Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

[HowAboutThat]

A couple of really fine writers devote their time to the Orioles. One of them is Matt Kremnitzer(And I swear, you have not lived until you have had fun with your iPhone voice auto correct and that name…)

Anyway, he raised the shocking question of why we have not signed a short stop yet. He said( and I paraphrase)“surely we can’t plan on going into the season with Richie Martin again?”

To which I reply , “why not?”

I reply here because Twitter is silly and I do not indulge, but still… Why not?

I am aware that the defensive stats were not his friend, but at the risk of sounding like Buck, I really think they were unfair to Mr. Martin. He’s a fine shortstop on defense and improving on offense, And although I don’t disagree that another one might be nice to have, I don’t think it is necessary.

[oriole]

It doesn’t really matter much to me who is playing SS other than I really hope they can at least be average on defense. I hate seeing below average fielders up the middle even on a bad team. I don’t think I watched Martin closely enough to really get a grasp as to whether or not the metrics felt right but from what I saw he didn’t seem terrible. So if he ended up getting most starts there again then I wouldn’t mind. I would like to see him prove himself through some competition though. It’s not like he did anywhere near well enough for me to say another SS brought into ST would be unnecessary.

[wildcard]

IMO Martin going to AAA is more about developing his offense than his defense.

[HowAboutThat]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

IMO Martin going to AAA is more about developing his offense than his defense.

 That’s valid, but what about all those people who say that once you’ve proven everything at AAA you need to continue to hone your skills against major-league pitching. That’s got to be as true of Martin as it is of Mountcastle. 

[maybenxtyr]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

IMO Martin going to AAA is more about developing his offense than his defense.

There's really not much left to develop. The odds are better that he'll be out of ML baseball in a couple of years rather than he becoming much better of an offensive player.

[HowAboutThat]

Just now, maybenxtyr said:

There's really not much left to develop. The odds are better that he'll be out of ML baseball in a couple of years rather than he becoming much better of an offensive player.

If he does as well as Joey Rickard, that will be a pretty good career, But I think he will do better

[maybenxtyr]

21 minutes ago, Philip said:

If he does as well as Joey Rickard, that will be a pretty good career, But I think he will do better

He's already done well in a sense. He beat the odds and had a season in the ML's. He most certainly should be proud of that accomplishment. 

[wildcard]

After going 300/368/439/807 in AA, he jumped to the majors as a Rule 5 guy.  Offensively he was not ready for the jump.  Going to AAA this season would be to see if he can recapture some of the OBP capability and develop it further.    I would not expect his to become a power guy but if he can get on base and play good defense he could graduate to the majors and have a good career beginning some time in the 2nd half or during the 2021 season..

[Frobby]

Count me in the group who didn’t think the defensive metrics matched the eye test with Martin.    I see him as much better than those stats suggested, but still, only about average for a starting MLB SS.    He might get better defensively with experience.    But he’s good enough defensively to play there.    

The real issue is will his offense improve?    The O’s sort of spoon fed him in the second half in terms of platooning him.   Honestly, I’d be surprised if he ever reached the level of average starting SS offensively, or as an overall offensive/defensive combination.     So, I don’t see him as a long-term solution for this team.    But, I’ve got an open mind about him winning a spot on the OD roster.   I’d certainly like the O’s to bring in some competition at that spot.     
 

[atomic]

12 hours ago, maybenxtyr said:

He's already done well in a sense. He beat the odds and had a season in the ML's. He most certainly should be proud of that accomplishment. 

I am not sure he beat any odds as the Orioles were tanking.  I think on any other team he would have been sent back.

[Santandah]

6 minutes ago, atomic said:

I am not sure he beat any odds as the Orioles were tanking.  I think on any other team he would have been sent back.

How about Addison Russell?

given the lack of fan interest here right now, I can't imagine there would be much backlash. Hyde must be familiar with him. 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Santandah

[maybenxtyr]

1 hour ago, atomic said:

I am not sure he beat any odds as the Orioles were tanking.  I think on any other team he would have been sent back.

I agree he would have not made it through the season on most teams, however he did get a year in the ML's and that is an accomplishment.

I'm ok with him as the starting SS this season. 

[thezeroes]

1 hour ago, Santandah said:

How about Addison Russell?

Boras client.  PASS

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

17 hours ago, Philip said:

A couple of really fine writers devote their time to the Orioles. One of them is Matt Kremnitzer(And I swear, you have not lived until you have had fun with your iPhone voice auto correct and that name…)

Anyway, he raised the shocking question of why we have not signed a short stop yet. He said( and I paraphrase)“surely we can’t plan on going into the season with Richie Martin again?”

To which I reply , “why not?”

I reply here because Twitter is silly and I do not indulge, but still… Why not?

I am aware that the defensive stats were not his friend, but at the risk of sounding like Buck, I really think they were unfair to Mr. Martin. He’s a fine shortstop on defense and improving on offense, And although I don’t disagree that another one might be nice to have, I don’t think it is necessary.

Martin's glove might be better than the metrics, but he can't hit Major League Pitching. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt in the field, I wouldn't call him above-average defensively whatsoever.

He needs to be in AAA to work on some things; it's a disservice to him to keep allowing him to be overmatched at the plate.

Elias keeps talking about how he wants to increase the talent level of the organization. I'd expect him to add more talent at the shortstop position this offseason, not just to rely on a Rule 5 pick from last year who has been generally underwhelming. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Martin's glove might be better than the metrics, but he can't hit Major League Pitching. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt in the field, I wouldn't call him above-average defensively whatsoever.

He needs to be in AAA to work on some things; it's a disservice to him to keep allowing him to be overmatched at the plate.

Elias keeps talking about how he wants to increase the talent level of the organization. I'd expect him to add more talent at the shortstop position this offseason, not just to rely on a Rule 5 pick from last year who has been generally underwhelming. 

What is he going to learn in AAA?

He spends 2020 in AAA and what should we expect in 2021?  Is he going to be improved as a hitter or fielder?