Jonah Heim

[Sanity Check]

1 hour ago, Going Underground said:

Is there a Christian Walker thread yet? Orioles waived him and took him like 6 years to become decent. Didn't realize he got in a few games for the Orioles, two years in a row. 

 

Or a Justin Turner thread for that matter?

[Sanity Check]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think there are some fair critiques when a player leaves a team and goes on to immediate success somewhere else.  Jake Arrieta literally stepped off the plane in Chicago and turned into a different guy overnight.  If you don't believe me, go to his baseball reference page and see what his stats were for the Orioles and then for the Cubs in 2013.  That is an indictment on the Orioles staff at the time and their inability to coach a guy up.

As noted, we traded Heim to Tampa to bring Steve Pearce back.  Then he got traded to Oakland as a PTBNL, then traded to the Rangers.

Glad to see the guy having success but this is far from an indictment on the Orioles and their developmental system from that era.  

As an aside, I do believe every fanbase thinks they're alone when it comes to their team trading guys and having their guys go on to succeed elsewhere.  Like, I'm sure the Cardinals fans right now are bemoaning Adolis Garcia and thinking that only a team like the Cardinals trades guys away only to have them succeed somewhere else.  

Cardinals also traded Randy Arozarena to the Rays.  That's gotta sting....

[Going Underground]

How the 2023 MLB playoff teams were built
https://www.mlb.com/news/how-the-2023-mlb-playoff-teams-were-built

[sportsfan8703]

When we drafted Heim everyone in the draft day thread was shocked because he wasn’t even listed in top 250, 500 lists. The O’s needed catching depth and that year I believe drafted 4 with their first 10 picks. Sisco, Wynns?, Heim, and I’m not going to cheat on the 4th. 

Meaning if we don’t pick him in the top 10 rounds then maybe he just goes to NCAA and we never hear from him. 

Huge outcome for Heim. Happy for him. He worked his butt off. 

[Aristotelian]

We didn't know his bat would be good enough to play at the MLB level. Apparently the Rays didn't either. Also, Duquette's strategy at the time was to trade off all but the most elite prospects in order to fill gaps in the MLB roster. 

[AdamK]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

That might have been O's specific since Buck was so worried about stolen bases.

It was definitely a Buck thing. I hadn't heard the phrase before he latched on to it with Heim. Could've just been a few spring training comments and then the echo effect in here.

[Malike]

Wonder if the Cardinals are glad they traded Adolis Garcia for cash considerations. 

[banks703]

13 hours ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Imagine if the Orioles had kept Jonah Heim. We would have the best catching duo in all of baseball.

Why did we get rid of him anyway? I mean I know we had Adley upcoming, but still, we could have used him through all of that.

Ehhh... I'd argue that they already have the best catching duo in baseball. Obviously 80% of that is Adley but JM was really good for them this year and Basallo is probably ready to contribute by 25 when they'll surely lose JM's expiring contract.

Heim would have been nice to keep if they could have stashed him (they could have but they moved him to address a need during a playoff run) but I don't fault them for moving him at the time or for not having a foresight of six or seven years. I don't think anyone predicted that he would become the player that he is today.

The O's have had lots of these guys, from Jose Bautista, Jason Worth, Justin Turner, Yaz, Walker, etc. etc. but so do other teams. Look at the Cards with Garcia and Arozarena or the Rays and their abundance of talent that they have traded away over the last ten years. Every team has parted with guys who are fringe prospects that become solid to great players with other teams. It's just part of the game. The O's current model needs for them to hit on some of the players that are discarded by other teams, which I think they've done a good job of during Elias tenure. 

[murph]

19 minutes ago, Malike said:

Wonder if the Cardinals are glad they traded Adolis Garcia for cash considerations. 

Or the Royals with Ryan O'Hearn!

[Malike]

8 minutes ago, murph said:

Or the Royals with Ryan O'Hearn!

Garcia is making the league minimum and is worth 5 fWAR. O'Hearn is making 1.4M and was worth 1.4 fWAR. I'd much prefer the former.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Malike

[Jammer7]

Sure, there are many players out there that did not click here or there, but went on to do very well elsewhere. Each case is a different reason. With Heim, he obviously has talent, so the draft was good in the 4th round. The development group wears this one to me. It took him a few years, yes. Perhaps that is because he was developed poorly while in the Orioles organization. I believe the current development group would have had Heim performing much better and sooner in his career.

And, as far as Christian Walker, he did not take 6 years to become decent. He’s been at least decent for several years. He could always hit. 

[Tony-OH]

6 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Sure, there are many players out there that did not click here or there, but went on to do very well elsewhere. Each case is a different reason. With Heim, he obviously has talent, so the draft was good in the 4th round. The development group wears this one to me. It took him a few years, yes. Perhaps that is because he was developed poorly while in the Orioles organization. I believe the current development group would have had Heim performing much better and sooner in his career.

And, as far as Christian Walker, he did not take 6 years to become decent. He’s been at least decent for several years. He could always hit. 

I think it's absolutely fair to think Heim might have developed faster within the current cutting edge player development system then the one that lagged far behind the times when he was in the organization.

[jamalshw]

To me, Heim is much like Mike Yastrzemski. He's not one I lose sleep over getting away. He's one that I can't blame the Orioles for "getting away." Heim was not hitting that well in Frederick before the trade in 2016, then went to the Rays, then the A's, then Texas. He wasn't good in a cup of coffee in 2020. He wasn't good in 2021. He was great the first half last year, but tanked in the second half. He had a similar falling off this year (though his first half was better and the collapse not as bad). He's had some nice ABs this postseason and I would certainly take him on the team now, but I can't blame the Orioles for letting him go. It didn't seem like he was going to be much when they moved him and the Rays and A's obviously agreed. 

He's the diamond in the rough find for the Rangers. Good for them. They got the most out of him. The Orioles have similar guys. Santander as a Rule-5 pick. Ryan O'Hearn as a scrap heap pick up this year. Aaron Hicks. Even Ramon Urias. Heck, Kyle Bradish was a steal in the Dylan Bundy trade...and not someone the Angels thought had any chance of becoming what he's become. 

[FlipTheBird]

1 hour ago, Malike said:

Wonder if the Cardinals are glad they traded Adolis Garcia for cash considerations. 

Even the Rangers have designated Garcia for assignment before. He just went through waivers and came back. Some guys are true surprises.

[maybenxtyr]

4 hours ago, Going Underground said:

Is there a Christian Walker thread yet? Orioles waived him and took him like 6 years to become decent. Didn't realize he got in a few games for the Orioles, two years in a row. 

 

Yes, that was brought up during the Arizona series I believe.