with Matt Angle as my back-up and save this money for a starter. Endy Chavez is what he is and nothing more. This is a move that a good team like Texas makes to solidy its bench or a move that a terrible team makes because we will rely on him as a starter. I'm sick of spending money on these types of players and then saying we don't have money for better ones later. I'm over it.

[Frobby]

If you look at the last few seasons, it's much more than "a slight edge to Endy;" Patterson's in a steep decline and could barely stay in the big leagues two seasons ago. Endy, one could argue, has not shown a down-trend yet. Chavez even out-SLG'ed Patterson last season!

Playing in Texas tends to help one's SLG. By the way, where was Chavez in 2010? Hurt?

[weams]

This, and I would probably find Buck and punch him if he really went into the year planning to platoon him with Reimold.

He's small, but he is wirey.

Pound for pound.

[Roll Tide]

Angle and Pie had 270 PA last year and produced a line of .206/.274/.276, -1.3 rWAR. Pie played very poorly in LF last year, and Angle struggled a bit with that position as well. Chavez produced 0.8 rWAR and is a good defender wherever he plays. A potential 2-win improvement from a guy who plays less than half the time seems pretty decent to me.

I know the small moves the Orioles have made so far don't seem like much, but they may mean a lot to how the team fits together.

Well ok ...Im playing . A 2 win improvement for a bench player is ok ...Again not sure you couldnt get close to that improvement from Patterson and he would have cost less.

But how about addressing the negative value we've gotten at 1B from Lee and from our rotation and add wins there? There is where the major improvement needs to be made.

The Vlad, Lee, Atkins era has cost the Orioles more wins than you can see in WAR numbers. The difference between Fielder & what we had with Lee is colossal. A lot more than the 4 or 5 wins that some stat junkie will claim. Honestly I got tired of watching Lee fail in clutch situations last spring/summer.

In the rotation adding Floyd and Darvish (Darvish is now gone I know) Wouldve allowed you to drop Guthrie to #3 and would have a bigger impact on the whole rotation.

Also how about a closer that can actually close games? How many did the Orioles lose in the late innings last year?

Again I dont have a problem with the AAAA/fringe MLB'ers that the Orioles added as depth ...But where in the hell is the moves that will actually improve Wins by guys who play everyday?

Eveland & Wada look to be 5th starter candidates to me ...add them to Hunter, Matusz, Tillman, Bergesen and a few more that fail to come to mind. How many 5th starters do we really need?

[mikegallo]

Really Really great move by DD, I was afraid he was gonna get someone like Rick Ankiel for this spot. Endy is just what this team needs a very strong defensive outfielder which is something we lack. One could argue over a full season he had a better year than any outfielder we had last year. I really believe the DD is not getting enough credit for the offseason he is having right now. So far hes making alot of small moves that are sorely needed on this team. Theses depth signings add up to a serious upgrade to this team at almost no cost.

[Nick The Stick]

This move is an eyeroll.

At least we didn't trade an A ball pitcher 95% of the board no one knew about for someone just like him, inspiring a 500 page thread about how the trade was an awful one.

This is a good backup signing. The 4th OFer depth that the team was looking for. He is not being signed to be a starter. Why is it an eyeroll?

[Palmoripken]

It's a depth move. Not sexy but is what it is.