Buck lays into Mountcastle during "reassignment to minor camp" and possible new position?

[foxfield]

I continue to think this is being too overblown. I mentioned yesterday that part of this was to take attention away from the fact that Mountcastle has probably been told he will no longer be a 3B.  That is not necessarily good news for him, but the other side of this...is that the ML Manager is talking about him...which if I were being sent out of camp and no one was talking, might make me start to think about getting my insurance or real estate license.  

 

Good guy or not, hard headed or not.  I am pretty sure Ryan feels pretty good about his spring.  His conversation with Buck is known to us purely because Buck wanted part of it known so that we could react as we have.  Well played Buck, as usual.

 

[Frobby]

Just now, foxfield said:

I continue to think this is being too overblown. 

Well, it’s Orioles Hangout, so what else is new?    Of course it’s being overblown.   

Bottom line, Mountcastle hit pretty well this spring, which was good to see.    I think Buck was right to push him hard on plate discipline being a priority.     You can agree or disagree about making that discussion public; but at the end of the day, it’s not that big a deal one way or the other that it got discussed with the media.     It’s not like everything Buck said was negative.     

[Tx Oriole]

19 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think many of us have a problem with what was said, just that Buck went public with it.

That's what I disagree with Buck about. It's not about him getting on Ryan. Ryan needed it most likely. Buck going public is what I think is wrong. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, LookitsPuck said:

Escalation tactics. If he's hardheaded and not listening behind the scenes and in private...is there reason to believe he'll change without an escalation? Good on Buck.

Exactly how many conversations do you think the two of them had?

I'm guessing this was the first one that exceeded a minute in length.

I'll agree that if this was the third or more conversation they had on the topic that escalation would be called for.

[LookitsPuck]

43 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Exactly how many conversations do you think the two of them had?

I'm guessing this was the first one that exceeded a minute in length.

I'll agree that if this was the third or more conversation they had on the topic that escalation would be called for.

I'd imagine more than 1. He's been in the organization for 3+ years. 

And I'd certainly imagine he's talked to Ryan's coaches and if they're giving him concerning information...I'd be rightfully pissed, too.

That's what I was saying above. We keep trying to drill this down as if it's a one off situation, but I can't imagine Buck flipping his gasket if this was a one off. There's gotta be more to this and that's where I trust Buck.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, LookitsPuck said:

I'd imagine more than 1. He's been in the organization for 3+ years. 

And I'd certainly imagine he's talked to Ryan's coaches and if they're giving him concerning information...I'd be rightfully pissed, too.

That's what I was saying above. We keep trying to drill this down as if it's a one off situation, but I can't imagine Buck flipping his gasket if this was a one off. There's gotta be more to this and that's where I trust Buck.

Yea, I'm not much on blind trust.

And I don't think it is that likely that the two have had an extended conversation before but neither of us know so we can just speculate.

[drjohnnyfeva]

If this is a trend, where the organization - thru Buck with knocking a prospect down a peg - is going to start with plate discipline, I think it's a positive move.  I understand the argument of opportunity costs with good pitches, but there is a ton of free swinging.  I'm especially concerned each year when we have a good starter on the ropes and struggling to find the strike zone and many of our guys march up there first pitch swinging.  It drives me crazy.  I think Buck's account at the presser included a bit of levity for the press and his criticism was likely a little more pointed to the kid.  Hopefully, anyway.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

5 minutes ago, drjohnnyfeva said:

If this is a trend, where the organization - thru Buck with knocking a prospect down a peg - is going to start with plate discipline, I think it's a positive move.  I understand the argument of opportunity costs with good pitches, but there is a ton of free swinging.  I'm especially concerned each year when we have a good starter on the ropes and struggling to find the strike zone and many of our guys march up there first pitch swinging.  It drives me crazy.  I think Buck's account at the presser included a bit of levity for the press and his criticism was likely a little more pointed to the kid.  Hopefully, anyway.

Agreed. The game threads and other threads are pissed when certain Orioles hitters go up and swing at 3 pitches in the dirt.

[DrungoHazewood]

21 hours ago, Aglets said:

Probably should pick a different example than Ripken..............with apologies to Brooks.

Maybe Belichick in New England.

Yea, I forgot.  Cal had a mildly controversial slip 40-some years into being a public figure.  There are others in the public eye who eclipse that by 12:15 am every day.

[Redskins Rick]

17 hours ago, Frobby said:

Well, it’s Orioles Hangout, so what else is new?    Of course it’s being overblown.   

Bottom line, Mountcastle hit pretty well this spring, which was good to see.    I think Buck was right to push him hard on plate discipline being a priority.     You can agree or disagree about making that discussion public; but at the end of the day, it’s not that big a deal one way or the other that it got discussed with the media.     It’s not like everything Buck said was negative.     

I agree and typical OH fashion, we are lined up at all sides, discussing the merits of the activity, for the sake of discussions.

None of us really know the background.

This reminds me a bit of being a parent and trying to talk to one of my at the time teenagers and explain my point, but they just laugh and whatever Dad.

[webbrick2010]

A couple of things:

1. Going "public", the public in this case is only the most dialed in O's fans nobody else cared or paid attention.

2. This free swinging approach permeates the entire O's system, I hope Buck is fighting the battle with the ML staffs to fight this problem which is creating the Mountcastles

3. Buck is like 4 generations removed from a 20 yo Mountcastle, I can imagine a young guy may not have understood what Buck was trying to convey and reacted poorly (in Bucks eyes)

4. Seems the entire O's organization is geriatric. Need to get younger coaches, managers, scouts, not a big surprise that our player development is below many other organizations. Perhaps players have trouble relating to folks 50 years older who have been so long removed from being an athlete.

[Ruzious]

18 hours ago, Tx Oriole said:

That's what I disagree with Buck about. It's not about him getting on Ryan. Ryan needed it most likely. Buck going public is what I think is wrong. 

And apparently we're over-blowing the situation by pointing this out.  

[Ohfan67]

2 hours ago, webbrick2010 said:

A couple of things:

1. Going "public", the public in this case is only the most dialed in O's fans nobody else cared or paid attention.

2. This free swinging approach permeates the entire O's system, I hope Buck is fighting the battle with the ML staffs to fight this problem which is creating the Mountcastles

3. Buck is like 4 generations removed from a 20 yo Mountcastle, I can imagine a young guy may not have understood what Buck was trying to convey and reacted poorly (in Bucks eyes)

4. Seems the entire O's organization is geriatric. Need to get younger coaches, managers, scouts, not a big surprise that our player development is below many other organizations. Perhaps players have trouble relating to folks 50 years older who have been so long removed from being an athlete.

Point 3: Mountcastle has been playing organized baseball for basically his entire life. He's lived his life surrounded by coaches. It's safe to assume that many of them were not spring chickens and I'm sure he's been chewed out and heard many other players get chewed out. It ain't rocket science. If Mountcastle "may not have understood", then Moutcastle has problems that go beyond being a free swinger and not being able to field a position.

 

Point 4: You mean like 31 year old Buck Britton who's managing Delmarva this year? Seriously, there's no evidence that the Orioles player development people are older than those of other organizations. It would be interesting if it were true, but it would take a lot of leg work to track down all the ages. I looked at a few organizations and couldn't see any real differences. Heck, it's often the same people floating back and forth between organizations. Atlanta has the or one of the highest ranked minor league systems in baseball. Guess who's their director of player development? Dom Chiti, the Orioles bullpen coach from 2014-2016. 

[jabba72]

Everything Buck told him is probably true. So I dont have a problem with it. 17 walks in over 500 PA's is not acceptable. Moundcastle's defense is also not major league quality. No other way for Buck to put it. 

[BohKnowsBmore]

22 hours ago, Tx Oriole said:

 

20 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Yea, I'm not much on blind trust.

And I don't think it is that likely that the two have had an extended conversation before but neither of us know so we can just speculate.

That's fine, but there's not really enough information here, so if trusting Buck, who has far more any of us regarding the situation, is "blind trust," then the alternative is "blind distrust" to some degree, no?