"If he could hit, we couldn't afford him."

[wildcard]

The response of O's bench coach Fredi Gonzalez when asked what he thought of Jorge Mateo.   As reported during last night's game.

Just found the comment interesting.  I have not heard that comment from an Oriole before.

Edited September 24, 2022 by wildcard

[sportsfan8703]

I think he meant he’d get Baez/Correa/Seager/Simein money. $30 million a year. He’s playing GG defense and steals bases. 

[LA2]

27 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I think he meant he’d get Baez/Correa/Seager/Simein money. $30 million a year. He’s playing GG defense and steals bases. 

And is exciting to watch. A counter-example to the "Baseball is boring." line.  I don't know how you put a monetary value on that, but it's great fun for the fans and probably his teammates. Sort of like Hays for a while during his not-so-long-ago earlier days. Miguel Tejada before that.

[UMDTerrapins]

“Is there another first baseman like Giambi? No, not really. No. If there was, could we afford him? Nope. Then what the **** are you talking about?”

[RZNJ]

I don't care about affording him 2 years.  He's ours for 2 more years (or is it 3?).  I'll take the hitting and worry about his FA contract later.  LOL

His left side has been leaking for over a month now.   He had fixed it and looked like a new guy.   Now, he's pretty close to the old pre-July Mateo.  Too bad.

Jorge!!!   Keep your left side closed and don't worry about getting jammed inside or pulling the ball.  Be a ML hitter!  You were one for awhile!

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I don't care about affording him 2 years.  He's ours for 2 more years (or is it 3?).  

3 years after this one, if we choose to keep him.  

He’s been red hot at times, ice cold at other times.   He may always be streaky, but one can hope that the hot streaks will become longer and the cold streaks shorter as he gains experience.  
 

[vab]

If he could hit they wouldn't have him in the first place. He'd be wearing pinstripes. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

At least through the hitting cold streaks, the defense and speed still bring positive value

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

At least through the hitting cold streaks, the defense and speed still bring positive value

Well, the speed brings a lot less value during periods where you’re rarely on base.  And if you’ve tracked Mateo’s rWAR throughout the year, there’s been periods where he wasn’t hitting where his value was basically zero.   Still, bottom line he’s been worth 3.2 rWAR, above average for a starting SS.  It could be a lot higher if he were less erratic offensively.  

[Just Regular]

AL Gold Glove?

He leads AL shortstops in OAA.

Mateo 11, N. Lopez 7, J. Pena 6

[emmett16]

I want him to win GG.  He’s been a blast to watch this year.  Him building value to trade this off season couldn’t hVe worked better.  They absolutely have to sell high on him with the glut of IF prospects knocking on the door and a dynamic Gunnar already on the team.  Perfect storm for Elias of he can nab the award.  

[CharmCityHokie]

8 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

I want him to win GG.  He’s been a blast to watch this year.  Him building value to trade this off season couldn’t hVe worked better.  They absolutely have to sell high on him with the glut of IF prospects knocking on the door and a dynamic Gunnar already on the team.  Perfect storm for Elias of he can nab the award.  

I struggle with this, because we do have so many IF prospects, but he's SO good at SS, and if you look at our defense/runs scored between this season compared to last season, he's clearly been a big piece of our success. If we can get a big bat in the lineup, a reliable SP or two, I'd rather have his defense at SS and keep Henderson at 3B, Vavra/Westburg/Urias at 2B and Mountcastle/(Santander?) a 1B. But I could be way off, maybe his value is too high off this one season not to shop, because I doubt he ever hits at more than a .700OPS and defensive skills generally degrade quickly. 

Edited October 2, 2022 by CharmCityHokie

[25 Nuggets]

That's some brutal honesty on two fronts

[Moose Milligan]

26 minutes ago, CharmCityHokie said:

I struggle with this, because we do have so many IF prospects, but he's SO good at SS, and if you look at our defense/runs scored between this season compared to last season, he's clearly been a big piece of our success. If we can get a big bat in the lineup, a reliable SP or two, I'd rather have his defense at SS and keep Henderson at 3B, Vavra/Westburg/Urias at 2B and Mountcastle/(Santander?) a 1B. But I could be way off, maybe his value is too high off this one season not to shop, because I doubt he ever hits at more than a .700OPS and defensive skills generally degrade quickly. 

I feel this, too.  

I think he can be our SS next year but it's going to be hard to keep him the year after that.  Westburg is going to make a push for playing time, Norby (I know, he's 2nd base but you can put Westburg there for 2023), is Ortiz legit?   And then Henderson is on the horizon, too.  

It's a positive problem to have, for sure.  Literally, too much talent up the middle and in the infield to where tough decisions are going to be have to made.  

 

[Ripken]

38 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I feel this, too.  

I think he can be our SS next year but it's going to be hard to keep him the year after that.  Westburg is going to make a push for playing time, Norby (I know, he's 2nd base but you can put Westburg there for 2023), is Ortiz legit?   And then Henderson is on the horizon, too.  

It's a positive problem to have, for sure.  Literally, too much talent up the middle and in the infield to where tough decisions are going to be have to made.  

 

...and then Holliday.