O's have reached out to Swisher's agent

[LA2]

I think that he was referring to Swisher's entire career in the postseason with the Athletics, the White Sox, and the Yankees, not just last season. He's 2-for-35 with 1 RBI with RISP, and his overall batting average is .169 (26-for-154.)

He does have a considerably better on-base-percentage (.283) than his batting average, as he has drawn 24 walks in 181 plate appearances.

Wow, having him and A-Rod on the same post-season team is sort of a bummer, although Swisher hasn't stunk up every single post-season series he's played in. Overall, he's definitely been worse than Eddie Murray, although Eddie had some real stinkers. But maybe it's no coincidence that Swisher has been at the core of so many teams that made it to the playoffs in the first place. And I do question how much the post-season record should count against reg. season performance and overall consistency. Can he figure it out at some point, like Murray did? Does he tire out toward the end of the season? Maybe with the O's he'd DH more. I admit I'm changing my perspective on him.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I was referring to Swisher's regular season and career statistics, e.g. OPS in late innings with RISP. Swisher had a poor post-season, but so did his teammates Cano, Granderson, E. Chavez, and A-Rod, and his opponents Adam Jones, Wieters, Reynolds, and J. J. Hardy. Not a basis for judging the general value of any of those players.

The most interesting local thesis has been that, b/c the Yankees depend on the home run so much, they accumulate a good regular season record by feasting on mistakes by mediocre pitchers, but are not "designed" to win short post-season series against top-line pitching. I don't know if the actual stats bear that out.

Right, and I was agreeing with you in my response to SoxHot Corner. That said, Swisher has a pretty horrible and extensive postseason record, not just last year with the Yankees.

[OFFNY]

Wow, having him and A-Rod on the same post-season team is sort of a bummer, although Swisher hasn't stunk up every single post-season series he's played in. Overall, he's definitely been worse than Eddie Murray, although Eddie had some real stinkers. But maybe it's no coincidence that Swisher has been at the core of so many teams that made it to the playoffs in the first place. And I do question how much the post-season record should count against reg. season performance and overall consistency. Can he figure it out at some point, like Murray did? Does he tire out toward the end of the season? Maybe with the O's he'd DH more. I admit I'm changing my perspective on him.

I don't think that the Murray-Swisher postseason comparison is a fair one, because Swisher hasn't been just a tad worse than Murray. It's kind of like saying a 6-4 or a 5-5 football team isn't as bad as a 1-9 team. In 9 postseason series, Murray had 2 stinkers (the 1979 World Series against the Pirates, and the 1995 World Series against the Braves.) Also, Eddie came right out of the postseason gate smoking with a home run, 5 RBI, and a .417 batting average (.588 OBP) in the A.L.C.S. against the Angels before his .154 (4-for-30 with 1 home run) against the Pirates, hence, the " Eddie figuring it out" analogy doesn't apply either ...... he started hitting immediately in the postseason.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murraed02.shtml

[Encino Man]

The age and money put me off a bit. However, if on base percentage is really important to us this offseason, Swisher makes sense. Youkilis also makes a ton of sense. Two 20 home run bats that get on base 36% of the time would be great.

I know being exYankee, exRed Sox is a downfall but it also gives them playoff experience. As long as number of years are modest, I would love to see this lineup

Markakis-rf

Youkilis-1b

Swisher-lf

Jones-cf

Wieters-c

Davis-dh

Machado-3b

Hardy-ss

Roberts/casilla-2b

I am fully on board with this idea and I think it is very much in Duq's head too.

That is a great lineup.

Two years max for Youk

[LA2]

I don't think that the Murray-Swisher postseason comparison is a fair one, because Swisher hasn't been just a tad worse than Murray. It's kind of like saying a 6-4 or a 5-5 football team isn't as bad as a 1-9 team. In 9 postseason series, Murray had 2 stinkers (the 1979 World Series against the Pirates, and the 1995 World Series against the Braves.) Also, Eddie came right out of the postseason gate smoking with a home run, 5 RBI, and a .417 batting average (.588 OBP) in the A.L.C.S. against the Angels before his .154 (4-for-30 with 1 home run) against the Pirates, hence, the " Eddie figuring it out" analogy doesn't apply either ...... he started hitting immediately in the postseason.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murraed02.shtml

I'm sure you'll remember that O's fans and World Series commentators were all worried whether/wondering if Eddie could do better in the Phillies WS than he had in the Pirates WS. It was often discussed at the time--and he did do better. That's all I meant by "figuring it out."

The WS is the ultimate test: Murray had one good WS and two bad WS's. Swisher has had one bad WS. That's what was foremost in my mind at the time I wrote the post. Yes, Eddie has had more success than Swisher in the playoffs.

[LA2]

Right, and I was agreeing with you in my response to SoxHot Corner. That said, Swisher has a pretty horrible and extensive postseason record, not just last year with the Yankees.

OK. But SoxHot Corner's post is ambiguous as to whether I had given an accurate picture of what Yankee fans gripe about re Swisher or of Swisher's actual performance in clutch situations and as a fielder. You assume the latter--I just don't know.

Do you believe that Swisher's post-season performance shd be a big influence on the O's decision to pursue him?

[Roll Tide]

Just a thought .... DD said he's not interested in big ticket free agents. Therefore we assume he has little interest in Hamilton. Swisher is also seeking a pretty large contract. If the payroll is to stay flat as that is the impression ...How in the hell are they going to afford Swisher? If they are going to spend on Swisher they might as well sign Hamilton IMO

[scOtt]

OK. But SoxHot Corner's post is ambiguous as to whether I had given an accurate picture of what Yankee fans gripe about re Swisher or of Swisher's actual performance in clutch situations and as a fielder. You assume the latter--I just don't know.

Do you believe that Swisher's post-season performance shd be a big influence on the O's decision to pursue him?

I don't. 162. The rest is a SSS crapshoot.

[LA2]

I don't. 162. The rest is a SSS crapshoot.

I agree. And the fact that Swisher has been in so many playoffs tells me he knows how to help teams get there during the 162.

[zero1]

Who cares about playoff stats? The whole point is being able to get to the playoffs. Anything can happen in the playoffs.

[SoBo]

Signing Swisher would be the Orioles equivalent of signing Jack Parkman. But aside from the fact I've always loathed Swisher during his days as a Yankee I would approve of his stick in the line up. I don't think it'll happen as his price tag will be out of the Orioles reach. Let's just get McLouth done.

[wildcard]

So the O's can't fit 8-9M for Reynolds in the budget and Swisher is at 15M. That does not compute. Move on.

Michael Morse is a better guess.

[theobird]

"The O's have reached out to Swishers agent". Really? If they did, I hope they slapped him right across the Jaw. I agree with Wildcard here, if they let Reynolds go because they thought 8-9M was to steep for Mark, no freaking way are they shelling 15+ to Swisher. The only way the Reynolds situation actually makes sense is if they are really going all in on Hamilton. I don't think they are, I think they just made a collosal mistake on Reynolds............Time will tell.

[OFFNY]

"The O's have reached out to Swishers agent". Really? If they did, I hope they slapped him right across the Jaw. I agree with Wildcard here, if they let Reynolds go because they thought 8-9M was to steep for Mark, no freaking way are they shelling 15+ to Swisher. The only way the Reynolds situation actually makes sense is if they are really going all in on Hamilton. I don't think they are, I think they just made a colossal mistake on Reynolds............Time will tell.

They can put Swisher at 1st base for $15 Million per year for the next 3 or 4 years, have Chris Davis play left field, and tell Reynolds and McLouth to take a hike.

They could do that. It's probably not a good idea, but they could do it.

[section18]

I think the Orioles FO is putting out rumors to take other GM's attention away from the real targets. Swisher is not Buck's kind of guy. Buck likes everything low key and professional. R.A Dickey knows Buck and Billy Butler is Buck's kind of player. I hooked up with Butler's twitter account last night and saw he connects with AJ and Dickey. Hmm! K.C. is rumored to be trying to obtain Dickey and Seattle as I reported a few days ago is also after the Butler according to a Seattle newspaper.