Are the O's giving it their best shot? Or should they?

[wildcard]

So the O's were one run away from taking 2 out of 3 from the Angels. Reallllllllly close. And that is with Gonzo not at his best.

So should they put their best team of the field and see if they can make the playoff? Or be cautious and stay with what they have and hope.

If the O's go for it they have to make two moves IMO.

1) They have to call up Givens and DFA Jason Garcia.

2) They need to option Lake and call up Mancini.

Here is why.

The O's traded Hunter and brought up Givens. It looked like a good move. Givens looks like he can handle a one inning bullpen spot. Also DFAing Norris and calling up McFarland also looks like a good move. So the O's are close to their best pitching staff but they need Givens not Garica in the pen to make a run at the playoffs.

Mancini instead of Lake. So far from what Buck has said and done it looks like he will use Lake mostly agains lefties. That is ok but it doesn't give the offense the boost that an everyday player would. Mancini is killing the ball at AA with a 360/391/563/954. He hits righties and lefties. He hits at home and away. He hits in day games and night game.

So bring him up and let him DH. Paredes hasn't hit well since late June. Maybe Mancini has play some 1B and Davis can go to the OF with Wieters and Joesph sharing C/DH.

The point it get the best hitters in the lineup and score a few more runs.

The O's have the power. Manny,Davis, Jones and Schoop look like they can hit at a 30 homer pace the rest of the year.

So here is my question to you.

Should the O's hold on to Garcia for next year?

Or should the O's promote Givens and Mancini and go for it?

[backwardsk]

Givens shouldn't have been sent down in the first place. (McFarland). He should come back up at the 10 day mark.

Hold on to Garcia for the next three weeks.

Mancini for Lake is fine. Not sure if he'll hit better though.

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[Rene88]

Givens should definitely be up here. We could have just not called up Lake and kept both Garcia and Givens.

As for Macini, I would love to hear from Stotle if he thinks he is ready. I was at the game yesterday behind the plate and was very impressed with him. Took charge in the field too. Having said that, not sure if he translates to the majors quite yet. I honestly don't know the answer there.

Regardless, this is just not a playoff team. Period. Starting pitching wins games and right now, we are a sloppy mess.

We are all over the place overall with no consistent strategy. Trade Davies for a guy that won't be here, yet keep Garcia and handcuff Buck? Makes no sense.

[DrungoHazewood]

2) They need to option Lake and call up Mancini.

It is certainly up for debate as to whether calling up Mancini is "giving it their best shot." I think that the Orioles don't believe he would currently be an asset to the major league team.

[24fps]

Garcia is an anchor in the bullpen. The wrong kind of anchor. DFA him and bring up Givens yesterday.

I'd like to see a little more of Lake and I'm not convinced taking a chance on AA success translating to the ML level while the games matter is the right course for a team giving it their "best shot".

[ECUDrummer]

So far, I haven't seen any reason as to why we should be holding on to Jason Garcia. He hasn't shown enough to benefit the team and he hasn't shown enough to make him a threat with someone else in the division (other than being able to throw heat).

As far as Mancini, I'd like to see him play in the bigs but just because he can play at AA doesn't mean he can play at the top level. Then again, they did give Givens a chance and he's proved to be successful thus far.

[ECUDrummer]

Givens shouldn't have been sent down in the first place. (McFarland). He should come back up at the 10 day mark.

Hold on to Garcia for the next three weeks.

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But why? He's taking up a spot in the bullpen and he hasn't proved to be any good. Threw 14 pitches in his last outing, 5 were strikes.

[backwardsk]

But why? He's taking up a spot in the bullpen and he hasn't proved to be any good. Threw 14 pitches in his last outing, 5 were strikes.

Our organization lacks talented pitchers. The current difference between him and McFarland is not big enough to give up on him, IMO.

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[DrungoHazewood]

But why? He's taking up a spot in the bullpen and he hasn't proved to be any good. Threw 14 pitches in his last outing, 5 were strikes.

As I said several days ago it's not apparent from the performance record why Garcia is here. You have to conclude that the Orioles scouts really like him.

[ECUDrummer]

As I said several days ago it's not apparent from the performance record why Garcia is here. You have to conclude that the Orioles scouts really like him.

I guess that's why I'm not a scout.

Or, perhaps, Garcia has pics of Duquette with another woman.

[weams]

As I said several days ago it's not apparent from the performance record why Garcia is here. You have to conclude that the Orioles scouts really like him.

They really like a 22 year old that has four pitches, never pitched above A ball to this year, doesn't get hammered by major leaguers, that can throw 98. You are right, it is not data driven.

[TheDirtyBird]

If we're really giving it our best shot then trade for Shields, send Gonzo to the pen and hope for the best. Also why not bring up Alvarez too. I don't want these things, well maybe Alvarez, but if you're going to go for it then GO for it

[hoosiers]

I like the question posed in the opening thread. We have only three weeks or so until rosters expand and at this point it seems that the relative difference in that time frame between Garcia and Givens is not worth giving up on Garcia.

However, our front office has been juggling the roster and keeping players who can contribute in the minors for a few days here and a few days there all season. For instance, Schoop could have been called up sooner. Our FO held onto Norris in the mistaken belief he would generate some value at the deadline after keeping him in the rotation into July. I personally don't like these little moves and would prefer to see our best 25 guys on the roster in August to win .... but our FO has insisted this race to the playoffs is a marathon and not a sprint and IMO our FO has traded wins for a deeper bench of 25 man roster guys.

Perhaps our front office will be vindicated by these decisions. We'll see.

[ArtVanDelay]

They really like a 22 year old that has four pitches, never pitched above A ball to this year, doesn't get hammered by major leaguers, that can throw 98. You are right, it is not data driven.

Exactly. I'm not sure why so many people think we should DFA Garcia. It isn't going to happen. We've held onto him this long, why would we DFA him with 3 weeks to go until rosters expand? He has the talent, he just needs a couple more years in the minors.

[Rene88]

Exactly. I'm not sure why so many people think we should DFA Garcia. It isn't going to happen. We've held onto him this long, why would we DFA him with 3 weeks to go until rosters expand? He has the talent, he just needs a couple more years in the minors.

And Davies might be a good pitcher. So which is it? Are you trying to win or are you trying to collect prospects? Because if it is the latter, you shouldn't have made any trades and been a seller at the deadline.