Joey Ortiz for 3B?

[Jagwar]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Mountcastle had a 117 OPS+.  O'Hearn had a 122.

I don't see need.

I think I see a need for a power bat, but there is no guarantee that Mayo will be that guy

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

I think I see a need for a power bat, but there is no guarantee that Mayo will be that guy

Years ago when I learned to budget for myself I learned the difference between a need and a want.

[Jagwar]

6 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Years ago when I learned to budget for myself I learned the difference between a need and a want.

An odd analogy, but I'll play along. Would Mayo be able to meet a need and a want?

[Malike]

4 hours ago, Jagwar said:

An odd analogy, but I'll play along. Would Mayo be able to meet a need and a want?

Keep in mind that Mayo is all of 21 years old, hit 29 HRs, and walked 15% of the time in AA/AAA.

[Jagwar]

3 hours ago, Malike said:

Keep in mind that Mayo is all of 21 years old, hit 29 HRs, and walked 15% of the time in AA/AAA.

I'd say that qualifies as a need and a want. 

[Can_of_corn]

8 hours ago, Jagwar said:

An odd analogy, but I'll play along. Would Mayo be able to meet a need and a want?

It was a continuation of the idea the O's had a need at first base,  while you might want more production at first Mountcastle and O'Hearn were quite adequate at their cost last season.

I'd like to get him at bats, I would look at CO,  There is certainly a bunching of talent that needs to be cleared.

 

[Aristotelian]

13 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Mountcastle had a 117 OPS+.  O'Hearn had a 122.

I don't see need.

I meant longer term. We don't have any 1B prospects in our top 30. True, we have 3 more years of Mountcastle if he is not traded off first and Mayo is ready before then, but if he is the future 1B I'd be more inclined to get him in the position sooner than later. 

Both Davis and Trumbo had great arms but 1B was where they could be overall productive without hurting the team. 

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I meant longer term. We don't have any 1B prospects in our top 30. True, we have 3 more years of Mountcastle if he is not traded off first and Mayo is ready before then, but if he is the future 1B I'd be more inclined to get him in the position sooner than later. 

Both Davis and Trumbo had great arms but 1B was where they could be overall productive without hurting the team. 

Mayo and Basallo are in our top 3 and top 30ish overall. They will likely spend a lot of time at first.

[Can_of_corn]

6 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I meant longer term. We don't have any 1B prospects in our top 30. True, we have 3 more years of Mountcastle if he is not traded off first and Mayo is ready before then, but if he is the future 1B I'd be more inclined to get him in the position sooner than later. 

Both Davis and Trumbo had great arms but 1B was where they could be overall productive without hurting the team. 

I'm not concerned about first base in 2026. 

[Aristotelian]

14 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Mayo and Basallo are in our top 3 and top 30ish overall. They will likely spend a lot of time at first.

True, I forgot Basallo, and Adley could spend time there as well. But just looking at Mayo's body type he does not look like an OF and I do not want to see any Trumbo types ever again regardless of arm. And again, we seem to have OF covered with true OF prospects. Fine if Mayo can play OF without being a liability but 1B/3B/DH seems the most likely fit in terms of need and skills.

[Bemorewins]

On 11/1/2023 at 5:22 PM, RZNJ said:

Ortiz is potential trade bait this winter but I was thinking about his chances of sticking and playing for the Orioles next year.   I can’t see the Orioles moving Henderson off of SS for even Ortiz at this point.  Ortiz looks like he could be plus at any of the three infield positions.  Westburg looked very good at 2B and okay at 3B.   Could Ortiz be an option to start at 3B with Ramon Urias on hand as a backup/safety net for both Ortiz and Westburg?

Ortiz, in 114 games in AAA, owns a .327 average and a .904 OPS.   He can probably get away with Urias type offense because of his superior defensive abilities but his offensive ceiling looks higher.  Does Ortiz have a legit shot at a starting job next spring and if so at which position is his best chance?    

If Ortiz plays 3B full time next season where does that leave Holliday?

If you say Holliday to 2B, then why was Westburg moved ahead of Ortiz in the first place in 2023?

Last question: given the very little carryover that Westburg’s power numbers at AAA had to the big’s last season and some of our other prospects, do you think that should be a factor in how we project Ortiz at the Major League level? 

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

If Ortiz plays 3B full time next season where does that leave Holliday?

If you say Holliday to 2B, then why was Westburg moved ahead of Ortiz in the first place in 2023?

Last question: given the very little carryover that Westburg’s power numbers at AAA had to the big’s last season and some of our other prospects, do you think that should be a factor in how we project Ortiz at the Major League level? 

Holliday is tough to figure.  Even if he’s great in the spring, service time has to be considered.  Also, he’ll be 20, had minimal AAA AB’s and might actually need a few months at Norfolk.

When Holliday is ready, one of Westburg/Ortiz probably rotates between 2B and 3B.  
 

I think it’s too soon to suggest that the AAA numbers aren’t carrying over.  They carried over for Henderson and Rutschman.  No one else has even had a half season.  

[Bemorewins]

2 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Holliday is tough to figure.  Even if he’s great in the spring, service time has to be considered.  Also, he’ll be 20, had minimal AAA AB’s and might actually need a few months at Norfolk.

When Holliday is ready, one of Westburg/Ortiz probably rotates between 2B and 3B.  
 

I think it’s too soon to suggest that the AAA numbers aren’t carrying over.  They carried over for Henderson and Rutschman.  No one else has even had a half season.  

Do you believe that Westburg/Ortiz are in the same talent stratosphere (as hitters) as Henderson and Rutschman? 

I ask about the number translation question because of 2 factors: One is obvious, the jump in competition. But the second is also very significant and that is the very challenging dimensions out to LF. For RHB like Ortiz and Westburg, that has to be a factor. Even for bigger/stronger guys like Mountcastle it appears to have an adverse effect on their power numbers.

[RZNJ]

31 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Do you believe that Westburg/Ortiz are in the same talent stratosphere (as hitters) as Henderson and Rutschman? 

I ask about the number translation question because of 2 factors: One is obvious, the jump in competition. But the second is also very significant and that is the very challenging dimensions out to LF. For RHB like Ortiz and Westburg, that has to be a factor. Even for bigger/stronger guys like Mountcastle it appears to have an adverse effect on their power numbers.

That’s a really good question.   Obviously, Rutschman and Henderson were more highly regarded.  Does that mean their numbers should translate and Westburg and Ortiz shouldn’t.   The left field wall is definitely a factor.   Cowser had a rough debut and he’s a LH hitter.   I have a hard time believing that the outstanding numbers at Norfolk won’t translate to ML success of some kind for most of these guys.  I expect Westburg to take a significant step forward next year.   The one I’m most concerned with is actually Cowser.

[Number5]

6 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Cowser had a rough debut and he’s a LH hitter.   I have a hard time believing that the outstanding numbers at Norfolk won’t translate to ML success of some kind for most of these guys.

I certainly hope you are right, but there's a pretty long list of players that had a lot of success at AAA, but were failures as MLB players.  It isn't all that hard to believe, IMO.  Hence the term 4A player.  It's hard to know ahead of time which guys can successfully make the step to the majors and which guys can't.  We can hope that the Orioles' baseball people are right more than they are wrong in deciding who to keep and who to trade.  I know that I have a tendency to like the guys we have a bit too much, and hate trading them.  I think that most fans do.  Fortunately, they don't pay me to make these decisions.