Could Pittsburgh use Mullins

[weams]

Just now, interloper said:

Were you though? I remain skeptical. I am never really able to figure out what your intentions are on most of your posts. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, I'm just being honest. It's been an ongoing source of frustration for me on this site for years, and it just is what it is. 

I agree with most of this. I think Mullins has value to the Orioles to remain on our 40-man as a depth option. Plus he's already on the 40-man, you know? It's not always easy to add a player back to the 40-man later, because then you have to cut someone.

However I can't see a trade scenario with Mullins. He's essentially worth just cash at this point, and I think the depth is worth more to the O's right now than the cash. He's a liability to add to anyone's 26-man roster. He just has too much to prove and Pittsburgh would be better off seeking true upside in a CF prospect, or at least a capable fill-in guy. 

I understand your frustration with me. You have made it very evident. I saw the Pittsburgh stuff, I asked the question and I crowd sourced it on a slow rainy day here. 

[weams]

2 minutes ago, interloper said:

 

However I can't see a trade scenario with Mullins. He's essentially worth just cash at this point, and I think the depth is worth more to the O's right now than the cash. He's a liability to add to anyone's 26-man roster. He just has too much to prove and Pittsburgh would be better off seeking true upside in a CF prospect, or at least a capable fill-in guy. 

You are likely right here. Some folks I know seem to think Mullins is still a guy and caught a raw deal. Not me. Other people. 

[interloper]

Just now, weams said:

I understand your frustration with me. You have made it very evident. I saw the Pittsburgh stuff, I asked the question and I crowd sourced it on a slow rainy day here. 

For the record, I only make it evident in hopes that something changes or that you see where I'm coming from. Or that I reach some kind of understanding where your posts click and I get it. More than likely we are just on different wavelengths. 

[weams]

Just now, interloper said:

More than likely we are just on different wavelengths. 

Probably. 

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Philip said:

I’m not giving up on anybody, why did you think that I had. What I said is completely true. And what I also said was that he still with the team and on the 40 man because they haven’t given up on them.

The post to which I responded merely said: “He’s bad.    I doubt anyone can use him.”   That’s a pretty stark, unqualified comment.   

Anyway, I’m not meaning to pick a fight here.   I’m just saying we shouldn’t give up on Mullins because he had a very bad season.    I might be singing a different tune in July if he doesn’t bounce back robustly.   
 

[Camden_yardbird]

20 minutes ago, interloper said:

Were you though? I remain skeptical. I am never really able to figure out what your intentions are on most of your posts. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, I'm just being honest. It's been an ongoing source of frustration for me on this site for years, and it just is what it is. 

I agree with most of this. I think Mullins has value to the Orioles to remain on our 40-man as a depth option. Plus he's already on the 40-man, you know? It's not always easy to add a player back to the 40-man later, because then you have to cut someone.

However I can't see a trade scenario with Mullins. He's essentially worth just cash at this point, and I think the depth is worth more to the O's right now than the cash. He's a liability to add to anyone's 26-man roster. He just has too much to prove and Pittsburgh would be better off seeking true upside in a CF prospect, or at least a capable fill-in guy. 

That is basically what I was saying.  There are a lot of people saying Mullins wouldnt have value to Pittsburgh and I believe that to be untrue but the Orioles need him for depth.  Depth can be acquired though, and if the situation arose I could see a trade.

I could see a trade for someone like Blake Wieman.

6th round pick.  Lefty Reliever.  Top 30 Organizational prospect.  Moved Quickly, struggled a little in AAA last year.  Rule 5 eligible after this year.  Great control.  Good K/9.  Upside is a high leverage lefty reliever.

Without added depth I just dont see that on the Orioles end.

[interloper]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The post to which I responded merely said: “He’s bad.    I doubt anyone can use him.”   That’s a pretty stark, unqualified comment.   

Anyway, I’m not meaning to pick a fight here.   I’m just saying we shouldn’t give up on Mullins because he had a very bad season.    I might be singing a different tune in July if he doesn’t bounce back robustly.   
 

Yeah. Plus I don't think he'll crack the ML team. Give him another few hundred ABs in the minors and reassess. His 2018 was mildly disappointing once he was promoted to AAA and then MLB, but he did OPS .875 in AA and .818 for the year among all leagues. Corn called that a bad year, but I would not. Perfectly acceptable for a prospect that sort of came out of nowhere. He improved on his 2017 AA numbers by a good margin, too, so there was reason to believe in more progress.

2019 was a dud in every possible way, and although he didn't match his 2017 AA numbers when he got demoted to Bowie, he did at least appear to be doing at least some things right again (.271/.341/.402 in 200 AB plus 20 SB). So there's a glimmer of hope there. I'm interested to see how he looks in camp. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Yeah. Plus I don't think he'll crack the ML team. Give him another few hundred ABs in the minors and reassess. His 2018 was mildly disappointing once he was promoted to AAA and then MLB, but he did OPS .875 in AA and .818 for the year among all leagues. Corn called that a bad year, but I would not. Perfectly acceptable for a prospect that sort of came out of nowhere. He improved on his 2017 AA numbers by a good margin, too, so there was reason to believe in more progress.

2019 was a dud in every possible way, and although he didn't match his 2017 AA numbers when he got demoted to Bowie, he did at least appear to be doing at least some things right again (.271/.341/.402 in 200 AB plus 20 SB). So there's a glimmer of hope there. I'm interested to see how he looks in camp. 

Corn was specifically talking about his time in the majors.

[interloper]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

Corn was specifically talking about his time in the majors.

Then Corn would be correct. .671 OPS in 170. 

[HowAboutThat]

11 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The post to which I responded merely said: “He’s bad.    I doubt anyone can use him.”   That’s a pretty stark, unqualified comment.   

Anyway, I’m not meaning to pick a fight here.   I’m just saying we shouldn’t give up on Mullins because he had a very bad season.    I might be singing a different tune in July if he doesn’t bounce back robustly.   
 

Oh I’m not picking a fight come in I’m not suggesting that you are either. Mullins is bad, and I doubt anybody can use him at this point, including us.

The reason we haven’t cut him loose is because there’s no pressure on the team to use his spot for someone better at the moment, no reason to remove him from the 40 man, and because he does still have potential.

As I said, several teams would be interested in him, but none would put him on their 40-man, And if he were not currently on ours, there would be no urgency to add him.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Philip

[interloper]

What if Hays totally bombs in ST and Mullins goes nuts? 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Then Corn would be correct. .671 OPS in 170. 

With poor defense.

[interloper]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

With poor defense.

Was it? I don't recall, other than the weak arm.

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

It makes a difference because his performance was so bad they played a guy with a poor bat out of position instead of playing him.

I am not sold at all about any "mounting pressure" factoring into the decision, frankly I think it is conjecture on your part.  I think they didn't keep him because he was just that bad.  They could have kept throwing Dan Straily out there right?

I tend to agree with interloper.   I don't think he was sent down because of some kind of comparison of what he could do and what Wilkerson could do on May 3, 2019.

They didn't care about winning at the MLB level anyway.  

I think he was sent down because they felt if there was any way to salvage his chances as a prospect, they felt he needed to go back down to the minors because he was doing so miserably at the major league level.   So they sent him down.   And Wilkerson was the most convenient temporarly solution, given that they didn't want to rush Hays or McKenna.   And remember, they picked up Broxton just a few weeks later, so it's not like they loved having Wilkerson out there.   They probably started casting around for someone better than Wilkerson the very day he took over in CF, and it just took them a few weeks to find someone.

[interloper]

4 minutes ago, SteveA said:

I tend to agree with interloper.   I don't think he was sent down because of some kind of comparison of what he could do and what Wilkerson could do on May 3, 2019.

They didn't care about winning at the MLB level anyway.  

I think he was sent down because they felt if there was any way to salvage his chances as a prospect, they felt he needed to go back down to the minors because he was doing so miserably at the major league level.   So they sent him down.   And Wilkerson was the most convenient temporarly solution, given that they didn't want to rush Hays or McKenna.   And remember, they picked up Broxton just a few weeks later, so it's not like they loved having Wilkerson out there.   They probably started casting around for someone better than Wilkerson the very day he took over in CF, and it just took them a few weeks to find someone.

Yeah, exactly. We know that Elias is about development, and if there was any chance of Mullins being anything, they had to get him the heck out of the fire. And fix whatever happened to his swing, which was broken.