AM, Penn/Andino and Eaton

[Mackus]

AM had been pursuing Eaton since November..That is a fact,..Whatever spin you want to put on what I am saying is up to you but that is A FACT!

Pursuing, targeting, lusting...whatever you want to call it. Stop implying that MacPhail thinks Eaton is some savior or is more capable than everybody on here thinks of him. He knows what he is. He doesn't think he's some amazing reclamation project that will pitch to an sub-3.00 ERA. He's a bum, MacPhail knows he is, but he thinks he's slightly less bummy than the rest of the bums we brought in to try and fill the last 2-3 slots of our rotation.

[LookitsPuck]

It was not wanting to rush kids combined with not finding another, better option.

....Waters says hello.

[Mackus]

....Waters says hello.

I already said I think Waters would be better this season. But the difference between Eaton and Waters is pretty minute. Plus, he could keep both at the start of the season if he had Waters in AAA and Eaton in MLB. If he kept Waters in MLB, Eaton would be lost (not that that is some great loss).

[Sports Guy]

Pursuing, targeting, lusting...whatever you want to call it. Stop implying that MacPhail thinks Eaton is some savior or is more capable than everybody on here thinks of him. He knows what he is. He doesn't think he's some amazing reclamation project that will pitch to an sub-3.00 ERA. He's a bum, MacPhail knows he is, but he thinks he's slightly less bummy than the rest of the bums we brought in to try and fill the last 2-3 slots of our rotation.

Not implying anything..Stop putting words into my mouth.

[Mackus]

Not implying anything..Stop putting words into my mouth.

You implying things isn't me putting words in your mouth. I'm not saying that you said MacPhail thinks he's great. But the way you keep continually bringing up the 'fact' that MacPhail knew Eaton existed before he was released implies you are arguing that he has some sort of bias towards Eaton other than his actual assessment of Eaton as a player. If that isn't what you want to imply with your posts, then stop bringing up MacPhail knowing what players he might be interested in if they become available for various roles on the team as a bad thing. Planning ahead and being prepared are good things, no?

[LookitsPuck]

I already said I think Waters would be better this season. But the difference between Eaton and Waters is pretty minute. Plus, he could keep both at the start of the season if he had Waters in AAA and Eaton in MLB. If he kept Waters in MLB, Eaton would be lost (not that that is some great loss).

Ehh, maybe. I think Waters is probably to put up something like a 5.00 ERA - 5.70 ERA, whereas Eaton is looking at 5.80 ERA and above (could be a 6.50 guy to tell you the truth). I just think it was ridiculous we even picked up Eaton. Shouldn't have bothered. We have some placeholder solutions already in the minors, use them.

[Sports Guy]

You implying things isn't me putting words in your mouth. I'm not saying that you said MacPhail thinks he's great. But the way you keep continually bringing up the 'fact' that MacPhail knew Eaton existed before he was released implies you are arguing that he has some sort of bias towards Eaton other than his actual assessment of Eaton as a player. If that isn't what you want to imply with your posts, then stop bringing up MacPhail knowing what players he might be interested in if they become available for various roles on the team as a bad thing. Planning ahead and being prepared are good things, no?

I keep bringing it up because people are acting as if Eaton became available and it was some last minute decision and that is wrong.

[Fan4Life]

I'm not nearly so positive as you. A pitcher can have an ERA over 5.50, and a WHIP over 1.50, and still not lose almost every time out. Eaton's actually the perfect example of this as his ERA the last 2 years has been close to 6.00 but he still has managed a 14-18 record. Why? Because at least half the time, he pitched half-decently. And chances are he will have his half-decent days with the Orioles, too. He'll win most of those, and probably get a few wins even in games where he's pretty lousy.

Now I find myself in the odd position of defending Eaton, which I really don't want to do since (1) I was against his acquisition and (2) I think he's got a >50% chance of being gone by Memorial Day or so. But to say he's going to lose almost every time out is an exaggeration in my opinion.

Would you include facing one of the better offensive teams in the equation?

[Mackus]

I keep bringing it up because people are acting as if Eaton became available and it was some last minute decision and that is wrong.

Eaton became available at the last minute.

MacPhail had it in his mind earlier that if he was available for cheap he'd be a guy that could be a fit in our competition for 5th starter. I don't think MacPhail passed on better options for the competition because he hopes Eaton would be released. He brought in the best guys he could find for dirt cheap and went from there. If Looper or Redding had taken our money (and I'm glad they didn't, unless it was for 1 year) or if Hill was healthy then I doubt we'd have Eaton or whoever they think is the #5 starter (not sure if its Eaton or Simon at this point)

[Frobby]

Ehh, maybe. I think Waters is probably to put up something like a 5.00 ERA - 5.70 ERA, whereas Eaton is looking at 5.80 ERA and above (could be a 6.50 guy to tell you the truth). I just think it was ridiculous we even picked up Eaton. Shouldn't have bothered. We have some placeholder solutions already in the minors, use them.

Here are some projections for them both.

Eaton -- 5.00 Bill James, 5.32 CHONE, 5.45 Marcel, 6.10 ZiPS

Waters -- 5.53 CHONE, 4.70 Marcel, 7.00 ZiPS

[Frobby]

Would you include facing one of the better offensive teams in the equation?

Not sure I understand the question. Obviously the better the opponent's offense is, the harder it will be for Eaton. But he also plays on a team with a very good offense.

[Wish]

AM had been pursuing Eaton since November..That is a fact,..Whatever spin you want to put on what I am saying is up to you but that is A FACT!

Unless we get something in print I don't see why anyone would believe that. Unless what you mean by targeting is that AM was just patiently waiting for him to be placed on waivers. He certainly wasn't going to give anything more than a ham sandwich for Eaton.

[Sports Guy]

Unless we get something in print I don't see why anyone would believe that. Unless what you mean by targeting is that AM was just patiently waiting for him to be placed on waivers. He certainly wasn't going to give anything more than a ham sandwich for Eaton.

I showed the Roch article as well.

[sector7g]

AM had been pursuing Eaton since November..That is a fact,..Whatever spin you want to put on what I am saying is up to you but that is A FACT!

Pursuing is too strong, mild interest may be far closer to the truth. If we were pursuing then I don't see why Phili would have have cut him. I'm sure AM had mild interest in a dozen or more guys that he figured he may get for next to nothing but he only mentioned Eaton since that's the guy we ended up with.

Now personally I wouldn't have brought the guy here because we have equally as bad options in house that could do a job for two months. AM though, has obviously decided that there is more chance (however slim that is) of Eaton returning to his numbers from 4 years ago (and hence us getting a bargain, serviceable starter) than Waters or Pauley ever reaching them. Slim chance but it's a defensible (just) reason to take him on.

[crawdad]

I showed the Roch article as well.

Roch's article showed he looked into Eaton back then. The Phils releasing him without contacting the Orioles showed that the Orioles were no longer conversing about Eaton with the Phils.

He was not pursuing Eaton. He pursued. Stopped. Then pursued again when Eaton was released.

I cannot believe how much typing has been wasted on 5th starter who would most likely not wind up being worth much of anything.