Nunez DFA

[Jammer7]

41 minutes ago, Philip said:

Very cogent points, however I don’t think Ruiz is going to survive till Spring. I think we’re going to deal with third base either through the rule five, or the waiver wire. Ruiz is bad and not going to get better.

Ruiz is on thin ice, absolutely. I was going to write that if Ruiz is sent down, because he has an option, then Valaika could man 3B. That would open a spot for Urias. But again, Ruiz might get another chance, in part, because he is a LH bat and has shown that he is capable of handling the job at times. He also is pre-arbitration. 

Alternatively, if you go back and watch video of 2019, Ruiz had a better swing. He had a gap to gap approach and stayed more so in the middle of the field. In 2020, he put on muscle and sold out for power. His bat got slow and the swing long. I will disagree that he cannot improve, for two reasons. One, he has shown he is capable and he is an athlete. Two, its the coach in me that sees that and refuses to believe he cannot get back to it. The problem rests between his ears and his lack of confidence. 

[Philip]

4 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Ruiz is on thin ice, absolutely. I was going to write that if Ruiz is sent down, because he has an option, then Valaika could man 3B. That would open a spot for Urias. But again, Ruiz might get another chance, in part, because he is a LH bat and has shown that he is capable of handling the job at times. He also is pre-arbitration. 

Alternatively, if you go back and watch video of 2019, Ruiz had a better swing. He had a gap to gap approach and stayed more so in the middle of the field. In 2020, he put on muscle and sold out for power. His bat got slow and the swing long. I will disagree that he cannot improve, for two reasons. One, he has shown he is capable and he is an athlete. Two, its the coach in me that sees that and refuses to believe he cannot get back to it. The problem rests between his ears and his lack of confidence.  

As a teacher, you have a probably have a sense of what can and can’t get better in a player. To to my eyes his defense is just bad and won’t improve, And even if he hits his best, it wouldn’t really compensate for his defense, because even his best bat isn't that great.

And he’s not part of the future anyway, so put Sanchez either at third or second, give Bannon a long look at whichever position he plays best, and scour the waiver wires for somebody who might be better.

[wildcard]

The unknowns of how many players will be on the roster and whether Elias can sign Alberto and Sanchez to what he considers reasonable contracts changes the roster and its depth.   If there is a 26 man roster I see Stewart and Diaz beginning the seasoning Norfolk.

I think Mullins is a platoon CF playing vs right-handed pitching.  Hays moving from LF to CF vs left-handed pitching.   Santander in right.  Mountcastle in LF vs left-handers.   

Mountcastle at 1B vs right-handers,  Mancini at 1B vs lefties.   Mancini  at DH vs right-hander to put less stress on him.   The opening at DH is for a right-handed hitter that hits lefties.  That may be Urias but that is up in the air.

When Diaz arrives he changes that.  As will injuries and non performance.

Until we know if Alberto and Sanchez are kept I don't think we know the infield configuration.  However, after looking at Sanchez highlights at 2B its hard not to see him playing there and teaming with Iglesias in the middle of the infield.  Its a huge upgrade and with the hitters on this team I think the O's have the bats to carry a weak hitting Sanchez.   Alberto vs lefties and Valaika vs righties platooning at 3B with Ruiz optioned to AAA.  

I think Sanchez has the ability to backup Iglesias at SS and Valaika, Alberto and Urias all have the abilities to backup 2B.

The bench would be  Sisco/Severino, Alberto/Valaika, Urias/Mullins, and Davis.

That would be 13 position players and 13 pitchers.

[Roll Tide]

13 hours ago, Brooks The Great said:

Even so, 2021 is the perfect opportunity for the Orioles to find out if Diaz can hit and if Hays can stay healthy. Nunez isn't a long-term piece for the O's if they ever intend to contend.

I don’t care about Nunez! If Diaz can’t hit at AAA it’s a pretty safe to say he won’t hit in the bigs.

[Sports Guy]

13 hours ago, NCRaven said:

“Stupid move” was not exactly an in depth analysis either.  Elias makes a good point, Nunez is not a good fit on this roster.  That’s true even if Davis weren’t on it.  He’s got one tool 

Elias makes a good point IF people are healthy and producing.

Otherwise, Elias is making an assumption.

We are assuming Mancini will be fine.  He may be fine now and he may be working out but working out and playing are 2 different things and that assumes the cancer doesn’t come back. We are assuming Santander, Hays and Diaz will be healthy and producing.  Neither of them have proven they can do that.

Davis is nothing, we all know that.

I don’t really see any red flags about Mountcastle, so I’m good making assumptions about him.

Otherwise, I don’t see a good reason to cut bait on a 800ish OPS, 30 homer bat making a few million dollars.  It’s not logical right now.  
 

Like I said, you can give him arbitration contract and if things look great in ST, you cut him and pay him out the 20% he would be owed.  

Elias is hiding behind the idea that this is an issue of roster flexibility. He’s lying.  This is money and nothing else.  The roster flexibility stuff may be true to an extent but that can easily be worked around.  They just didn’t want to pay him, which is really dumb.

BTW, this is also why making trades is important.  We may see some kind of a roster issue with some of these young pitchers in the near future.  Yes, that’s also making a lot of assumptions but you don’t want to lose cheap, productive players for nothing.  

[OriolesMagic83]

On 11/20/2020 at 9:55 PM, Bahama O's Fan said:

And Davis is still on the roster 

As much as I hate to see Davis on the roster, it makes sense to keep him until the O's find out if the season will be shortened.  It probably will be if fans will not be allowed in the stand for part or all of the season.

[wildcard]

49 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Elias makes a good point IF people are healthy and producing.

Otherwise, Elias is making an assumption.

We are assuming Mancini will be fine.  He may be fine now and he may be working out but working out and playing are 2 different things and that assumes the cancer doesn’t come back. We are assuming Santander, Hays and Diaz will be healthy and producing.  Neither of them have proven they can do that.

Davis is nothing, we all know that.

I don’t really see any red flags about Mountcastle, so I’m good making assumptions about him.

Otherwise, I don’t see a good reason to cut bait on a 800ish OPS, 30 homer bat making a few million dollars.  It’s not logical right now.  
 

Like I said, you can give him arbitration contract and if things look great in ST, you cut him and pay him out the 20% he would be owed.  

Elias is hiding behind the idea that this is an issue of roster flexibility. He’s lying.  This is money and nothing else.  The roster flexibility stuff may be true to an extent but that can easily be worked around.  They just didn’t want to pay him, which is really dumb.

BTW, this is also why making trades is important.  We may see some kind of a roster issue with some of these young pitchers in the near future.  Yes, that’s also making a lot of assumptions but you don’t want to lose cheap, productive players for nothing.  

I don't think Elias is lying.  It is roster flexibility.   And money.   As it should be.   With Mancini/Mountcastle projected as DH/1B  how much would Nunez play?   He becomes a backup DH on a team that is carrying Davis because of a contract that Elias had nothing to do with.      That leaves Hyde with a two man defensive bench if there is a 26 man roster.   That should not happen.   

[Bahama O's Fan]

It's not how much would Nunez play right now. He doesn't have to play now. As he stated, what if Mancini needs more rehab time? What if Mountcastle breaks his leg in spring training? What if Santander tears a tendon? Keep him for insurance. Maybe he has a monster spring and has trade value. If you make it through with your roster still full then trade or cut him then. Austin Wynns would not have a spot on my 40 man roster over Nunez. 

[wildcard]

13 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

It's not how much would Nunez play right now. He doesn't have to play now. As he stated, what if Mancini needs more rehab time? What if Mountcastle breaks his leg in spring training? What if Santander tears a tendon? Keep him for insurance. Maybe he has a monster spring and has trade value. If you make it through with your roster still full then trade or cut him then. Austin Wynns would not have a spot on my 40 man roster over Nunez. 

Right now I don't see room for Stewart on the OD roster.  He will be at AAA is my guess.  If Mancini, Mountcastle of Santander get injured, Stewart would play a bigger role.

By the first week in December Elias has to tender contracts to those players that are arbitration eligible or non tender them.   Once tendered the team is on the hook for those contracts unless the player unperformed in ST.   Its Elias job to make sure the money is spend wisely and players are being paid are not DFA'd early in the year so the O's are paying for nothing.   He is doing his job.

I fully expect that Elias tried to trade Nunez before he DFA'd him and will contend to try to trade him for 10 days after he was DFA'd.

[Bahama O's Fan]

I'm not sure Stewart should be on the OD roster yet. Nothing wrong with starting him at AAA.

[VaBird1]

7 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Right now I don't see room for Stewart on the OD roster.  He will be at AAA is my guess.  If Mancini, Mountcastle of Santander get injured, Stewart would play a bigger role.

Here is a configuration that gets him there: https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/orioles

[wildcard]

 

17 minutes ago, VaBird1 said:

Here is a configuration that gets him there: https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/orioles

I think Mullins not making the OD 26 man roster is very, very unlikely.  Hyde loved what he did in center last year.  Mullins was 305/348/448/796 vs right handed pitching last season.  That is a good leadoff hitter vs righties.

[Frobby]

46 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I don't think Elias is lying.  It is roster flexibility.   And money.   As it should be.   With Mancini/Mountcastle projected as DH/1B  how much would Nunez play?   He becomes a backup DH on a team that is carrying Davis because of a contract that Elias had nothing to do with.      That leaves Hyde with a two man defensive bench if there is a 26 man roster.   That should not happen.   

I agree with this - flexibility and money are both factors.    Let’s say we give Nunez’s at bats to Mancini - are we going to get less production that way?    I don’t think so.   On the other hand, if Mancini and Nunez both play, whose at bats are being taken away?    Are we sacrificing outfield defense to make that happen?    I think a good case can be made for dropping Nunez on that basis.    SG is right that the situation could change based on health, but with Diaz likely to be ready at some point, we have some insurance there.   

My biggest reservation about dropping Nunez is whether he has another level of improvement left in him.    I’d kick myself if he went from being a .780-.820 guy to an .830-.870 guy.    And I do think that’s a possibility.   He’s only 27 next season and has about 1100 major league PA — that’s a spot where a lot of players hit their stride.   It will be interesting to watch how he does with whichever team picks him up.   
 

[rudyrooster]

Curious to see how much (if any) interest other teams might have in Nunez.  I think he will clear waivers and elect free agency.  I could see some team offering him a minor league contract with an invite to ST.  That's probably his best case scenario.

[wildcard]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I agree with this - flexibility and money are both factors.    Let’s say we give Nunez’s at bats to Mancini - are we going to get less production that way?    I don’t think so.   On the other hand, if Mancini and Nunez both play, whose at bats are being taken away?    Are we sacrificing outfield defense to make that happen?    I think a good case can be made for dropping Nunez on that basis.    SG is right that the situation could change based on health, but with Diaz likely to be ready at some point, we have some insurance there.   

My biggest reservation about dropping Nunez is whether he has another level of improvement left in him.    I’d kick myself if he went from being a .780-.820 guy to an .830-.870 guy.    And I do think that’s a possibility.   He’s only 27 next season and has about 1100 major league PA — that’s a spot where a lot of players hit their stride.   It will be interesting to watch how he does with whichever team picks him up.   
 

I don't think Elias can worry about leaving go Yastrzemski or what Nunez may become.  He has to build the best   Orioles team he can by keeping and getting playing time for his players of the future.