Ramon Urias will play 3B half the time

[wildcard]

Per Mike Elias:

"He (Urias) knows the plan is for him to play a little more second base than he did last year, but he’ll be at third base half the time, as well, and he’s going to get a ton of playing time.”

So I am guessing that Gunnar will play 3B the other half and also play a lot at SS.   That would mean the Mateo will share SS with Gunnar.

Speculation that Gunnar would play mostly 3B does not look like the plan according to Elias.

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/tate-to-begin-season-on-injured-list-bautista-and-hall-also-ailing

Edited February 16, 2023 by wildcard

[Orioles0615]

I don't really care as long as Gunnar is playing one of 3b or SS full time 

[Pickles]

It doesn't look like Mateo is going to be an every day player in that case.  And it would also mean Gunnar is going to move around too.

[interloper]

Half the time when he plays, is how I'm reading that. Which might not be as much as last year. 

Regardless, it's time to trade one of Urias or Mateo. 

[btdart20]

Another marker along the trail to 100% Gunnar with Urias/Frazier as the priority plays elsewhere and Mateo as the late inning PR/defensive replacement...  The bat is in Mateo's hands to change that trajectory.

[TommyPickles]

I mean this makes sense. 

I want to see Gunnar, Mountcastle, and Urias in the infield regularly.

 

[Mooreisbetter27]

25 minutes ago, interloper said:

Half the time when he plays, is how I'm reading that. Which might not be as much as last year. 

Regardless, it's time to trade one of Urias or Mateo. 

That's exactly how I read it as well.  

[Aristotelian]

Vs RHP: Frazier 2B, Gunnar SS, Urias 3B

Vs LHP: Urias 2B, Mateo SS, Gunnar 3B

 

[spiritof66]

OK, now I understand better why it was so important to add Frazier as the team's second highest paid player, instead of using that money to upgrade the starting rotation.

[jamalshw]

9 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Vs RHP: Frazier 2B, Gunnar SS, Urias 3B

Vs LHP: Urias 2B, Mateo SS, Gunnar 3B

 

This...and honestly, I'm okay with it. Basically, Mateo and Frazier are platooning with each other. I do think we will see some games against RHP where it may be Mateo at SS and Henderson at 3B while Urias is off as he may "get a ton of playing time" but is still probably going to be shy of the playing time someone like Henderson gets. It won't be a straight platoon situation with Mateo/Frazier, but I do like the sound of Mateo not being an "everyday" player and Urias likely to be close to one. 

[Aristotelian]

1 minute ago, jamalshw said:

This...and honestly, I'm okay with it. Basically, Mateo and Frazier are platooning with each other. I do think we will see some games against RHP where it may be Mateo at SS and Henderson at 3B while Urias is off as he may "get a ton of playing time" but is still probably going to be shy of the playing time someone like Henderson gets. It won't be a straight platoon situation with Mateo/Frazier, but I do like the sound of Mateo not being an "everyday" player and Urias likely to be close to one. 

Yep, I am seeing those as the most common lineups but probably a good amount of day to day variation. We will probably see Frazier at 2B sometimes even vs lefties, with Urias maybe sliding to DH. And Mateo can occasionally play SS vs RHP with Gunnar sliding to DH when he needs a rest. I would guess Gunnar is the only one who gets 600 AB's, followed by Urias, Frazier, Mateo. 

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, Orioles0615 said:

I don't really care as long as Gunnar is playing one of 3b or SS full time 

I don't really care much at all in general.  There's going to be injuries, guys underperforming, overperforming...this will iron itself out one way or another.

1 hour ago, interloper said:

Half the time when he plays, is how I'm reading that. Which might not be as much as last year. 

Regardless, it's time to trade one of Urias or Mateo. 

It's very sad to me that one of Urias or Mateo needs to be traded because of a signing this offseason that was terrible and didn't make sense.

 

[interloper]

41 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

It's very sad to me that one of Urias or Mateo needs to be traded because of a signing this offseason that was terrible and didn't make sense.

I was more thinking because 3B and 2B and SS will be (hopefully) occupied by some combination of Gunnar, Westburg, Ortiz, and Norby in the coming years. Frazier does unfortunately cut into Urias' playing time, but even without him I think one of these two guys should be traded. 

Or, ya know, not. Whatever! Depth is good too. 

It's hard for me to get too uptight about anything in spring training. Everything is better than seeing another take on John Angelos or the lease or whatever.

[btdart20]

1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

Vs RHP: Frazier 2B, Gunnar SS, Urias 3B

Vs LHP: Urias 2B, Mateo SS, Gunnar 3B

 

That's pretty much what I mean by:  100% Gunnar with Urias/Frazier as the priority plays elsewhere and Mateo as the late inning PR/defensive replacement.

But I don't think it'll be a straight R/L platoon either:

1.  None of their splits are really wide. 

2.  I think Frazier will get more playing time than the R/L split too.

3.  Urias' home/away splits are pretty wide (moreso than Mateo's).  So, I can see him sitting more at OPACY breaking the R/L mold.

4.  Does Vavra work his way into the mix at 2B?  Or is his shot their done and he's a 5th OF, back-up 1B, and DH?  

5.  Westburg, Ortiz, and/or Norby will impact this conversation at some point too.  Clearly, they'll be knocking loudly and all but force a sell-high trade (because they'll be performing awesome too) of the ML guys!   

57 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

It's very sad to me that one of Urias or Mateo needs to be traded because of a signing this offseason that was terrible and didn't make sense.

 

Meh.  The writing is on the wall (that last bathroom stall if you're interested) for Elias' trust level of Mateo ever being an ML bat.  And he still has questions about the MiLB guys making that ML jump in 2023.  To continue the Astros analogy, they had a ton of OFers in 2015/2016 (in the majors and in their pipeline) and still were signing guys like Rasmus and Reddick (and not top FA targets like Fowler was at the time).  Context is different for sure, but the thought process is similar.  I don't agree with it, but I can make sense of it.

[jamalshw]

57 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

It's very sad to me that one of Urias or Mateo needs to be traded because of a signing this offseason that was terrible and didn't make sense.

 

I don't really think one of them does need to be traded...yet. But that said, one of them probably does at the deadline or next offseason, but not because of the Frazier signing, but because (hopefully) two of Westburg/Ortiz/Norby earn their way to the Majors as everyday players. With that, you basically have 2B/SS/3B all covered along with Holliday, Mayo, Wagner, Bencosme, etc on the horizon. One of Urias or Mateo would make sense in a utility role. Frazier will likely not be back next year unless something goes wrong with the prospects.