Does Flaherty and his .519 OPS have a place on this team?

[scottbbfm]

Have to wonder if he's involved with a potential Cubs trade and they are using him for a little leverage.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Well, that Andino injury did not look good. Maybe well being seeing a lot more Flaheerty and Tolleson at second base the rest of the year.

[Il BuonO]

Flaherty has looked decent at 3B. He made an error yesterday. The big question is "Does he have offensive potential?" If he's going to be a regular the most likely destination is 3B, where scouts think he has the tools to be ML average. Could Flaherty be a regular as soon as next year? Seems unlikely but who knows what he'd do with regular playing time. I saw the play in question on replay last night. He certainly should have made it but it did not look routine either.

This is better than what we have, no? I also looked at that play and thought pretty much the same thing. A lot of reactionary posts during and after the game, but the play wasn't as routine as it may have looked. He could have come in instead of gone back but it also may have skipped off the lip. He's made all of two errors on the year but needs more playing time to see what he can become. However, at this point even though I think we should be sellers, if they are still considering Garza I see no reason he couldn't be part of a package to the Cubs.

[Gurgi]

Looks like the kid will probably see regular playing time. This will be a good chance for him to show us what he can do. Let his bat get hot and show us the power he showed in the minors.

Would love to have a second base with 14-21 home run power.

[Can_of_corn]

Looks like the kid will probably see regular playing time. This will be a good chance for him to show us what he can do. Let his bat get hot and show us the power he showed in the minors.

Would love to have a second base with 14-21 home run power.

Brittany Ghiroli ‏@Britt_Ghiroli

Andino tells reporters postgame X-rays on shoulder were negative. Has MRI tomorrow. Doesnt think it's DL situation. #Orioles

Roch Kubatko ‏@masnRoch

Andino says x-rays negative. Pain gone. Thinks just a day or 2 and can play #orioles.

I also hope for a second baseman with 14-21 home run power. Of course Flaherty isn't that guy, Schoop is.

[notfast]

Why does Flaherty chew his gum so aggressively?

[El Gordo]

Why does Flaherty chew his gum so aggressively?

Why would anyone care?

[Gurgi]

‏I also hope for a second baseman with 14-21 home run power. Of course Flaherty isn't that guy, Schoop is.

Have you looked at Flaherty's minor league stats lately?

1670 Ab's

57 homeruns

.809 OPS

Pretty much on a full season he is averaging about 19 homeruns. So I could easily see him getting the same in the majors. Even if it ends up 10-14 it would be way more than Andino is likely to hit.

[HokieOs]

I could see him lacking the fluidity and range you'd want in a 2B. At 3B I agree I'd be confident in him as at least an average defender given regular playing time. The question would be more if his bat plays at 3B. His bat most definitely would play at 2B.

I don't see why people are so mystified over him staying on the roster. The guy is a potential ML regular. (I think people should take a look at his MiL stats, I have a feeling a lot of the people who hate on Flaherty haven't even done that most basic step) You can't say that about Tolleson, Chavez or any of our other bench players. I don't see how it's not worth it to keep him on the roster until Sept. 1 (so what, 1 1/2 months more) to have control of him in the years after. He could be a valuable stopgap for Schoop/Machado at 3B/2B next year and is at the least valuable depth with--can't underline this enough--potential to be an ML regular.

Wait a minute, did YOU look at his minor league numbers? I mean, they're not horrible minor league numbers.... for a AAA guy. But I don't see anything in his numbers that makes me think "ooo this guy needs to be in the Majors".

He had a .900+ OPS in AA last year. That surely is pretty solid. But his OPS was only .676 in AAA. He also struck out almost every fourth time at the plate... in AAA.

He isn't a bad defender. He isn't a good defender. He has the versatility of being able to be placed just about anywhere but Catcher and Pitcher and not being abysmal. But he doesn't shine anywhere either. He isn't even above average anywhere. Perhaps he could be above average at 3B. But he can't hit well enough to fill that role.

Basically, we're eating up a roster spot for the entire year for a guy we HOPE to be good enough to yo-yo between Norfolk and Baltimore. We have plenty of his type already in the system (Blake Davis, Steve Tolleson, etc). Given his showing in Baltimore so far though, I'm not sure he's good enough for that. He seems like AAA filler to me. And you don't keep a guy on the MLB roster for an entire year so that he can fill the AAA roster for a couple years.

We need to cut our losses and get rid of this guy.

[Can_of_corn]

Have you looked at Flaherty's minor league stats lately?

1670 Ab's

57 homeruns

.809 OPS

Pretty much on a full season he is averaging about 19 homeruns. So I could easily see him getting the same in the majors. Even if it ends up 10-14 it would be way more than Andino is likely to hit.

Assuming Schoop finishes up the season strong who do you start at Norfolk next spring? The 21 year old Schoop or the 26 year old Flaherty? Who is more likely to be a long term answer? Do you realize that Flaherty is less then a year younger then Jones?

[CA-ORIOLE]

Wait a minute, did YOU look at his minor league numbers? I mean, they're not horrible minor league numbers.... for a AAA guy. But I don't see anything in his numbers that makes me think "ooo this guy needs to be in the Majors".

He had a .900+ OPS in AA last year. That surely is pretty solid. But his OPS was only .676 in AAA. He also struck out almost every fourth time at the plate... in AAA.

He isn't a bad defender. He isn't a good defender. He has the versatility of being able to be placed just about anywhere but Catcher and Pitcher and not being abysmal. But he doesn't shine anywhere either. He isn't even above average anywhere. Perhaps he could be above average at 3B. But he can't hit well enough to fill that role.

Basically, we're eating up a roster spot for the entire year for a guy we HOPE to be good enough to yo-yo between Norfolk and Baltimore. We have plenty of his type already in the system (Blake Davis, Steve Tolleson, etc). Given his showing in Baltimore so far though, I'm not sure he's good enough for that. He seems like AAA filler to me. And you don't keep a guy on the MLB roster for an entire year so that he can fill the AAA roster for a couple years.

We need to cut our losses and get rid of this guy.

If he wasn't a flawed prospect he wouldn't have been made avaiable in the rule 5 draft. The numbers you quoted were for his first go around in AAA. He also struggled his first go around in AA before putting up that 900 OPS. I'm guessing the scouts see more in him than Blake Davis (seriously?) or even Tolleson.

Much of the losses have already been taken. CrazySilver pointed out that we could trade him to any team at this point. I would think a non-contender migth be interested. Might be a good piece for SD in a Headley.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Assuming Schoop finishes up the season strong who do you start at Norfolk next spring? The 21 year old Schoop or the 26 year old Flaherty? Who is more likely to be a long term answer? Do you realize that Flaherty is less then a year younger then Jones?

I'd see us giving Faherty the opportunity to perform at third base. Schoop at second. Schoop could also likely end up at ss. I don't see a conflict. I mean know one is arguing that Flaherty will project better than Schoop at this point.

[russ snyder]

If he wasn't a flawed prospect he wouldn't have been made avaiable in the rule 5 draft. The numbers you quoted were for his first go around in AAA. He also struggled his first go around in AA before putting up that 900 OPS. I'm guessing the scouts see more in him than Blake Davis (seriously?) or even Tolleson.

Much of the losses have already been taken. CrazySilver pointed out that we could trade him to any team at this point. I would think a non-contender migth be interested. Might be a good piece for SD in a Headley.

Exactly. The orioles have a young, (yeah I realize he's 26) cheap, and versatile player. I pointed out in another thread that this is probably the first time in his baseball career that he's not getting regular at bats. Im sure that this has been a huge adjustment. Also, while I'm not baffled by his presence on the roster, I acknowledge that a rule 5 player does present a challenge to the front office.

[csgordos]

It's not going to show up as an error, but his inability to turn a double play correctly has the Orioles already one run tonight. It's causing Britain to throw a lot more pictures in the fourth inning unneeded. Honestly, I've lost all patience with him and his "defense" at this point. I know we don't have any of other options, but seriously nobody else?

[csgordos]

Seriously, just cut him now. I really want to rant. Cannot play defense, cannot hit, cannot sacrifice, what can he do other then hold the bench spot?