OF Derek Fisher DFA - Any Interest?

[LookinUp]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

There’s a reason Felix signed with the Orioles instead of anybody else and that is almost certainly because nobody else was terribly interested. 

I was thinking about this myself and I think there might be another alternative.

What if Felix picked the O's because they are now considered one of the top 5 pitching development teams in MLB and they were the most likely to give him MLB innings?

I'd say there's a non-zero chance that we are now a favored destination for guys who think they still have something in the tank but need a fix. 

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I was thinking about this myself and I think there might be another alternative.

What if Felix picked the O's because they are now considered one of the top 5 pitching development teams in MLB and they were the most likely to give him MLB innings?

I'd say there's a non-zero chance that we are now a favored destination for guys who think they still have something in the tank but need a fix. 

I think you are both overlooking the possibility that he thought the pitching was poor enough here that this was the best shot he had at making a ML roster.

[MurphDogg]

10 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I was thinking about this myself and I think there might be another alternative.

What if Felix picked the O's because they are now considered one of the top 5 pitching development teams in MLB and they were the most likely to give him MLB innings?

I'd say there's a non-zero chance that we are now a favored destination for guys who think they still have something in the tank but need a fix. 

Hernandez signed with the Braves last season and was on track to make the rotation before spring training was halted. The Braves were a 97 win team in 2019. He certainly had other options besides the Orioles to sign a minor league deal and get a long look in spring training. I'm sure he also thought that the Orioles offered the best chance to make a rotation, but it is highly doubtful it was the only option.

[Can_of_corn]

15 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

Hernandez signed with the Braves last season and was on track to make the rotation before spring training was halted. The Braves were a 97 win team in 2019. He certainly had other options besides the Orioles to sign a minor league deal and get a long look in spring training. I'm sure he also thought that the Orioles offered the best chance to make a rotation, but it is highly doubtful it was the only option.

I think you are reading a bit too much into his results last spring.  Didn't Davis show signs of life last spring?

[MurphDogg]

5 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think you are reading a bit too much into his results last spring.  Didn't Davis show signs of life last spring?

The Braves MLB.com beat writer expected him to make the rotation on March 7th. It wasn't a mercy signing. 

If Hernández remains healthy over the remainder of camp, I would expect him to win one of the two available rotation spots. He faced primarily Minor Leaguers in his first two outings (against the Orioles and Tigers), but he proved to be just as effective on Tuesday, when he faced a Rays club that included at least six players expected to begin the year in the Majors.

...

As things currently stand, Hernández and Sean Newcomb are the most likely candidates to fill the two vacancies. 

When he opted out, Snitker indicated he had a good chance to make the team.

Hernandez made a strong early impression in spring training and might have been on track for winning a spot in the rotation before the pandemic delayed the season.

"He did exactly what we asked him to do, which is get guys out," Snitker said. "He didn't do anything to not warrant making our club in the spring."

[HowAboutThat]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

Given Elias passed action, very doubtful that Baumann and Lowther skip AAA and begin the season in the O's rotation.   No one is going to play service time games with Zimmermann.  Its more a question if he is ready to start the season in the O's rotation.

 

Normally I would agree with you, but I think they were both ready last year, and I’m surprised we didn’t see Lowther, and Baumann was injured.

It’s possible they could play themselves off the opening day roster, but I think the spot is theirs to win.

[brvn52]

This is probably a totally separate topic, but does this mean we actually won the Norris trade? I chalked it up as a definite loss over the past few years. But giving up Hoes (AAAA), Hader (stud reliever), & a comp pick (Fisher...DFA’d)...for what Norris gave us, especially in 2014, was probably worth it.

[HowAboutThat]

22 minutes ago, brvn52 said:

This is probably a totally separate topic, but does this mean we actually won the Norris trade? I chalked it up as a definite loss over the past few years. But giving up Hoes (AAAA), Hader (stud reliever), & a comp pick (Fisher...DFA’d)...for what Norris gave us, especially in 2014, was probably worth it.

I always thought we won the Norris trade. Very valuable part of our ALCS team. The problem was giving him $11 million to be horrible the next season. I was opposed to giving him that money, I wanted to trade him and let him be terrible for somebody else.  I remember him saying publicly, when he was designated, that he understood the move and agreed with it… So he pocketed his $11 million and moved on.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think you are both overlooking the possibility that he thought the pitching was poor enough here that this was the best shot he had at making a ML roster.

Elias all but said that today.   

[Tony-OH]

13 hours ago, brvn52 said:

This is probably a totally separate topic, but does this mean we actually won the Norris trade? I chalked it up as a definite loss over the past few years. But giving up Hoes (AAAA), Hader (stud reliever), & a comp pick (Fisher...DFA’d)...for what Norris gave us, especially in 2014, was probably worth it.

The Norris and Miller trades were the kinds of trades you make when you have a legitimate World Series-caliber team like they did in 2014. Hader was the guy I didn't like getting traded but I was told Houston would not have done the deal without him. 

Obviously the Orioles came up short in 2104, but that does not mean the trades were the right thing to do. Whether we "won" or not I guess is up to the criteria people want to use, but Hader was turned into Fiers and Gomez, with both really being disappointments in Houston.

I will say the Brewers won that Hader trade.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

The Norris and Miller trades were the kinds of trades you make when you have a legitimate World Series-caliber team like they did in 2014. Hader was the guy I didn't like getting traded but I was told Houston would not have done the deal without him. 

Obviously the Orioles came up short in 2104, but that does not mean the trades were the right thing to do.

Just want to point out that the Norris trade was in 2013.   He was under control for 2.3 seasons when we acquired him.   On the day we acquired him, the O’s were 59-48, 5 games out of first place and holding the second wild card spot.   Not really a WS contender at the time, but a team with a decent shot at the playoffs.   From there, the O’s went 26-27, with Norris (who’d thrown to a 3.93 ERA in Houston that year) going 4-3 with a 4.80 ERA in 11 appearances and 9 starts.   

He had a very good year in 2014, then did so poorly in 2015 that we released him in early August.    

Overall it was a very mixed bag for Norris, but he did make a good contribution to the 2014 team.   

 

[LTO's]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Just want to point out that the Norris trade was in 2013.   He was under control for 2.3 seasons when we acquired him.   On the day we acquired him, the O’s were 59-48, 5 games out of first place and holding the second wild card spot.   Not really a WS contender at the time, but a team with a decent shot at the playoffs.   From there, the O’s went 26-27, with Norris (who’d thrown to a 3.93 ERA in Houston that year) going 4-3 with a 4.80 ERA in 11 appearances and 9 starts.   

He had a very good year in 2014, then did so poorly in 2015 that we released him in early August.    

Overall it was a very mixed bag for Norris, but he did make a good contribution to the 2014 team.   

 

Well the trade definitely wasn't a win for the Astros so I think if anything it's a default win for us based on 2014. Outdeuling David Price in an ALDS clinching game makes it worth it for me. If I was a Yankees fan maybe not.

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Well the trade definitely wasn't a win for the Astros so I think if anything it's a default win for us based on 2014. Outdeuling David Price in an ALDS clinching game makes it worth it for me. If I was a Yankees fan maybe not.

It would have been a win for the Astros if they’d kept Hader.    So really, they won that trade.   They just lost the Brewer trade.   

As to the Orioles, sometimes you’ll make a trade in which you give up the greater long term value to get present value.   I don’t think the trade worked out as well as they’d hoped, in that Norris only had one good year of the 2.3 he was available, and Hader turned out to be much better than his midpoint expectation.   
 

[sportsfan8703]

Norris won a playoff game. Hader would’ve never pitched in a bigger game than that. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Norris won a playoff game. Hader would’ve never pitched in a bigger game than that. 

So did Joe Saunders.