What to do at SS?

[Sports Guy]

Much rather see Bannon.  He may be nothing more than what Valaika is now but he is far younger and you just don’t know.  He has been a far better MiL hitter than Valaika was.

As I said, I’m good with him getting 150-200 at bats and playing all over the field.  That’s the role for him in the majors.  

[wildcard]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

There is a reason he hasn’t gotten a chance to be an everyday player.

You are right.  Story and LeMahieu are better players and had him blocked.

[LookinUp]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Much rather see Bannon.  He may be nothing more than what Valaika is now but he is far younger and you just don’t know.  He has been a far better MiL hitter than Valaika was.

As I said, I’m good with him getting 150-200 at bats and playing all over the field.  That’s the role for him in the majors.  

I have no problem asking Bannon to put up decent numbers in AAA before having him in the majors. He had a stretch a couple of years ago, but got cold again. That's what Xavier Avery did back in the day. I'm not saying he's comparable, but he has a ton to prove before he's given anything. 

[Sports Guy]

4 minutes ago, wildcard said:

You are right.  Story and LeMahieu are better player and had him blocked.

If you are really good, a spot will be found for you.  Or when he was in the minors, he would have been a sought after guy and teams would have traded for him.  
 

 

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I have no problem asking Bannon to put up decent numbers in AAA before having him in the majors. He had a stretch a couple of years ago, but got cold again. That's what Xavier Avery did back in the day. I'm not saying he's comparable, but he has a ton to prove before he's given anything. 

I’m ok with him doing that too but in a year where you are still (wrongfully) saying wins don’t matter, why not?  See if he has any long term upside.  We know the other alternatives don’t.

[owknows]

26 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

The Orioles play that infield only if they are planning on tanking in 2021.

Well... my comments were made with the caveat "barring acquisition"

So barring acquisition... I would probably play Sanchez, Bannon, and Valaika

I'm not suggesting this is an all-star infield. Nor am I suggesting it is what I would choose to play given my choice of available FA's. But given what is currently on the roster, it's probably what I'd play.

I don't think you're giving up anything at 2B or 3B with the glove.. and could expect offensive improvement.

I think you're a maybe just a little kind suggesting Iglesias was one of the best SS's in the game.. but he was certainly good. Probably even significantly better than Sanchez. But Sanchez is no slouch with the glove, and has done reasonably well in his limited SS innings. Would I rather see him at 2B? Sure... but not badly enough to suffer Richie Martin's bat.

Like it or not, they sent Iglesias to the Angels. My suggestion is what I thought was the best offensive/defensive balance with what's left. Whether they're "tanking" or not, I leave to the front office.

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

By bb-ref his defensive numbers in Baltimore were +14 and +7, so really good, and above average.

Also, I had some interactions with Tom Tango on Bill James' site, and he pointed out that oWAR (which I have regularly disparaged) has some utility. You can look at it as "how valuable is this guy if he was an average defender at his position?"  For Izturis he would have been below replacement, instead of +6 wins for his career.  For Brooks, he would have been a 48-win player instead of a 78-win player if his glove had just been average.  If you think about it that way oWAR has some use, instead of just confusing most folks.

And I have to post this somewhere, even if it's both vain and nerdy. But Tango has been on James' site's messageboard the last few days in a big discussion on WAR and Win Shares and related things.  If you don't know he's kind of on the Mount Rushmore of sabermetrics, currently a lead statistical/database guy for MLB.  Co-author of The Book.  Anyway, he complimented 3-4 of my recent posts, so it's like being a kid on Christmas, or having Neil deGrasse Tyson compliment your science skills.

Tango and Daren Williams are really guys who have made this advanced information digestible. 

[Roll Tide]

13 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I have no problem asking Bannon to put up decent numbers in AAA before having him in the majors. He had a stretch a couple of years ago, but got cold again. That's what Xavier Avery did back in the day. I'm not saying he's comparable, but he has a ton to prove before he's given anything. 

This is the way!

[Roll Tide]

6 minutes ago, owknows said:

Well... my comments were made with the caveat "barring acquisition"

So barring acquisition... I would probably play Sanchez, Bannon, and Valaika

I'm not suggesting this is an all-star infield. Nor am I suggesting it is what I would choose to play given my choice of available FA's. But given what is currently on the roster, it's probably what I'd play.

I don't think you're giving up anything at 2B or 3B with the glove.. and could expect offensive improvement.

I think you're a maybe just a little kind suggesting Iglesias was one of the best SS's in the game.. but he was certainly good. Probably even significantly better than Sanchez. But Sanchez is no slouch with the glove, and has done reasonably well in his limited SS innings. Would I rather see him at 2B? Sure... but not badly enough to suffer Richie Martin's bat.

Like it or not, they sent Iglesias to the Angels. My suggestion is what I thought was the best offensive/defensive balance with what's left. Whether they're "tanking" or not, I leave to the front office.

They would be an are likely signing up to lose 100 games again! The offense will likley be putrid! It ambitious to expect Valaika to be anywhere near last year , Bannon will likely be a mendoza guy , and Sanchez what he's been.

[Tony-OH]

9 minutes ago, owknows said:

I think you're a maybe just a little kind suggesting Iglesias was one of the best SS's in the game.. but he was certainly good. Probably even significantly better than Sanchez. But Sanchez is no slouch with the glove, and has done reasonably well in his limited SS innings. Would I rather see him at 2B? Sure... but not badly enough to suffer Richie Martin's bat.

Like it or not, they sent Iglesias to the Angels. My suggestion is what I thought was the best offensive/defensive balance with what's left. Whether they're "tanking" or not, I leave to the front office.

Add in defensive in from of SS and you would right. I don't think it's very likely that Iglesias will come anywhere close to repeating his offensive performance last year, but I do think he provides up the middle defense that will be helpful to the young pitchers the Orioles will be trying out at the major league level in 2021.

Perhaps Sanchez will be fine there, I don't think anyone knows because he has so little experience at SS at the major league level. 

Listening to Elias' comments, it sounds like he knows he needs to find a SS now which tells me Sanchez is a back up play at SS and primary option at 2B.

[owknows]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

 

Listening to Elias' comments, it sounds like he knows he needs to find a SS now which tells me Sanchez is a back up play at SS and primary option at 2B.

Finding a SS in the FA market would be a preference.

This speculation was specific to the pieces in hand.

[MCO'sFan]

2 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

By bb-ref his defensive numbers in Baltimore were +14 and +7, so really good, and above average.

Also, I had some interactions with Tom Tango on Bill James' site, and he pointed out that oWAR (which I have regularly disparaged) has some utility. You can look at it as "how valuable is this guy if he was an average defender at his position?"  For Izturis he would have been below replacement, instead of +6 wins for his career.  For Brooks, he would have been a 48-win player instead of a 78-win player if his glove had just been average.  If you think about it that way oWAR has some use, instead of just confusing most folks.

And I have to post this somewhere, even if it's both vain and nerdy. But Tango has been on James' site's messageboard the last few days in a big discussion on WAR and Win Shares and related things.  If you don't know he's kind of on the Mount Rushmore of sabermetrics, currently a lead statistical/database guy for MLB.  Co-author of The Book.  Anyway, he complimented 3-4 of my recent posts, so it's like being a kid on Christmas, or having Neil deGrasse Tyson compliment your science skills.

I am not much into oWAR but this is pretty interesting and easy to understand. Thanks for posting and congratulations, that must be very validating!. 

[MCO'sFan]

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

 Reminds me of the time I was listening to sports talk in south Jersey and they were going on and on about the 3rd string full back. That's what you do in the offseason.

Not that I think you're wrong, but the reason people want plus defense is that worse defense creates higher leverage situations for pitchers. It's true, but I also think it's true that always scoring 0 runs creates those higher leverage innings. I'm just saying, while I agree with your point, I think there's a counter point that mitigates just how important that nice defense is.

I completely agree that scoring runs can help limit the high leverage situations and I am not suggesting that offense isn't important. I am just suggesting that I want MIF placeholders to be plus defenders above all else. If they hit well even better. But I'd have to say that watching the MIF guys we had last year (when Iggy wasn't playing SS) boot balls and sail throws had to pretty frustrating for the pitchers. Again, it comes down to one thing for me this year and that's to develop the young pitchers. 

[Roll Tide]

29 minutes ago, owknows said:

Finding a SS in the FA market would be a preference.

This speculation was specific to the pieces in hand.

Quote

Jace Peterson, INF/OF (-0.1 fWAR)
He played all four corner spots plus second base in 26 games for the 2020 Brewers, while posting a .393 OBP.

Quote

Erick Mejia, INF/OF (-0.3 fWAR)
A 26-year-old utility player, Mejia played sparingly at the big league level over the last two seasons with the Royals. He went 6-for-36 (.167) with two doubles and a stolen base over 17 games, though he spent the majority of his time with Triple-A Omaha, where he hit .271 with seven homers, 19 stolen bases and a .721 OPS in 2019.

Quote

Jeison Guzman, SS (N/A)
Guzman, who turned 22 in October, spent the last five seasons in the lower levels of the Royals' organization. He has yet to play above Class A and spent the entire 2019 season with Class A Lexington, slashing .253/.296/.373 with seven homers and 15 stolen bases.

Quote

Daniel Robertson, INF (-0.1 fWAR)
Robertson had a breakout season for the Rays in 2018, posting a .262/.382/.415 slash line with nine home runs in just 87 games, all while appearing at all four infield positions and left field (and even one appearance on the mound). He has hit just .224 with two homers in 87 games since, though he hit .333 in 13 games down the stretch with the Giants after being acquired from the Rays in Augu

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/list-of-non-tendered-free-agents-2020-21

[owknows]

5 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:

https://www.mlb.com/news/list-of-non-tendered-free-agents-2020-21

What do you have for $200?