Jump to content

Are there any thoughts on Josh Lester?


oriolediehard

Recommended Posts

On 3/14/2023 at 7:09 AM, Sports Guy said:

You don’t need all of them and Kjerstad’s emergence could be a factor as well.

These are dime a dozen guys that fans be found if you shake a tree. No reason to be worried about losing any of them.

100% agreed. Though, the O'Hearn contract is head scratching considering how cheap this team is.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

The fact that we have a Lester/Cordero/Mazara/O'Hearn/Diaz/Vavra competition just highlights why you don't select O'Hearn off waivers and have to guarantee him $1.4 million even after DFAing him. 

 

 

5 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Elias values depth.

 

WC, depth isn't just a guy who can stand in a left handed batter's box.  Depth isn't just a body that you can trot out there in a pinch.

Look at Tony's post, subtract O'Hearn from the list and there's still plenty of guys that could do whatever O'Hearn does and do it better.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

 

 

WC, depth isn't just a guy who can stand in a left handed batter's box.  Depth isn't just a body that you can trot out there in a pinch.

Look at Tony's post, subtract O'Hearn from the list and there's still plenty of guys that could do whatever O'Hearn does and do it better.  

 

 

More importantly with the Orioles limited funds, cheaper. 

It's not that the $1.4 million is going to stop the Orioles from doing something most likely, but why? I don't want to drag this into a Frazier convo, but Elias acknowledges he has a budget to stay within but spend $9.4 million on Frazier and O'Hearn, yet neither would probably make this team if all things were equal with contracts/player control, etc. 

Just a waste of resources on my opinion. 

O'Hearn has had a nice spring and he very well may end up with some time with the Orioles this year. Heck, his EVs suggest he might have some success if they don't employ the shift, but he's a defensively limited left-handed 1B, corner outfield and the glut of those guys in camp on minor league deals says that's not a hard skill set to find.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

More importantly with the Orioles limited funds, cheaper. 

It's not that the $1.4 million is going to stop the Orioles from doing something most likely, but why? I don't want to drag this into a Frazier convo, but Elias acknowledges he has a budget to stay within but spend $9.4 million on Frazier and O'Hearn, yet neither would probably make this team if all things were equal with contracts/player control, etc. 

Just a waste of resources on my opinion. 

O'Hearn has had a nice spring and he very well may end up with some time with the Orioles this year. Heck, his EVs suggest he might have some success if they don't employ the shift, but he's a defensively limited left-handed 1B, corner outfield and the glut of those guys in camp on minor league deals says that's not a hard skill set to find.

Agreed on all points.  9.4 million could have been spent better and it's not hard to find a LH 1B COF type.  

I don't care about the 1.4 million spent on O'Hearn, that's not even a drop in the bucket even for a supposed cash-strapped team like ours.  I just don't really understand the decision making process when, as you noted, it's not hard to find these guys on minor league deals.

Now I will say that I wonder if they think they can coax a better performance out of O'Hearn.  As you pointed out, his EV's are good and IIRC they have been throughout his career.  So if there's something they think they can tap into to make him a better hitter, fine.  

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Agreed on all points.  9.4 million could have been spent better and it's not hard to find a LH 1B COF type.  

I don't care about the 1.4 million spent on O'Hearn, that's not even a drop in the bucket even for a supposed cash-strapped team like ours.  I just don't really understand the decision making process when, as you noted, it's not hard to find these guys on minor league deals.

Now I will say that I wonder if they think they can coax a better performance out of O'Hearn.  As you pointed out, his EV's are good and IIRC they have been throughout his career.  So if there's something they think they can tap into to make him a better hitter, fine.  

I do think O'Hearn may have the most upside with the bat of the guys in the comp, but he's defensively limited. Both Vavra and Lester are more versatile with the ability to play 2B, 3B and corner outfield as well as 1B (Vavra doesn't play 1B, but probably could in a pinch).

If they think Santander can back up 1B effectively, they really have no need for a 1B type anyways. Now it's just a matter or versatility and what kind of bat you wanna bring off the bench.  

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I do think O'Hearn may have the most upside with the bat of the guys in the comp, but he's defensively limited. Both Vavra and Lester are more versatile with the ability to play 2B, 3B and corner outfield as well as 1B (Vavra doesn't play 1B, but probably could in a pinch).

If they think Santander can back up 1B effectively, they really have no need for a 1B type anyways. Now it's just a matter or versatility and what kind of bat you wanna bring off the bench.  

Vavra has been working at 1B a lot this spring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

None of them should make the team, honestly. Whoever remains in the org will be AAA depth. 

26 man roster:
5 starters (Gibson, Irvin, Kremer, Bradish, Rodriguez)
8 relievers (Voth, Wells, Bautista, Baker, Akin, Givens, Perez, ???)
9 lineup (Mullins, Rutschman, Santander, Mountcastle, Hays, Henderson, Mateo, Urias/Frazier, Stowers)
4 bench (McKenna, McCann, Urias/Frazier, Vavra)

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Despite having a lighter resume than Diaz, O’Hearn, and Cordero, Lester continues to have the consistently best AB’s even as we get into the dog days of spring.  Nice swing.  Doesn’t go out of the zone much, and seems to be able to adjust to different types of pitches.  Plus he looks to be decent at first and passable at 3B.   None of these guys are making the team but Lester may turn out to be the best bench piece/fill-in of the four. 
 

Cordero is a tease.  He’ll smoke a few but he’s got a lot of weaknesses at the plate, he’s shaky at first, and average, at best, in the outfield.

Diaz has no versatility but he’s slick at 1B and nice depth at Norfolk.

O’Hearn is ok but Lester has looked better.

Edited by RZNJ
  • Upvote 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Posts

    • I don’t like the wall. I think it’s affecting our hitters. I’ve mentioned before that I think it has totally warped Mountcastle into something he was never really meant to be. The guy came up as a pull-heavy HR hitter, and in his first season-plus (725 PAs), he puts up 38 HRs and a 116 wRC+. Since then, the wRC+ is down to 110, and his approach has totally changed, with his pull numbers plummeting (down from 39% in 2021 to less than 28% this year). He still hits the ball hard, but constantly underachieves his batted ball data — probably because he’s trying to avoid the pull field and hitting balls to the deepest parts of pretty much every other park. Will the same thing happen to Mayo? Maybe he has more pure power, but it’s always going to be a challenge for a RH slugger to survive with that wall. So much harder to do damage.   Beyond that, I think it’s also creating a serious risk of changing our LH hitters’ approaches too. These guys (Henderson, Holliday, Cowser, 2/3 of Adley) have come up with a reputation for being able to drive the ball to all fields. But how long does that continue when they just can’t hit it out to the opposite field? Our LH hitters had a combined 44 wRC+ at OPACY, and only one HR. They had the 3rd most balls hit to LF at home by LHHs, but the lowest wRC+ of any team on those balls (for the second straight year). The Royals, ironically enough, were the only team that was lower than a 70 wRC+ — that’s how much worse our lefties fared going oppo (at OPACY) than everyone else’s. By player: Gunnar Henderson: 112 wRC+ / .160 ISO (51 PAs) Adley Rutschman: 10 wRC+ / .026 ISO (38 PAs) Anthony Santander: 14 wRC+ / .095 ISO (43 PAs) Colton Cowser: 58 wRC+ / .057 ISO (36 PAs) Ryan O’Hearn: 47 wRC+ / .091 ISO (55 PAs) Cedric Mullins: 23 wRC+ / .100 ISO (41 PAs) Jackson Holliday: -72 wRC+ / .000 ISO (16 PAs)   On the road, they had a combined 126 wRC+ (with 9 HRs) going to left field, so it’s not like they’re bad at it. It’s just Death Valley out there in LF for them at OPACY.  How long will it be until these LH guys just start going full pull-happy? Essentially, the opposite of what’s happened with Mountcastle. When (a) your team’s philosophy is to focus on doing damage and (b) you can’t DO damage to the opposite field — the rational endpoint is just to try to pull everything. I don’t think that’s a good outcome. I think it makes them much worse hitters in the other 81 games, and I think it’s a terrible waste of a bunch of really talented hitters with all-field abilities.
    • Which core players beside Adley Rutschman struggled?
    • The entire commentary on Hyde and the team seems odd but have to admit there does seem to be something off.   Team seemed adrift for most of the 2nd half.  A very talented team went off the rails midway through the season mostly due to core players struggling and rookies not performing or filling in adequately for a few injured starters.    None of the position player trade line acquisitions performed that well.     Hyde seemed in over his head or at a loss on how to correct things, but he must have convinced Elias that he has a plan to fix things.  Curious to see what happens with the coaching staff.  
    • And or give up picks for QO pitchers 
    • They've averaged 92 wins a year the last 3 years in the most difficult environment in the sport with basically the greatest disadvantages in the sport. Something tells me they know a hell of a lot more about this than you do.    
    • Not when they aren't worthy. At minimum the hitting coaches should be el gonezo
    • That is the sign of a stable and successful organization.  Firing people.  Who could argue that?
  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...