should we demote Rowell?

[Hank Scorpio]

There is absolutely no excuse for defensive laziness at any level by any player period. I truly think whoever scouted and recommended this kid needs to be demoted or fired.

:wedge::wedge::wedge:

[Tony-OH]

There is absolutely no excuse for defensive laziness at any level by any player period. I truly think whoever scouted and recommended this kid needs to be demoted or fired.

Wow. So let me see, Rowell was a kid that a lot of scouts were very interested in and if the Orioles didn't take him he would have gone very soon afterwards.

He was a shortstop in high school and he was known as a kid who worked very hard on his hitting in high school with a batting cage in his basement where he was known to take swing until the wee hours of the morning.

Now, perhaps the money and status as a 1st rounder has hurt his work ethic? I'm not sure ho the scout is supposed to know that will happen.

It's not like the Orioles reached with Rowell, it's just that so far it has not worked out so far while trying to push him.

Last winter I was pretty well lambasted on here because I was one of the few people who suggested the Orioles should have kept him in Delmarva to start the year because it might give him a better chance to have some success.

After the things I heard and saw last year, I really didn't think he was ready to face High-A pitching.

However, I believe the Orioles have pushed him in order for him to fail. I know that sounds crazy, but Rowell has been known to resist some coaching and the thought may have been to push him until he fails so he'll be more receptive to change.

Rowell has the raw abilities with his bat speed and power, but he needs to shorten the swing and learn about having quality at bats.

When Snyder returns, it might not be a bad idea to give him more time at third base with Rowell playing some first base and maybe even some right field. It also might not be the worse idea in the world then to send him back to Delmarva for the last month and half to see if he can have some success to build upon for next year back with Frederick.

[Flosman]

There is absolutely no excuse for defensive laziness at any level by any player period. I truly think whoever scouted and recommended this kid needs to be demoted or fired.

And the hits keep coming.:rolleyestf:

[nadecir]

That's pretty funny. I'm sure, in addition to many O's scouts seeing this kid play, that Joe Jordan personally scouted this kid. So, should Jordan be fired or demoted?

Maybe not, but so far Brandon Snyder and Billy Rowell have not been Jordan's best moments. Snyder and Rowell are still young, and maybe they will turn things around, but so far the development of these two first round draft picks hasn't been impressive.

Considering that Snyder went 13th in the first round in 2005, and Rowell went ninth in the first round in 2006, you would have hoped for more progress from both than what the Orioles have gotten so far.

Sure, they were many players picked in the first two rounds of these drafts that haven't made a big impression so far. But also consider that the Orioles passed on players like Jacoby Ellsbury, Colby Rasmus and Tim Lincecum in order to pick these guys, it only makes it seem worse.

Time will tell if these two guys prove they are not a couple of Jordan's less than stellar selections in his draft history.

[glenn__davis]

Yeah, he throws a DUDE in there too.

But I was sorry to read the defensive part in addition.

But honestly, I have no idea who this scout is, and he probably knows way more about baseball than me, but I have a hard time taking seriously someone who says "I don't like to watch him catch the ball -- it's annoying to watch him play".

[Greg Pappas]

Rowell should be in Delmarva, and here are a few other observations...

Richard De Oleo (22) and Elvin Polanco (21) who are currently in Bluefield need to move up to Aberdeen or possibly even Delmarva.

Delmarva's Tyler Henson may be best served switching to 2B and reliever John Mariotti (23) should move to Frederick.

Big lefty reliever Ryan Rodriguez (23) should be headed to Bowie. He'll be 24 in a few weeks.

Bowie OF'er Louis Montanez (26) should get a shot at the big league bench. Perhaps he can fill Payton's role in the future, as the RH bat off the bench, spot starter in LF. Perhaps not. Time will tell...

[DocJJ]

Honestly, he's down to .218. It's now reached the realm of pathetic. He's obviously way overmatched.

Drop him to Delmarva or even Aberdeen to see if he can find his stroke....

[Hoovedawg]

I get to, well more like have to interact with Rowell at almost all of the Keys home games and he is quite possibly the most arrogant immature 19 year old I have ever met. He has talent but will never be successful in baseball if he continues to act like a spoiled 7 year old.

Honestly, I would demote him to Bluefield to a) Send him the message that he needs to change his attitude and b) Let him build some confidence and actually be successful.

[Big Mac]

I get to, well more like have to interact with Rowell at almost all of the Keys home games and he is quite possibly the most arrogant immature 19 year old I have ever met. He has talent but will never be successful in baseball if he continues to act like a spoiled 7 year old.

Honestly, I would demote him to Bluefield to a) Send him the message that he needs to change his attitude and b) Let him build some confidence and actually be successful.

Wow, I'll definitley take your word for it since you interact with him on a daily basis.

I'm just wondering if you can elaborate a little bit, maybe like specific things he has said or done?

[DocJJ]

It must be humiliating, having signed a multimillion dollar deal and stinking up A-ball the way he is....

[4thebirds]

There is absolutely no excuse for defensive laziness at any level by any player period. I truly think whoever scouted and recommended this kid needs to be demoted or fired.

Tony please hire this guy to write a weekly satire column for OH. I love it! :clap3: On topic, Rowell needs to be sent down to hopefully get his head on straight. If batting close to the Mendoza line for half a season doesn't humble him, I'm not sure what will.

[glenn__davis]

1-33 in his last 10 games. Ouch.

[Aloe]

At some point when are we going to start to blame our minor league instructors for the problem of our lack of developing good hitting talent. Either our scouts are messing up or our instructors are.

[Big Mac]

1-33 in his last 10 games. Ouch.

And I was there to see his only hit in his past 33 AB's. Awesome.

[Hoovedawg]

He whines about everything, and not just typical complaining, he takes it to a whole new level. The dirts too hard, or its too soft or theres a whole near home plate, or the grass is too tall or too short of that its too long of a drive to the mercedes dealership, becuse he needs to get his 100,000 dollar m. It is non stop whining.

He also disrespects keys staff members like when he gunned a throw to first while a groundskeeper was directly in line between Rowell and the 1b man. Luckily the ball only hit the groundskeeper in the chest and not the face. I would normally dismiss this type of thing as an accidnet but to me it appeared like one of those "Hey guys look how close to him I can get with out hitting him" (Except he doesn't have an accourate enough arm to do that). I’ve seen him yell at another one of the groundskeepers. Basically he thinks he is allowed to do whatever because he is the "big star".

When he starts to struggle then he appears to get both more lazy and more angry. He has been thrown out of several games and came close in several. Once he was tossed and then stayed in the dugout for 5 or 10 minutes after causing the umps to delay the game until he left. He looked better defensivley at the beginning of the year, but now he plays with an apparently lazy attitude. Hes got a rocket arm but when he begins to act like a kid that gets wasted.