Jonathan Arauz 2022

[Jammer7]

So, the Orioles claimed this 23 year old switch hitter, who has a very good defensive rep. A week ago. Because he got sent down by Boston before they waived him, he had to be down in AAA for a total of 10 days before he could come up, according to Kevin Brown in today’s broadcast.

After a few games now, I have seen him play 2B and 3B, and I have only seen him bat LH. I have to say that I have been impressed with his hands at 2B and 3B. His range and his arm seem to also be very good. A very smooth defender, he made some difficult plays at 3B today, and he made them look easy. The LH stroke is short to the ball with good barrel control. Has a little pop, dropped the barrel today on a Cease slider for a HR to RF. He has hit several line drives in his brief time. 

Its early, but I like what I have seen, so far. 

[Camden_yardbird]

Was traded with Ken Giles to the Astros in the 2015 trade that sent Mark Appel to the Phillies.

Probably means Elias believes in his talent or is trying to justify his belief in that trade.

[PHRESH]

12 minutes ago, Camden_yardbird said:

Was traded with Ken Giles to the Astros in the 2015 trade that sent Mark Appel to the Phillies.

Probably means Elias believes in his talent or is trying to justify his belief in that trade.

Another Rio Ruiz 

[wildcard]

Competition for Richie Martin and Urias for the Utility Infielder spot.   Richie has not played much 2B/3B in his career and is error prone at those spots.  Richie is a SS that will not beat out Mateo for the starting SS job.   We have not seen Arauz at SS yet, but I expect we will see him there soon.  Arauz looks better at 2B/3B than Martin.

Richie has recently hit better at AAA than Arauz.   Richie is 27 and he has options.  Arauz is 23 and also has options. 

Richie is about 45 days in the majors from being arbitration eligible but even if that happens he will not earn much more than the minimum.  Arauz is 2 years away for being arbitration eligible.

Neither of these players have the offense to beat out Gunnar at 3B or Westburg at  2B.  Or have the defense to beat out Mateo at SS.

Gunnar and Westburg can also backup SS making the need for a UIF to play SS less.  Urias is better offensive than Martin or Arauz and can backup 2B/SS/3B but not as good at SS.   Urias is out of options and must stay in the majors.   He will not be arbitration eligible until 2024. Urias is 28 and is established as a major leaguer.

Vavra is not a UIF because he does not play SS/3B.   He has a high OBP which makes him attractive and has played 2B but is playing more OF lately.   There are questions about his arm strength at 2B to turn the double play.    He will probably be ready for the majors sometime in July and is on the 40 man roster.   He does not appear to have the range to be a CF in the majors.   More of a LF/DH because of his the lack of arm strength.  I have seem him play on MILB.TV and these are just my guesses.

[sportsfan8703]

23 yo depth piece. Good defensive rep. Pinch runner possibilities as well. A good utility option for the future. He’s the type of player we should be giving a chance too. I know he was on the short list of players I wanted in the Rule 5. 

[Just Regular]

I'd been wanting to make the joke that Cadyn Grenier is the Cadyn Grenier the previous Scouting Director likes, and Jonathan Arauz is the one the current Scouting Director does, but then Arauz hit a ball yesterday I'd guess several MPH harder than Grenier has hit one in his life.

So I think I will promote to agreeing with PHRESH this may have some another Rio Ruiz potential.    While we're marking time.

[jamalshw]

Nice home run. He's been good defensively. But in the end, he's a filler and not likely to be on the 40-man come Opening Day 2023--or at least by the time Henderson is promoted, if not on Opening Day. 

Once Henderson and Westburg are promoted, they take 2/3 of the everyday infield spots. That leaves one starting spot and maybe 2 bench spots for infielders. Vavra may take one of those spots (either starting at 2B or as a utility player who can also play in the OF). Mateo's defense and speed probably keep him in the mix, though probably more as a utility infielder. Urias would be the likely other guy. I don't see a spot for the rest, including Arauz, Martin, Greiner, Bannon, Nevin, etc.

So, he's in the bucket of "I'd rather see him than Owings" along with Martin, but not someone I expect to see beyond this year.

[RZNJ]

Speaking of Vavra not having a strong arm turning the DP, I noticed that he has 10 DP's in 11 games playing 2B which is a very good number.  Now, I don't know how many he started and how many he was the pivot man on.   Maybe his defense at 2B is better than we think.   His numbers there in the minors look good enough.    Maybe the 2B-CF thing is just the versatility thing they've been doing with Westburg and Henderson and Vavra is just limited to those 2 spots.

[wildcard]

5 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Speaking of Vavra not having a strong arm turning the DP, I noticed that he has 10 DP's in 11 games playing 2B which is a very good number.  Now, I don't know how many he started and how many he was the pivot man on.   Maybe his defense at 2B is better than we think.   His numbers there in the minors look good enough.    Maybe the 2B-CF thing is just the versatility thing they've been doing with Westburg and Henderson and Vavra is just limited to those 2 spots.

That would be great.  Hope you are right.   I have watched him in center some and he does not have Mullins range.

[interloper]

5 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Speaking of Vavra not having a strong arm turning the DP, I noticed that he has 10 DP's in 11 games playing 2B which is a very good number.  Now, I don't know how many he started and how many he was the pivot man on.   Maybe his defense at 2B is better than we think.   His numbers there in the minors look good enough.    Maybe the 2B-CF thing is just the versatility thing they've been doing with Westburg and Henderson and Vavra is just limited to those 2 spots.

Still kind of don't know what Vavra's future is with this team as a 2B-only guy with not a lot of power. I'd like to get a look at him at the ML level this year.

[byrdz]

Was thinking today that he reminds me a bit of Robert Andino. 

[now]

24 minutes ago, byrdz said:

Was thinking today that he reminds me a bit of Robert Andino. 

Totally a tangent but I just noticed today how much Rutschman reminds me of Brooks Robinson.

[Three Run Homer]

I have to admit, part of me hopes that Arauz doesn't play well, so that Elias has no choice but to Just Freaking Call Up Westburg Already.  

[Tony-OH]

On 6/27/2022 at 4:43 AM, wildcard said:

Competition for Richie Martin and Urias for the Utility Infielder spot.   Richie has not played much 2B/3B in his career and is error prone at those spots.  Richie is a SS that will not beat out Mateo for the starting SS job.   We have not seen Arauz at SS yet, but I expect we will see him there soon.  Arauz looks better at 2B/3B than Martin.

Richie has recently hit better at AAA than Arauz.   Richie is 27 and he has options.  Arauz is 23 and also has options. 

Richie is about 45 days in the majors from being arbitration eligible but even if that happens he will not earn much more than the minimum.  Arauz is 2 years away for being arbitration eligible.

Neither of these players have the offense to beat out Gunnar at 3B or Westburg at  2B.  Or have the defense to beat out Mateo at SS.

Gunnar and Westburg can also backup SS making the need for a UIF to play SS less.  Urias is better offensive than Martin or Arauz and can backup 2B/SS/3B but not as good at SS.   Urias is out of options and must stay in the majors.   He will not be arbitration eligible until 2024. Urias is 28 and is established as a major leaguer.

Vavra is not a UIF because he does not play SS/3B.   He has a high OBP which makes him attractive and has played 2B but is playing more OF lately.   There are questions about his arm strength at 2B to turn the double play.    He will probably be ready for the majors sometime in July and is on the 40 man roster.   He does not appear to have the range to be a CF in the majors.   More of a LF/DH because of his the lack of arm strength.  I have seem him play on MILB.TV and these are just my guesses.

Nice recap that's on point WC. Good job.

i will say this Arauz has a plus arm and the hands look good. If he can hit at all he becomes attractive as a utility guy.

 

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Nice recap that's on point WC. Good job.

i will say this Arauz has a plus arm and the hands look good. If he can hit at all he becomes attractive as a utility guy.

 

Well, his career MiL OPS of .674 says he probably won’t hit much.   However, he’s a guy who was pushed pretty aggressively through the Astros’ farm system — spent significant time in hi A in his age 19 season, time in AA at age 20.   So, he could grow into hitting a bit more.