A Role for Kim

[canonfaz]

I heard on MLB radio today that Kim was on waivers during spring training and any team could have had him. I had never heard that before.

I sure am glad that every other team was seeing what we were during spring training!

[Sessh]

Far too dramatic for me. We have no idea what conversations Buck (and Dan) had with Kim or his people this spring, or what conversations they've privately had since then. I am not a person who thinks Buck can do no wrong, but I think people have blown this issue way out of proportion. If managers publicly apologized every time they misjudged a player's ability or how much playing time to give him, the apologies would be endless.

Disagree. Buck said things about Kim publicly during that whole debacle. He said it in the public eye on the public stage because he was so sure he was right about Kim. The organization was publicly saying how

Kim wasn't major league material, how he wouldn't make the team, how he was benched unjustly in spring training and how he needed seasoning in the minors. Due to all this, he was vilified by some of the fan base as

not being a team player and judged as a guy who couldn't hit ML pitching and was terrible defensively. He was put on waivers for any team to grab and the organization wanted to send him back home and every single

one of the Orioles judgments particularly and mostly Buck's was so horribly and offensively wrong that he SHOULD apologize publicly since Kim was mistreated by Buck and the Orioles publicly. There is no "too dramatic"

about it. The Orioles were the ones that wanted to slam Kim in the public eye and it's the right thing to do to issue the apology in the same way as well both for PR in Korea and because it's just the right thing to do.

[CallMeBrooksie]

Disagree. Buck said things about Kim publicly during that whole debacle. He said it in the public eye on the public stage because he was so sure he was right about Kim. The organization was publicly saying how

Kim wasn't major league material, how he wouldn't make the team,

I'm not saying you're wrong, but can you source those comments for me? I know that Buck has been known to make some thinly-veiled comments about players' performances in the past, but I'd genuinely like to know exactly what he said and the question/context behind the statements, because I'm fuzzy on that.

[Can_of_corn]

I'm not saying you're wrong, but can you source those comments for me? I know that Buck has been known to make some thinly-veiled comments about players' performances in the past, but I'd genuinely like to know exactly what he said and the question/context behind the statements, because I'm fuzzy on that.

Found this so far.

Still looking.

[Aristotelian]

Disagree. Buck said things about Kim publicly during that whole debacle. He said it in the public eye on the public stage because he was so sure he was right about Kim. The organization was publicly saying how

Kim wasn't major league material, how he wouldn't make the team, how he was benched unjustly in spring training and how he needed seasoning in the minors. Due to all this, he was vilified by some of the fan base as

not being a team player and judged as a guy who couldn't hit ML pitching and was terrible defensively. He was put on waivers for any team to grab and the organization wanted to send him back home and every single

one of the Orioles judgments particularly and mostly Buck's was so horribly and offensively wrong that he SHOULD apologize publicly since Kim was mistreated by Buck and the Orioles publicly. There is no "too dramatic"

about it. The Orioles were the ones that wanted to slam Kim in the public eye and it's the right thing to do to issue the apology in the same way as well both for PR in Korea and because it's just the right thing to do.

I agree with just about everything you said except I do not think he was every placed on waivers.

The team did leak publicly that he would not make the 25-man roster until he called their bluff. In fact, they said he would DH at Norfolk, which would have put him behind Avery, Walker, Alvarez etc. I thought the whole thing absolutely reflected poorly on the Orioles. a) They misjudged Kim's ability; b) they attempted to manipulate him through the media (at the same time as leaking Gallardo's injury and Fowler's "signing"); c) they revealed a disconnect between Buck and Dan and/or Dan and the international scouts; e) by doing this publicly, they put Kim in a potentially bad light with the fans and players by forcing him to claim a roster spot that nobody thought he deserved; f) by going back on the decision to sign him they gave the public the impression that they don't have confidence in their own decisions.

Even if they did not want to play him, all of this could have been avoided by giving him a shot in the spring and saying publicly that he earned his spot.

I doubt an apology at this point does anyone any good, any by all accounts Kim is happy and so are the Orioles. No need to relive the past, but let's not pretend the past didn't happen.

[Ruzious]

Seems kinda odd that the O's give him no atbats against lefties. Serves him right for letting has batting average fall below .350.

[JKOriole]

Found this so far.

Still looking.

When he was benched in ST:

“I’m probably not going to play him until Dan gets ... until the situation comes to a head. It’s prudent where we are right now,” Showalter said.

[Can_of_corn]

"I've had enough people tell me that this isn't him, that he just doesn't seem to be the same guy [he was in Korea]," Showalter said. "I don't know if it's the better velocity, the better pitching …"

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-schmuck-column-orioles-0316-20160315-column.html

[Can_of_corn]

When he was benched in ST:

“I’m probably not going to play him until Dan gets ... until the situation comes to a head. It’s prudent where we are right now,” Showalter said.

Nice, you have a source for the quote? Brooksie specifically asked for sources.

[bpilktree]

Park just got sent down by Twins. They paid him lot more money but Kim looks like better player. Kim has a better short swing.

[JKOriole]

Nice, you have a source for the quote? Brooksie specifically asked for sources.

It was in a MASN article. I'll try and find the link again

[JKOriole]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-schmuck-column-orioles-0316-20160315-column.html

Showalter was hesitant Sunday to endorse Kim’s chances of making the big league roster. Asked whether he believes Kim will make the big league club — according to a clause in his deal, he must give the team permission to send him to the minors — Showalter said he was "competing," then backtracked slightly.

“That’s not completely true,” Showalter said. “So we’ll see what the next few days bring. We’ve got some tough decisions to make.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-buck-showalter-hesitant-to-say-whether-hyun-soo-kim-will-make-orioles-roster-20160327-story.html

[JKOriole]

Nice, you have a source for the quote? Brooksie specifically asked for sources.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2016/03/buck-showalter-on-the-rotation-hyun-soo-kim-and-guys-on-the-bubble.html

[Can_of_corn]

Kim should play every day vs. any kind of pitchers. He rarely strikes out, hits to all fields and plays the field well enough. Hes a solid player for us.

You know that means Nolan isn't going to play right?

Rickard has been hitting left handers.

[Can_of_corn]

Park just got sent down by Twins. They paid him lot more money but Kim looks like better player. Kim has a better short swing.

Park has a lot more power but Kim is the more skilled hitter.