Yermin Mercedes (White Sox, former O's farmhand)

[wildcard]

The fall of 2017 the O's had just complete a 75 win season.  First losing season in 5 years.  Trumbo had signed to a 3 year contract before the 2017 season.  Two years and 26M left on the contract.  In 2017 he had a 686 OPS. Which means no trade value.   He is projected as a DH his last two years. 

Mercedes was drafted by the Nationals at 18.  Pickup by the O's at 2014 sent to Delmarva.  Good bat. Not a catching prospect though that is where he played.  Overweight.   By the fall on 2017 he is 24 and spent most the season a Frederick moved to Bowie 12 games at the end of the season.  

Mercedes is passed his 6 years to be a minor league FA.  Has been available for the Rule 5 draft since 2016.  The O's didn't need another DH.  Didn't have any reason to protect him.  The White Sox claimed him in the Rule 5 draft.

 

 

[Frobby]

I remember the years when people got all up in arms about losing Parker Bridwell and  Ariel Miranda, after they both had a decent first partial season upon going to another team.  

[NCRaven]

Even in the minors the bat was not Mercedes issue.  It was defense, athleticism and behavior isssues.  Hopefully he's matured since then.  Apparently, he still has no position.

[interloper]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Wasn't a selling point of the Elias and Sig gang that the O's were supposed to be doing this with players from other organizations?

Lakins, good year in 2020, big velocity boost yesterday.

Armstrong, good year in 2020 as an Oriole, unfortunate start to this year.

Alberto, turned into an everyday 2B for us and a solid bench piece for better teams.

Harvey, so far so good, relative to his recent seasons.

Severino, career highs in OPS since becoming an Oriole.

Valdez, fantastic so far. 

Valaika, OPS jumped 300 points in 2020 compared to his 2018 where he had similar amount of ABs.

Wells, so far looks like a young bullpen bulldog. 

 

Now, none of these guys are like, NUGGETS, per se. But we've seen plenty of guys get better after coming to the Orioles. Mercedes was always a huge minor league numbers guy. 

I'm hoping for some things out of guys who are actually prospects that we've acquired, like Jones, Smith, Bradish, etc. Having a few of those guys show up to be pieces would put a lot of faith into Elias' acquisition targets. 

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, interloper said:

Lakins, good year in 2020, big velocity boost yesterday.

Armstrong, good year in 2020 as an Oriole, unfortunate start to this year.

Alberto, turned into an everyday 2B for us and a solid bench piece for better teams.

Harvey, so far so good, relative to his recent seasons.

Severino, career highs in OPS since becoming an Oriole.

Valdez, fantastic so far. 

Valaika, OPS jumped 300 points in 2020 compared to his 2018 where he had similar amount of ABs.

Wells, so far looks like a young bullpen bulldog. 

 

Now, none of these guys are like, NUGGETS, per se. But we've seen plenty of guys get better after coming to the Orioles. Mercedes was always a huge minor league numbers guy. 

I'm hoping for some things out of guys who are actually prospects that we've acquired, like Jones, Smith, Bradish, etc. Having a few of those guys show up to be pieces would put a lot of faith into Elias' acquisition targets. 

Nice list.  Sincerely it's a nice list.

But none of those give me a vibe of being transformed, like what we saw with the Astros.  They mostly seem like the result of throwing *mud* up against a wall and seeing what sticks.

Yea Severino's bat is better but that could just be a result of getting more at bats, and his defense has regressed.  Harvey has looked good in a very small sample size but what is illusion, what is the O's and what is a result of him going to BPC in the offseason?

[UMDTerrapins]

I think the earlier point is that it would have been nice to unearth a Tettleton, Devereaux, or Milligan during this rebuild. We kinda unearthed a few role players, but nobody that became a fan favorite. 

[now]

30 minutes ago, UMDTerrapins said:

I think the earlier point is that it would have been nice to unearth a Tettleton, Devereaux, or Milligan during this rebuild. We kinda unearthed a few role players, but nobody that became a fan favorite. 

Good catch. I was going to dispute Tettleton being in that trio, thinking he was already established. BB-Ref shows that he did have a couple of good seasons before the Os (around a 100 OPS+ in age 23-25 seasons with OAK) before regressing to a 68 OPS+ at age 26, being picked up by the O's, and then really blossoming to have a long and productive career (122 OPS+ through age 36). If only he hadn't got hurt during that '89 run... sigh.

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, now said:

Good catch. I was going to dispute Tettleton being in that trio, thinking he was already established. BB-Ref shows that he did have a couple of good seasons before the Os (around a 100 OPS+ in age 23-25 seasons with OAK) before regressing to a 68 OPS+ at age 26, being picked up by the O's, and then really blossoming to have a long and productive career (122 OPS+ through age 36). If only he hadn't got hurt during that '89 run... sigh.

Funny thing about Tettleton. If we want to give the Orioles credit for signing him after spring training in 1988 after the A's released him, then we have to get on the Orioles for trading him away to the Tigers for Jeff Robinson who pitched to a 77 ERA+ for the Orioles in his one and only season. Meanwhile Tettleton went on to slash .247/.385/.480/.864 with 168 homers over the next six season with the Tigers and Rangers.

I think he was a product of average being a key component of evaluation back then. I also think he was smack down in the middle of steroid baseball.

Tettleton in 1987: https://www.amazon.com/1987-Donruss-23-Mickey-Tettleton/dp/B07GBYCYQT
Tettleton in 1991: https://www.ebay.com/itm/029-MICKEY-TETTLETON-C-TIGERS-TOPPS-GOLD-BASEBALL-CARD-1992-/371826783563

 

 

[TAMC]

I've been to the home opener and was there for the rainout with the Mariners.  Mask is required everywhere and all the time unless you are in your "pod" and eating/drinking.  Only supposed to eat or drink at your seat.  Can order on your phone, but you have to go pick it up at the concession stand.  Many but not all concessions are open.  I have the feeling that some prices are higher than before but I don't really remember. $6.50 for regular hot dog and $8 or 8.50 for the larger hot dog.  Sausage $9.00 I think.  I didn't see kids prices but I wasn't really looking.  Still some kinks to work out on phone apps at parking and gate -- slower than one would think.

 

OOPs  Meant to be replying to Frobby re game experience.  Maybe someone could move it?   

Edited April 14, 2021 by TAMC
Responded in wrong area

[BohKnowsBmore]

5 hours ago, TAMC said:

I've been to the home opener and was there for the rainout with the Mariners.  Mask is required everywhere and all the time unless you are in your "pod" and eating/drinking.  Only supposed to eat or drink at your seat.  Can order on your phone, but you have to go pick it up at the concession stand.  Many but not all concessions are open.  I have the feeling that some prices are higher than before but I don't really remember. $6.50 for regular hot dog and $8 or 8.50 for the larger hot dog.  Sausage $9.00 I think.  I didn't see kids prices but I wasn't really looking.  Still some kinks to work out on phone apps at parking and gate -- slower than one would think.

 

OOPs  Meant to be replying to Frobby re game experience.  Maybe someone could move it?   

This is a big gripe of mine, the team claiming that "no outside food or drink" is one of their 2021 safety measures. Seems like more of a convenient way to put an end to that policy, particularly in that bringing your own food/drink would seem SAFER from a limiting contact between people in the stadium perspective.

[UMDTerrapins]

28 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Funny thing about Tettleton. If we want to give the Orioles credit for signing him after spring training in 1988 after the A's released him, then we have to get on the Orioles for trading him away to the Tigers for Jeff Robinson who pitched to a 77 ERA+ for the Orioles in his one and only season. Meanwhile Tettleton went on to slash .247/.385/.480/.864 with 168 homers over the next six season with the Tigers and Rangers.

I think he was a product of average being a key component of evaluation back then. I also think he was smack down in the middle of steroid baseball.

Incredibly bad trade. I know they wanted to make room for Hoiles, but surely they could have done better. It would have been fun to see Tettleton in his prime taking shots at the short porch and warehouse in Camden Yards. Traded away just before it opened. And he spent a lot of time at 1B in Detroit...we could have easily kept him. I remember it being a real head scratcher at the time. 

[Legend_Of_Joey]

41 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Funny thing about Tettleton. If we want to give the Orioles credit for signing him after spring training in 1988 after the A's released him, then we have to get on the Orioles for trading him away to the Tigers for Jeff Robinson who pitched to a 77 ERA+ for the Orioles in his one and only season. Meanwhile Tettleton went on to slash .247/.385/.480/.864 with 168 homers over the next six season with the Tigers and Rangers.

I think he was a product of average being a key component of evaluation back then. I also think he was smack down in the middle of steroid baseball.

Tettleton in 1987: https://www.amazon.com/1987-Donruss-23-Mickey-Tettleton/dp/B07GBYCYQT
Tettleton in 1991: https://www.ebay.com/itm/029-MICKEY-TETTLETON-C-TIGERS-TOPPS-GOLD-BASEBALL-CARD-1992-/371826783563

 

 

Once he had some MLB time, he could afford the extra boxes of Froot Loops so he got an extra bowl a day. 

[DrungoHazewood]

Mercedes' Fangraphs projections have him hitting about .260/.320/.440, OPS of about .760.  So far he's been exclusively a DH.  Not sure anyone thinks he's a MLB catcher at all.   His passed ball rate is almost three times that of Pedro Severino, who's had the most PB is the majors since the start of 2020.

Good for him that he's taking advantage of an opportunity.  But he's not much of an asset as a .760-OPSing DH.  And the Orioles have a long list of possible DHs.

[UMDTerrapins]

Ok, I hadn’t remembered that was the same offseason we made the infamous Glenn Davis trade. So if we had done absolutely nothing that winter, we would have had Tettleton/Harnisch/Schilling/Finley entering their prime years as we opened OPACY. Ouch!

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Mercedes' Fangraphs projections have him hitting about .260/.320/.440, OPS of about .760. 

ZiPS had him at .712 before the season, but now predicts .756 the rest of the season, not including what he’s done so far.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/april-hitting-stats-mean-nothing-except-they-kinda-do/

Mullins got a bump from .686 to .711.