Iglesias signs with O's

[Camden_yardbird]

31 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’d call his defense better than capable.    He’s a top 1-5 defensive SS.    

Fixed that for ya...

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

That's fair. Elite is a dangerous word to throw around. 

It’s just one of those words where different people mean different things.    For some, it would mean top 2-3 in MLB.    For others, top 10 might be good enough.    

[interloper]

Highest priced free agent signing of the Elias era! Lol

[HowAboutThat]

20 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Either way, I could see him platooning with Martin or Martin making it as a utility guy still. 

Wilkerson is more versatile than Martin. I don’t think either is the Second Coming, but Wilkerson is probably the choice between the two, although I’m a fan of Martin

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Camden_yardbird said:

Fixed that for ya...

I don’t think I’d put him at 1-5 (well, maybe 5ish).     Last year he was 7-11 in the various cumulative advanced metrics, mostly 7-8.     But anyway he’s very good.  

[NCRaven]

I like having solid defense behind young pitchers (or old pitchers).  Can't think of anything more disappointing than making a good pitch just to see the infield fail to field a ground ball or turn a makeable double play.  It's a relatively low cost move.  I'm not as high on Alberto as some, but those two at SS and 2B is an improvement over last year.  Still not thrilled with the Villar trade, but I feel better about watching Orioles games today than I did yesterday.

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

9 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

I like having solid defense behind young pitchers (or old pitchers).  Can't think of anything more disappointing than making a good pitch just to see the infield fail to field a ground ball or turn a makeable double play.  It's a relatively low cost move.  I'm not as high on Alberto as some, but those two at SS and 2B is an improvement over last year.  Still not thrilled with the Villar trade, but I feel better about watching Orioles games today than I did yesterday.

It'll be curious to see at the end of 2020 if saving $7 million was worth basically giving Villar away and replacing him with Iglesias.

[wildcard]

39 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Alberto graded out very well at 2B last year.  +5 Rtot, +5 Rdrs, +4.0 UZR.    I think he’ll get more starts there in 2020 than he did in 2019 (67).    He and Iglesias should make a nice keystone combo when they’re both in the lineup.   

If Alberto hits right-handed pitching.

[SteveA]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

It'll be curious to see at the end of 2020 if saving $7 million was worth basically giving Villar away and replacing him with Iglesias.

How would you evaluate that, once the season is over?

[interloper]

9 minutes ago, SteveA said:

How would you evaluate that, once the season is over?

Great question.

[LookitsPuck]

I like this a lot. He's still at a decent age and it's a low risk, short contract. He's averaged 1.7 WAR over the last 5 years. He's an above average defender that won't embarrass you with the bat. The defense is what matters here especially if we're going to have some groundball pitchers and/or really any pitcher that is developing. Smart pickup.

[mdbdotcom]

So, we can cut Chris Davis now?

[Moose Milligan]

Jokes aside, I'm happy we got him.  A good defender at SS is helpful and fun to watch as well.

Also, that guy on twitter who said we were near getting a SS, who is that?  He's been 2/2 so far this offseason, IIRC.

9 minutes ago, mdbdotcom said:

So, we can cut Chris Davis now?

No.

[Tony-OH]

45 minutes ago, Philip said:

Wilkerson is more versatile than Martin. I don’t think either is the Second Coming, but Wilkerson is probably the choice between the two, although I’m a fan of Martin

Wilkerson can't play SS effectively which is a requirement of a utility infielder.

[TommyPickles]

Iglesias is also a fair bit better offensively than Martin (at the moment).

In 2019:

Iglesias- .288/.318/.407/.724, 85 OPS+

Martin- .208/.260/.322/.581, 54 OPS+

 

I like this signing.  He and Alberto will be fun to watch up the middle.