Roch: Josh Kusnick (Agent39) Speaks of Clevenger Demotion

[Redskins Rick]

Clevenger has thrown out 13% of the runners that attempt to steal against him inthe major leagues and pitchers put up a 4.81 ERA to him. At the end of the day, he needs to be able to control the running game and call a better game to catch for Buck. I understand his and his agent's frustration because he clearly seems to have the stick to play at this level as a backup catcher, but he probably needs to be on a team with a manager who values the bat over the defense for their backup catcher.

Thank you.

The voice of reason!

[Crazysilver03]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Where is T.J. McFarland's agent right now? Think he is happy Garcia is on the O's over McFarland? These things usually work themselves out.</p>— Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer) <a href="

">April 8, 2015</a></blockquote>

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

Sorry TJ. You were outpitched by Garcia.

And this compares apples to oranges. If TJM is called up. He usually gets used.

[wildcard]

Clevenger played in 22 ST games and had 40 at bats. That is more than any other O's catcher this spring. More have Joseph, Lavarnway, Arencibia or Ward. There have been many, many scouts a the ST games. If Clevenger skills were rated high he would be in demand from other clubs. The fact that he is still an Oriole when the O's have so many catchers does not speak highly about the demand for him.

I don't think his agent popping off to the media helps Clevenger much. It might hurt him. What team wants to trade for a marginal catcher who's agent would rather talk to the press than the club. The agent said in his statement he hasn't talked to the O's. Bad form IMO.

"I haven't talked to anybody with the club about what happened and what went into the decision. I don't know if they're going to tell me even if I were to ask again."

[Redskins Rick]

Sorry TJ. You were outpitched by Garcia.

And this compares apples to oranges. If TJM is called up. He usually gets used.

You dont use 2-5 catchers per game, and not have to watch how many innings and how they are used.

[Crazysilver03]

Thank you.

The voice of reason!

This isn't anyrhing that most people don't know. No one is really clamoring for Clevenger.

[Crazysilver03]

You dont use 2-5 catchers per game, and not have to watch how many innings and how they are used.

Yet another reason why it was a stupid comparison.

[mdbdotcom]

How can it help a marginal player like Clevenger find a job when his agent pops off to the press? I bet there are players just as good as Steve with agents who don't try to make an organization look bad. And each of them is now more desirable to a team than Steve Clevenger.

[backwardsk]

Is Kusnick the guy who posts on here from time to time and has had multiple surgeries? Is that what Agent39 means?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[berettafan]

Clevenger played in 22 ST games and had 40 at bats. That is more than any other O's catcher this spring. More have Joseph, Lavarnway, Arencibia or Ward. There have been many, many scouts a the ST games. If Clevenger skills were rated high he would be in demand from other clubs. The fact that he is still an Oriole when the O's have so many catchers does not speak highly about the demand for him.

So could it possibly be they were marketing him to other teams by putting him out there? Hoping to get a bite?

[Rene88]

I don't blame Clevenger for being unhappy and I don't blame Kusnick for standing up for his guy. I think it's pretty obvious that the O's like Lavarnway a little better, though Buck isn't coming right out and saying that.

Sometimes you do have to do things better for the player however to get others to sign with you. IMO, this is a case where Clevenger should just let be let go. He would catch on somewhere else.

I love Clevenger. Local kid, a few close friends of mine know his family, hard not to wanna see him succeed.

It reminds me of the Steve Lombardozzi situation.

[Redskins Rick]

Sometimes you do have to do things better for the player however to get others to sign with you. IMO, this is a case where Clevenger should just let be let go. He would catch on somewhere else.

I love Clevenger. Local kid, a few close friends of mine know his family, hard not to wanna see him succeed.

It reminds me of the Steve Lombardozzi situation.

True, similar, both good guys, and both lacking the necessary skills to stay at the ML level.

[Redskins Rick]

Fixed that for you.

You are right.

Buck has his standards, and from the results, it's working.

[DoubleStufOriole]

Maybe I'm a bit biased because I work as a public relations specialist, but it's not good for the organization to have two players/agents publicly complain about the way they are treated by management over the course of the past three days. Words like "confused" and "left in the dark" aren't complimentary.

I honestly would have kept Webb on the roster and optioned Gausman and left Clevenger on the roster and Lavarnway in AAA, but the guys making the decisions are paid to win ballgames, not keep people happy. I just avoid rocking the boat as much as possible.

As was already mentioned, Clevenger has ties to the Baltimore area and really wants to play for his hometown team...and he's not being given much of a chance, even after clearly winning the spring training battle over Lavarnway, both offensively and defensively.

[Redskins Rick]

Maybe I'm a bit biased because I work as a public relations specialist, but it's not good for the organization to have two players/agents publicly complain about the way they are treated by management over the course of the past three days. Words like "confused" and "left in the dark" aren't complimentary.

I honestly would have kept Webb on the roster and optioned Gausman and left Clevenger on the roster and Lavarnway in AAA, but the guys making the decisions are paid to win ballgames, not keep people happy. I just avoid rocking the boat as much as possible.

As was already mentioned, Clevenger has ties to the Baltimore area and really wants to play for his hometown team...and he's not being given much of a chance, even after clearly winning the spring training battle over Lavarnway, both offensively and defensively.

Not sure that was as clearly as you think.

Lavarnway had a better percent of throwing out runners, and from the reports of Roch, at least in his opinion, Lavarnway was better behind the plate working with the pitchers. I guess that's the "old eye" test.

[Crazysilver03]

Maybe I'm a bit biased because I work as a public relations specialist, but it's not good for the organization to have two players/agents publicly complain about the way they are treated by management over the course of the past three days. Words like "confused" and "left in the dark" aren't complimentary.

I honestly would have kept Webb on the roster and optioned Gausman and left Clevenger on the roster and Lavarnway in AAA, but the guys making the decisions are paid to win ballgames, not keep people happy. I just avoid rocking the boat as much as possible.

As was already mentioned, Clevenger has ties to the Baltimore area and really wants to play for his hometown team...and he's not being given much of a chance, even after clearly winning the spring training battle over Lavarnway, both offensively and defensively.

I know players barely pay attention to roster management. But fans identified Webb and Clevenger as candidates to not make the team months ago. If the two of them are confused it is because they lack common sense.