House released! (Headed To Boston?)

[now]

a couple of points...

1. It's all about the $ (see Gibbons and Huff, DH - too much invested to replace or release)

2. The timing is pretty coincidental with Hubele (.201 avg.) being promoted to AAA; hot on the heels of Fahey's callup.

3. When will they ever learn? When will they e-------ver learn?

:002_smad:

:SuN035:

[srh523]

a couple of points...

1. It's all about the $ (see Gibbons and Huff, DH - too much invested to replace or release)

2. The timing is pretty coincidental with Hubele (.201 avg.) being promoted to AAA; hot on the heels of Fahey's callup.

3. When will they ever learn? When will they e-------ver learn?

:002_smad:

:SuN035:

Was Hubele promoted before or after this happened?

[Wadester]

Whiteside will be coming off the DL in the next few days...broken nose....so i gues there was going to be logjam of catchers.

[Why Not?]

Why grant him his release? Even though he did ask for it why give it to him?

Is this something that happens often?

Sometimes guys have it worked into their contracts. Sometimes it's just professional courtesy.

I recall Erubiel Durazo having this sort of arrangement last year.

[geschinger]

I'd like to hear some information from someone who has seen has play at Norfolk. Is his defense that bad? Is it his arm? Framing? release? footwork? blocking pitches?

This is the key. If mgmt thought he was incapable of catching at the major league level I don't see how there would of been room for him on the roster if one looks at it realistically. I.e. taking into account that a veteran with a big salary was not going to be released to make room for him. When you are relying on young pitching it helps to have a capable receiver back there and maybe the O's brass didn't think he met that criteria.

If it was indeed his defense holding him back I wonder why they didn't have him play another position full time to see if there was another way to make room for his bat.

[BeerIsFood]

Wait, where are the people to say this is no big loss and no big deal?

Yeah that was me the other day in a totally different situation. I still say losing Williamson in the grand scheme of things was no big deal.

This situation however lies in the depths of stupidity. I could rant and rave all day about things that have already been said on this board, but weve all heard it before. As others have said, I hope a big league club picks him up and he makes us pay. He deserved better.

[SteveA]

Yeah, but let's be honest, how many times does a Jack Cust happen? I see your point, but what are the chances of House ending up like that?

The hell with Jack Cust. What if he winds up as "a Todd Pratt"? Nothing special, just a backup catcher who actually has a little pop in his bat. Even then he would be way better than what we have had as backup catcher this year. Either way, his misuse by this organization is disgraceful.

[rolliefingers]

Look, bottom line: This team is SO BAD offensively, that there is literally no rational explanation for this move. If we were doing well offensively, then I can see not wanting House playing defense. But as it is, we need ANYONE who can hit.

NO. EXCUSE. No excuse for this move. I really want to believe MacPhail is different, but so far he's made two outright stupid moves. I am extremely unimpressed.

[rolliefingers]

I also know that the Orioles routinely make stupid decision after stupid decision so, in all likelihood, they are wrong here as well. Hell, that is just going with the percentages.

So yea, i am pretty sure about this one.

That about sums it up.

[CrimsonTribe]

I really hope this comes back to bite us in the @#$. This is ludicrous.

[Pedro Cerrano]

My God people. Calm down. I realize I am about to get seriously flamed for this, but House has about 20 MAJOR LEAGUE AT-BATS!! He is a career minor-leaguer. You guys can speculate all you want about how great he could be but, in my opinion, there is a reason why a few teams have passed on him. If he was this talented phenom some make him out to be you'd think a major league team would have at least given him a handful of at-bats at the major league level at some point, even as a September call-up. As it stands, he has had exactly 9 at-bats last year and the year before -- both career highs. If someone could explain to me how this correlates to being some Splendid Splinter I'm all ears, but I think the scouts and Front Offices of various Major League teams have a little more insight than the members here. Oh, by the way, we were all up in arms when we lost Josh Phelps. That was another move that many on here called "inexcusable" and "insane" and "moronic" etc etc. Well, the Yanks released him and now he can barely get playing time on Pittsburgh, a real lousy team that also, by the way, gave up on House.

I bash the FO as much as the next guy when they do something dumb, but I can't jump on board with this.

[Will]

My God people. Calm down. I realize I am about to get seriously flamed for this, but House has about 20 MAJOR LEAGUE AT-BATS!! He is a career minor-leaguer. You guys can speculate all you want about how great he could be but, in my opinion, there is a reason why a few teams have passed on him. If he was this talented phenom some make him out to be you'd think a major league team would have at least given him a handful of at-bats at the major league level at some point, even as a September call-up. As it stands, he has had exactly 9 at-bats last year and the year before -- both career highs. If someone could explain to me how this correlates to being some Splendid Splinter I'm all ears, but I think the scouts and Front Offices of various Major League teams have a little more insight than the members here. Oh, by the way, we were all up in arms when we lost Josh Phelps. That was another move that many on here called "inexcusable" and "insane" and "moronic" etc etc. Well, the Yanks released him and now he can barely get playing time on Pittsburgh, a real lousy team that also, by the way, gave up on House.

I bash the FO as much as the next guy when they do something dumb, but I can't jump on board with this.

Ken Phelps would like a word with you.

[Moose Milligan]

My God people. Calm down. I realize I am about to get seriously flamed for this, but House has about 20 MAJOR LEAGUE AT-BATS!! He is a career minor-leaguer. You guys can speculate all you want about how great he could be but, in my opinion, there is a reason why a few teams have passed on him. If he was this talented phenom some make him out to be you'd think a major league team would have at least given him a handful of at-bats at the major league level at some point, even as a September call-up. As it stands, he has had exactly 9 at-bats last year and the year before -- both career highs. If someone could explain to me how this correlates to being some Splendid Splinter I'm all ears, but I think the scouts and Front Offices of various Major League teams have a little more insight than the members here. Oh, by the way, we were all up in arms when we lost Josh Phelps. That was another move that many on here called "inexcusable" and "insane" and "moronic" etc etc. Well, the Yanks released him and now he can barely get playing time on Pittsburgh, a real lousy team that also, by the way, gave up on House.

I bash the FO as much as the next guy when they do something dumb, but I can't jump on board with this.

I'm inclined to agree with the reasoning of "he's a career minor leaguer for a reason" but that'll be bashed to smithereens with stats projecting how he'd do in the majors...

[CrimsonTribe]

My God people. Calm down. I realize I am about to get seriously flamed for this, but House has about 20 MAJOR LEAGUE AT-BATS!! He is a career minor-leaguer. You guys can speculate all you want about how great he could be but, in my opinion, there is a reason why a few teams have passed on him. If he was this talented phenom some make him out to be you'd think a major league team would have at least given him a handful of at-bats at the major league level at some point, even as a September call-up. As it stands, he has had exactly 9 at-bats last year and the year before -- both career highs. If someone could explain to me how this correlates to being some Splendid Splinter I'm all ears, but I think the scouts and Front Offices of various Major League teams have a little more insight than the members here. Oh, by the way, we were all up in arms when we lost Josh Phelps. That was another move that many on here called "inexcusable" and "insane" and "moronic" etc etc. Well, the Yanks released him and now he can barely get playing time on Pittsburgh, a real lousy team that also, by the way, gave up on House.

I bash the FO as much as the next guy when they do something dumb, but I can't jump on board with this.

You're missing the point. The fact that House only has 20 MLB at bats while guys like Fahey, Bynum, and Bako are on the team is part of the issue. We had a guy who showed the potential to be more valuable than at least 3 guys on our ML team, but we didn't even give him a chance to show it. Instead, we went with the crappy known commodities rather than taking a rather small risk with a guy who would almost certainly perform better than any of those 3. That's terrible mismanagement, plain and simple. It isn't about House being an all-star or even a regular MLer; it's about him not even getting a shot when he's shown the potential to contribute.

Frankly, I'll trust my own judgment over that of the Orioles and the Pirates, both of whom shouldn't be trusted with running high school car wash let alone a major league baseball team.

[Pedro Cerrano]

I'm inclined to agree with the reasoning of "he's a career minor leaguer for a reason" but that'll be bashed to smithereens with stats projecting how he'd do in the majors...

And that's the thing I don't get about stats. It's not like MLB GM's are looking at different numbers than people on the Hangout. They all see the same stats. They can all derive the same projections based on minor league numbers. The difference? GM's actually scout the players. Say a guy has a huge hole in his swing that doesn't affect how he fairs against bad AAA pitchers but MLB arms would eat alive. Stats say, "Wow, this guy can rake, let's give him a chance." The scouts say, "Well yea, he can play at AAA, but he isn't cut out for MLB."

Like I said, I have this feeling that JR House, if he were as good as many on here believe he is, would have seen at least 100 MLB ABs by now. Hell, even Jack Cust has that.