Orioles Discussing Four-Year Deal With Nick Markakis (Signs w/ATL)

[weams]

And Pearce once again had the wrist issues pop up that have plagued him for consecutive seasons. I'm not sold on either yet. Im not even sold on Machado until he proves he can stay healthy.

Health is a virtue. So is a guy who can play 150 games a year.

[weams]

You've lost me. Last year we had a bench of Clevenger, Young, Pearce, and Flaherty to start the year. HYPOTHETICALLY, if Buck had platooned Clevenger/Joseph, Flaherty/Schoop, Lough/Young, and Pearce/Davis how would that impact our pitching staff?

Manny was not there. And then we needed to use Pearce elsewhere as well. And that is not taking into consideration Wieters. And the fact that our bench was usually four deep. With our starters going short early, a real platoon of more than a position would have cut the bullpen short.

[Il BuonO]

I got a salt lick in the back that I use whenever I read something from the O's development people.

Lol, ok. I think it's been moving in the right direction in the last few years.

[25 Nuggets]

Manny was not there. And then we needed to use Pearce elsewhere as well.

We're assuming a four man bench though right?

Joseph covers C.

Flaherty covers 2B/3B/SS.

Pearce covers 1B/LF/RF.

either Lough or De Aza covers LF/CF/RF with the other being the "starting LF".

That's with Markakis in RF and Cruz at DH. Or two similar FA signings.

[weams]

We're assuming a four man bench though right?

Joseph covers C.

Flaherty covers 2B/3B/SS.

Pearce covers 1B/LF/RF.

either Lough or De Aza covers LF/CF/RF with the other being the "starting LF".

That's with Markakis in RF and Cruz at DH. Or two similar FA signings.

I think left is a better place for a platoon than right at this point.

[Frobby]

Lough has a career OPS of .701. .717 against RHP

Pearce has a career OPS of .768, .878 against LHP

You call that very optimistic? I call that a very reasonable expectation.

I don't have a problem with it, but there is a lot of uncertainty in there. Pearce was a .694 OPS lifetime hitter before last season. Then he goes out and puts up .930. I have very little idea what to expect from him, though in fairness, I think given regular at bats he does better than .694. I don't really have a better guess than just using his career .768, but it could be a lot lower or higher. I don't think he will be as good a defender as Nick in RF.

As to Lough, I think using his career figures are fine. He'd cover more ground than Nick and his arm is close enough, though I think Nick's is better.

One question I have is who is manning LF and DH in this scenario? Who backs up Davis at 1B?

[weams]

One question I have is who is manning LF and DH in this scenario? Who backs up Davis at 1B?

That was my concern also. There is something to be said for someone who hits against left handers and right handers 150+ times a year.

[weams]

How? If you have a four man bench, with one being a catcher, what stops you from platooning 2 or even 3 spots?

A utility guy probably does not fill the platoon offensively. Earl always wanted a left handed hitting catcher. I guess if you have no Wieters, you could do two. With a real left handed catcher. Not Clevenger. You could platoon a DH. So yeah. I guess. But certainly not two outfield spots.

[Can_of_corn]

Earl platooned two outfield spots.

Hard to compare the eras. Buck keeps a lot more pitchers on his roster.

[Can_of_corn]

There is no reason why a team can't platoon 2 outfield positions.

I agree, I just don't think what Earl did was particularly relevant.

[Dark Helmet]

Good questions but not fair questions. I don't know the makeup of the roster. Davis is going to play EVERYDAY if he's healthy. De Aza is going to be in LF, quite possibly everyday. If De Aza is in LF, Lough in RF, then Pearce, Flaherty, and Joseph are on the bench. That last player could be a RH hitting outfielder/DH. I don't know. And the DH spot is wide open at this point. We could resign Cruz or sign someone else. It's impossible to give a good answer besides just guessing at this point. You guys have us trading Nick Markakis and all of a sudden having no depth at all.

Also, Markakis has a career .793 OPS which is trending down with .693 and .726 the last two years. Pearce has a .765 OPS with .782 and .930 the last two years. It's as if Pearce's 2014 season is being held against him.

Frobbys question is as fair as trhing to predict whag a Lough/Pearce platoon would do trying to use shoŕt sample sizes. No one is holding 2014 against Pearce. It's just it's unlikely he comes close to repeating. And I think Lough is a moot issue. DD and Buck showed what they thought of Lough by aquiring De Aza. They didn't have faith in Lough last year to get regular playing time. I doubt he'll be thought of differently this year. And I agree with weams, LF is where the platoon should be. Im not saying you can't have more than one, but I think Buck likes penciling in Markakis for 150 games and know what he's going to get. Even if it's as you call it "average" production.

[Prayin4Reign]

For all of those who want to resign Markakis, put your money where your mouth is. Project a platoon of Pearce and Lough in RF and tell us what you would expect.

Put your money where your mouth is?.what???

As far as trying to project that platoon, I think it's almost impossible. Pearce had a career year last year, are we really to expect he's going to be the same Steve Pearce? I like the guy plenty, I'm not expecting him to have the same year or really close to it. Lough? Unknown commodity. Buck really didn't trust him last year after his slow start. I think Duquette likes him more.

I want Markakis back for three years, and I think 9 to 10 million a season is fair. I think he's really being undervalued here, but it doesn't surprise me.

I'd like to see him as an Oriole for the rest of his career if he holds up and performs well over the next three seasons (assuming he's signed). There's only 97 players throughout the history of baseball that have collected 2500 hits. I think Markakis will eventually join that club, I actually think he's a lock to get it done. He's less than a 1,000 hits away. I mention that because that's pretty rarified territory. Yeah, maybe the team can get "lucky" and save a few pennies, and take a huge risk on players that are unproven, but I'd be disappointed if they take that approach.

Say what you will, maybe my heart gets in the way, but this game wouldn't be as fun if everything was predicated on cold hard numbers. If that was the case entire team and player legacies would be wiped away.

[Reboulet'sStache]

Say what you will, maybe my heart gets in the way, but this game wouldn't be as fun if everything was predicated on cold hard numbers. If that was the case entire team and player legacies would be wiped away.

What do you want the person running your team to make his baseball decisions based on? I'd think sentimentality and "the heart" would be the last thing anybody would want, at least I hope so.

[Reboulet'sStache]

And I agree with weams, LF is where the platoon should be. Im not saying you can't have more than one, but I think Buck likes penciling in Markakis for 150 games and know what he's going to get. Even if it's as you call it "average" production.

What do you call his production?

[Dark Helmet]

What do you want the person running your team to make his baseball decisions based on? I'd think sentimentality and "the heart" would be the last thing anybody would want' date=' at least I hope so.[/quote']

And DD has proven he doesn't let sentiments factor into his decision making. So, if he's negotiating with Markakis, he obviously feels Nick has value to the team. We just don't know aat what price yet.