Pedro back. (Will he opt out?)

[Can_of_corn]

22 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

Didn't he play 3B some. Why not let him concentrate on that so if Hardy is out for a while or if we wanted to put him there next season and move Manny to SS?

He can't throw anymore.

He also isn't under team control next season.

[Bahama O's Fan]

5 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

He can't throw anymore.

He also isn't under team control next season.

Sorry, didn't know he couldn't throw. Strange to be learning the OF if he can't, but maybe throwing from RF isn't as bad as 3B. I know he will be a FA next season, but perhaps, if he adapted well, we could resign him.

[Frobby]

9 hours ago, joeyc said:

They will both be dl'd. Alvarez will make this club. I don't think he would have signed if he wasn't told that. I could be wrong. I love the guy personally.

Alvarez will not make the club.   He's a contingency plan if Plan A goes awry.   And it's not like teams can just stash Rule 5 guys on the DL for no reason.    Maybe they could get away with putting Santander there, but Tavarez isn't hurt and has no injury history.    The league and the union are not going to sit idly by if a team gets too blatant about using the DL to stash Rule 5 guys.    

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

Sorry, didn't know he couldn't throw. Strange to be learning the OF if he can't, but maybe throwing from RF isn't as bad as 3B. I know he will be a FA next season, but perhaps, if he adapted well, we could resign him.

It isn't a physical issue.

[Babypowder]

10 hours ago, PaulFolk said:

You realize how silly this comment is, right? By that logic we can never question any of Buck's decisions. I guess we should be praising him for not bringing Britton into the wild card game -- Buck has more experience than us, so clearly he was right and we were wrong.

Never question our overlords player evaluations. He is always right. Just ask Hyun Soo Kim and Delmon Young.

[Babypowder]

11 hours ago, joeyc said:

They will both be dl'd. Alvarez will make this club. I don't think he would have signed if he wasn't told that. I could be wrong. I love the guy personally.

Do you also love Mark Trumbo in the outfield? Because that is how you get Mark Trumbo in the outfield.

[weams]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

It isn't a physical issue.

Steve Sax disease.

[FanSince88]

David Ricardo would be very pleased with this move.  

[FanSince88]

I don't see how Alvarez doesn't start the ML season at AAA, barring injury.  His opt out isn't until May so the O's have nothing to lose by starting him at Norfolk.  

 

[Rene88]

39 minutes ago, FanSince88 said:

I don't see how Alvarez doesn't start the ML season at AAA, barring injury.  His opt out isn't until May so the O's have nothing to lose by starting him at Norfolk.  

 

Yep, the opt out is a big detail and think this is spot on. They also won't lose him, so plan for someone else to go when Pedro is ready. Someone else brought up a very good point: Pedro is a notoriously slow starter.

[mdbdotcom]

Perhaps there is another reason for signing Pedro. Chris Davis has bronchitis, which can heal very slowly, saps strength and sometimes becomes a chronic condition. If Davis isn't back on the field soon, he could start the season on the DL with Trumbo at 1B.

[Moondoggie]

4 hours ago, RZNJ said:

I think the posters who took this deal at face value are probably right.  Pedro goes to Norfolk to learn RF and be insurance.  His best case defensively is probably Trumbo.  Most likely he only gets called up if Davis or Trumbo miss time and only to play his best position, DH.

I think he has the potential to be a good deal better than Trumbo for the simple reason that he's faster, more athletic and moves better. He's made his share of spectacular diving catches as an infielder and catching the ball has never been his problem anyway. The throws from the outfield are different, so maybe hitting the cutoff man won't be the problem that throwing across the infield posed for him the last few years. And the footwork won't be as intricate as is needed at first base. So it's going to be a question of instincts. Will he see the ball off the bat and react well? Then he would just need experience. I think he has the potential to be an average outfielder if the instincts are there (he would be an average third baseman or better if he could throw the ball across the infield).

And I say this as someone who has said many times that they should hide Pedro's glove from him. But that's based on particular problems at the corner infield spots that may not exist as a corner outfielder. So I'm anxious to see how it works out.

If the outfield experiment is working out, I would expect him to stay in the minors honing his skills until something comes up. It may not be with the Orioles. I think he has an opt out. Also, the Orioles could end up dealing him if they don't have a spot and there's interest from another organization.

[PaulFolk]

12 hours ago, El Gordo said:

You can question any decision you want, but your opinion lacks validity over his, when it comes to evaluating a player's skill levels. It's like some amateur chef criticising Paul Bucose's recipe for bouillabaisse. I see a difference in questioning an in game decision like not bringing in Britton, and questioning his evaluation of a players ability. He sees that player every day for 6 months on and off the field and he has access to proprietary numbers and advice from other experts. I'll take his judgment any day over some fan's eye test, based on far less experience and information. Never confuse a right to your opinion with an entitlement to foolishness.

I don't think it's foolish to suggest that Rickard wasn't a very good defender last year. Even if you want to dismiss advanced defensive stats because of small sample size, fans were watching the same games Buck was. We saw him take bad routes at times and show a mediocre arm. Now, is he better than Trumbo and Kim? Sure. But that doesn't mean he's particularly good, at least not yet.

You forgot to mention one thing about Buck -- even though he has access to more information than fans do, he doesn't necessarily need to share that information with the fans. It's very possible he has received data and made his own observations that Rickard isn't very good defensively, but he's not going to say, "Yeah, Rickard's not great." We know Buck is a manager who focuses on the positive when discussing his players in the media.

[PaulFolk]

5 minutes ago, Moondoggie said:

I think he has the potential to be a good deal better than Trumbo for the simple reason that he's faster, more athletic and moves better. He's made his share of spectacular diving catches as an infielder and catching the ball has never been his problem anyway. The throws from the outfield are different, so maybe hitting the cutoff man won't be the problem that throwing across the infield posed for him the last few years. And the footwork won't be as intricate as is needed at first base. So it's going to be a question of instincts. Will he see the ball off the bat and react well? Then he would just need experience. I think he has the potential to be an average outfielder if the instincts are there (he would be an average third baseman or better if he could throw the ball across the infield).

Pedro Alvarez? I don't think of the terms "fast" or "athletic" when describing him. I wouldn't say he's even as athletic as Trumbo. Pedro has about 25 pounds on Trumbo if their weights listed on Baseball Reference are to be believed.

[El Gordo]

28 minutes ago, PaulFolk said:

I don't think it's foolish to suggest that Rickard wasn't a very good defender last year. Even if you want to dismiss advanced defensive stats because of small sample size, fans were watching the same games Buck was. We saw him take bad routes at times and show a mediocre arm. Now, is he better than Trumbo and Kim? Sure. But that doesn't mean he's particularly good, at least not yet.

You forgot to mention one thing about Buck -- even though he has access to more information than fans do, he doesn't necessarily need to share that information with the fans. It's very possible he has received data and made his own observations that Rickard isn't very good defensively, but he's not going to say, "Yeah, Rickard's not great." We know Buck is a manager who focuses on the positive when discussing his players in the media.

If Buck thought Rickard's defense is as poor a you do he wouldn't be bringing him in as a late inning defensive upgrade. Really, because some fans point to  a handful of anecdotedal and subjective observations we dimiss his experience and judgment ?That's foolish IMO. Of course Rickarsd isn't  Kiermaier but after AJ and Gentry he's probably the best we have.