Tony-OH on Vinny & Haynie (105.7)

[OFFNY]

o

 

 

THURSDAY, MAY 9th

**********************

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:) Can you tell us about your interview(s) with Mike Elias ???

TONY PENTE:)l I really appreciate Elias' candidness, his frankness. He has taken over the organization, and he really has a plan for the long-term. He is really wearing 3 hats right now ........ the GM, the Scouting Director, and the  Farm Director. I think that he probably will step back a little next year, as I suspect that we will see him hire a domestic scouting director, a a true farm director who will do more of the promoting and demoting in the Minor Leagues. He is a smart guy, very impressive, and I believe that the organization is in good hands with him.

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:) What is he looking for in the Orioles' 1st pick in the draft ???

TONY PENTE:)l He's really looking at catchers ........ Adley Rutschman from Oregon State is probably the best prospect at that position. 

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l Does he have any specific concerns in regard to catchers in the draft ???

TONY PENTE:)l You really have to do your due diligence when looking at drafting catchers in the first round. When you look at history of the draft with catchers drafted at #1 overall, you see guys like Joe Mauer and B.J. Surhoff (who had a  very good career at multiple positions) ........ but you also look at guys like Steve Chilcott, Mike Ivie, and Danny Goodwin. Ivie had a decent career, but not as a catcher. Danny Goodwin was selected TWICE as overall #1 pick, out of high school by the White Sox in 1971, and out of college by the Angels in 1975 ........ but he hurt his shoulder in the Minors. They kept running him back out there before he was ready, and that ruined his arm. Then they tried to DH him, and he had some time in the Majors with that, but he never caught a game in the Majors, in spite of his desire to do so. 

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l What do you think about the guys that we got in the Gausman/O'Day trade last year  ???

TONY PENTE:)l Zimmerman and has been developing at AA-Bowie. He is pretty young. He doesn't have overwhelming stuff, but if you have a good change-up and you are left-handed (like John Means), you have a chance. Encarnacion was the best prospect of the group, but he is still very raw, and a long way away. He is currently repeating at Regular-A Delmarva. Evan Phillips, we know who he is. He has been erratic, and probably will continue to be that way. Some days he is really good, and some days he is really bad. I don't think Phillips is a long-term guy for the organization. Brett Cumberland, he is not know for his defense or being an impact bat, so we need somebody else to step forward. Regarding the Gausman/O'Day trade overall, I still scratch my head how it was done ........ you usually get at least 1 impact players for a guy like Gausman, and we didn't.

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l In general, what is Elias looking for in an Oriole ???

TONY PENTE:)  Tough, physical guys ........ it will start with the metrics, the track-man information. There is so much information that is there these days as compared to several decades ago, especially on college players. Even some high school have showcases, as they are measuring spin-rates and velocity with the pitchers. Talking about high picks in regard to Elias, you think of Moneyball and Astroball. You can hear how Elias has gone through that is in the past, prior to coming to the Orioles. There will be personality aspects in his overall evaluations of players, but I think that it will be about metrics more than anything ........ the data will drive a lot of the evaluation. 

 

o

[OFFNY]

o

 

Please keep in mind that when I post radio interviews of Tony Pente and Roy Firestone, I am paraphrasing ...... subsequently, there may be a thing or two in my transcriptions that may be somewhat amiss.

 

o

[BarclaySouthway]

I'm glad you criticized the Gausman deal, Tony.  You hear barely a peep out of any other media, and that deal sucked.

[Mendoza Line]

The Gausman deal wasn't good. But he's not the next Arrieta like a bunch of people were clamoring he was after his hot start post-trade.

He's not some guy that was suffering from poor coaching during his tenure in Baltimore.  The numbers, projections, and results seem to suggest he is what he is.  Basically a number #3 starter.  Yes we should have gotten more, and it was salary dump, but it wasn't like we gave away a CY caliber pitcher for peanuts.

[weams]

Just now, Mendoza Line said:

The Gausman deal wasn't good. But he's not the next Arrieta like a bunch of people were clamoring he was after his hot start post-trade.

He's not some guy that was suffering from poor coaching during his tenure in Baltimore.  The numbers, projections, and results seem to suggest he is what he is.  Basically a number #3 starter.  Yes we should have gotten more, and it was salary dump, but it wasn't like we gave away a CY caliber pitcher for peanuts.

The Gausman deal saved the Orioles money. And stuff. 

[bobmc]

11 hours ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

Please keep in mind that when I post radio interviews of Tony Pente and Roy Firestone, I am paraphrasing ...... subsequently, there may be a thing or two in my transcriptions that may be somewhat amiss.

 

o

I also thought I heard Elias mention that catchers were less likely to have bad backs and that knees were the problem long term.  To me, Rutschman has a more lanky body than Wieters, for example, but knees can go on anyone for any number of reasons (genetic (Manny), trauma, etc.).  It's still a crap shoot but Adley is top shelf in all aspects, as we all "know", and the dice are loaded in our favor.  However, he did catch Luke so he's "tainted".    But anyone that plays for the "Beavers" has got to rock!

Edited May 10, 2019 by bobmc
I love saying Beavers

[Redskins Rick]

Personally, I have a hard time listening to Vinny, does anybody else feel the same?

[OFFNY]

1 hour ago, bobmc said:

 

I also thought that I heard Elias mention that catchers were less likely to have bad backs and that knees were the problem long term. To me, Rutschman has a more lanky body than Wieters, for example, but knees can go on anyone for any number of reasons (genetic [Manny], trauma, etc.)  It's still a crap shoot, but Adley is top shelf in all aspects, as we all "know", and the dice are loaded in our favor. However, he did catch Luke, so he's "tainted." )    But anyone that plays for the "Beavers" has got to rock !!!  ) 

 

o

 

This person agrees with you, completely ........

 

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/index.php?/profile/12051-chavez-ravine/

 

o

[OFFNY]

1 hour ago, bobmc said:

I also thought that I heard Elias mention that catchers were less likely to have bad backs and that knees were the problem long term. To me, Rutschman has a more lanky body than Wieters, for example, but knees can go on anyone for any number of reasons (genetic [Manny], trauma, etc.)  It's still a crap shoot, but Adley is top shelf in all aspects, as we all "know", and the dice are loaded in our favor. However, he did catch Luke, so he's "tainted." )    But anyone that plays for the "Beavers" has got to rock !!!  ) 

 

o

 

These Beavers were the only team ever to win the NCAA AND the NIT tournament in the same season (1949-50), before the point-shaving scandal brought them (and numerous other schools) down in disgrace.

 

 

 

o

[Tony-OH]

10 hours ago, Mendoza Line said:

The Gausman deal wasn't good. But he's not the next Arrieta like a bunch of people were clamoring he was after his hot start post-trade.

He's not some guy that was suffering from poor coaching during his tenure in Baltimore.  The numbers, projections, and results seem to suggest he is what he is.  Basically a number #3 starter.  Yes we should have gotten more, and it was salary dump, but it wasn't like we gave away a CY caliber pitcher for peanuts.

You will not get any arguments from me on anything you wrote here. 

[Redskins Rick]

2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

You will not get any arguments from me on anything you wrote here. 

I get that the Gausman deal was a crappy deal, time will tell if it get a bit better for the Orioles or worse, but at the end of the day, it was a salary dump through and through.

But, at some point, we need to move on.

Everybody involved with that, are gone from the system.

The boys are in charge Elias is here with a plan.

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

I get that the Gausman deal was a crappy deal, time will tell if it get a bit better for the Orioles or worse, but at the end of the day, it was a salary dump through and through.

But, at some point, we need to move on.

Everybody involved with that, are gone from the system.

The boys are in charge Elias is here with a plan.

I just answer the questions they ask me buddy . I've clearly moved on, as have the new regime, but if I'm asked, I'll give my opinion and the Gausman deal was definitely about salary relief and not about the return, which is sad because Gausman was one of the guys that should have gotten a decent return.

[Redskins Rick]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

I just answer the questions they ask me buddy . I've clearly moved on, as have the new regime, but if I'm asked, I'll give my opinion and the Gausman deal was definitely about salary relief and not about the return, which is sad because Gausman was one of the guys that should have gotten a decent return.

Guasman seam to have so much potential here and flashes of brilliance.

What he over hyped?

Under coached?

Something happen, to have gone from a sure lock TOR guy, to a #3 slot SP at best.

 

[Tony-OH]

5 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Guasman seam to have so much potential here and flashes of brilliance.

What he over hyped?

Under coached?

Something happen, to have gone from a sure lock TOR guy, to a #3 slot SP at best.

 

Personally, I don't think his breaking pitches ever came around and he made too many mistakes in the middle of the plate. He such a good raw fastball that he gets away with some of those mistakes, but in the end, I think he'll always be a guy who will flash brilliance on occasion but will settle in as a #3-#4 guy. 

Saying that, there's value in a cheap controllable pitcher like this which is why it was disappointing that the return came back with no high level impact players.

[interloper]

31 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Guasman seam to have so much potential here and flashes of brilliance.

What he over hyped?

Under coached?

Something happen, to have gone from a sure lock TOR guy, to a #3 slot SP at best.

 

My opinion is he is kind of just a two pitch pitcher. He has the good fastball and the good split-changeup. Needs a reliable slider. Sometimes the changeup wouldn't do its thing and then he'd get into trouble.