O's Interested in Juan Uribe

[Oriole4Life]

Just let Luis Hernandez play and save the money. He's not that bad at the plate, is he(I didn't get a chance to see him play late last year)? I know he's solid in the field. Unless we can do a simple trade like some of you have sugggested(Payton, Gibbons) then let it be.

[DrungoHazewood]

Just let Luis Hernandez play and save the money. He's not that bad at the plate, is he(I didn't get a chance to see him play late last year)?

He'd likely be one of the worst, if not the worst, hitters in the majors. This is a man who failed to post a .600 OPS in AA, and has a career AAA OBP of .217. But if the alternative is Juan Uribe putting up a .280 OBP and playing only adequate defense Hernandez' whole package as a ballplayer might still be a better option.

[Boy Howdy]

He'd likely be one of the worst, if not the worst, hitters in the majors. This is a man who failed to post a .600 OPS in AA, and has a career AAA OBP of .217. But if the alternative is Juan Uribe putting up a .280 OBP and playing only adequate defense Hernandez' whole package as a ballplayer might still be a better option.

You're right that he can't hit, of course, but Luis' career OPS in AA is .619 & he's only played 28 career games at AAA.

[ACE]

He'd likely be one of the worst, if not the worst, hitters in the majors. This is a man who failed to post a .600 OPS in AA, and has a career AAA OBP of .217. But if the alternative is Juan Uribe putting up a .280 OBP and playing only adequate defense Hernandez' whole package as a ballplayer might still be a better option.

How does Uribe rank in the field? From what I've read he would fall on the top half of AL SS's. How would Hernandez stack up defensively against Uribe?

[DrungoHazewood]

You're right that he can't hit, of course, but Luis' career OPS in AA is .619 & he's only played 28 career games at AAA.

Yep, we're both right. All the evidence points to him being among the worst hitters in the majors.

[Oriole4Life]

Well that is pretty bad. However, I was just looking at his stats from last year, and in limited time he hit .290(20 hits in 69 at bats) and had an OBP of .300. That's alright. I realize that it was only 69 at bats, but you never know, maybe Crowley can coach him up and turn him into a Triple Crown contender.

On a related note, I was just browsing the Minors forum to see if we have any SS in the system(since this is obviously an area we need help), and I saw tons of pitchers with an occasional INF, but no SS. Do we have any SS that have potential in our farm system? I am not an expert in this area.

[Dr. FLK]

You're right that he can't hit, of course, but Luis' career OPS in AA is .619 & he's only played 28 career games at AAA.

619 OPS in AA? Heck, sign him up! If you were trying to boost our opinion of him, I'd say you failed...

[Dr. FLK]

Well that is pretty bad. However, I was just looking at his stats from last year, and in limited time he hit .290(20 hits in 69 at bats) and had an OBP of .300. That's alright. I realize that it was only 69 at bats, but you never know, maybe Crowley can coach him up and turn him into a Triple Crown contender.

And those numbers correspond to a 662 OPS, which is pretty cruddy. So, we should ignore his horrendous minor league numbers for 69 slightly less horrendous ABs in the big leagues?

[DrungoHazewood]

Well that is pretty bad. However, I was just looking at his stats from last year, and in limited time he hit .290(20 hits in 69 at bats) and had an OBP of .300. That's alright. I realize that it was only 69 at bats, but you never know, maybe Crowley can coach him up and turn him into a Triple Crown contender.

I'm not sure you want to go there. Seriously.

[Oriole4Life]

^(FruitLoopKid)No, we shouldn't. I'm just saying, give the little dude a chance. In all likelihood he will bat less than .250, but as I mentioned in my initial post, take his glove and look for a long-term solution in the meantime.

[Lucky Jim]

^(FruitLoopKid)No, we shouldn't. I'm just saying, give the little dude a chance. In all likelihood he will bat less than .250, but as I mentioned in my initial post, take his glove and look for a long-term solution in the meantime.

It would be okay if he hit under .250, perhaps. But he's also got a chance to have OBP and SLG under .300. He's that bad.

I don't mind if he's our SS this year. But it shouldn't be because he's "earned" it. By no stretch of the imagination has he done anything warranting a full-time job as a middle infielder.

[RShack]

This is a man who... has a career AAA OBP of .217.

Why is it OK to cite how he did in 28 AAA games, and use that as evidence, yet it's not OK to refer to how he did in 30 games with the O's?

Evidently, the small MLB sample that says he did OK doesn't count, while the small AAA that says he's terrible counts.

Why is that?

(Yes, I know how he did at AA. But watch somebody ignore the question and change the subject to that anyway.)

[xKHx]

He could be a reincarnate of mark lemke (LH that is). Post season legend! Full season is horrendous then in limited at bats for the post season he hits 300+ and triples galore. Whatever! I can dream!:002_stongue:

[blueberryale77]

Well that is pretty bad. However, I was just looking at his stats from last year, and in limited time he hit .290(20 hits in 69 at bats) and had an OBP of .300. That's alright. I realize that it was only 69 at bats, but you never know, maybe Crowley can coach him up and turn him into a Triple Crown contender.

I'm going to get flamed for this for a number of reasons, but I'm going to say it anyway...

Do you know what I think could possibly help Luis Hernandez turn into a somewhat respectable hitter (at least for a defensive wizard)?

Brian Roberts.

The two of them seemed to form a bond last year and Roberts has spoken twice on the Anita Marks show this winter about his desire to mentor the youngster. Brian seems to have a higher opinion of Luis' ability than most sane people on here, but as both a professional player and the son of a college coach, he might just have the expertise to be seeing something we're missing. He'd also be an ideal candidate to teach Luis some of the things he's lacking. Brian has pretty much the ideal approach at the plate for a "little guy." He might be able to reach Luis in a way no prior hitting coach has about the importance of patience and pitch selection, and might even be able to help with his mechanics. He could also impart advice on strength training, something that couldn't possibly hurt a guy who looks to have a fairly solid build but doesn't seem to hit the ball with any authority whatsoever. Of course, the chances of Hernandez suddenly blossoming under BRob's tutelage aren't great enough to singlehandedly be worth altering the course of the rebuilding process if a solid package is out there that MacPhail really thinks makes the team better in the long run, but if Roberts does stick around, I think an improved Luis Hernandez could eventually be one of the benefits. As an added benefit, the two of them turned some sick double plays together last year while Tejada was on the DL. I think Luis could also help Brian return to the aggressive defensive player he was consistently before his elbow injury.

[Lucky Jim]

I'm going to get flamed for this for a number of reasons, but I'm going to say it anyway...

Do you know what I think could possibly help Luis Hernandez turn into a somewhat respectable hitter (at least for a defensive wizard)?

Brian Roberts.

The two of them seemed to form a bond last year and Roberts has spoken twice on the Anita Marks show this winter about his desire to mentor the youngster. Brian seems to have a higher opinion of Luis' ability than most sane people on here, but as both a professional player and the son of a college coach, he might just have the expertise to be seeing something we're missing. He'd also be an ideal candidate to teach Luis some of the things he's lacking. Brian has pretty much the ideal approach at the plate for a "little guy." He might be able to reach Luis in a way no prior hitting coach has about the importance of patience and pitch selection, and might even be able to help with his mechanics. He could also impart advice on strength training, something that couldn't possibly hurt a guy who looks to have a fairly solid build but doesn't seem to hit the ball with any authority whatsoever. Of course, the chances of Hernandez suddenly blossoming under BRob's tutelage aren't great enough to singlehandedly be worth altering the course of the rebuilding process if a solid package is out there that MacPhail really thinks makes the team better in the long run, but if Roberts does stick around, I think an improved Luis Hernandez could eventually be one of the benefits.

Where's the winking emoticon?