Orioles acquire Nick Maton

[Moose Milligan]

This is the move I’ve been waiting for. 

[sportsfan8703]

3 hours ago, wildcard said:

Probably starting SS at AAA after he passes through waivers.   Ortiz replacement.   If Holliday spends any time at AAA he will be the 2B.   Mayo at 3B.  Norby  OF/2B.

Depth. @interloper pointed out that our SS depth is pretty thin after the Ortiz and Hernaiz trades. Interesting that we chose Maton over the Castillo/Smith-Ngiba that were also IF on waivers. We still have an open spot on the 40 man. 

Edit - looks like his best position is 2B. Detroit used him primarily at 3B and he had 8 errors there. 0 errors at SS and 2B. The Phillies used him in the OF a little bit too. Seems like a bigger version of Vavra with more power. 

Edited February 8 by sportsfan8703

[Go_Os]

8 hours ago, Frobby said:

So here’s a LH infielder in case Elias/Hyde really want one on the OD roster but don’t want Holliday to begin the year in the majors.  

Then Nick would pass the Maton to Jackson.

[jerios55]

Seems like a Frazier like deal that didn't cost 8 million and make anyone feel obligated to play him.  If we need to fill this "hole" this is the way to do it.

[sportsfan8703]

Thursday(today) is the first day that teams can transfer players to the 60 day IL. 

So I think the waiver wire is going to slow down a bit till the end of ST. Meaning Maton happened to be on waivers a week after we traded Ortiz and right before the 60 man IL came into play. 

We can also move Bautista to the 60 day IL today, so our 40 man will be back at 38. 

[Orange]

Maton is ready to battle Terrin Vavra to be the final piece in the all-lefthanded lineup.

[Orange]

Just now, Orange said:

Maton is ready to battle Terrin Vavra to be the final piece in the all-lefthanded lineup.

CF - Mullins

C - Rutschman

3B - Henderson

RF - Santander

SS - Holliday

1B - O'Hearn

DH -Kjerstad

LF - Cowser

2B - Vavra/Maton

Thing of beauty! All-righthanded isn't nearly as good, although you can reuse Adley and Santa of course.

[Sports Guy]

I have zero issue with this deal but I do wonder why Elias has a blind spot for a lefty hitting second baseman. He mentioned it the other day w/r/t Holliday.  What is it about that position and wanting a lefty hitter so bad?  It’s like an irrational obsession. It’s his TTP.

[Orioles0615]

44 minutes ago, Orange said:

CF - Mullins

C - Rutschman

3B - Henderson

RF - Santander

SS - Holliday

1B - O'Hearn

DH -Kjerstad

LF - Cowser

2B - Vavra/Maton

Thing of beauty! All-righthanded isn't nearly as good, although you can reuse Adley and Santa of course.

Man too bad we don't have a good left handed hitting infield prospect to use instead

[Orioles0615]

I bet this guy gets more Roch articles about him than Burnes 

[CaptainRedbeard]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

I have zero issue with this deal but I do wonder why Elias has a blind spot for a lefty hitting second baseman. He mentioned it the other day w/r/t Holliday.  What is it about that position and wanting a lefty hitter so bad?  It’s like an irrational obsession. It’s his TTP.

I don’t know if it has to do with 2B specifically, I think it has to do more with having 2 lefty IF options for matchups against RHP with big splits and Gunnar plays SS/3B, so it makes sense the other would be able to play 2B.

But it is weird, especially since Urias has been a LOT better against RHP than LHP in his major league career. Even the ZIPS projected splits, which put a lot of emphasis on regressing towards the typical handedness weaknesses, project him to be almost exactly equal vs RHP and LHP. So they basically already have their second “lefty” IF in Urias. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

This is the move I’ve been waiting for. 

[interloper]

10 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

I don’t know if it has to do with 2B specifically, I think it has to do more with having 2 lefty IF options for matchups against RHP with big splits and Gunnar plays SS/3B, so it makes sense the other would be able to play 2B.

But it is weird, especially since Urias has been a LOT better against RHP than LHP in his major league career. Even the ZIPS projected splits, which put a lot of emphasis on regressing towards the typical handedness weaknesses, project him to be almost exactly equal vs RHP and LHP. So they basically already have their second “lefty” IF in Urias. 

Right. No problem with the move as a depth thing, but if you want a guy to hit the ball to RF, does it matter if it's a lefty or Urias? 

Edited February 8 by interloper

[CaptainRedbeard]

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

Right. No problem with the move as a depth thing, but if you want a guy to hit the ball to RF, does it matter if it's a lefty or Urias? 

Maybe it is a park thing, where they would be ok with Urias vs RHP on the road but at home still want a lefty because of the park factor, even if Urias is fine against RHP. That’s a really niche role, but at the same time if Maton makes the team he should not play much at all.  He’ll play sometimes at home against RHP who don’t have good changeups/splitters?

[sportsfan8703]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

I have zero issue with this deal but I do wonder why Elias has a blind spot for a lefty hitting second baseman. He mentioned it the other day w/r/t Holliday.  What is it about that position and wanting a lefty hitter so bad?  It’s like an irrational obsession. It’s his TTP.

It's just lefties in general with OPACY.  Adley, Kjerstad, Cowser, Holliday, and EBJ, with our first picks. Urias, and Mateo, are the only righties that we've picked up and given ABs too, and that was out of desperation.  McCann as a backup C.  Hicks was a SH.