Dan's not done. Wants to add pitcher & speedy outfielder

[wildcard]

Dan Connolly interviewed Dan Duquette after he spoke at the York Luncheon.    Here are a couple of comments he shared:

On adding an outfielder:

“I think we still have some work to do to upgrade our outfield defense. Our outfield defense wasn’t quite up to the level that it needs to be to be real solid in comparison to the rest of the league. So, we’ve got some more work to do in terms of getting some more speed in our outfield and then, also, I think there are some things we can do with our positioning to put ourselves in a better position to make a few more plays.”

“We’ve got our eye on a couple players that we hope to be able to sign and bring them to spring training. … We want to take a look at (Tavarez) in the spring and then we’ve got our eye out for some other outfielders that can help our club.”

Asked whether he was specifically targeting a left-handed hitter or right-handed hitter for that spot, Duquette responded: “No, not really. We’ve got pretty good depth and comparability. We just need a little bit more speed, I believe.”

On adding pitching:

“We’re still trying to sign some veteran pitching. We traded a veteran pitcher in (Yovani) Gallardo for (Seth) Smith so, ideally, we’d like to have another one on our ballclub to take a look at in the spring. … We’re always looking for pitching depth. I’d like us to get a little bit more depth to our relief and, ideally, another starter.”

Here is Dan Connolly's  article for BaltimoreBaseball.com

http://www.baltimorebaseball.com/2017/01/25/duquette-talks-outfield-upgrades-starting-pitching-needs-trumbo/

Dan also just started a weekly radio show on the York station.   You can hear the Dan's entire interview with Dan here:

 

 

 

 

[Spy Fox]

Can we guess this most likely means Bourn and Worley?

[ChuckS]

Vet SP on a minor league deal to come in and compete in Spring Training, likely ends up in Triple A or as a long man.  

He seems more serious about adding a major league player to bolster the OF.  That could be bad news for Rickard or Mancini.  Certainly the Rule V guy Tavarez sticking seems less and less likely. 

 

[Aristotelian]

2 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

Can we guess this most likely means Bourn and Worley?

Those were the names that came to mind. Maybe Tommy Hunter. 

[weams]

8 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

Can we guess this most likely means Bourn and Worley?

I would. 

[Roll Tide]

2 minutes ago, weams said:

I would. 

I'm no thanks excited about either of these signings and you'd think you can Worleys production from one of our young pitchers.

[bird watcher]

10 hours ago, wildcard said:

Dan Connolly interviewed Dan Duquette after he spoke at the York Luncheon.    Here are a couple of comments he shared:

On adding an outfielder:

“I think we still have some work to do to upgrade our outfield defense. Our outfield defense wasn’t quite up to the level that it needs to be to be real solid in comparison to the rest of the league. So, we’ve got some more work to do in terms of getting some more speed in our outfield and then, also, I think there are some things we can do with our positioning to put ourselves in a better position to make a few more plays.”

“We’ve got our eye on a couple players that we hope to be able to sign and bring them to spring training. … We want to take a look at (Tavarez) in the spring and then we’ve got our eye out for some other outfielders that can help our club.”

Asked whether he was specifically targeting a left-handed hitter or right-handed hitter for that spot, Duquette responded: “No, not really. We’ve got pretty good depth and comparability. We just need a little bit more speed, I believe.”

On adding pitching:

“We’re still trying to sign some veteran pitching. We traded a veteran pitcher in (Yovani) Gallardo for (Seth) Smith so, ideally, we’d like to have another one on our ballclub to take a look at in the spring. … We’re always looking for pitching depth. I’d like us to get a little bit more depth to our relief and, ideally, another starter.”

Here is Dan Connolly's  article for BaltimoreBaseball.com

http://www.baltimorebaseball.com/2017/01/25/duquette-talks-outfield-upgrades-starting-pitching-needs-trumbo/

Dan also just started a weekly radio show on the York station.   You can hear the Dan's entire interview with Dan here

 

The bolded part stood out to me.  What exactly does he mean?  Perhaps pointing at Jones playing deeper?  Perhaps moving Jones off CF if he is able to add the speedy OF?  What else could he mean here?

 

 

 

[25 Nuggets]

9 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

Can we guess this most likely means Bourn and Worley?

You could do worse than those two as the final spots on your 25-,man roster.

Personally, I would take a flier on Desmond Jennings, but he hasn't seen playing time like Bourn has recently.  Other speedy outfielders left include Chris Coghlan, Peter Bourjos... and that's about it.  Brennan Boesch?  Sam Fuld?  37-year old Coco Crisp?  An Alejandro De Aza reunion?

Among relief pitchers that could spot start, Worley isn't much worse than Travis Wood.  If you don't believe me look at their last two seasons:

• Worley:  3.75 ERA, 112 ERA+, 4.37 FIP, 1.396 WHIP, 9.4 H/9, 1.0 HR/9, 3.2 BB/9, 6.0 K/9
• Wood:  3.51 ERA, 111 ERA+, 3.83 FIP, 1.200 WHIP, 7.3 H/9, 1.1 HR/9, 3.4 BB/9, 9.2 K/9

Basically Worley gets hit a bit more than Wood does.  It's worth noting that Wood's high K rate is due to a wild swing (10.5 in 2015, 6.9 in 2016).

[Es4M11]

1 hour ago, bird watcher said:

The bolded part stood out to me.  What exactly does he mean?  Perhaps pointing at Jones playing deeper?  Perhaps moving Jones off CF if he is able to add the speedy OF?  What else could he mean here?

Maybe he means not playing Kim in the left-center field alley, 15-20 steps in front of the wall?

[bird watcher]

14 minutes ago, Es4M11 said:

Maybe he means not playing Kim in the left-center field alley, 15-20 steps in front of the wall?

Perhaps.  LOL  I remember seeing a batted balls graphic that showed Jones missing way more balls deep and to his right than to his left.  Perhaps covering more of that area with Jones and leaving a bit more of a gap in the Right/Center alley would be better statistically?  With Jones and Trumbo in the OF you have two pretty strong arms to minimize the risk of triples and runs scoring from first on balls hit to the Right field gap, especially if they are statistically less likely.  

[Just Regular]

Jorge de la Rosa and Franklin Gutierrez?  Not sure Guti gets to count as fast anymore, although I did not realize how successful a slugger he has become - 39 HR in his last 623 PA and 261/323/516 is a very Orioles line.  I could live with him Pipp-ing Rickard or Mancini if we have a few mil left in the budget.

[BohKnowsBmore]

51 minutes ago, 25 Nuggets said:

You could do worse than those two as the final spots on your 25-,man roster.

Personally, I would take a flier on Desmond Jennings, but he hasn't seen playing time like Bourn has recently.  Other speedy outfielders left include Chris Coghlan, Peter Bourjos... and that's about it.  Brennan Boesch?  Sam Fuld?  37-year old Coco Crisp?  An Alejandro De Aza reunion?

Among relief pitchers that could spot start, Worley isn't much worse than Travis Wood.  If you don't believe me look at their last two seasons:

• Worley:  3.75 ERA, 112 ERA+, 4.37 FIP, 1.396 WHIP, 9.4 H/9, 1.0 HR/9, 3.2 BB/9, 6.0 K/9
• Wood:  3.51 ERA, 111 ERA+, 3.83 FIP, 1.200 WHIP, 7.3 H/9, 1.1 HR/9, 3.4 BB/9, 9.2 K/9

Basically Worley gets hit a bit more than Wood does.  It's worth noting that Wood's high K rate is due to a wild swing (10.5 in 2015, 6.9 in 2016).

Agreed.  I said this in the Drew Stubbs thread:

 

Quote

 

You know, Jennings could be interesting as an OF option, particularly as a platoon partner with Kim/Smith.  His splits vs. lefties are pretty good for his career at ~800 OPS (~120 wrc+).  He fell off a cliff a bit last season, but that was with a big drop in BABIP (not sure exactly, but looks to be a shift of some LD to FB).

Anyway, he could be an interesting candidate.

Maybe have him and one of the R5 guys on the roster, start Joey Ricks at AAA?

 

 

[Es4M11]

19 minutes ago, bird watcher said:

Perhaps.  LOL  I remember seeing a batted balls graphic that showed Jones missing way more balls deep and to his right than to his left.  Perhaps covering more of that area with Jones and leaving a bit more of a gap in the Right/Center alley would be better statistically?  With Jones and Trumbo in the OF you have two pretty strong arms to minimize the risk of triples and runs scoring from first on balls hit to the Right field gap, especially if they are statistically less likely.  

I couldn't understand the rationale in 2016 when it came to our outfield defensive positioning. It failed repeatedly - the results, metrics and eye test all confirm this. Yet, Jones played a shallow center, while both Kim and Trumbo pinched the alleys all the time. Where were the coaches to correct this? Or I suppose maybe it was their idea? Hopefully something was learned from 2016.

[wildcard]

Worley and Tapia.

If they add someone like Bourn if would have to be on a minor league contract because if they like Tavarez they will want to keep him.

Smith, Jones, Rickard, Kim, Taverez.   Bourn would have to beat someone out for a roster spot.  Bourn is no long a leadoff hitter with a high OBP.  He has not had an OBP over .316 since 2012.

 

[Frobby]

33 minutes ago, Es4M11 said:

I couldn't understand the rationale in 2016 when it came to our outfield defensive positioning. It failed repeatedly - the results, metrics and eye test all confirm this. Yet, Jones played a shallow center, while both Kim and Trumbo pinched the alleys all the time. Where were the coaches to correct this? Or I suppose maybe it was their idea? Hopefully something was learned from 2016.

It would be interesting if there was some public source of information about teams' defensive positioning.    I certainly have the impression that the O's have a lot of data about hitter tendencies and position their defense accordingly.