Pedro back. (Will he opt out?)

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, El Gordo said:

Buck's job as a manager is in part to judge who has the better skills at a given position. Buck is a very successful manger in part because he does that very well. A scout's job is to acess potential. How many Scouts become siuccessful managers. To compare Buck to a scout is a joke.

A scouts job is to specifically assess talent.  Buck's job is to manage the Orioles, one small part of that is accessing talent.  To say that it is a given that Buck is superior to a specialist doing his job is a joke.  Now could Buck be better?  Sure.  But for you to just assume it's a given is where I have a problem.

[25 Nuggets]

Based on minor league deal + playing in the OF, I assume Alvarez starts the year in Norfolk getting OF reps?

[El Gordo]

Just now, ArtVanDelay said:

Gentry has been an elite defender throughout his career.  I know he's older now but I assume he's still a significantly better defensive player than Rickard. 

That's possible.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, 25 Nuggets said:

Based on minor league deal + playing in the OF, I assume Alvarez starts the year in Norfolk getting OF reps?

I think that is a reasonable assumption.  I would also figure he has some sort of opt out date.

[bobmc]

 

[Babypowder]

15 minutes ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Gentry has been an elite defender throughout his career.  I know he's older now but I assume he's still a significantly better defensive player than Rickard. 

You're totally missing it dude. This is a revelation for me. All this time I've wasted watching games and doing research. All I ever had to do was listen to Buck Showalter and I can know everything I need to know about players. I feel liberated.

[El Gordo]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

A scouts job is to specifically assess talent.  Buck's job is to manage the Orioles, one small part of that is accessing talent.  To say that it is a given that Buck is superior to a specialist doing his job is a joke.  Now could Buck be better?  Sure.  But for you to just assume it's a given is where I have a problem.

This scout you speak of hasn't got the track record or experience to be mentioned in the same sentence with one of the best manager's in the game. If you think that a no name scout generally is a better judge of comparative ability than a ML manager I'm sorry for you. One is paid millions for their judgment, the other peanuts.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, El Gordo said:

This scout you speak of hasn't got the track record or experience to be mentioned in the same sentence with one of the best manager's in the game. If you think that a no name scout generally is a better judge of comparative ability than a ML manager I'm sorry for you. One is paid millions for their judgment, the other peanuts.

Well now you are just being insulting to a well regarded member of the hangout.

 

[El Gordo]

13 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

You're totaling missing it dude. This is a revelation for me. All this time I've wasted watching games and doing research. All I ever had to do was listen to Buck Showalter and I can know everything I need to know about players. I feel liberated.

The point is Buck's judgment and experience is superior to yours. If he feels Rickard is one of our better defenders then he is right and you are wrong.

[Babypowder]

6 minutes ago, bobmc said:

 

Hopefully they utilize that window by playing him at AAA.

[El Gordo]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Well now you are just being insulting to a well regarded member of the hangout.

 

How many scouts have you heard of.? Do you read about often? 

[Rene88]

9 minutes ago, bobmc said:

 

He has an opt-out? Pretty important detail not reported previously, rolls eyes. Not surprising, just funny.

[Moondoggie]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

This is one of those concepts where your Bayesian prior has to be "he's a gonna be terrible".  Seriously, we know it's stretching credibility to think a guy who wasn't good enough to really play third, and didn't impress anyone at first, is going to be anything but a poor outfielder.  He's slow, and he's never played a professional inning in the outfield.  We know he's not even stood in an kind of a game since at least 2008.  Just knowing that I'd pencil him in as a -15 outfielder and then kind of adjust from there with observations and data.

I'm actually going with the idea that the O's are running a kind science experiment to determine the outer limits of modern defensive metrics and tracking systems.  Kind of a baseline of data, what does happen when you put someone fully unqualified to be a major league outfielder in the outfield.  Similar to observing pitchers hitting.  The next iteration will be one involving no second baseman but four outfielders.  All in the name of science.

His problem at third base wasn't catching the ball, either ground balls or fly balls. His problem was throwing the ball to first base (as I noted before, 24 of his 25 errors his last year at third were throwing errors). So unless you think he'll have a problem hitting the cutoff man, whatever problem he had at third is irrelevant. 

As for his athleticism, it's pointless to go back and forth on this, so I'll let Baseball Prospectus take over here with a 2015 profile on his problems at first base (bad footwork and poor throws). And they provide video of his athletic plays.

Painting the Black: Pedro Alvarez's Trip From Worst to First

Quote

Athleticism and Intangibles
While feet and hands go together like the Grease cast, only the game's special players seem to receive credit for their athleticism and intangibles; the rest of the league almost works on a sliding scale of sorts, where it's one or the other. What we're looking for in this section is not only whether Alvarez moves well—be it ranging, diving, or sliding after a ball—but whether he moves smartly—i.e. does he show restraint on balls to his right, have a working internal clock, and so on.

Everything checks out with Alvarez. He doesn't look like a great athlete—rather, he looks like Prince Fielder—but he showed some quickness and body control when needed...

Here's the most flashy example of Alvarez's athleticism and feel for his new position:

Alvarez covers some ground, slides before he rams into the dugout, and makes an impressive sliding grab to his glove side. It's a pretty good play, and a pretty good reminder that Alvarez isn't anchored to first base due to his lack of athleticism.

 

[Moondoggie]

Just to add here, I saw him play quite a bit with the Pirates. But it's not enough to see him play, you have to watch him play. Now I'm no scout (and don't pretend to be one on the internet), but I've seen him make some very athletic plays. Athleticism was never his problem. And just because a guy is big doesn't mean he's a slug. The Pirates were never afraid to let him steal (he had 8 a few years ago) or take an extra base.

Now, is Pedro going to become a Gold Glove outfielder? Of course not. But it's quite possible he could be a serviceable outfielder if he has any instincts for it at all. He won't be making the same infield throws that have given him problems and there will be none of the complicated footwork required at first base. The only way to find out is to give him a chance and work with him. There's nothing to lose here for the Orioles. They're not blocking any big outfield prospects by giving him some playing time. The cost will be minimal if it doesn't work out. So I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about.

[FlipTheBird]

There's no real issue with this move, I don't think, on paper. Let him try to play OF in AAA. It probably won't work. But there's no real loss in giving it a shot, especially since he certainly does function as depth if something were to happen to Trumbo or Davis.