In regards to guys like Pie and Penn....

[SilentJames]

Today, Trembley expressed that the does indeed view ST differently for position players and pitchers.

From Roch

Does Eaton's track record work in his favor, even if the spring results are poor?

"I don't think that's necessarily the way I want to go," Trembley said. "I want to evaluate what I see, not a track record. I think it's a little bit different for position players."

I don't know why he does. It seems strange to me, and I don't really buy it either. This is DT on Sherrill the other day,

""In his case, you have to discount spring training," Trembley said. "He's never been very good in the spring. He's said that, I think he has a track record of that, and I think you base your decision on what he did for us last year and go from there."

So, DT is not consistent. Not a big deal really. Nobody is perfectly consistent, but it'd be nice to know his explanation for why some players' track records are important and others' are not. This seems to me to be a bad way to plan a roster.

The reason: We saw what Sherill can do, Eaton needed a good spring to help me think he would not suck it up in the regular season.

I don't really see much of a double standard here. Each player is unique and has his own history and situations that need to be taken into account.

[Fan4Life]

So, DT is not consistent. Not a big deal really. Nobody is perfectly consistent, but it'd be nice to know his explanation for why some players' track records are important and others' are not. This seems to me to be a bad way to plan a roster.

I think he knows, or he's being told who will be in the starting rotation / pitching staff (mostly out of lack of options) and therefore has to have a positive spin on them when asked. As it would be rather silly for him to tell the truth as to how bad they are and yet they're on the 25 man roster when OD comes.

[amateurfan]

With respect to pitching, DT is working his roster within a plan that is already set by the Warehouse. His hands are tied, unfortunately, and I expect he looks forward to 2010 already.

I think he knows, or he's being told who will be in the starting rotation / pitching staff (mostly out of lack of options) and therefore has to have a positive spin on them when asked. As it would be rather silly for him to tell the truth as to how bad they are and yet they're on the 25 man roster when OD comes.

Good point. I think you're right. When I read the news today about Penn getting another start, I had a similar thought as you two. The only reason I could see Penn getting another start based on Trembley's post game the other day was if he were told that Penn will be in the rotation to start the year.

[Guest rochester]

The Orioles treated the pitchers and the position players in a way that couldn't be more opposite. I wonder why. To me it doesn't make sense. Penn never should have had to fight for a job. It should be his, whether in the rotation or the pen. He was treated strangely this spring. At times he was a starter, then a reliever, then a starter again. It just blows my mind that the coaching staff or front office didn't have a better idea of what type of players they had before ST. Makes no sense. Have a contingency plan for injuries, but that's different than an open competition.

Why shouldn't Penn have to fight for a job??

[zff4]

Why shouldn't Penn have to fight for a job??

Spring training usually means different things to different players and what that meaning is is often determined by the coaching staff.

Veterans use it to get back into the groove. For them, it's not a competitive arena in the sense a season's game is, and they can do it in a relaxed manner (unless they've been told differently).

Other players may have been told to specifically work on different aspects of their game. For instance, "Work on location with your changeup. That's all I'm looking at with you right now," or "You've already got a roster spot. Let's work on keeping your fastball down. I don't care if they light you up, just work on keeping it down."

Others may have been told, "Relax and show me what you've got."

ST is not necessarily where players fight for jobs. Usually that's already been determined. However, if a guy not predetermined to be on the roster has a monster ST, he might raise some eyebrows.

But ST is usually more like a lab than a battleground.

[Mike B]

..and others like them...Why are some of you so against give them a true chance?

Seems like their is some angst towards these guys being on the roster...Why?

Some just need to be anti-organization. Felix Pie, Hayden Penn, Brian Bass should be given every chance to succeed or fail before being discarded. I think people wanted to see Nolan Reimold be given the shot and I am anxious about him but he can be sent down with out fear of losing him. I think people are just tired of losing, as am I but IMO it is far better to lose one more year if it means that we exhaust all patience with the old wave of young guys. Also by seeing this out, the new wave of young guys are given more time to develop.