Baez to be tried as starter?

[Frobby]

There is $6M reasons to try this. The Orioles are trying to maximize his value by trying him as a starter. If it doesnt work, he will probably be moved back to the bullpen. If that doesnt work, he will be cut.

Nothing hard to understand.

You say it wont work, but why not at least try it.

Because SG is omniscient. Because everything there is to know is already known.

Do I think the odds of Baez becoming one of our starters is high? No, I'd put it at 1-2%. So what? Let him prepare himself to try to compete as a starter. If he doesn't have the stuff for it, that should be apparent before the first spring training game is played.

Imagine a scenario where Baez makes the team as a middle innings guy, and all of a sudden we need an emergency starter. The fact that he prepared himself to go longer could come in handy.

[RFisthaMan]

Because he is horrible.

He should be cut.

I know it doesn't really hurt anything but just the idea of considering it is so poor.

Why is the idea of considering it so poor? Are the Orioles so deep with starting pitching that it shouldn't even be considered within the realm of possibility?

While I would give the likelyhood of this succeeding in the .01 range, there is no harm in seeing what happens. Worse comes to worse, he goes back to the bullpen... back on the DL... released. But there is absolutely no harm in thinking or hoping the Orioles might, might be able to catch lightning in a bottle.

[Crazysilver03]

Because SG is omniscient. Because everything there is to know is already known.

Do I think the odds of Baez becoming one of our starters is high? No, I'd put it at 1-2%. So what? Let him prepare himself to try to compete as a starter. If he doesn't have the stuff for it, that should be apparent before the first spring training game is played.

Imagine a scenario where Baez makes the team as a middle innings guy, and all of a sudden we need an emergency starter. The fact that he prepared himself to go longer could come in handy.

Exactly. We have the back end of our bullpen set up in Johnson, Sherrill, Ray, and Sarfate. It would be rather hard for Baez to earn a role in the back end, so he could end up being a middle innings and long relief pitcher for us if he doesnt succeed at starting.

[Sports Guy]

There is $6M reasons to try this. The Orioles are trying to maximize his value by trying him as a starter. If it doesnt work, he will probably be moved back to the bullpen. If that doesnt work, he will be cut.

Nothing hard to understand.

You say it wont work, but why not at least try it.

Baez's value to us and potentially(ie in july) in trade will be in the pen.

He is coming off a major arm injury, isn't used to throwing much more than 1 inning and now, they want to try him as a starter?

[Sports Guy]

Why is the idea of considering it so poor? Are the Orioles so deep with starting pitching that it shouldn't even be considered within the realm of possibility?

While I would give the likelyhood of this succeeding in the .01 range, there is no harm in seeing what happens. Worse comes to worse, he goes back to the bullpen... back on the DL... released. But there is absolutely no harm in thinking or hoping the Orioles might, might be able to catch lightning in a bottle.

Yes..............

Taking ST innings away from a younger starter with more upside just to try this joke as a starter is absurd.

[Sports Guy]

Exactly. We have the back end of our bullpen set up in Johnson, Sherrill, Ray, and Sarfate. It would be rather hard for Baez to earn a role in the back end, so he could end up being a middle innings and long relief pitcher for us if he doesnt succeed at starting.

Sarfate is better suited to go multiple innings...Liz as well.

If you are only going to have Baez on the team to be absolutely nothing but a mop up guy, you get rid of him.

You keep him on this team only if you are convinced that you can put him in crucial situations and have him succeed.

His value is and always has been as a back of the BP guy.

[ACE]

Year 1: 0-6 ERA over 6.00 out of the bullpen

Year 2: Missed all year

I guess putting him into the rotation year 3, would continue the trend of Baez finding different ways to negatively affect the team.

Ladies and Gentleman, the Danny Baez era.

[Moose Milligan]

Interesting.

Looks like we're way ahead of schedule when it comes to exposing our shallow pitching depth for the upcoming season.

[byrdz]

Baez's value to us and potentially(ie in july) in trade will be in the pen.

He is coming off a major arm injury, isn't used to throwing much more than 1 inning and now, they want to try him as a starter?

There's also the issue of letting the young pitchers get their work in during ST and showing what they are capable of doing. I would rather watch the young guys compete for the starters roles than Baez.

This board goes crazy over the young players not getting enough chances or not getting called up because some past his prime veteran is blocking him. Now this kind of decision is welcomed with open arms, confusing indeed.

[Hank Scorpio]

Baez's value to us and potentially(ie in july) in trade will be in the pen.

He is coming off a major arm injury, isn't used to throwing much more than 1 inning and now, they want to try him as a starter?

Baez came to them and mentioned that he would like to be stretched out as a starter. It's not like MacPhail called Baez and said, "Look bro... we're kinda low on starting pitching, how about giving it a shot?"

Baez, who hasn't pitched in a major league game since August 2006 and is trying to come back from ligament-reconstruction surgery, has informed team officials he wants to be a starter in the coming season. Signed to a three-year, $19 million deal after the 2006 season to set up closer Chris Ray, Baez hasn't started a game since 2002, when he went 10-11 with a 4.41 ERA in making 26 starts for the Cleveland Indians.

"He's expressed some interest in preparing himself as a starter, and we'll see how things go from there," Orioles president Andy MacPhail said. "It seems to make sense. I don't know if you lose anything by doing that. Preparing yourself that you are going to start is not going to retard your development whatever the role you end up being in."

There is absolutely nothing here to even react to. Nobody has any idea who's going to be signed, traded, or invited to ST...

[Sports Guy]

There's also the issue of letting the young pitchers get their work in during ST and showing what they are capable of doing. This board goes crazy over the young players not getting enough chances or not getting called up because some past his prime veteran is blocking him. Now this kind of decision is welcomed with open arms, confusing indeed.

Welcome to OH.

[RFisthaMan]

Yes..............

Taking ST innings away from a younger starter with more upside just to try this joke as a starter is absurd.

Really.... Aren't the Orioles looking to sign Burnett, as well as another veteran to stabilize the rotation?

Wasn't the rotation the weakest link last season?

Baez isn't a long term option by any means... He's barely any kind of option at all, in the pen or in the rotation.

But there is absolutely no reason to just throw this idea away when he is owed 6 plus million next year and the Orioles rotation is atrocious. If he was able to gain any value as a starter it would be found money for the Orioles, either as a 5th starter or trade bait.

Most likely he'd be terrible, but there is not a single reason not to try.

[Anonymous]

Baez's value to us and potentially(ie in july) in trade will be in the pen.

He is coming off a major arm injury, isn't used to throwing much more than 1 inning and now, they want to try him as a starter?

As long as he's not pushed to the point of risking re-injury (a caveat with EVERY pitcher coming off rehab), trying him as a starter at the beginning of Spring training doesn't reduce his ultimate effectiveness, nor his potential trade value, in the pen.

The chances of this working out are admittedly low. But they're better than zero percent, and better than 1%. Skepticism is fine; dismissiveness, in this case at least, is defeatist. Even the Sarfate experiment, which didn't work out, was a worthwhile attempt. We can't afford to leave any reasonable stone unturned.

[Hank Scorpio]

There's also the issue of letting the young pitchers get their work in during ST and showing what they are capable of doing. I would rather watch the young guys compete for the starters roles than Baez.

This board goes crazy over the young players not getting enough chances or not getting called up because some past his prime veteran is blocking him. Now this kind of decision is welcomed with open arms, confusing indeed.

What decision are you talking about?

Has a decision been made?

[Sports Guy]

Really.... Aren't the Orioles looking to sign Burnett, as well as another veteran to stabilize the rotation?

Wasn't the rotation the weakest link last season?

Baez isn't a long term option by any means... He's barely any kind of option at all, in the pen or in the rotation.

But there is absolutely no reason to just throw this idea away when he is owed 6 plus million next year and the Orioles rotation is atrocious. If he was able to gain any value as a starter it would be found money for the Orioles, either as a 5th starter or trade bait.

Most likely he'd be terrible, but there is not a single reason not to try.

Taking innings away from younger, better players is certainly a reason.