Now, I want you to remember....

[Tbone83]

...and if we are talking 2023 negs, I think Adley at the plate in the 2nd half was kind of a bummer. I'm as big a fanboi as anyone, but he wasn't great, and the whole fall to one knee Home Run Derby swing was annoying. Hoping to not see that in 24.

[RarityFlaherty]

9 minutes ago, Tbone83 said:

I didn't and don't understand the Frazier hate here. Coming into last year I just saw him as a guy to hold things down till the younger guys came up, and to be decent. Was he an all star or a O'Hearn-like surprise? No, but I think he was fine, and had several huge clutch hits as well. Did he ever make me want to throw my remote through the TV like Baker? No. Was he Mateo-trying-to-bunt bad? Nah. If I have to look for negatives in an overwhelmingly positive season, I don't think AF would make my top 50.

The stats don’t appreciate guys who can hit with runners on base because they think it’s all just random and not a repeatable skill. For the most part, I tend to agree, but there are some guys who are good at just making sure they make good contact in those situations and are able to hit well with runners on throughout their whole career. I watched every game this season and there were at least a good 10 games we possibly lose without key hits coming from Frazier.
 

The biggest negative coming from Frazier was in the field where his range dropped off. He was still a solid fielder on the balls he could get to though.  I think he was a decent stopgap while we waited for Westburg to be ready. I’m certainly glad he’s gone to make way for the younger guys, but I totally agree that he definitely doesn’t deserve the amount of hate he gets on here. 

[Can_of_corn]

15 minutes ago, Tbone83 said:

...and if we are talking 2023 negs, I think Adley at the plate in the 2nd half was kind of a bummer. I'm as big a fanboi as anyone, but he wasn't great, and the whole fall to one knee Home Run Derby swing was annoying. Hoping to not see that in 24.

His OPS was higher in the second half.

[Tbone83]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

His OPS was higher in the second half.

Sweet. Still didn't look as good to me, which means nothing, I know. Difference between AR and AF is I had super high expectations of AR whereas I had no real expectations for AF.

[ThisIsBirdland]

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Tbone83 said:

Sweet. Still didn't look as good to me, which means nothing, I know. Difference between AR and AF is I had super high expectations of AR whereas I had no real expectations for AF.

If Adley walked on water at the Sea of Galilee, some people would say the water wasn’t deep enough.  

[Orioles0615]

19 hours ago, Philip said:

 

 Will ME bring in another needless, roster-clogging guy yet again? That’s the main question.

 

He already has. Tyler Nevin and the waiver claim infielder kids. Don't think for a second one of them will be forced on the opening day roster 

[RZNJ]

20 minutes ago, Frobby said:

If Adley walked on water at the Sea of Galilee, some people would say the water wasn’t deep enough.  

I’d rather see him OPS .900 while hitting 30 homers.   The water walking does me no good.

[Safelykept]

On 2/16/2024 at 10:50 AM, Moose Milligan said:

If you are taking this thing off the rails into a Frazier thread...just know....

YOU STARTED THIS

[Philip]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

If Adley walked on water at the Sea of Galilee, some people would say the water wasn’t deep enough.  

You must be watching the chosen

[Philip]

On 2/17/2024 at 6:12 AM, RarityFlaherty said:

The stats don’t appreciate guys who can hit with runners on base because they think it’s all just random and not a repeatable skill. For the most part, I tend to agree, but there are some guys who are good at just making sure they make good contact in those situations and are able to hit well with runners on throughout their whole career. I watched every game this season and there were at least a good 10 games we possibly lose without key hits coming from Frazier.
 

The biggest negative coming from Frazier was in the field where his range dropped off. He was still a solid fielder on the balls he could get to though.  I think he was a decent stopgap while we waited for Westburg to be ready. I’m certainly glad he’s gone to make way for the younger guys, but I totally agree that he definitely doesn’t deserve the amount of hate he gets on here. 

Beg to differ. The biggest negative of Frazier was that he took playing time away from guys who are better and ready.

Westburg Would certainly have had some growing pains, no doubt, but he was ready, he was cheap, and his defense would have been solid while his bat adjusted.

Edited February 24 by Philip

[Morgan423]

I'm honestly kind of amazed at the continued Adam Frazier talk... 

He was the exact template of the One Season Placeholder Player™:  Filling in for a single year until another player (usually a AAA future-starter-guy wrapping up his minor league development) is ready to go the next season.  He's hired in the hope that he be league-averagey (or hopefully a little better) during his sole season with the team... he often falls short, though sometimes he kind of makes it.  Afterward, the transaction is complete. He signs with another team, and we never see him again outside the handful of times a year we play his new team.  

I'm not sure why the fascination endures.  We have at least one of these guys on the roster every single season, including this one (I'm looking at you, Craig Kimbrel).  He should be a wispy ghost of a memory now, yet we'll still be talking about him off and on for years to come.  

[Just Regular]

Jordan Westburg at 0.098 days of service will now play 2026 at the minimum instead of Arb1.     It might result in his 2023-2028 earnings being $8M less than if he'd been up all year.

I imagine his Arb-3 age-30 2029 could go either way.

Could he have done better than a .556 OPS in any given ALDS if he had 600 not 200 looks at pitchers about as good as Andrew Heaney or Cody Bradford?

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

Beg to differ. The biggest negative of Frazier Who’s that he took playing time away from guys who are better and ready.

Westburg Would certainly have had some growing pains, no doubt, but he was ready, he was cheap, and his defense would have been solid while his bat adjusted.

I’m very happy to have the extra year of Westburg in 2029 in exchange for the time he missed in 2023 due to Frazier being on the team.  

[RarityFlaherty]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

Beg to differ. The biggest negative of Frazier Who’s that he took playing time away from guys who are better and ready.

Westburg Would certainly have had some growing pains, no doubt, but he was ready, he was cheap, and his defense would have been solid while his bat adjusted.

Yeah, in hindsight, maybe it would have been better to just play Westburg. I assume they signed Frazier because they weren’t sure Westburg was ready. Either that, or they figured Henderson was already our horse in the ROY race, and they signed Frazier to hold Westburg down long enough to make sure we get an extra year of control. I only defend Frazier because people go way over the top with their hate for him.