Any Interest in Aaron Hicks?

[G54377]

I read the title as "Kevin Millar" and was like there's no way that dude is trying to play again at his age.

Edited April 30 by G54377

[Bemorewins]

1 minute ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Minimal impact?  Meaning they would catch balls that had a 99.9% and a 85% catch expectancy?  How many games do we need to lose because our defensive replacement can’t make routine plays?  

Hays will be that defensive replacement or Cowser when Hays is starting for him. I simply do not see much importance for a 5th outfielder/26th man. It's very likely that spot contributes very little to the outcome of the season.

[sportsfan8703]

[sportsfan8703]

Meanwhile, a real Oriole…. See ya McKenna. Wish we had more washed up vets like that in the playoffs. Maybe we wouldn’t have gotten swept. 

Edited April 30 by sportsfan8703

[Rbiggs2525]

I’d prefer to take it slow with Hays and give Hicks a couple weeks. He looked healthy in the few games i saw him this year. Yes i understand he was struggling mightily.

[sportsfan8703]

Catch Odds 88%

[interloper]

42 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Catch Odds 88%

I'm not sure this is enough for the Os to want Hicks with Hays being back in a couple weeks at most. Longer term injury sure. 

[SteveA]

Angels sign Pillar to replace Mike Trout, who is having knee surgery and out for (?) months.

[Jagwar]

No and No

[sportsfan8703]

McKenna doesn’t even get into games as a defensive sub over Santander. I see a Hicks reunion happening. Hicks had a good ST too. 

[sportsfan8703]

If McKenna isn’t even getting into games as a defensive replacement then we should be looking outside the org to upgrade his spot. If it’s not Hicks, maybe it’s Daz Cameron or some vet in the milb like that. 

The Hicks hate is something that people need to sort out in their minds, but it would be nice for us to not be playing short handed. People are upset about Kjerstad, at least you can see where the playing time could come from. You can’t see that with McKenna. He has not role and isn’t trusted. 

[DrungoHazewood]

18 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Is it only a 2% advantage though?  I count two definite catchable balls the last two seasons that McKenna has failed to catch that has cost us games. 

2023 - Boston drop

2024 - 85% catch expectancy

Meanwhile, all Hicks did last year was do everything we asked him to do including hitting a grand slam in the postseason. 

The sting of the weekend blown saves has subsided. It’s time to dive deeper into those games other than “Kimbrel sucks”. McKenna. He’s a joke. 

Two plays in two years. I'm guessing that fans of the eight (!) teams he's been on in the last five years can come up with some games where Pillar didn't come through for them. If not, then why didn't he stick with any team for longer than one partial season since the start of 2019?

As for Hicks, it's pretty clear that the O's got the very best 65 games he's given anyone since 2019. Since the start of 2021 he's had about a .600 OPS when not in an O's uniform. And I don't know that I'd count on the pixie dust to magically come back if the O's inexplicably signed him.

[sportsfan8703]

11 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Two plays in two years. I'm guessing that fans of the eight (!) teams he's been on in the last five years can come up with some games where Pillar didn't come through for them. If not, then why didn't he stick with any team for longer than one partial season since the start of 2019?

As for Hicks, it's pretty clear that the O's got the very best 65 games he's given anyone since 2019. Since the start of 2021 he's had about a .600 OPS when not in an O's uniform. And I don't know that I'd count on the pixie dust to magically come back if the O's inexplicably signed him.

If you don’t like Pillar or Hicks that’s one thing, but if you’re evaluating McKenna for what his role should be as a late game defensive sub, then you have to say that he’s failed to make two routine plays that have directly impacted the game. His calling card and expertise for us is that we need him to be a trusted defensive specialist. 

There’s no trust there with McKenna. Hence, why we didn’t see him last night as a defensive sub with a lead. So if it’s not Hicks, then maybe we consider Daniel Johnson or another option. 

Edited May 1 by sportsfan8703

[DrungoHazewood]

18 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Minimal impact?  Meaning they would catch balls that had a 99.9% and a 85% catch expectancy?  How many games do we need to lose because our defensive replacement can’t make routine plays?  

You seem to be operating under the assumption that McKenna is unable to field even routine fly balls to the outfield, and Pillar never misses anything. I'm guessing this error was just an AI deepfake and would never happen if Pillar was an Oriole.

[DrungoHazewood]

8 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

If you don’t like Pillar or Hicks that’s one thing, but if you’re evaluating McKenna for what his role should be as a late game defensive sub, then you have to say that he’s failed to make two routine plays that have directly impacted the game. His calling card and expertise for us is that we need him to be a trusted defensive specialist. 

There’s no trust there with McKenna. Hence, why we didn’t see him last night as a defensive sub with a lead. So if it’s not Hicks, then maybe we consider Daniel Johnson or another option. 

In McKenna's professional career he's successfully fielded 1539 balls hit in his direction. I don't know that two missed plays are more important than that. And if you believe that those two plays out of thousands are significant evidence that he's not a clutch fielder and can't be relied upon, I think we're done here because we've veered away from evidence and towards witchcraft.