Why Ryan O’Hearn Must Go (Sorry, Ryan)

[Spy Fox]

Hays/Santander as your incumbent LF/RF. Mountcastle/O'Hearn as your incumbent 1b/DH. Kjerstad/Cowser as your rookies who deserve a shot.

That's your Lf/Rf/1b/Dh rotation as it stands now. 

I think there is enough playing time to go around if only one of those six guys is taken out of the equation for whatever reason--trade or injury. 

But maybe Mayo should be considered part of this group as well?

[Safelykept]

1 hour ago, NCRaven said:

I gave up. Mountcastle haters gonna hate no matter what the facts are.

Were not Hating Mounty just simply pointing out were an above average team now he is average at best, so potential improvement could be found. Not to compare Mounty to some of Boog, Eddie or Rafael hes definitely that. But take Boog for ex. Great career in Baltimore<averaged 3.7 WAR from 1965 to 1974 including a low of 2.2 in 1974 and nobody considered 1974 fine, for he was traded that off season (to his credit big bounce back year in 1975) Was replaced by Lee May for 2 Years (2.2average WAR) he was fine then cratered replaced by Eddie, (Who was Great) Move along to Randy Milligan (who averaged 2.5 War over 4 years) including first 2 years of 4.3, 3.7 He was Fine, Then Rafael 4.3 over 5 years but only 2 AS.  Even CD first 4 years at first 3.5 average including a low of 1.1 Outside of truncated 2020 season Mount has averaged 1.5 War over last 3 years. Point being if Guys like Mateo Urias and Frazier (1.7 War for Frazier) were vilified for blocking prospects, How come Mounty is not asked to pay?

[Safelykept]

27 minutes ago, Safelykept said:

Were not Hating Mounty just simply pointing out were an above average team now he is average at best, so potential improvement could be found. Not to compare Mounty to some of Boog, Eddie or Rafael hes definitely that. But take Boog for ex. Great career in Baltimore<averaged 3.7 WAR from 1965 to 1974 including a low of 2.2 in 1974 and nobody considered 1974 fine, for he was traded that off season (to his credit big bounce back year in 1975) Was replaced by Lee May for 2 Years (2.2average WAR) he was fine then cratered replaced by Eddie, (Who was Great) Move along to Randy Milligan (who averaged 2.5 War over 4 years) including first 2 years of 4.3, 3.7 He was Fine, Then Rafael 4.3 over 5 years but only 2 AS.  Even CD first 4 years at first 3.5 average including a low of 1.1 Outside of truncated 2020 season Mount has averaged 1.5 War over last 3 years. Point being if Guys like Mateo Urias and Frazier (1.7 War for Frazier) were vilified for blocking prospects, How come Mounty is not asked to pay?

Fact Check Boog was actually 2.2 in 1973 1.3 in 1974

[oriole]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'd prefer better than fine, but I don't think that's as plentiful as you do.

I'm more worried about other positions.

Literally every position except maybe the long view of CF is taken by a good or great player for a fair amount of time. Mountcastle ends up being fine, I agree. But when looking at spots to upgrade, his is glaring. I’m not saying trade him for nothing and I’m not saying he can’t put together a very good season. But with the information available and his tendency to have big valleys with a couple highs thrown in…I think O’Hearn is good to have around. This isn’t a binary system where I have to hate or love someone. I’m very much in the middle on both of the 1B.

[waroriole]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'd prefer better than fine, but I don't think that's as plentiful as you do.

I'm more worried about other positions.

Honestly my biggest issue with Mountcastle is Hyde’s usage of him. He should be a 6-7 hitter, unless he’s on a hot streak. He also shouldn’t be playing every day. We should be using some of the COF overflow to fill in some starts at 1B. And, as the thread title says, OHearn shouldn’t be here. 

[Jagwar]

I'd love to see Westburg get some reps at 1B. 

[OriolesMagic83]

Asta la vista, Ryan.

[24fps]

If Mountcastle is not traded and O'Hearn is on the team come Opening Day then I predict another hard year for ML-ready Orioles prospects to break into the lineup.  I'm more worried about Elias/Hyde's veteran-hugging than I am about Mountcastle's periodic cold spells. 

[Roll Tide]

11 hours ago, Jagwar said:

I'd love to see Westburg get some reps at 1B. 

We have plenty of 1B/DH types. 

[wse120372]

14 hours ago, Jagwar said:

I'd love to see Westburg get some reps at 1B. 

And it wouldn't surprise me to see Norby get some run in the RH part of the platoon.  

The Sigbot has to have a budget allotted to first base production. I'd love to know what it is. 

[DirtyBird]

4 minutes ago, wse120372 said:

And it wouldn't surprise me to see Norby get some run in the RH part of the platoon.  

The Sigbot has to have a budget allotted to first base production. I'd love to know what it is. 

Isn't Norby about 5'6"?

[wse120372]

1 minute ago, DirtyBird said:

Isn't Norby about 5'6"?

Interwebs says 5'10 so probably 5'8"

[RZNJ]

Luis Arráez played first for the Twins and he’s listed at 5’10.

[CaptainRedbeard]

17 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

Hays/Santander as your incumbent LF/RF. Mountcastle/O'Hearn as your incumbent 1b/DH. Kjerstad/Cowser as your rookies who deserve a shot.

That's your Lf/Rf/1b/Dh rotation as it stands now. 

I think there is enough playing time to go around if only one of those six guys is taken out of the equation for whatever reason--trade or injury. 

But maybe Mayo should be considered part of this group as well?

And if the Orioles are ok with Hays or Cowser as the backup CF instead of Ryan McKenna (or Mateo, or someone else), that opens up more playing time. 

I think the plan is they keep all of them. At the end of Spring Training, if all are healthy, one of Cowser/Kjerstad makes the team and gets regular playing time through this rotation, likely increasingly carving out more from O’Hearn as the season goes on. The other waits in AAA until there’s an injury or trade or if O’Hearn shows he should be DFA’d. 

They could certainly afford to trade from this group now but I don’t expect them to.

Also, if they are really concerned with the potential ROY draft pick, they could carry an extra position player on Opening Day and then send down either Cowser/Kjerstad once they need the extra arm. That would keep both eligible for the comp pick even if sent down. But that’s not likely to be a factor in their decision making, because neither are likely candidates for ROY in the first place and especially if they don’t get a full year at the MLB level. 

[Spy Fox]

12 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

And if the Orioles are ok with Hays or Cowser as the backup CF instead of Ryan McKenna (or Mateo, or someone else), that opens up more playing time. 

Yeah, I'm assuming that there is no more room for a McKenna type player. 

I don't think McKenna's fate is fully sealed yet, because trades might happen. But after 90, 104, and 88 appearances the last few years, I'd predict more like 0-20 games this year.