Thoughts on Manny @ SS and Beckham @ 3B ??

[bobmc]

7 hours ago, SteveA said:

I'm going to miss some of those incredible 5-4-3s Manny & Jon used to turn.

I'm still in the early stages of grief in terms of never getting to watch Manny play 3rd again for the Orioles.

FTFY ;-)

I agree on first sentence though.

[weams]

18 minutes ago, bobmc said:

FTFY ;-)

I agree on first sentence though.

 

[Ohfan67]

If Manny plays Gold Glove level defense at SS, then I think it does help his value (potentially broadens the number of teams that could use him, etc.). But that's a pretty big "if" at this point. It will be entertaining to watch, at least for a while. I'm not a big fan of Beckham's defense and am not confident he will be a good 3B. 

[NJOriolesFan]

Maybe this is less about manny and more about our future without him.  Seeing if Beckham can play 3rd well gives us options next year.  If he does well there we can go after either a shortstop OR a 3rd baseman next offseason.  It gives us flexibility.  Or when manny leaves maybe Schoop plays short and we have an option to look for a second baseman.

[Ruzious]

I think Manny needs to lose 20 lbs or so from last year's weight, or he's going to look bad at SS. 

I wonder if the O's announcement is really a bluff to try to get teams to up their offers. 

 

[Il BuonO]

2 hours ago, Ruzious said:

I think Manny needs to lose 20 lbs or so from last year's weight, or he's going to look bad at SS. 

I wonder if the O's announcement is really a bluff to try to get teams to up their offers. 

Meh, he might not have the range of Beckham, but he more than makes up for it in arm strength.

And 20 pounds? Didn’t look bad to me when he played there repeatedly in the shift.

[SteveA]

When he's at short, and gets shifted to the other side of the bag for a lefty hitter, one of his throws is likely to take Chris Davis's head off.  He's got too strong an arm to be playing second base!

[Moose Milligan]

5 hours ago, weams said:

Just naming him SS ups his trade value. Pre-Season. Without another game played there. 

How?  

[Il BuonO]

20 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

How?  

The argument is versatility, but with his trumpeting his preference to play SS he could be hurting his market for teams looking for 3B help. (Read Yankees)

[Moose Milligan]

57 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

The argument is versatility, but with his trumpeting his preference to play SS he could be hurting his market for teams looking for 3B help. (Read Yankees)

Right, but as I noted earlier it is absolutely not a secret that he's versatile.  

Did you not know he could play both positions?  

[Il BuonO]

59 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Right, but as I noted earlier it is absolutely not a secret that he's versatile.  

Did you not know he could play both positions?  

Not my argument, the argument. I don’t know how anyone would be ignorant of that. But again, if Machado is demanding to play there it hurts his market with obvious suitors who need a guy at 3B. Why would the Orioles allow that?

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Il BuonO said:

Not my argument, the argument. 

It's not much of an argument. 

[Spy Fox]

I think both Beckham and Machado will probably be worse than they would have been at their previous spots. Not sure about Manny's range at SS (though it will be an upgrade over 2017 JJ). But, now the better defender will field more balls, so maybe the net impact on our defense will be positive. 

I would have slightly preferred to keep it as is, for Beckham to grow as a SS assuming he'll be there for us for a few years. But I don't get the hate at Manny for this. Is it so unusual for a top player to ask to play his original position?

And agreeing with others, neither of them can field balls landing in the bleachers so right now I expect the impact on the team's success to be minimal.

[pastorfan]

15 hours ago, Frobby said:

I think it will be interesting to watch how it works out.    I would have preferred to leave Beckham at short, but I have an open mind.

And I agree with Moose that it hardly matters if we don’t address the damned pitching.  

I don't think this makes much sense, unless they actually think they can sign him. His arm is so strong--as is Schoop's--that they got a lot of double plays that others would not get. Be interesting to see how that plays out with him up the middle.

Of course, Manny might also get taken out at second base and miss much of the year. Since this is the Orioles, I predict this will happen.

 

[pastorfan]

2 hours ago, SteveA said:

When he's at short, and gets shifted to the other side of the bag for a lefty hitter, one of his throws is likely to take Chris Davis's head off.  He's got too strong an arm to be playing second base!

They won't do that. They will keep him on the left side and move the 3B over to other side.