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Jim Thome is embarrassing himself and the team is suffering because of him

zero1

By zero1
in Orioles Talk

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LA2 Hangout Grand Counsel

LA2

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The one thing I can't figure out is why we chose Thome over Youkolis. Youk wore out his welcome with Bobby V. and had to go. In return, Boston got a RP and a 28-Y.O. utility infielder.

Youk appears to be thriving in Chicago. .315 BA, 4 HRs, 18 RBIs in 19 games. Plays a decent 3B - which would have been a real bonus for the O's.

Yeah - I hope Thome gets red hot and carries the offense for a month or so. If not, well . . . wouldn't that be typical?

Those are good points, but if I were Boston, I wdn't have traded him to another team in my division.

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Il BuonO Hangout Grand Counsel

Il BuonO

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He's a 1B/DH who strikes out a lot and has some power. That makes him redundant of Reynolds and Davis, and it forces Davis to the OF, which is not very desireable IMO. He's certainly a more patient hitter than Davis, but to me this is a year in which Davis needs to play most days, show us what he can do, and work on the weaknesses in his offensive game. I'd rather have him doing that at 1B/DH than doing that while trying to be a serviceable LF. Also, this was already a slow, strikeout-prone team, and Thome just adds to that element. None of this is a knock on Thome, I just don't like the fit, unless the Orioles trade Reynolds, in which case I like the fit much better.

Disagree, Davis was in the OF before Thome ever got here. He was forced out there by Mark Reynolds.

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Il BuonO Hangout Grand Counsel

Il BuonO

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By the same reasoning, how do you account for the fact that Thome walked three times in the game before this one? In his last three games, JT is 4 for 11 plus three walks. I'll take that and just assume for now that the home runs will come, as they did when he was with the Phillies a month ago. The singles, doubles, and a few flyouts have all been hit very hard and he only has 40-some ABs with us.

As for Buck's use of him, Thome started only two of the four games against Minnesota and two of the three games in Anaheim. Very different from his use of Derrek Lee and Vlad last year.

Yup. I've actually thought he looked pretty good so far. It's nice to see someone come to the plate with a good approach and understanding of the strikezone. He hasn't flashed his power yet, but it's not like we're dealing with a large sample size here either.
Disagree with the fact that his skill set is similar to previous players. Thome is a professional hitter who works the count and takes plenty of walks, which on this team, other than Reynolds is non-existent. He hasn't stepped up in the power department, as of yet, but I have no problem at all with the Thome acquisition.
Thome stinks.

Just another stupid move by the O's management.

Think....before you post.

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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Disagree, Davis was in the OF before Thome ever got here. He was forced out there by Mark Reynolds.

No, he was in the OF because Markakis and Chavez were both hurt and the O's didn't have enough spare outfielders to fill LF and RF. And, they started doing this when we were in interleague play and there was no DH.

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Il BuonO Hangout Grand Counsel

Il BuonO

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No, he was in the OF because Markakis and Chavez were both hurt and the O's didn't have enough spare outfielders to fill LF and RF. And, they started doing this when we were in interleague play and there was no DH.

Right, but he wasn't forced to the OF because of Thome.

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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Right. Without Thome, Davis would likely DH and we would have Avery, Tolly, or Pierce patrolling LF.

Actually, that sounds pretty darned good. Pearce and/or Avery in left field, and Chris Davis as the DH.

Can we have a do-over ??? :o

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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Who would you rather have in the lineup, Thome or one of those three guys. I will take the HOFer.

OOO Maybe Thome would be better than those guys in the lineup on offense, but don't you think that it's a tad disingenuous to refer to him as "the Hall-Of-Famer," as though he were still hitting 45 HR's a year, and he were 10 years younger ???

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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Who would you rather have in the lineup, Thome or one of those three guys. I will take the HOFer.

I'd rather have Thome in the lineup, but it's a close call between him, Pearce and Avery at this stage of Thome's career. I'd rather have Pearce or Avery in LF than Davis.

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weams Hangout Grand Counsel

weams

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The one thing I can't figure out is why we chose Thome over Youkolis. Youk wore out his welcome with Bobby V. and had to go. In return, Boston got a RP and a 28-Y.O. utility infielder.

Youk appears to be thriving in Chicago. .315 BA, 4 HRs, 18 RBIs in 19 games. Plays a decent 3B - which would have been a real bonus for the O's.

Yeah - I hope Thome gets red hot and carries the offense for a month or so. If not, well . . . wouldn't that be typical?

You think after game 162 that Boston is trading anyone to us?

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Singleton Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Singleton

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I was against the trade because I didn't see the fit. I'm not ready to say Thome is embarrassing himself or that there is no power left in his bat. Home run hitters are streaky and I suspect Thome will have some hot spells. But he's not filling a strategic need and his skill set is too similar to players who were already here.

Agreed.

The key phrase here is "strategic need." Thome may have some value but a DH was not our primary need. We have a very shallow farm system outside of our top 2 prospects. I realize that many didn't see the potential of Lino but he clearly had trade value and given our limited resources, if we're going to trade our prospects, we really need to focus on areas of greatest need. I'd also like it to be for players that have at least some chance of contributing in the future as well.

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