Best Internal Solution To 1B?

[JTrea81]

Yea, got to agree with Chris...Writing Rowell off now is beyond foolish...Now, i agree he is more likely to be a bust than a ML regular...But that applies to every single HS player drafted and most college guys...So, saying that isn't some rgeat revelation on your part.

He's absolutely terrible vs. LHP and was last season as well. His attitude probably doesn't help either. There are reports on the minor league board that he seems to be dogging it in the field as well. I don't think it's too early to call him a bust considering the draft spot he was taken at. Just look at the guys taken around him including Snider who is in AA ball already.

[Sports Guy]

He's absolutely terrible vs. LHP and was last season as well. His attitude probably doesn't help either. There are reports on the minor league board that he seems to be dogging it in the field as well. I don't think it's too early to call him a bust considering the draft spot he was taken at. Just look at the guys taken around him including Snider who is in AA ball already.

You are the only person on the planet that would think calling a 19 year old a bust this early is a good thing to do, especially one that is holding his own.

Reports on the MiL board that his defense at third has been good enough that switching him to another position may not be needed.

Again, you are totally overreacting to anything negative and blowing it up to more than it is.

And yes, he is struggling against lefties...HE IS NINETEEN and in a pitchers league...You are the most impatient person I have ever seen...Do you understand what development is?

And let's not forget how much time he has missed due to injuries, not that you are going to acknowledge that.

[JTrea81]

You are the only person on the planet that would think calling a 19 year old a bust this early is a good thing to do, especially one that is holding his own.

Reports on the MiL board that his defense at third has been good enough that switching him to another position may not be needed.

Again, you are totally overreacting to anything negative and blowing it up to more than it is.

And yes, he is struggling against lefties...HE IS NINETEEN and in a pitchers league...You are the most impatient person I have ever seen...Do you understand what development is?

And let's not forget how much time he has missed due to injuries, not that you are going to acknowledge that.

Holding his own? How is having a sub .700 OPS holding his own? For comparison Chris Marerro who is only two months older and was drafted 6 spots below Rowell is sporting a .740 OPS and has had more success thus far as this is his second season in the Carolina league. Rowell is not performing like a first round draft pick should.

Adam Jones at age 19 was in AA ball sporting an .826 OPS and he was a supplemental pick. It's not impatient to expect a guy who was drafted at #9 two years ago to provide better results. I think you have the orange colored glasses on when looking at Rowell.

[Sports Guy]

Holding his own? How is having a sub .700 OPS holding his own? For comparison Chris Marerro who is only two months older and was drafted 6 spots below Rowell is sporting a .740 OPS and has had more success thus far as this is his second season in the Carolina league. Rowell is not performing like a first round draft pick should.

Adam Jones at age 19 was in AA ball sporting an .826 OPS and he was a supplemental pick. It's not impatient to expect a guy who was drafted at #9 two years ago to provide better results.

He is one hot week away from having an OPS that is average for his league and he is doing that at a very young age.

You are just completely wrong here.

[JTrea81]

He is one hot week away from having an OPS that is average for his league and he is doing that at a very young age.

You are just completely wrong here.

But for being a #9 pick in the draft considering the guys taken around him including Snider and Marerro, don't you think he should have been better than league average at this point?

He should have had Adam Jones talent to justify that pick and right now he hasn't shown it. He's shown tape measure power but that's about it...

Wouldn't you rather have Snider or Lincecum than him right now?

[NJOriolesFan]

I know everyone says Tampa is loaded with talent. However, are Crawford, Longoria, Upton and Brignac that much better than our top 4 players if we had Tex? Those 4 being Markakis, Wieters, Teixiera and Brian Roberts. At the other five spots you have a couple muddling outfield prospects for Tampa, Carlos Pena, Iwamura and a couple moderate catching prospects. We would have Adam Jones, Reimold, Luke Scott, Rowell and a couple of so-so alternatives at other spots. Maybe it's just me but I don't see a large talent gap offensively.

Our bullpen depth, talent and minor league bullpen prospects are significantly better. Of course some of their excess starters will end up in the pen. Percival and Reyes will be done by the time we are competing with the Rays.

From a starting pitching perspective, Price could be the x-factor and Kazmir is very good. However, Arrieta, Tillman, Guthrie, Cabrera and Loewen are no slouches.

I think our best approach to now going forward is this:

- trade our vets (Ramon, Mora, Millar, Huff, Payton, Walker, Bradford) for what we can get to help bench, pitching and minor league depth.

- draft Matusz. Having Arrieta, Tillman, Matusz, Cabrera, Loewen, Guthrie, Olson, Penn, Liz, Spoone and Erbe to compete and/or deal is significant to competing in the AL East.

- sign two free agents during the off-season. Do what it takes to get both Teixiera and Furcal.

This would be a very good lineup in 2010:

2b - Roberts

ss - Furcal

rf - Markakis

1b - Teixiera

c - Wieters

cf - A. Jones

dh - Scott

3b - hopefully Rowell or Moore or Costanzo

lf - Reimold

Rotation of Arrieta, Tillman, Matusz and all who follow

Bullpen consists of

Ray, Sherrill, Sarfate, Hoey, Mickolio and all who follow

That is a fantastically talented team, no doubt. And it is less than $100 million in 2010 and only about $110 in 2011, 2012 and beyond.

[Mackus]

He has a sub .700 OPS in A ball and you think he'll replace Mora by the deadline next year? He's more likely to be a bust at this point than reaching the majors. I think the next fulltime solutions to both IF corners are not with the organization right now... Snyder and Rowell will not reach the majors as regulars IMO...

This is a terrible opinion on Rowell. He's 19 and holding his own at A-ball. Theres very little chance (no chance, SG!) that he reaches the majors next season, but for his age, he's putting up very encouraging results.

I'm less optimistic on Snyder, but its absurd to write Rowell off as a bust at this point. There are no reasons to be so pessimistic about him.

[YardBirds13]

This is a terrible opinion on Rowell. He's 19 and holding his own at A-ball. Theres very little chance (no chance, SG!) that he reaches the majors next season, but for his age, he's putting up very encouraging results.

I'm less optimistic on Snyder, but its absurd to write Rowell off as a bust at this point. There are no reasons to be so pessimistic about him.

Plus the Carolina League is a pitchers league. (yea, tell that to Matt Wieters!)

Rowell will be fine. He should get a full year at Frederick this year IMO. Let him start next year in Bowie and see what happens. I'd expect him to get a September call-up in '09, and if he plays well to have a shot at the OD roster in 2010.

Dude is 19. Let's give him a break.

[Mackus]

Plus the Carolina League is a pitchers league. (yea, tell that to Matt Wieters!)

Rowell will be fine. He should get a full year at Frederick this year IMO. Let him start next year in Bowie and see what happens. I'd expect him to get a September call-up in '09, and if he plays well to have a shot at the OD roster in 2010.

Dude is 19. Let's give him a break.

I think a full year at Frederick, full year at Bowie, and start him at Norfolk in 2010. He'd then be 22, and would have to be hitting well at Norfolk to bring him up.

Of course, if he turns things on next year and starts tearing up AA, you can move him quicker. But I'm not expecting him to be in Baltimore until mid-2010.

[PoorMike]

I know everyone says Tampa is loaded with talent. However, are Crawford, Longoria, Upton and Brignac that much better than our top 4 players if we had Tex? Those 4 being Markakis, Wieters, Teixiera and Brian Roberts. At the other five spots you have a couple muddling outfield prospects for Tampa, Carlos Pena, Iwamura and a couple moderate catching prospects. We would have Adam Jones, Reimold, Luke Scott, Rowell and a couple of so-so alternatives at other spots. Maybe it's just me but I don't see a large talent gap offensively.....

You are comparing players that are performing at the major league level to our guys that are either 1) struggling/developing at the ML level or 2) aren't even in the majors yet....plus you're adding Tex to our mix.

If you took the lineup and the top 4 starters, side by side, the only place we'd edge them out is at 2b and RF, while TB wins all the others (and in some cases, crushes us...with a YOUNGER and BETTER player).

[JTrea81]

This is a terrible opinion on Rowell. He's 19 and holding his own at A-ball. Theres very little chance (no chance, SG!) that he reaches the majors next season, but for his age, he's putting up very encouraging results.

I'm less optimistic on Snyder, but its absurd to write Rowell off as a bust at this point. There are no reasons to be so pessimistic about him.

What is so encouraging about Rowell's stats compared to the draft slot he was taken at? I'm not looking at his age, I'm looking at his slot. I know he was only 17 when drafted but if you are a position player drafted that high and that young, you should be in AA ball already IMO because you should have first round talent. From what I've seen and what has been written about Rowell, he's got decent talent for a 19 year old in A+ ball, but not a first round draft pick. It's for that reason I'm calling him a bust. If we drafted him in the 3rd or 4th round, then he'd be about what I would have expected. But with Snider and Lincecum still on the board, he wasn't a good pick at #9...

[Mackus]

What is so encouraging about Rowell's stats compared to the draft slot he was taken at? I'm not looking at his age, I'm looking at his slot. I know he was only 17 when drafted but if you are a position player drafted that high and that young, you should be in AA ball already IMO because you should have first round talent. From what I've seen and what has been written about Rowell, he's got good talent for a 19 year old, but not a first round draft pick.

Thats a silly way to look at things.

How many 18 year olds put up better than league average numbers in low-A?

How many 19 year olds put up better than leaugue average numbers in high-A?

Age is a huge factor for prospects. Thats why Carlos Truinfel was so highly rated last year, because what he was doing was phenomenal for a 17 y/o even though his numbers weren't all that great.

Success, even if its just league average performance, is very encouraging for prospects that are a couple years younger than the average prospect at that level, which Rowell is.

[YardBirds13]

What is so encouraging about Rowell's stats compared to the draft slot he was taken at? I'm not looking at his age, I'm looking at his slot. I know he was only 17 when drafted but if you are a position player drafted that high and that young, you should be in AA ball already IMO because you should have first round talent. From what I've seen and what has been written about Rowell, he's got decent talent for a 19 year old in A+ ball, but not a first round draft pick.

Dude looking at his slot is pointless.

HS kids move differently than college kids. It's that simple. Rowell hasn't had to repeat a level or anything, he is doing just fine.

You really find a way to nitpick everything in this organization man.

[zff4]

The NYY/Oriole bidding war for Teix will be one of the more interesting stories next year. The Yanks are rapidly aging and their practice of overpaying for FA has left them looking stodgy and slow. Cashman realizes that past practices, while getting them into the division races, hasn't brought them all the way, and has perhaps prevented them from focusing on a long-term strengths. But his job may be on the line. Is he going to be able to refrain from overbidding on an absurdly long contract which will just extend NY's bad past practices into the future, or will he actually go with a newer more nimble team that focuses on development? Going to be interesting. And the questions Cash asks himself are the same questions Andy will be asking himself.

If Tampa gets into the playoffs, you can be sure that the younger, homegrown model will be viewed as a credible alternative to expensive, inflexible FA packed teams, and GM's will have to justify to their owners why they aren't going the same route. If we take half the money we might give Teix and put it into overseas developement will our return be better? I don't know but it should be a consideration.

[JTrea81]

Thats a silly way to look at things.

How many 18 year olds put up better than league average numbers in low-A?

How many 19 year olds put up better than leaugue average numbers in high-A?

Age is a huge factor for prospects. Thats why Carlos Truinfel was so highly rated last year, because what he was doing was phenomenal for a 17 y/o even though his numbers weren't all that great.

Success, even if its just league average performance, is very encouraging for prospects that are a couple years younger than the average prospect at that level, which Rowell is.

But Rowell is a first round draft pick. It's not like he was a international signing.

You have to factor in his slot to get a true measure of his performance. Is Rowell better and more valuable to the Orioles than Tim Lincecum would have been. Or how about Travis Snider?

If he's a #9 pick, he has to have more talent than those picked after him that are having more success. So far he has not shown he was worth taking at #9 over those other players, therefore it was not a good pick. So he's doing OK for a 19 year old in high A, but he's not worth as much to the Orioles as the picks behind him would have been. The Orioles should have been able to get high caliber future AS talent at #9 but so far they've just gotten a guy who's just "holding his own."