Navarro sent to the Tides

[wildcard]

He was literally the worse hitter in MLB when they sent him out. I guess 8 games of mediocre numbers in AAA has fixed that? I've watched the vast majority of games with Navarro at second base and I didn't get the feeling that he was butchering things over there.

Navarro was not a butcher but he was not consistently good on defense either. Flaherty was. I didn't like Flaherty at bat any more than anyone else but I believe Buck and DD care about having a tight defense that limits that number of pitches that the pitchers need to throw. Flaherty does that better that Navarro IMO.

I didn't think the move would happen this soon. 8 games is not much. Buck must have hated Navarro's defense.

[wildcard]

No he won't. He won't give any real reasons and the media won't call him on it.

Manager speak. "We decided that Flaherty gives us the best chance of winning." "He made some real progress at Norfolk and feel his bat is coming around"

Maybe you are right. We will see.

[weams]

No doubt this move was made for defense. Flaherty has a couple of homers at Norfolk but he's still the same guy he was up here. All or nothing. I don't see his offense playing much better than it was but if he can hit the occasional homer it might be enough. For the record, Flaherty has a .756 OPS at Norfolk with 1 walk and 8 K's. If you call that "crushing" so be it.

For a lefty at Norfolk, it kind of is

[Bagel Necklace]

I like it, sends a positive message to the team, I just wonder where we go if Flaherty continues to bat .100

[weams]

I'm not sure if Buck made this move based on one game but there was a bouncer last night to 2nd where the announcers suggested that Navarro was too slow getting the ball to Hardy and they should have turned a DP. On another grounder to Manny he took the feed and never attempted to pivot for the DP. I think Buck never wanted Navarro in the first place. Went out of his way, two times, to criticize him on balls that were not ruled errors but should have been, according to Buck.

Buck does not care for poor fielding second basemen.

[clapdiddy]

I'm not sure if Buck made this move based on one game but there was a bouncer last night to 2nd where the announcers suggested that Navarro was too slow getting the ball to Hardy and they should have turned a DP. On another grounder to Manny he took the feed and never attempted to pivot for the DP. I think Buck never wanted Navarro in the first place. Went out of his way, two times, to criticize him on balls that were not ruled errors but should have been, according to Buck.

I know the play that Bordick/Santangelo were talking about, and there's no way they would have turned two on that even if Robby Alomar was the second baseman. It took two huge hops and was way closer to first base than second. I thought he did a decent job just getting the lead runner.

[weams]

I like it, sends a positive message to the team, I just wonder where we go if Flaherty continues to bat .100

Strop.

[webbrick2010]

The Orioles are not the Tigers. Navarro did not turn double plays that should have been turned causing the pitchers to throw unnecessary pitches. He made 2 errors that were actually charged to him and several that weren't in 8 games. Flaherty made no errors in 30 games.

This is a move to improve the team defense IMO. That is more important to O's management than a few point of the teams offense. The O's are trying to lower the number of pitches the pitchers need to make.

Exactly!! I'm not sure what you guys have been watching but Navarro could have been charged with 4 errors in 8 games and he can't turn a double play. If he played a month he'd have 40% of the teams errors. He is a Wilson Betemit at 3B type of butcher. He could hit .330 with an .850 OPS and he'd still be hurting the team. I was going to start a thread about Buck being hypocritical about defense being important and then starting Navarro but I see he fixed it.

[Can_of_corn]

Maybe you are right. We will see.

I won't, I don't get MASN down here. If Buck says anything actually enlightening let me know.

I am hoping that there is a jealous Marine down in Norfolk looking for blood and they promoted Flaherty to keep him safe.

[crissfan172]

Buck does not care for poor fielding second basemen.

My thoughts exactly.

[LookitsPuck]

Hate this move.

What...was Navarro supposed to be "auditioning" for a spot from his defensive prowess? What's the point of talent evaluators in the minors? Flaherty was awful with the bat, he's not coming around anytime soon.

I guess we just can't stand to have someone who works counts, gets on base, and actually makes contact. Instead we need a guy that strikes out a lot, doesn't have a plan when coming to bat, and overall couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. But hey...he can turn a double play with the best of them!

Sorry, I dislike this move very much. Partly from the aspect of mismanagement...why bring him up in the first place?

Second, why does Flaherty even deserve to be promoted? Do they honestly think 8 games would change him? He's had 35 plate appearances. He's walked ONCE. He's batting 265. That won't translate well.

[DrungoHazewood]

One defender is not causing the pitching problems and replacing one defender is not going to cure them. I will also argue the "few points" of offense. Flaherty was a black hole on offense.

I can't reconcile how they see Flaherty's A/B glove and F- bat and think that's better than Navarro's C+ bat and maybe C- glove. I think this is about non-performance issues. Or hope so. Otherwise I question their methods.

[DrungoHazewood]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Buck just made it clear he went with Flaherty over Navarro b/c it improves @<a href="https://twitter.com/orioles">orioles</a> defense @<a href="https://twitter.com/1057thefan">1057thefan</a></p>— Sports With Coleman (@sportswcoleman) <a href="

">May 29, 2013</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'd like to hear how this improves the team. I think it improves the defense less than it hurts the offense.

This is a rare time it looks like DD and Buck are playing fast and loose with the details. It doesn't add up if you run the numbers.

[luismatos4prez]

I can't reconcile how they see Flaherty's A/B glove and F- bat and think that's better than Navarro's C+ bat and maybe C- glove. I think this is about non-performance issues. Or hope so. Otherwise I question their methods.

Navarro could be a replacement level hitter or a bit above for a second baseman I'd say. Better than Flaherty. But not by as much as you're implying.

[wildcard]

I am waiting for Schoop to get well. I think he has Flaherty's glove and will hit better than Navarro did. However, we may see BRob for a short time before Schoop is ready.