Are the O's done with Hanser Alberto?

[Philip]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

I do believe Nunez may have had room to grow, but I meant offensively.    

At baseball savant his offensive numbers are below average except for barrels and xSLG, and several of them are terrible. Stewart isn’t as fast as Nunez, but at least has a good eye and if we’re going to have a “mostly” DH I’d just as soon it be DJ.

[Just Regular]

Minor league deal with Royals.   An extra ball in play in that ballpark probably worth more than one in Camden Yards.

He was an interesting batter to have for a while.   Now we'll see if team-wide O-Swing% can get back in touch with the other 29 teams.  I don't know if it was all him, but he was like Barry Bonds messing up the league OPS.

   

[wildcard]

Too expensive for the O's considering the playing time he was projected to get.

[Jammer7]

I am happy for Hanser, seems like a really good guy. Also glad the Orioles have moved on. 

[DrungoHazewood]

I wish MLB could get us back to a world where contact is valuable.

[Sports Guy]

44 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I wish MLB could get us back to a world where contact is valuable.

Sports are forgetting all aspects of the game.  It’s part of how analytics have hurt the game, just as much as it helps.

Was having a conversation last night about Ben Simmons.  His game is elite in almost every way.  The way he moves, passes, gets to the rim, rebounds, etc...for a guy his size is so rare but because he can’t shoot the 3 well at all, he is always dumped on.  That’s the NBA now.  Analytics have made it a 3 pointer game and it has made people forget about the importance of so many other things.

[jamalshw]

50 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I wish MLB could get us back to a world where contact is valuable.

I still think there is value in making contact, but the issue with Alberto is there isn't a whole lot more to his game outside of not striking out. Being able to make contact is an important skill, but it can't be the only skill. Just like power. Or speed. Billy Hamilton isn't an everyday player because he can't get on base enough. And Chris Cater had a couple seasons as an everyday bat, but his inability to make contact (or do much of anything other than hit a homer) didn't allow him to stick around all that long as he got just 208 plate appearances in the Majors after he lead the league in home runs in 2016.

Alberto has a good average, but doesn't add to it much with walks so his OBP is still rather pedestrian even with a high average. He, likewise, doesn't provide much power or speed. He's a useful player, but just like anyone else with one strong skill and little else around it, he's not going to be someone that'll find easy everyday starting gigs year after year. That said, I do think in a normal year he probably gets a MLB guaranteed deal, but that's another issue.

[SteveA]

I'll miss watching him spray the ball to all fields.  Maybe not what is expected of a major league hitter in 2021 but it was fun to watch.

And I'll miss the fact that he was practically a guarantee to get a few hits every time the opponent started a lefty.

[NCRaven]

If he was a plus fielder, we might have kept him.  But a spray hitting weak fielder isn't worth taking to arbitration.  And, he did settle on a minor league deal, so no one else thought so either.

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

If he was a plus fielder, we might have kept him.  But a spray hitting weak fielder isn't worth taking to arbitration.  And, he did settle on a minor league deal, so no one else thought so either.

I was not surprised that he had to take a deal that paid a lot less than he would have earned in arbitration.   I was a bit surprised he had to settle for a MiL deal, though.    I wonder if he has an opt out clause.    

[Just Regular]

He has beaten Renato Nunez, and Matt Wieters, and Nick Markakis to a job.   Thinking warm thoughts and crossing fingers for those guys seeing the Pedroia news today.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

15 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I wish MLB could get us back to a world where contact is valuable.

I don’t think Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs would be allowed to exist as they were coming up in the 1980s.

Boggs would get praised for drawing walks, but otherwise they would be instructed to adjust the launch angle of their swing and stop hitting so many useless singles. 

[BohKnowsBmore]

14 hours ago, jamalshw said:

I still think there is value in making contact, but the issue with Alberto is there isn't a whole lot more to his game outside of not striking out. Being able to make contact is an important skill, but it can't be the only skill. Just like power. Or speed. Billy Hamilton isn't an everyday player because he can't get on base enough. And Chris Cater had a couple seasons as an everyday bat, but his inability to make contact (or do much of anything other than hit a homer) didn't allow him to stick around all that long as he got just 208 plate appearances in the Majors after he lead the league in home runs in 2016.

Alberto has a good average, but doesn't add to it much with walks so his OBP is still rather pedestrian even with a high average. He, likewise, doesn't provide much power or speed. He's a useful player, but just like anyone else with one strong skill and little else around it, he's not going to be someone that'll find easy everyday starting gigs year after year. That said, I do think in a normal year he probably gets a MLB guaranteed deal, but that's another issue.

Man, who would roster a player like that?

[DrungoHazewood]

11 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I don’t think Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs would be allowed to exist as they were coming up in the 1980s.

Boggs would get praised for drawing walks, but otherwise they would be instructed to adjust the launch angle of their swing and stop hitting so many useless singles. 

Today a Wade Boggs would be told at the age of 11 that he needed to use a lighter bat and really start driving the ball every at bat.  There wouldn't be all those sub-optimal opposite-field singles, because he'd have been raised knowing that line drives to RF were the goal. 

If he refused he'd get a scouting report like "slow bat, poor launch angle, below-average glove and running speed.  Not a prospect."

[DrungoHazewood]

On 2/1/2021 at 8:37 AM, Sports Guy said:

Sports are forgetting all aspects of the game.  It’s part of how analytics have hurt the game, just as much as it helps.

Was having a conversation last night about Ben Simmons.  His game is elite in almost every way.  The way he moves, passes, gets to the rim, rebounds, etc...for a guy his size is so rare but because he can’t shoot the 3 well at all, he is always dumped on.  That’s the NBA now.  Analytics have made it a 3 pointer game and it has made people forget about the importance of so many other things.

Teams are run by the guys who also set the rules for the leagues.  So they develop this interest in maintaining the status quo.  If you spend a lot of time and money and acquisition resources on three true outcome players, or three-point shooters you're not going to go lobby the league to make those things less valuable.  You're going to focus on today's wins, and maybe tomorrow's wins.  You don't care so much about the game in 10 or 20 years being all out of whack and less enjoyable to the fans.

That's one reason why I like the idea (although rarely the implementation of) a body like FIFA.  A sport's governing body outside of the control of a league that can take in a variety of stakeholder inputs and make proactive changes.  Someone who is tasked with the care and feeding and growth of the sport in general.  Unfortunately FIFA is also an object lesson on the influence of money and corruption.