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

[wildbillhiccup]

8 hours ago, LookitsPuck said:

I think it's a smart business move.

It makes Manny happy, so good for morale.

And if he excels at SS (where he's only played 43 games at the MLB level over the last 6 seasons)? It shows contenders at the trade deadline that he's a stud at both 3B and SS instead of them guessing of whether he can still play it a la ARod. 

Manny is under contract and won't be here next season. He's made that clear. Making him happy shouldn't even factor into the decision. Let him pout and sulk all season, as long as he produces I could care less. And his incentive to produce is his pending free agency. 

[wildbillhiccup]

11 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

I don't know about Manny but it is clear to me that Beckham is not a great SS. Moving Manny to SS could make the O's better if he is better at SS more than Beckham is worse at 3B. 

Plenty of people on this board have argued to the contrary. And we really don't have a large enough sample size to make an informed opinion. 

Bigger picture, I don't think Beckham doesn't have enough power to stick at 3B. That's why I'd like to give him an extended look at SS, before Machado leaves. That would give us a better sense of the holes we need to fill next season. 

[JohnD]

Manny never said a peep about SS when Hardy was here because real recognize real.

Beckham shows up and now Machado wants to move.  Maybe it’s about more $$$ next year.  Or maybe it’s because Manny thinks he will be the better option.  Maybe it’s both.

[clapdiddy]

I still say, trade Schoop for pitching, move Beckham to second, and get a third baseman.

[Yardball85]

4 minutes ago, clapdiddy said:

I still say, trade Schoop for pitching, move Beckham to second, and get a third baseman.

That would be smart considering Schoop still has two years of control and may fetch a better package than Manny with one year.  Of course.. you know the story.  The Orioles aren't nearly creative enough to do something like that.

[clapdiddy]

6 minutes ago, Yardball85 said:

That would be smart considering Schoop still has two years of control and may fetch a better package than Manny with one year.  Of course.. you know the story.  The Orioles aren't nearly creative enough to do something like that.

Personally, I hope we can trade them both.   

[Yardball85]

1 minute ago, clapdiddy said:

Personally, I hope we can trade them both.   

Same.  If you cannot trade Manny ow for whatever reason, I would trade Schoop, put Beckham at second and let Manny play SS for until June.  Hopefully he's motivated by becoming a FA, puts up huge numbers, and can fetch a better package than he otherwise would now.

What the Orioles will do:  Let Manny play SS, half-heartedly tell the fans we are competing for a WC spot and not trade him, let him walk for a FA.  Rinse and repeat with Schoop next year.  #foresight

[Beef Supreme]

1 hour ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Older is older and 43 games is a far cry from 100+. Maybe this works out in the long run, but it's a risky unnecessary move unless the team believes that Beckham is a below average option at SS and that he will be much better at 3B. Like I said in my first comment, I'd have no problem with this experiment if they had a proven option at 3B on their roster.

Older is not old, though; Machado is only months older than the average rookie.

Consider the ages of the following players the first year they played 150 games at shortstop:
JJ Hardy 24 y.o.
Mark Belanger 25 y.o.
Mike Bordick 26 y.o.

Machado is not too old to succeed at shortstop.

[Aristotelian]

2 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Manny is under contract and won't be here next season. He's made that clear. Making him happy shouldn't even factor into the decision. Let him pout and sulk all season, as long as he produces I could care less. And his incentive to produce is his pending free agency. 

Happy Manny in a walk year at SS is in Manny's interest as well as the Orioles interest. Beckham has some tools and a few years of control, but Manny is the most valuable piece in franchise history since Cal Ripken. If he can prove he can play SS at a high level, everybody wins. Beckham can go to SS in July and get plenty of practice for 2019.

[interloper]

Seems to me like it's a downgrade at both positions because I'm not sure Manny plays a better SS than he does 3B. We haven't seen a full season of him at SS and he was pretty inconsistent in the minors, defensively. 

We'll see. He's got the talent for sure.

[spiritof66]

I don't see this as creating a big swing either way in the team's performance. I'm assuming the Orioles get a little value, either on the field or in a trade, for giving Manny the position he prefers to play). Buck will get a good look at this alignment in spring training, and if turns out to look like a bad idea I'm pretty confident he'll make a change. 

But really, when spring training is a few weeks ago and we don't have a pitching staff, a spirited discussion of where on the left side of the infield to "seat" Manny and Tim comes close to literally being an argument over a rearrangement of the deck chairs on what is looking, right now,, a lot like  a baseball version of .  .  .

/watch?v=OqA2_j19ncE

[weams]

5 hours ago, JohnD said:

Manny never said a peep about SS when Hardy was here because real recognize real.

Beckham shows up and now Machado wants to move.  Maybe it’s about more $$$ next year.  Or maybe it’s because Manny thinks he will be the better option.  Maybe it’s both.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-orioles-machado-shortstop-impact-20180129-story.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[weams]

5 hours ago, clapdiddy said:

Personally, I hope we can trade them both.   

I knew you believed that! 

 

Huzzah!

[weams]

20 hours ago, mdbdotcom said:

Earl would have moved him to SS years earlier and moved or traded JJ.

Earl would have traded him for the white whale of a 30 HR catcher. 

[SeaBird]

The 3B/SS set up last season was serviceable and seemed to work well.  So why fix it?  It is to make Manny happy?  It can't be an upgrade moving Beckham to 3B. 

From 2013 to 2017 Beckham played in a total of 9 games at 3B and those were all with Tampa.  He stated at 3B in 5 of those 9 games and had 12 chances with 3 PO and 9 Assists.  Will Spring Training be his On the Job Training at 3B?