Proposed: Drake and Garcia for RF Rockies Jordan Patterson

[Number5]

2 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Kim is going to play somewhere against RHP's.   What is he if he's not either the LF or DH against RHP's, a pinch hitter deluxe?   He wouldn't be a pinch runner for many players and he wouldn't be going in for defense.    If no other significant moves are made, Smith, Kim, Rickard, and Mancini are going get a lot of time between LF/RF and DH with Rickard most likely getting RH AB's against LHP in LF.    Right now, IMO,  Kim is the LF, Smith the RF, and Mancini the DH.   I do not see much of a role for someone like Patterson or Tavarez who are LH hitters, unless Kim or Smith move to DH.    You don't have a backup LH hitter to back up a LH hitting LF and RF.     Your Patterson trade makes sense from a value perspective in that he has options and Drake doesn't.    I do see Drake possibly fitting into an Orioles bullpen   1) Britton  2) O'Day  3) Brach  4) Hart  5) Givens  6) Drake  7) Long man.

Most likely the Orioles won't be able to resist a bargain.    The only legit defensive OF in the bunch is Angel Pagan.   The others are mostly DH types who "can" play the field.   If it's not Trumbo, Brandon Moss and Pedro Alvarez are the next most likely and they could platoon with Mancini at DH.    Against RHP's that would leave a bench of  1) backup catcher  2) Flaherty  3) Mancini   4) Rickard.    Signing Trumbo would send Mancini to AAA or another team and create a space for another RH hitting OF to platoon with Smith, otherwise you have a LH hitter like Kim or Smith playing everyday.    Signing Pagan would likely create a platoon of Kim/Rickard in LF with Mancni/Smith at DH or you could switch Smith/Kim depending who they think is the better LF option.

I would be very surprised if the plan going into the season was giving Rickard a full time job in the outfield although he hit his way into just that last year.

 

 

Pagan was once a pretty good defensive player.  Not for some time though.  Last good defensive season for him was 2010.  I'm confident he would play better defensively in RF than Trumbo, but, surprisingly, not by so much as you might think.  Certainly not by enough to outweigh Trumbo's power.  In looking at his numbers, especially over the past four seasons, I think we have been overrating Pagan.  He doesn't hit LHP well at all, and his overall numbers aren't very exciting.  He also has missed a lot of time.  The most games played in any season of the last four was 133 (a year in which his OPS was .635.)  Two of those seasons he played less than 100 games.  And he turns 36 in July.  The future outlook doesn't appear real good to me.

I don't think signing Trumbo affects Mancini any differently than signing Pagan would, if the Orioles want Mancini on the big club.  He could still platoon with Smith.  Trumbo would DH vs. RHP with Smith in RF, and Trumbo would play RF vs. LHP, with Manicini moving into the lineup at DH. 

I previously thought Pagan was a real option for the Orioles, but I've now convinced myself otherwise, after reviewing Pagan's numbers and history.