Orioles sign Shed Long to a minor league deal

[Just Regular]

Shed only played 10 games at 2B last year, so you have to squish Savant's filter down to a near meaningless 25 fielding attempts to get him to show up, but if you do so and then Sort by Success Rate Added, he got 5th place (Odor 8th, Urias 96th) out of 108 second basemen.     The BP Annual opined "iron glove" though their FRAA had him plus at 2B, but minus in the OF where he played more.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/outs_above_average?type=Fielder&startYear=2021&endYear=2021&split=no&team=&range=year&min=25&pos=4&roles=&viz=show&sort=15&sortDir=desc

C. Trent Rosecrans did a year long deep-dive when he was a Cincinnati minor leaguer:

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2019/05/10/podcast-shed-longs-journey-major-league-baseball-cincinnati-reds-seattle-mariners-trent-rosecrans/1163908001/

[Yossarian]

He'll fit right in on this team with their other feature player of the last 5 years - Shed Salary.

[Yossarian]

1 minute ago, Yossarian said:

He'll fit right in on this team with their other feature player of the last 5 years - Shed Salary.

Or was it Shed Payroll?  I forget.

[Aristotelian]

15 hours ago, wildcard said:

If you have seen him then I would go with what you think.  I was just looking at numbers and he seem like more of a 2B than a LFer.  But I have not seen him so I don't know what you know.   

I would compare him more to Jahmai than Stewart. Seems to do everything Jahmai does except a little bit better and lefty. He's another replacement level option for utility IF/OF should Jahmai get designated.

[jamalshw]

I'm good with this move. Is he likely to be a long term piece? No. Was it a low risk addition to add to the options of someone still young that at least showed some promise in the minors? Yes. He's in the mix with Odor, Jones, Mateo, Guiterrez, etc. to get some looks over the next year or two until Westburgs and Hendersons (and if you believe Keith Law, Ortiz) of the world show they're ready. 

[Tony-OH]

 

19 hours ago, Frobby said:

Looks like MiL depth to me.   

Me too. More of a we need to fill out our AAA team because we won't have guys on a 40-man roster available kinda of move. I bet we start seeing pitchers soon as well.

[DrinkinWithFermi]

I really like this move, he's definitely a hell of a lot more interesting than Odor- former well-regarded prospect who's still pretty young and had some MLB success prior to his injury, and who has 4 years of control remaining (at least for now, pending the service time rules in the next CBA). It probably amounts to nothing in the end, but maybe we get lucky and it doesn't.

[DrungoHazewood]

20 hours ago, wildcard said:

Also plays left field but his range is not as good as Stewart out there.

Curious as to the source of this information.

Edit: saw you kind of already answered this.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

16 hours ago, Yossarian said:

He'll fit right in on this team with their other feature player of the last 5 years - Shed Salary.

Don't forget the Orioles best trade chip of the past several seasons Cash Considerations. 

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

 

Me too. More of a we need to fill out our AAA team because we won't have guys on a 40-man roster available kinda of move. I bet we start seeing pitchers soon as well.

This sounds right.  Thanks Tony.

[Aristotelian]

53 minutes ago, DrinkinWithFermi said:

I really like this move, he's definitely a hell of a lot more interesting than Odor- former well-regarded prospect who's still pretty young and had some MLB success prior to his injury, and who has 4 years of control remaining (at least for now, pending the service time rules in the next CBA). It probably amounts to nothing in the end, but maybe we get lucky and it doesn't.

+1, I have a slightly more optimistic take than "minor league filler". This is a guy who was supposed to be the Mariners starting 2B going into 2020, having hit .800 at AAA and .787 on the Mariners in 2019. If he is healthy I could see him getting some MLB AB's and maybe get flipped. By this point we have plenty of minor leaguers to fill out rosters. In fact there has been some talk of having to find places for all the prospects to play. So minor league filler with major league filler upside? 

[Aristotelian]

Writeup from 2019 with some video:

https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2019/2/13/18222273/top-50-seattle-mariners-prospects-2019-shed-long-second-base-infield-minor-leagues-stowers-wahoos

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

+1, I have a slightly more optimistic take than "minor league filler". This is a guy who was supposed to be the Mariners starting 2B going into 2020, having hit .800 at AAA and .787 on the Mariners in 2019. If he is healthy I could see him getting some MLB AB's and maybe get flipped. By this point we have plenty of minor leaguers to fill out rosters. In fact there has been some talk of having to find places for all the prospects to play. So minor league filler with major league filler upside? 

When I said “minor league depth,” I meant a guy who’d likely play most of the year in the minors but who could get called up if necessary.   

[DrinkinWithFermi]

12 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I could see him getting some MLB AB's and maybe get flipped

The best case scenario I had in mind was him becoming the guy he looked like he could be prior to his shin fracture. With 4 years of control left (and an option), he could actually be a meaningful contributor to Orioles teams that play meaningful games if he's healthy and able to get back on track.

[wildcard]

10 minutes ago, DrinkinWithFermi said:

The best case scenario I had in mind was him becoming the guy he looked like he could be prior to his shin fracture. With 4 years of control left (and an option), he could actually be a meaningful contributor to Orioles teams that play meaningful games if he's healthy and able to get back on track.

Prior to the injury he looked like a left fielder not a 2B.

2019 

LF   -  934 OPS

2B -  705 OPS