Roch: Gunnar and Hall heading to Cleveland to join taxi squad (Update: Gunnar added to 26-man roster on 8/31)

[jamalshw]

1 hour ago, MCO'sFan said:

Okay, I'll say it. Bringing Gunnar up may in fact hurt the O's playoff chances. While I agree that he should be up let's not pretend that it is not more likely that he struggles for a few or even several weeks, like most do when first promoted. He may, in fact hit at Odor/Mountcastle levels for an extended time. Again, I am saying that he should be up, he should get the lion's share to the playing time and it is better for his and the O's long term success for him to make his debut but he is likely not going to perform at a level of being a savior. 

He's certainly not going to be a savior though I do expect him to be an improvement on Odor offensively (though that is a low bar). I'm more excited about his promotion because it means we should see him Opening Day next year and this gets his feet wet and allows him to adjust some now. It also likely eliminates the Adley-like situation we had this year. 

Even if it's not clicking on all cylinders yet, I'm looking forward to seeing a preview of the 2023 starting lineup. Will be interesting to see where Hyde bats him in the order. I think we still need a middle of the order right-handed bat given Mountcastle's struggles and Urias being a bit out of place in the 4-hole. It's probably too soon for Stowers or Henderson in the 4-hole and a righty (maybe Mountcastle or Hays) behind in the 5-hole.

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, MCO'sFan said:

Okay, I'll say it. Bringing Gunnar up may in fact hurt the O's playoff chances. While I agree that he should be up let's not pretend that it is not more likely that he struggles for a few or even several weeks, like most do when first promoted. He may, in fact hit at Odor/Mountcastle levels for an extended time. Again, I am saying that he should be up, he should get the lion's share to the playing time and it is better for his and the O's long term success for him to make his debut but he is likely not going to perform at a level of being a savior. 

Or he could hit like Jim Traber, Chris Davis, Chito Martinez, Don Baylor, or David Newhan, all of whom OPS'd in the .900-1.000+ range in their first 30 MLB games.  Manny wasn't even hitting that well in AA, but had a .765 in 2012. Eddie had a .759 his first 30 games.  It's not terribly likely that the best player in the International League is going to hit like Odor for a month.

[eddie83]

 

[eddie83]

 

[eddie83]

I started a new thread. Was too excited. Didn’t get any engagement on the other. 

[rm5678]

1 hour ago, SteveA said:

Right.   The taxi squad is not the roster.   It's just a Covid-era construct that allows you to send some minor leaguers on a road trip with the team, so that if a move does need to be made they would be available to be added to the roster.   The logic was anyone could test positive for Covid at any time, and it would be nice to have some guys with the team so if a guy tested + at noon you could replace him on the roster that night, while it might not  have been possible if the replacement was in Norfolk or Gwinnett or somewhere.

Now it doesn't have to be for a Covid replacement, it can be any move, including, obviously, being added to the roster when it expands to 28 tonight.

So this move means nothing in terms of tonight's roster.   And in theory, it doesn't have to mean anything at all, we have had guys come on trips on the taxi squad many road trips before and not get added to the roster.   Nothing is official.   But of course it is a strong indication that we will be adding these two guys to the roster for tomorrow's game when the roster expands to 28, and we wanted them to fly to Cleveland a day in advance.

I'm still confused about playoff eligibility. Am I understanding correctly that if they activate Henderson tomorrow (9/1) then he won't be eligible for the post-season unless someone goes on the IL? And if they activate him at 11:59pm tonight (8/31) then someone would have to come off the roster tonight since rosters don't expand until tomorrow?

 

Update from Roch:

"#orioles announce they selected the contract of INF Gunnar Henderson from Triple-A Norfolk. He will wear No. 2 and his first appearance will be his Major League debut. They optioned INF Tyler Nevin to Norfolk and designated RHP Denyi Reyes for assignment."

Edited August 31, 2022 by rm5678
added Roch update

[Tony-OH]

As I pointed out in his thread, Henderson in his last 11 minor league games has played 6 games at 2B, 3 at 1b, 1 at 3B and 1 at SS. It sure looks like the plan is to play him on the right side of the infield THIS year. If they feel he can turn the DP effectively at 2B, I think he sees most of his time there but I can see him playing all over the infield to give guys rest, including Mateo at SS.

[wildcard]

1 minute ago, rm5678 said:

I'm still confused about playoff eligibility. Am I understanding correctly that if they activate Henderson tomorrow (9/1) then he won't be eligible for the post-season unless someone goes on the IL? And if they activate him at 11:59pm tonight (8/31) then someone would have to come off the roster tonight since rosters don't expand until tomorrow?

Yes, You are going to see someone like Vallimont, Reyes or Cano be DFA'd  tonight. and probably outrighted to make room for Gunnar.

[e16bball]

50 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The defense will be better though.

I guess evaluating the defensive impact kinda depends on “the plan,” doesn’t it? I’m not sure we have a solid idea of how they plan to use Gunnar at this point. 

To me, the obvious move is to play him primarily at 3B and get Urias the lion’s share of innings at 2B. Is that what you envision as well?

If that’s the case, there’s really two uncertainties: how Gunnar’s glove plays at 3B right out of the box and how Urias is able to adjust to playing 2B full-time. Urias has been terrific at 3B this season, honestly a dark horse GG candidate. That’s a high standard to expect Gunnar to match from day 1, so you’d have to expect some drop-off there. The big question is whether Urias would improve 2B over Odor, and if so, by how much. Enough to balance out the drop-off at 3B? Maybe, but I think that’s pretty tough to predict with any certainty. He doesn’t have many innings at 2B to give us a sense of what to expect.

The other option seems to be just plugging Gunnar in at 2B and not messing with Urias. That feels like an unbelievable wild card, and I think it’s literally anyone’s guess how he’d handle that.

[eddie83]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

Yes, You are going to see someone like Vallimont, Reyes or Cano be DFA'd  tonight. and probably outrighted to make room for Gunnar.

Reyes is gone now. 

[wildcard]

3 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

As I pointed out in his thread, Henderson in his last 11 minor league games has played 6 games at 2B, 3 at 1b, 1 at 3B and 1 at SS. It sure looks like the plan is to play him on the right side of the infield THIS year. If they feel he can turn the DP effectively at 2B, I think he sees most of his time there but I can see him playing all over the infield to give guys rest, including Mateo at SS.

It going to be interesting to see where Gunnar plays.   I would think they will play him mostly at  3B and move Urias to 2B.   I could see Gunnar playing some 1B if Mountcastle  oontimues to  struggle.

[dtk9119]

He should be in the line up tonight at 2B (or 3rd and move Urias to 2nd). Again, this move should have been made a week ago. But happy it's finally done.

[wildcard]

22 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Reyes is gone now. 

OK, Sanders or Sulser are also vulnerable.

[SteveA]

10 minutes ago, rm5678 said:

I'm still confused about playoff eligibility. Am I understanding correctly that if they activate Henderson tomorrow (9/1) then he won't be eligible for the post-season unless someone goes on the IL? And if they activate him at 11:59pm tonight (8/31) then someone would have to come off the roster tonight since rosters don't expand until tomorrow?

 

Update from Roch:

"#orioles announce they selected the contract of INF Gunnar Henderson from Triple-A Norfolk. He will wear No. 2 and his first appearance will be his Major League debut. They optioned INF Tyler Nevin to Norfolk and designated RHP Denyi Reyes for assignment."

Well, your update makes it a moot point.   He's on the roster today!   He is playoff eligible.

If he had not been, he would only have been able to go on a playoff roster as a replacement for someone who is hurt.   Now apparently we could claim he was replacing John Means or something like that, according for some people.

[eddie83]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

OK, Sanders or Sulser are also vulnerable.

We still have 40 on 40 man right ? 
 

need to open a space for Aguilar I believe.