Gentry DFA'd; Rickard recalled.

[Frobby]

6 hours ago, atomic said:

Are you being sarcastic?  Rickard is 27 and hasn't done anything in his career.  I mean they could DFA him tomorrow and no once care.  

I am not being sarcastic.   Rickard is a somewhat marginal extra outfielder.   The kind of guy you might keep around for $550,000, but might drop if he cost $1 mm.   Keeping him away from Super-2 avoids that issue.   And let’s say by some chance he has his best year next year.    The fact that he’d be Arb 1 in 2020 instead of Arb 2 could then be real money.    I realize it seems tight-fisted to worry about that stuff with a marginal player, but remember Caleb Joseph was a Super-2 after his 0 RBI season and the O’s took him to arbitration over a few hundred thousand dollars.   That stuff matters to them.   And I agree, who knows if Rickard even makes the team next year or stays on the 40-man roster, but I think this was probably a factor in deciding to send Rickard down, along with their desire to try to shop Gentry before the 8/31 deadline.

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

.700 OPS OF that can play CF. Cheap. That has some value. He’s a good defensive OF.

People get too caught up in dWAR for OFs. The stats love Gentry this year in the field. I wonder why?  Did he suddenly become 10 years younger?  Oh, he’s had 40 more balls hit to him in the OF this year as compared to last.   Is that really something he can control?

Having a positive or negative dWAR has nothing to do with how many balls are hit to you.    It has to do with whether you catch the balls that are deemed catchable, and how well you throw.    

Subjectively, Gentry is a very good outfielder, and better than Rickard (who isn’t bad).   He’s also a better baserunner than Rickard.    Overall, other than age, I consider Gentry to be a bit better player.    He’s a better OBP guy than Rickard, though with less pop.

All that said, I’m fine letting Gentry go now and keeping Rickard, who is cheaper and still has options.   

[weams]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Having a positive or negative dWAR has nothing to do with how many balls are hit to you.    It has to do with whether you catch the balls that are deemed catchable, and how well you throw.    

Subjectively, Gentry is a very good outfielder, and better than Rickard (who isn’t bad).   He’s also a better baserunner than Rickard.    Overall, other than age, I consider Gentry to be a bit better player.    He’s a better OBP guy than Rickard, though with less pop.

All that said, I’m fine letting Gentry go now and keeping Rickard, who is cheaper and still has options.   

I would be thrilled to go into the offseason with a 35 man roster and of those, 8 from our current minor leagues not on the 40 man. 

[Jammer7]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

Having a positive or negative dWAR has nothing to do with how many balls are hit to you.    It has to do with whether you catch the balls that are deemed catchable, and how well you throw.    

Subjectively, Gentry is a very good outfielder, and better than Rickard (who isn’t bad).   He’s also a better baserunner than Rickard.    Overall, other than age, I consider Gentry to be a bit better player.    He’s a better OBP guy than Rickard, though with less pop.

All that said, I’m fine letting Gentry go now and keeping Rickard, who is cheaper and still has options.   

This is where I am on this. I hope that Joey Rickard is DFA'd in the Spring 2019. I hope that Andreoli is able to beat him out for that 4th OF job. Andreoli is certainly much faster underway than Joey. I do not like Andreolli's load at the plate, and he did take a Rickard-esque route to a ball hit to the wall in deep CF a few games ago. But that is the only indication his routes are not quality, so far anyway. I cannot judge his arm yet, but Joey does not have a cannon at all so it shouldn't matter in their competition.

[Frobby]

On 8/31/2018 at 10:47 PM, Frobby said:

 

Also, by demoting Rickard for 11 days, there’s a good chance they have avoided him becoming a Super 2.    I believe he’ll niece finish the year with 2 years, 119 days of service.    Last year the cutoff was 2 years, 123 days.    So, those 11 days could keep Rickard out of arbitration.    Not that he would have earned a ton in arbitration next year, but it’s several hundred thousand dollars difference this year and will impact what he earns in arbitration in future years, if he’s able to play well enough to stay on the roster.   

FWIW, Rickard did not qualify as a Super-2.    The cut-off was 2 years, 134 days and he was at 2 years, 120 days.