Time to Call Up Reimold

[allstar1579]

You really don't see the difference in playing a young guy who is only going to improve as opposed to veterans who are past their prime? You don't see the difference in giving a kid experience for the future instead of giving AB's to guys who won't be on the next winning O's team? In the scenario, crstoner proposed, Reimold would take most of Millar's AB's. If, as you state, they'll put up similar production, you really don't see the benefit in giving a young guy experience so that he'll be better prepared for the future (next year and beyond)?

There is a difference in bringing a guy up that gets overmatched and kills his confidence. You aren't guaranteed that a prospect will benefit from getting extra at bats at a higher level, that's just not how it works. Sometimes the negative effect of being overmatched, being benched, or being sent back down outweighs the possible advantage of ML exposure. If that was how it works, teams would just bring all of their prospects up whenever and let them get ML experience when they weren't going to compete.

Move him to AAA, if he produces as well as he is now, then bring him up in a couple months. No problems. Him being here today versus 3 months from now isn't going to make that much difference on our season. What are the odds that he is going to outproduce whoever he replaces in the lineup given that he will be skipping AAA?

[TinCup]

I second that motion!

Second that motion, or second that "emotion". Is this an emotional reaction to call him up? Just a thought...

[TakebackOPACY]

Reimold has hurt lefties in his career.

I would think he would, but I can't find 2007 splits anywhere. minorleaguesplits.com is SO BAD! And I don't know why minorleaguebaseball.com doesn't provide everything their capable of providing.

[allstar1579]

1) Riemold starting in the majors now would not be rushing him... he is better than people starting in the O's lineup.

2) Coming to the majors and going through a normal adjustment, would not make him any less of a prospect... if you are going to state possible lack of success could damage his confidence, you have to at least acknowledge the other side that the organization showing confidence in him, would raise his confidence as well....

3) How do you come to the conclusion he is a sketchy prospect anyway? Baseball America had him in their Top 100... he has an 877 career minor league OPS... has an OPS near 900 in 400 AA at bats... has more walks than strikeouts... is a good athlete, strong arm, decent fielder...

I think it would be rushing him, he is doing better that a lot of our guys in AA, but AA does not = the majors. You can't statistically say he will hit this because he hit this here. It is a complete talent difference and I don't know if he will adjust, the best way to gauge if he will is to let him hit some AAA pitching which is closer to ML pitching for a bit and then give him a shot. I do want to see him this year in Balt. but if it takes him until Sept. so be it.

You are right, it is possible he could come up, go on a tear, and feed off of that, but it is more likely that he won't because if he could be successful against ML pitching, he would be hitting better than .280 in AA.

Difference in opinions, I just think he needs to really find his groove before he hits the ML, or at least face some tougher competition, some more offspeed stuff with control before he gets here and has to face guys like Halladay and Beckett.

[allstar1579]

If you believe that whenever he comes up, he is going to face an adjustment.. that adjustment should occur in a year where you have no expectations.

If you believe in MLE, you should believe he can match or even exceed the production of Millar... even if he was slightly worse.... Riemold is the player that figures to be here next year, not Millar.

What about the confidence you give a player by bringing him, and putting him the lineup night after night... even if there is a struggle?

No, don't get me wrong, it's not that I completely disagree with you or anything. I do think he should be up later this year, and/or starting here next season (we won't compete in either).

Offensively, he probably could come up and come close to Millar's production, but I think a better comparison would be AJ, and Jones faired much better in AA and AAA as a comparison. The problem is then who goes to clear room for him? People aren't knocking on our door for Payton, Mora, Millar, or Huff. Scott, Jones and Markakis need to play everyday. The old, move Scott to DH and Reimold in LF thing makes sense, but what if Scott is one of those guys that doesn't handle DH well? Then we lose that production on top of whoever we bounce from the lineup (Huff, Millar). The worst part is if we drop Millar and his 8HR, then we also lose his stellar defense at 1B. How many more runs do we give up with Huff at 1B? That all compounds to a negative effect of forcing him into the lineup now. Just a lot of dominoes to fall, and I'd like to see some other things happen and wait a while with Reimold first.

I agree, move him up and let him build confidence against tougher pitching, but let him do it in AAA for a month or two first.

[El Gordo]

1) Riemold starting in the majors now would not be rushing him... he is better than people starting in the O's lineup.

2) Coming to the majors and going through a normal adjustment, would not make him any less of a prospect... if you are going to state possible lack of success could damage his confidence, you have to at least acknowledge the other side that the organization showing confidence in him, would raise his confidence as well....

3) How do you come to the conclusion he is a sketchy prospect anyway? Baseball America had him in their Top 100... he has an 877 career minor league OPS... has an OPS near 900 in 400 AA at bats... has more walks than strikeouts... is a good athlete, strong arm, decent fielder...

How do you know any of this? Are you a scout, do you watch Reimold every day? Do you know the holes in his swing that will be exploited by ML pitching ? This is simply your uninformed opinion. I say he is a sketchy prospect because of his history of injury, his penchent for K's and the fact that he is 24 in AA. Do you think he is a better prospect than Adam Jones? Jones had much better numbers than Reimold last year at AAA at the age of 21 and he is struggling at the ML level. I'd give Riemold the cance to hit AAA pitching before I push him into the ML.

[LookinUp]

I'm quite happy that McPhail does not rush things. I doubt he would have handled Kakes like Flanny did. If I had to guess, I'd expect a lot of MiL player movement by the end of June with Reimold going to AAA and Weiters/Arietta heading to AA. If they're all successful, they could get a taste of the ML in September.

[allstar1579]

Are you a scout, do you watch Reimold everyday?

This is simply your uninformed opinion

The fact that Jones is a better prospect, does not negate Reimold as a prospect...

The fact that Jones is struggling in the majors, does not mean Reimold would struggle in the majors... Nolan is waking more then he K's... and has always taken walks... a pretty good indication of his plate coverage, eye, and patientce.

If Reimold can put up a 900 OPS in 400 AA at bats in the Eastern League, I am quite sure he could put dominating stats in the PCL as well.

Seconded...

Injury history doesn't make him a sketchy prospect. Does injury history make Kerry Wood a sketchy closer? Does injury history make Rich Harden less of an Ace? Do the blister injuries make it easier to hit Josh Beckett now?

It's unfortunate that he's had some injuries, and while I agree with you that I think he needs a bit of AAA seasoning before coming up, it doesn't make him less of a prospect. He still has the potential he has always had, he has just taken a bit longer to get there.

The big problem with Reimold is that he is in his 5th year in the minors so I'm afraid that without some advancement soon, he might be a player that slips into Rule 5, or minor league FA area before he ever really gets a chance here.

[allstar1579]

Actually, the more I think about it. Did it hurt Jay Bruce to go to AAA for a little while before he came up? I think everyone in the world knew he was about ready for the majors after last year in AA, but he spent 2 months there and it looks like it didn't hurt him at all.

[El Gordo]

Are you a scout, do you watch Reimold everyday?

This is simply your uninformed opinion

The fact that Jones is a better prospect, does not negate Reimold as a prospect...

The fact that Jones is struggling in the majors, does not mean Reimold would struggle in the majors... Nolan is walking more then he K's... and has always taken walks... a pretty good indication of his plate coverage, eye, and patience.

If Reimold can put up a 900 OPS in 400 AA at bats in the Eastern League, I am quite sure he could put dominating stats in the PCL as well.

I don't have to be a scout because obviously the real ones who work for the O's agree with my assesment. If they didn't Reimold would be up already or at least in Norfolk. The fact that he wasn't called up last Sept., didn't stay for much of ST and is still in AA, is a good indication that the people in a position to know agree with me.:rolleyestf:

[amateurfan]

I'm quite happy that McPhail does not rush things. I doubt he would have handled Kakes like Flanny did. If I had to guess, I'd expect a lot of MiL player movement by the end of June with Reimold going to AAA and Weiters/Arietta heading to AA. If they're all successful, they could get a taste of the ML in September.

Generally, I agree, but if they decide to bring up Liz to make Tuesday's start - that is rushing it. I'm really eager to see if it is Liz who starts because they don't need him to. They've got two legitimate options to make spot starts in the pen now.

[El Gordo]

Generally, I agree, but if they decide to bring up Liz to make Tuesday's start - that is rushing it. I'm really eager to see if it is Liz who starts because they don't need him to. They've got two legitimate options to make spot starts in the pen now.

Actually only one, JJ. After Albers 3 innings last night I doubt they would start him. Liz started a few games last year, I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to give him a shot. I would prefer it to be Albers.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I don't have to be a scout because obviously the real ones who work for the O's agree with my assesment. If they didn't Reimold would be up already or at least in Norfolk. The fact that he wasn't called up last Sept., didn't stay for much of ST and is still in AA, is a good indication that the people in a position to know agree with me.:rolleyestf:

They put Wieters in a level too low for him and are keeping him there for no apparent reason.

I guess the Orioles don't like him either.

[El Gordo]

I disagree with the O's on moving up Riemold, but the fact they want to hold him back... does not prove direct correlation to your point, that they lack confidence in his abilities.

Of course it does. The fact that they don't move him up means that they lack confidence in his abilities to hit ML pitching at this time. Why didn't they bring Olson up for OD? Because they didn't think his command was good enough to survive at the ML level. They most likley felt the same about Reimold's ability to hit offspeed pitching.

[El Gordo]

They put Wieters in a level too low for him and are keeping him there for no apparent reason.

I guess the Orioles don't like him either.

You'd think they would want Wieters to at least get used to wooden bats before they bring him up.:rolleyestf: