Face facts: Freddie Bynum is not the answer at SS

[HoodGuy007]

If you put him there and leave him for a week or two then place Boom Boom back at SS he will look like a gold glover so not a bad idea.

I'm actually going to disagree. Branynumandez is the answer. He's 1/2 Brandon Fahey, 1/2 Boom Boom Hernandez. Or is he 1/2 Boom, 1/2 Luis Fahey?

[Sports Guy]

No, he is not the answer but he appears to be much more of the answer than anyone in the system.

[El Gordo]

I still say Huff is the answer he's the best hitter of the bunch.:rolleyestf:

[mweb]

He's the answer on my franchise on MLB The Show, where he helped lead the O's to the 2008 World Series title!

But yeah, better than Hernandez, not as though that's saying much. As others were saying, no one was saying he's the answer, just possibly the best in house option.

[Old#5fan]

Freddie has worked a lot on his defense when he was rehabbing. He has looked better defensively then he has in the past. He certainly hasnt played himself out of a job like Hernandez did.[/QUOTE]

Just give him time. You will long for LH's glove after watching Bynum play such a key position in the infield with insufficient skills.

[Sports Guy]

Freddie has worked a lot on his defense when he was rehabbing. He has looked better defensively then he has in the past. He certainly hasnt played himself out of a job like Hernandez did.[/QUOTE]

Just give him time. You will long for LH's glove after watching Bynum play such a key position in the infield with insufficient skills.

In a very small sample size thus far, LH doesn't look that much better with the glove and offensively, Bynum is much better...He also has a lot more speed and energy and hustle.

[orayole]

I thought the Answer was Allen Iverson:wedge:

Bynum just needs some....practice.... :wedge:

[Whitty_BDB]

Luis: 145 career AB, .303 OBP, .310 SLG, 4 SB, .972 fielding % in 53 games at SS

Freddie: 258 AB, .304 OBP, .446 SLG, 16 SB, .981 fielding % in 20 games at SS

Freddie's got a bit more pop in the bat. If a guy's gonna get on base at the same rate as Luis, wouldn't you rather have the stolen base threat there to turn singles into a runner in scoring position?

Fielding is the question mark. It's a small sample size at the major league level for both guys, but I think Freddie offers more total skills that help a club win based on their numbers so far. If his defense is truly atrocious come mid-season, a re-evaluation is certainly in order. I doubt we'll see either guy helping Baltimore win a pennant, so let's think short-term and give Freddie at least as many games as Luis to make an impression.

[Roll Tide]

Freddie has worked a lot on his defense when he was rehabbing. He has looked better defensively then he has in the past. He certainly hasnt played himself out of a job like Hernandez did.[/QUOTE]

Just give him time. You will long for LH's glove after watching Bynum play such a key position in the infield with insufficient skills.

LH is no more than a AAA player. Thus I'm not sure I understand why the man crush. No disrespect intended #5 but he will never be more than a utility infielder that hits .230 or less with no speed or power. His defense was poor & he cant hit. Bynum will have to do until AM can get us a young SS in another deal.

[ChaosLex]

LH is no more than a AAA player. Thus I'm not sure I understand why the man crush. No disrespect intended #5 but he will never be more than a utility infielder that hits .230 or less with no speed or power. His defense was poor & he cant hit. Bynum will have to do until AM can get us a young SS in another deal.

Actually, he's not even a AA player.

[Trace21230]

One thing I don't like about Bynum is that he seems to hit into a lot of double plays. For as speedy as he is, opposing teams shouldn't be turning two on him constantly.

Is he the "answer"? I don't know. Given the choices of Luis Hernandez, Brandon Fahey, Cintron or Bynum, he might be "the answer" after all.

[Anonymous]

I'm not quite sure why this got transformed into a Boom Boom vs. LH thread (other than that's the kind of thing we do around here). The OP asked a legitimate question about Bynum vs. Cintron -- the only credible candidate within the organization who has NOT yet gotten a shot at the SS job.

Unfortunately, though, all the reports we've had so far on Cintron shouldn't leave any of us too optimistic that he'll be a defensive upgrade over Bynum. So unless those reports have been way off base or deserve revision because he's just now rounding into form in a way that wasn't apparent a couple of weeks ago, we can't invest too much hope in Cintron as even the shortest of short-term answers. Sure, I'm curious to see him get some time at SS, mostly for the purpose of ruling him out as a candidate more conclusively (while retaining a faint hope otherwise). But Freddie's probably the best of the bunch right now.

[ScottieBaseball]

To be clear...I never for one minute thought that Freddie was the long-term answer (and I don't think anyone else on this board thought so either). I was hoping that his defense would be no worse than mediocre and that the O's could live with it for 2008. Unfortunately I think his defense is worse than mediocre.

But the title of the thread implies that someone was in denial about Freddie Bynum's status as our shortstop. I'm pretty sure that NO ONE, not even the O's believes he's a long-term answer.

[davearm]

I seem to recall that back around Opening Day, the few folks willing to defend Hernandez did so primarily on the grounds that his defense would be phenomenal.

How funny, then, that in the span of about 30 ballgames, Hernandez' defensive reputation has gone from stellar to not quite as good as Bynum, a guy that's never even been a SS. Ouch!

[clapdiddy]

I seem to recall that back around Opening Day, the few folks willing to defend Hernandez did so primarily on the grounds that his defense would be phenomenal.

How funny, then, that in the span of about 30 ballgames, Hernandez' defensive reputation has gone from stellar to not quite as good as Bynum, a guy that's never even been a SS. Ouch!

I don't know if you've seen Hernandez play, but he's average to me. He looked great in his short stint here last year, but I don't see him being any more than slightly above average.

Bynum looks to be below average, but I think his speed and bat make him a much better option for us right now. He hasn't killed us in the field, but he hasn't made some plays he needs to make...the grounder in the first inning by Ellsbury comes to mind. I think he's "OK" for now, but I don't think anyone here is fooled into thinking he's a long-term solution.

I don't think Bynum is as good defensively as Hernandez, but I don't think the difference is THAT significant.