What about Mayo?

[Tony-OH]

Here's what I know. Mayo is a talented young man who is ready fore the major leagues. He's one of the top prospects in all of baseball and is 22-years old. Will it be the end of the world and he goes down to the minors for a month or so and plays some RF and 1B to open up more opportunities and gains the Orioles another year of control? Probably not.

Really what the Orioles need to decide right now is Holliday more ready for the majors than Mayo? Only one of them are making the team unless they can find a trade partner for Mountcastle (unlikely). 

Westburg is going to start the season at either 3B (if Holliday makes the team) or 2B (if Mayo makes the team) unless something crazy happens. 

The crazy scenarios include optioning either Mountcastle of Westburg for Mayo (Mayo has been playing a lot of 1B lately). I just can't imagine either Westburg or Mountcastle not making the team so I really think it depends on Mayo vs Holliday. Both look ready but Mayo is older and probably deserves the chance ahead of him. 

Of course both might not make it so the Orioles can gain another year of control, but that seems like a worse case scenario.

 

 

[Pickles]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

Here's what I know. Mayo is a talented young man who is ready fore the major leagues. He's one of the top prospects in all of baseball and is 22-years old. Will it be the end of the world and he goes down to the minors for a month or so and plays some RF and 1B to open up more opportunities and gains the Orioles another year of control? Probably not.

Really what the Orioles need to decide right now is Holliday more ready for the majors than Mayo? Only one of them are making the team unless they can find a trade partner for Mountcastle (unlikely). 

Westburg is going to start the season at either 3B (if Holliday makes the team) or 2B (if Mayo makes the team) unless something crazy happens. 

The crazy scenarios include optioning either Mountcastle of Westburg for Mayo (Mayo has been playing a lot of 1B lately). I just can't imagine either Westburg or Mountcastle not making the team so I really think it depends on Mayo vs Holliday. Both look ready but Mayo is older and probably deserves the chance ahead of him. 

Of course both might not make it so the Orioles can gain another year of control, but that seems like a worse case scenario.

 

 

I personally don't think either of them make it, but I wouldn't be bothered by any of the possible scenarios:

Neither make it.  Fine by me.

Both make it.  Fine by me.

One makes it; one doesn't.  I'm cool with it.

[baltfan]

24 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Here's what I know. Mayo is a talented young man who is ready fore the major leagues. He's one of the top prospects in all of baseball and is 22-years old. Will it be the end of the world and he goes down to the minors for a month or so and plays some RF and 1B to open up more opportunities and gains the Orioles another year of control? Probably not.

Really what the Orioles need to decide right now is Holliday more ready for the majors than Mayo? Only one of them are making the team unless they can find a trade partner for Mountcastle (unlikely). 

Westburg is going to start the season at either 3B (if Holliday makes the team) or 2B (if Mayo makes the team) unless something crazy happens. 

The crazy scenarios include optioning either Mountcastle of Westburg for Mayo (Mayo has been playing a lot of 1B lately). I just can't imagine either Westburg or Mountcastle not making the team so I really think it depends on Mayo vs Holliday. Both look ready but Mayo is older and probably deserves the chance ahead of him. 

Of course both might not make it so the Orioles can gain another year of control, but that seems like a worse case scenario.

 

 

It definitely sounds crazy but I am not sure what Westberg has done to merit be on the team over Mayo. It isn’t like he lit the Majors on fire last year. The power was very disappointing. That’s not to say that he isn’t going to be good. I just don’t know that there was enough last year so that he should necessarily be in front of Mayo this year to play third base. 

[Tony-OH]

6 hours ago, baltfan said:

It definitely sounds crazy but I am not sure what Westberg has done to merit be on the team over Mayo. It isn’t like he lit the Majors on fire last year. The power was very disappointing. That’s not to say that he isn’t going to be good. I just don’t know that there was enough last year so that he should necessarily be in front of Mayo this year to play third base. 

It's a valid point though Westburg's minor league power numbers suggest he will hit for more power. I was disappointed in his lack of home runs though I don't expect him to be a big time power guy. He's more like Doug DeCinces. The ceiling is certainly much higher for Mayo, but the Orioles may want to keep him down for a bit and gain that extra year of control and then if Westburg is not producing, option him and then bring Mayo up.

The same goes for Mountcastle. Basically in this scenario, Mayo goes back to Norfolk, tears the cover off the ball down there, and whatever one of Mountcastle or Westburg that is not hitting by May 1st gets optioned.

[Satyr3206]

47 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

It's a valid point though Westburg's minor league power numbers suggest he will hit for more power. I was disappointed in his lack of home runs though I don't expect him to be a big time power guy. He's more like Doug DeCinces. the ceiling is certainly much higher for Mayo, but the Orioles may want to keep him down for a bit and gain that extra year of control and then if Westburg is not producing, option him nd then bring Mayo up.

The same goes for Mountcastle. Basically in this scenario, Mayo goes back to Norfolk, tears the cover off the ball down there, and whatever one of Mountcastle or Westburg that is not hitting by May 1st gets optioned.

I could see that and it makes sense. I still think Mayo is going to be a great hitter. Hand him a 1st base glove.

[baltfan]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

It's a valid point though Westburg's minor league power numbers suggest he will hit for more power. I was disappointed in his lack of home runs though I don't expect him to be a big time power guy. He's more like Doug DeCinces. the ceiling is certainly much higher for Mayo, but the Orioles may want to keep him down for a bit and gain that extra year of control and then if Westburg is not producing, option him nd then bring Mayo up.

The same goes for Mountcastle. Basically in this scenario, Mayo goes back to Norfolk, tears the cover off the ball down there, and whatever one of Mountcastle or Westburg that is not hitting by May 1st gets optioned.

At this point do you think Westburg is better in the field at third than Mayo?  

[DirtyBird]

Westburg is part of the team’s future. His productivity at the plate wasn’t extraordinary, but was solid for the first 200 mlb AB’s.

He won’t be sent down and yo-yo’d

[Os4days]

I guess I’m kind of an old school Earl Weaver style fan. I prefer to have a true power hitter at the corners. 
 

I know Mountcastle gets a lot of criticism but I said after his bout with vertigo that we can’t give up on him. At the same time he’s 27 and the next couple seasons will determine who he really is as a hitter. 
 

To me Westburg will be a good hitter but mostly the type of bat you would expect from a second baseman, good contact, occasional power and a .290 hitter. Coby fits what I want in a third baseman. A guy who can jack a 3 run homer at any time. He has a rocket arm. He may not come out of spring training on the roster but I look forward to a Coby, Gunnar, Jackson, and Mountcastle infield for years to come. It could really be special!

[Billy F-Face3]

I fully expect Jordan Westburg to unleash his power at some point. He proved he could hit too many home runs in AAA than for that to not show up in MLB. Some days he hit multiple home runs in a game. So I think it's just a matter of time until he unlocks his power in the Majors.

[Tony-OH]

3 hours ago, baltfan said:

At this point do you think Westburg is better in the field at third than Mayo?  

Westburg is probably more consistent but Mayo will make the impressive plays that Westburg can't at times because of his big arm.

[sportsfan8703]

It sounds to me like O’Hearn is the one that should go initially until we see how these guys look at the mlb level. That’s opens up the DH spot at least to rotate players through. I doubt that would be a trade before OD but could come mid season if Mayo truly is ready. 

Edited March 20 by sportsfan8703

[LookinUp]

It just feels to me like this board is giving Urias much more credit than he's worth. I like the guy, but he's not far above McKenna in my personal book. He's a useful non-scrub.

I don't see any reason to keep him over a guy who is ready and seriously profiles as a future stud.

[interloper]

50 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

It just feels to me like this board is giving Urias much more credit than he's worth. I like the guy, but he's not far above McKenna in my personal book. He's a useful non-scrub.

I don't see any reason to keep him over a guy who is ready and seriously profiles as a future stud.

I think it's just that McKenna is a DFA candidate, and Urias is not. He is, however, a trade candidate. So who knows, they may yet send him out to get Mayo in. 

[LookinUp]

27 minutes ago, interloper said:

I think it's just that McKenna is a DFA candidate, and Urias is not. He is, however, a trade candidate. So who knows, they may yet send him out to get Mayo in. 

I know he's not a DFA guy, but he's a guy that I'd be motivated to trade. Someone would make a deal. You're not getting premium value, so it shouldn't be hard to agree on a profile of a guy and make a trade.

[emmett16]

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

It just feels to me like this board is giving Urias much more credit than he's worth. I like the guy, but he's not far above McKenna in my personal book. He's a useful non-scrub.

I don't see any reason to keep him over a guy who is ready and seriously profiles as a future stud.

Huh?  McKenna is a career .5 WAR player in 447 ABs.  In a little over double that Urias is a 7.6 WAR player.  He's far above McKenna and not close to a scrub.  Urias shows up and puts up numbers consistently on both sides of the ball.  McKenna is a defensive replacement who is prone to being an airhead at times. 

McKenna is a career 74 OPS+ vs. Urias 106 OPS+ 

Your last comment checks, I'd like to move on from him also, but let's not treat him like he's chopped liver.