Orioles calling up Westburg.

[Bemorewins]

38 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

Agreed. Can they be part of a package?

Who’s going to want them? We don’t really want Mateo, why would another team? He’s too old to be appealing to a rebuilding team and not good enough to be appealing to a contending team. Frazier was overpaid by us based on his production. He’s not really that good with a sub .700 OPS. Who wants that? O’Hearns has done well thus far. But is a platoon specialist and has never really produced anywhere close to this before. Again who’s dying to get their hands on him and how much would they be willing to part with to get a guy like him?

[Fan4Life]

4 minutes ago, tntoriole said:

That is probably accurate .. I agree you won’t be likely able trade for a legit controllable TOR (not a rental) without one or more of those prospects in the deal

Yes I see. What roster move will we make when Mountcastle returns? Also, is is even an option for Mateo to go down to AAA and work out his hitting issues? He seemed to have much better plater discipline in April than since. 

[Bemorewins]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Obviously you are correct, but I don’t think Sanfran327 was suggesting that Westburg would have a career like Manny’s.   Rather, he was suggesting Westburg could have an impact on our player push, like Manny did.  

If he does, it will be a different kind of impact than Manny had. As noted, Manny held his own with the bat, but where he really impacted things in 2012 was his otherworldly glove.   And it wasn’t just that he was so good; a huge part of it was that the guys he was replacing (Betemit, Reynolds, Tolleson etc.) had been terrible (-13 Rtot, -14 Rdrs).  Our defense went from bad to excellent overnight.   

Westburg isn’t going to be better defensively than the guys he’s replacing, so his impact will have to come on offense.  There, while I don’t expect him to have Manny’s career with the bat, he’s arguably better equipped to contribute in Year 1 than Manny was.  After all, Westburg has excelled in 714 AA at bats, while Manny never played AAA at all before he was promoted to the majors.  He’s had a lot more opportunity to develop his bat compared to Manny, who was learning on the fly.   

I will be surprised if Westburg has the impact that Manny did overall, but he certainly could give us a boost if he outhits Frazier and Mateo, which isn’t that high a bar.  


 

What you are saying is very reasonable IMO. What the other poster said was not IMO. I hope people don’t place unreasonable expectations on the kid. I hope that he is allowed come up, settle in, and learn like everybody else.

[wildcard]

14 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Obviously you are correct, but I don’t think Sanfran327 was suggesting that Westburg would have a career like Manny’s.   Rather, he was suggesting Westburg could have an impact on our player push, like Manny did.  

If he does, it will be a different kind of impact than Manny had. As noted, Manny held his own with the bat, but where he really impacted things in 2012 was his otherworldly glove.   And it wasn’t just that he was so good; a huge part of it was that the guys he was replacing (Betemit, Reynolds, Tolleson etc.) had been terrible (-13 Rtot, -14 Rdrs).  Our defense went from bad to excellent overnight.   

Westburg isn’t going to be better defensively than the guys he’s replacing, so his impact will have to come on offense.  There, while I don’t expect him to have Manny’s career with the bat, he’s arguably better equipped to contribute in Year 1 than Manny was.  After all, Westburg has excelled in 714 AA at bats, while Manny never played AAA at all before he was promoted to the majors.  He’s had a lot more opportunity to develop his bat compared to Manny, who was learning on the fly.   

I will be surprised if Westburg has the impact that Manny did overall, but he certainly could give us a boost if he outhits Frazier and Mateo, which isn’t that high a bar.  


 

Westburg has 714 PAs at AAA.  Not 714 At Bats at AA.

[Bemorewins]

10 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

We know that now. And yes, they have different prospect status. I said as much in my post. But he's still become a very, very promising prospect, and he's coming up to help fill a void in a contending team. 

Really, the point in the post that I quoted was most about how long it will take for him to adjust, and my analogy was that Manny came up with even bigger expectations and was able to tread water while also learning a new position. I think Westburg is getting promoted to a better team and a better situation, and I think that favors him. I don't think that a .739 OPS is out of the question for him.

I appreciate the clarification! I just hope people/posters/fans don’t put too many expectations on Westburg and allow him to acclimate to the Bigs like everyone else.

As far as prospects go though, I see him in the good not great category, which is absolutely fine.

If we want to compare prospects to Manny, I think it would be more akin to a Henderson or Holliday, who were fast rising high schoolers with tremendous ability/talent. I don’t see Jordan Westburg being of that kind. And I hope that he is allowed to live in his shoes and be the best that he can become without undue pressure of having lofty expectations placed on his shoulders.

[Sports Guy]

https://theathletic.com/4639777/2023/06/25/orioles-jordan-westburg-promotion/?source=user_shared_article
 

He’ll have some trouble adjusting to big-league breaking stuff, but the power upside is enough to make this the right call. I also think this probably pushes Joey Ortiz back to Triple A, as the shortstop hasn’t found any regular playing time in Baltimore and may end up squeezed out by other prospects. — Law

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Westburg has 714 PAs at AAA.  Not 714 At Bats at AA.

Thanks, I fixed it.  The point is the same though.   Westburg has a huge amount of AAA experience.  We’ll see if that makes his transition to the majors any easier.  

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I appreciate the clarification! I just hope people/posters/fans don’t put too many expectations on Westburg and allow him to acclimate to the Bigs like everyone else.

The way I see it, nobody is looking at Westburg as a transformative player or the hub of the franchise or anything like that, and I don’t think Westburg will have any unusual amount of pressure on him beyond that which any typical rookie would feel.  

Totally separate from any pressure that might reach Westburg and affect him, is how people here on OH will react if he doesn’t make tangible contributions that exceed Frazier and Mateo right away.  And, what kind of opportunity will he get for regular playing time?   
 

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

https://theathletic.com/4639777/2023/06/25/orioles-jordan-westburg-promotion/?source=user_shared_article
 

He’ll have some trouble adjusting to big-league breaking stuff, but the power upside is enough to make this the right call. I also think this probably pushes Joey Ortiz back to Triple A, as the shortstop hasn’t found any regular playing time in Baltimore and may end up squeezed out by other prospects. — Law

I don't think its a simple as Law makes it in the article.    I expect to see Gunnar at 3B, Mateo at SS. Westburg at 2B and Urias at 1B tonight.

[Baltimorecuse]

51 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

The game tonight can't get here fast enough.   

Is it true the heavens will open, while Westburg descends a golden staircase to the sounds of angels blowing trumpets?  

[Aristotelian]

3 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

Yes I see. What roster move will we make when Mountcastle returns? Also, is is even an option for Mateo to go down to AAA and work out his hitting issues? He seemed to have much better plater discipline in April than since. 

No, Mateo is out of options. He would need to clear waivers for us to keep control of him. 

Have we announced the corresponding move for Westburg yet?  Mets claimed Reed Garrett so by my count there is plenty of room on the 40 man roster. I believe we can add Westburg and a pitcher without DFA anybody. Only question is McKenna vs Ortiz on the active roster. I think DFA Mateo would be an extreme move.

I hope it is McKenna. I think there is room for Ortiz on this roster and he brings more than McKenna... But only if Mateo is pushed to a bench role. 

[Frobby]

55 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

The game tonight can't get here fast enough.   

You’re really that into Westburg?  There’s a handful of guys for whom I felt that way about their debut - Wieters, Manny, Adley, Gunnar.  I can’t say I put Westburg in that class in terms of “must see” debuts.  As it happens, I’m out of town and won’t see Westburg’s debut, but it’s not really that big a deal to me.  

[Bemorewins]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The way I see it, nobody is looking at Westburg as a transformative player or the hub of the franchise or anything like that, and I don’t think Westburg will have any unusual amount of pressure on him beyond that which any typical rookie would feel.  

Totally separate from any pressure that might reach Westburg and affect him, is how people here on OH will react if he doesn’t make tangible contributions that exceed Frazier and Mateo right away.  And, what kind of opportunity will he get for regular playing time?   
 

I hear you @Frobby and I hope that you are right. I hope the young man receives patience from the fanbase as well as the org and is allowed to take the time to make the necessary adjustments to the Major Leagues.

[Tony-OH]

13 hours ago, TheWall said:

I've seen a lot of speculation that Westburg might take the Ortiz role against LHP and potentially form a platoon with Frazier. I know the sample size isn't huge, but his OPS has been roughly .350 points higher against RHP than LHP between this year and last. Would seem weird to limit him to only facing LHP when his numbers against RHP are the reason he's getting promoted in the first place. 

It was the same for Stowers (not that big of a difference) yet the Orioles never played him against left-handers. 

I'm hopeful Westburg will see regular playing time between 3B and 2B with Gunnar moving to SS when he plays 3B. 

With the Orioles you never really know how they will handle a rookie. Will he get the Henderson-Adley treatment or the Stowers-Ortiz treatment? Time will tell.

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

No, Mateo is out of options. He would need to clear waivers for us to keep control of him. 

Have we announced the corresponding move for Westburg yet?  Mets claimed Reed Garrett so by my count there is plenty of room on the 40 man roster. I believe we can add Westburg and a pitcher without DFA anybody. Only question is McKenna vs Ortiz on the active roster. I think DFA Mateo would be an extreme move.

I hope it is McKenna. I think there is room for Ortiz on this roster and he brings more than McKenna... But only if Mateo is pushed to a bench role. 

By my count the 40 man roster is full.  Godoy took Garrett place on the 40 man.

I am guessing that Godoy is DFA'd and Ortiz is optioned to AAA.   With Gunnar, Urias, Mateo, Frazier and Westburg on the roster Ortiz is unlikely to see playing time with the O's.   And Elias wants him to play.  JMG