Cesar Prieto 2023

[ChosenOne21]

At this point, calling Irvin a 4 is generous. He's more like a 5/swingman, maybe.

Prieto could probably get us a 5 all by himself

[deward]

It's pretty amazing that a guy like Prieto is basically an afterthought at this point in this org. He'd probably be fun to watch annoy opposing pitchers as a pesky gadfly at the bottom of this lineup, but I can't see where any long-term opportunity comes from. He and Ortiz are probably the ones I'm going to feel the biggest pangs of regret about getting squeezed out. Hopefully someone will be willing to trade a stud pitcher in exchange for a whole new middle infield.

[emmett16]

1 hour ago, deward said:

It's pretty amazing that a guy like Prieto is basically an afterthought at this point in this org. He'd probably be fun to watch annoy opposing pitchers as a pesky gadfly at the bottom of this lineup, but I can't see where any long-term opportunity comes from. He and Ortiz are probably the ones I'm going to feel the biggest pangs of regret about getting squeezed out. Hopefully someone will be willing to trade a stud pitcher in exchange for a whole new middle infield.

He’d be perfect if he was a defensive wizard but he doesn’t really have a true position and not enough power to overcome his defensive shortcomings.   Ideal trade piece for a club in need of OBP.  

[orioles22]

Basically, we have five prospects for three spots - Henderson, Holliday, Westburg, Ortiz and Prieto. Either Westburg or Oritz becomes the utility guy if you assume Henderson and Holliday are locks. Are those two guys too good to be a utility guy and you have to trade one and just give Prieto the job?

[Alasdaire]

8 hours ago, ChosenOne21 said:

At this point, calling Irvin a 4 is generous. He's more like a 5/swingman, maybe.

Prieto could probably get us a 5 all by himself

His value was assessed during the offseason, not now. The rap on him was that he was a guy who could start 30 games and post a league-average ERA. That’s a middle/back of the rotation type of guy. A’s fans weren’t particularly pleased to lose him for what they assumed to be a throwaway prospect given Hernaiz’s relative standing in our system. 

This board spends an insane amount of time creating fantasy trades involving primo prospects and TOR starters, but we don’t ever talk about one of the only examples of Elias deploying his assets in a trade. And it’s really instructive because it was basically a one-for-one trade of our infield prospect for a starting pitcher. 

I like the trade. Like Prieto, Hernaiz was genuinely going to be crowded out. And the price for a guy like Irvin is reasonable. If we want to acquire a better pitcher than Irvin through a trade, which imo is suboptimal and only should be done if not possible via free agency, then I would do everything possible to bundle multiple guys like Hernaiz and see what that fetches you. Maybe someone is interested in Max Wagner or Carter Young given the O’s track record of identifying these guys. But don’t shoot yourself in the foot by trading guys who you’ve already developed like Ortiz.

But that trade also shows the risk in trading for starting pitching. Irvin was as close to a “sure thing” as you can get for who he is. And yet, look how it has turned out. How bitter of a pill it would be to swallow if you packaged significantly better players than Hernaiz for another “sure thing” who then flops and walks in a year and a half.

[glenn__davis]

2 hours ago, orioles22 said:

Basically, we have five prospects for three spots - Henderson, Holliday, Westburg, Ortiz and Prieto. Either Westburg or Oritz becomes the utility guy if you assume Henderson and Holliday are locks. Are those two guys too good to be a utility guy and you have to trade one and just give Prieto the job?

Norby, Mayo.

[deward]

36 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

Norby, Mayo.

Norby isn't as good as those first four guys and seems certain to be destined for another org. Mayo seems like a perfect fit as the future at 1b.

[deward]

3 hours ago, orioles22 said:

Basically, we have five prospects for three spots - Henderson, Holliday, Westburg, Ortiz and Prieto. Either Westburg or Oritz becomes the utility guy if you assume Henderson and Holliday are locks. Are those two guys too good to be a utility guy and you have to trade one and just give Prieto the job?

Prieto isn't good enough defensively to make for a good utility infielder. Ortiz would be much better in that role, but I suspect both are future trade assets.

That said, I would like to see Ortiz get some run as the starting SS until Holliday knocks down the door.

[ChosenOne21]

8 minutes ago, deward said:

Prieto isn't good enough defensively to make for a good utility infielder. Ortiz would be much better in that role, but I suspect both are future trade assets.

That said, I would like to see Ortiz get some run as the starting SS until Holliday knocks down the door.

Yeah, Prieto is kind of a tweener for me. Not enough glove to be a utility infielder/super sub and not enough power to slide down the defensive spectrum. He reminds me of Hanser Alberto, though I think he could end up a bit better than him.

[deward]

23 minutes ago, ChosenOne21 said:

Yeah, Prieto is kind of a tweener for me. Not enough glove to be a utility infielder/super sub and not enough power to slide down the defensive spectrum. He reminds me of Hanser Alberto, though I think he could end up a bit better than him.

He can play anywhere if he can keep hitting over .350, but yeah, something like Alberto's 2019 might be a reasonable expectation, except that was Hanser's peak and it might be Prieto's baseline.

[ChosenOne21]

1 hour ago, deward said:

He can play anywhere if he can keep hitting over .350, but yeah, something like Alberto's 2019 might be a reasonable expectation, except that was Hanser's peak and it might be Prieto's baseline.

Alberto's 2019 season was like 3.5 WAR and he hit .305/.329/.422. It was also the only year he really graded out positively with the glove. If anyone thought that was Prieto's baseline he'd be a top 100 prospect for sure.

Is he capable of a season or three like that at his peak? I'd say it's possible. But I'm guessing for most of his career he'll be the kind of guy we're not going to miss.

Also, note that Hanser Alberto has been worth 4.1 WAR over parts of seven seasons. My guess is Prieto might be a few wins better than that over a similar time frame.

Edited July 6, 2023 by ChosenOne21

[orioles22]

2 hours ago, glenn__davis said:

Norby, Mayo.

You think either of those guys can play third, short or second for the Orioles? Mayo will play first or right. Norby could play left or DH.

[deward]

7 hours ago, ChosenOne21 said:

Alberto's 2019 season was like 3.5 WAR and he hit .305/.329/.422. It was also the only year he really graded out positively with the glove. If anyone thought that was Prieto's baseline he'd be a top 100 prospect for sure.

Is he capable of a season or three like that at his peak? I'd say it's possible. But I'm guessing for most of his career he'll be the kind of guy we're not going to miss.

Also, note that Hanser Alberto has been worth 4.1 WAR over parts of seven seasons. My guess is Prieto might be a few wins better than that over a similar time frame.

If Prieto can maintain his average near where it is right now, I think he'd sneak into the back of some top 100 lists. 

[ChosenOne21]

4 hours ago, deward said:

If Prieto can maintain his average near where it is right now, I think he'd sneak into the back of some top 100 lists. 

There's no way he's going to finish a MLB season in which he had significant plate appearances with a .350 average

[glenn__davis]

15 hours ago, deward said:

Norby isn't as good as those first four guys and seems certain to be destined for another org. Mayo seems like a perfect fit as the future at 1b.

 

13 hours ago, orioles22 said:

You think either of those guys can play third, short or second for the Orioles? Mayo will play first or right. Norby could play left or DH.

They both need to be accounted for is my point.  They can't just be ignored in the exercise.

I think Norby's best spot is still 2B.  I agree he's a notch below the rest of the list but he's still legitimate.  I have a hard time seeing him be a competent OF.  If he can't stick at 2B then I think he's a DH.

Mayo may need to move off of 3rd at some point but I see no evidence that the Orioles are there with him right now.  Obviously he has a lot more value if he can stay at third.