AM, Penn/Andino and Eaton

[Pickles]

Then why did they covet him all offseason? And why is Trembley being so abnormaly nice by making up excuses for Eaton's terrible performances? Are we sure Trembley doesn't think Eaton is good?

Is it SOP of good organizations to rip players currently under contract?

It sure as hell isn't. I'd be a lot more concerned about the FO's decision making if they were ripping a guy they had on the roster.

[Why Not?]

Well, he referenced the QS thing which JTrea gets all excited about...but I know what you mean. Eaton's stats outside of the QS thing are horrific.

I guess the part that bugs me the most is that vet presence thing. While I do think it holds some weight...you gotta get a guy in there that's been a good pitcher and someone that a young up and comer will respect.

Someone like Pedro Martinez or Lowe. Moyer's TOO old, but I wouldn't have been mad if we gave him a 1 year deal. And if you're gonna whine about the price tag on those guys, look at it as spending money on the future of the Big 3 and the other prospects. An investment of sorts.

Those guys have been around and won a ring or two. They know how to pitch and keep a team in the game when their stuff isn't 100%. That's someone I'd look to for advice or knowledge or "vet presence" if I was learning the ropes in the MLB.

I remember a couple years ago taking photos at OPACY...I got to the bullpen area before the game because I wanted to watch Clemens warm up and take photos of him. But what I saw was Rivera sitting in the bullpen bench for 20-30 minutes talking to a reliever, dishing out advice. I could hear part of their conversation.

Success breeds success. Adam Eaton isn't a successful big league pitcher.

It's like a fat person dishing weight loss advice. I sat next to a grotesquely overweight girl in a few English classes in college and when I made a comment about how I needed to start eating better she immediately started in with the advice.

Why would I take advice from her? Why would any young promising pitcher look to Adam Eaton for "vet presence"?

It's sad and pathetic that Eaton was actually "targeted" for awhile. I just chalked it up to picking someone up off the scrap heap at the last minute for added depth.

As for Andino, I agree. Looks like he might be a nice piece.

Well, then why would anybody listen to Dave Trembley? He didn't even make it to the majors! If you think Eaton can't dish any advice because he sucks, Rich Kranitz is totally useless.

There are many, many examples of mediocre major league players who have become outstanding coaches.

I don't know whether or not Eaton has coach-like qualities or whether he's helpful or not. But I can see taking Eaton over Penn if only because of the supposed attitude issues Penn has. Eaton's going to take his lumps, but I suspect the team is pretty confident that he is going to be professional about it. I don't know if the same could be said about Penn.

[Boy Howdy]

Success breeds success. Adam Eaton isn't a successful big league pitcher.

And yet, despite pitching for sub-.500 teams in more than half the seasons of his career (including a pair of 96-loss disasters), Eaton has a 68-63 career record for a .519 winning percentage.

I now turn the floor over to the "Wins are a meaningless stat" party.

[Pickles]

Right..This wasn't a case where we had injuries, he was out there and they thought, what the hell, let's see what he has.

This is a guy they actually wanted...A guy they earmarked early on and tried to get.

There is no logic behind that idea.

AM talked about how he threw the ball well enough at times in ST...Why was that? Did he actually throw the ball well or did the Orioles just see what they wanted to see since they wanted him on the team?

Uhh, that's exaclty what this is. Eaton wasn't first in line for any job but Hill got hurt, Penn embarressed himself, Parrish got hurt, Koi was hurt for awhile. I think it is incredibly absurd to act as if Eaton was the FO's top choice. In fact, wasn't it recently revealed that the O's were the top bidder on Redding and Looper? If things had gone the way the FO hoped/planned Eaton would not be on this team- BUT to expect them to come out and say that is ignorant of good people managment.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Well, at least now we KNOW that he was a target and not just a random "pick-a-scrub" signing, as many have wanted to argue.

It's basically the mirror of the Pie deal: both guys were targeted specifically, and both given their shot due to their scouting records over their stat records, only Pie is young and DOES have a minor-league record to look at to make him worth the shot while Eaton hasn't been even average for his league since his rookie season almost a decade ago.

And being willing to give up Penn for nothing if the Marlins had said no in order to keep a player who shouldn't have been here in the first place...that's just very disconcerting.

MacPhail has done a great job so far, but no one in baseball should EVER be immune from criticism, and this is one of those times where he seems to have earned it.

With any luck, Eaton will pitch effectively enough that when Bergesen comes up he can move back into the bullpen, so he isn't a total wash, but we really have no reason to hope for that short of something coming out about how his present "stuff" is something new that wasn't around in the past.

[Moose Milligan]

Who cares if Eaton wins or loses? AM is just looking for someone to eat innings, good or bad, so that he does not blow his bullpen (where some young talent lies). And in terms of eating innings, Eaton over 2-3 months is probably better than Penn for 2-3 months. AM is guarding his investment in the cavalry that's all, and Penn was not much of a protection policy.

In the words of New Jack City...let's kick the ballistics here.

Eaton had 57k's and 44 walks last year...so that right there will tell you that he's throwing a lot of pitches. What'd he do today? 100 pitches in 4 innings?

1.63 WHIP and a 5.80 ERA in the National League last year...that won't get better in the AL East.

131 hits in 107 innings last year.

There's just NOTHING good here.

[The Rick]

Right..This wasn't a case where we had injuries, he was out there and they thought, what the hell, let's see what he has.

This is a guy they actually wanted...A guy they earmarked early on and tried to get.

There is no logic behind that idea.

AM talked about how he threw the ball well enough at times in ST...Why was that? Did he actually throw the ball well or did the Orioles just see what they wanted to see since they wanted him on the team?

One thing i've noticed about AM is that he has a plan, a back up plan, and a back up to the back up plan. He is very thorough. How you derived that Eaton was a "main target" or anything like that is beyond me. I look at this as AM having the foresight to come up with several low-risk guys to give us some innings this year until the young guys arrive.

[Moose Milligan]

Uhh, that's exaclty what this is. Eaton wasn't first in line for any job but Hill got hurt, Penn embarressed himself, Parrish got hurt, Koi was hurt for awhile. I think it is incredibly absurd to act as if Eaton was the FO's top choice. In fact, wasn't it recently revealed that the O's were the top bidder on Redding and Looper? If things had gone the way the FO hoped/planned Eaton would not be on this team- BUT to expect them to come out and say that is ignorant of good people managment.

Read the opening post again. MacPhail said that Eaton had been targeted ALL offseason.

[GnatsFan]

Is it SOP of good organizations to rip players currently under contract?

It sure as hell isn't. I'd be a lot more concerned about the FO's decision making if they were ripping a guy they had on the roster.

What like publicly branding Montanez as a terrible fielder?

"This isn't an instructional league"

Trembley talks smack about our players all the time... I've seen good outings by some of our younger pitchers in Spring Training or with regards to relievers and Trembley finds ways to unfairly criticize their performance... but for Eaton? No... its all positive talk... and why? I don't know.

[Sports Guy]

And yet, despite pitching for sub-.500 teams in more than half the seasons of his career (including a pair of 96-loss disasters), Eaton has a 68-63 career record for a .519 winning percentage.

I now turn the floor over to the "Wins are a meaningless stat" party.

There was a time where he would have been a serviceable starter...Its just not anymore.

[Sports Guy]

Uhh, that's exaclty what this is. Eaton wasn't first in line for any job but Hill got hurt, Penn embarressed himself, Parrish got hurt, Koi was hurt for awhile. I think it is incredibly absurd to act as if Eaton was the FO's top choice. In fact, wasn't it recently revealed that the O's were the top bidder on Redding and Looper? If things had gone the way the FO hoped/planned Eaton would not be on this team- BUT to expect them to come out and say that is ignorant of good people managment.

Do you understand the concept that the Orioles tried to obtain Eaton all offseason?

If you do, then you would know that it wasn't some last minute, what the hell decision.

[GnatsFan]

But I can see taking Eaton over Penn if only because of the supposed attitude issues Penn has. Eaton's going to take his lumps, but I suspect the team is pretty confident that he is going to be professional about it. I don't know if the same could be said about Penn.

Uhh... Eaton has some sort of egomaniac self-love attitude going on... from the quotes I've read he sounds like a horrible human being and a worse professional. They boo'ed him in Philly for some of his comments and his attitude.

[BaltimoreTerp]

And yet, despite pitching for sub-.500 teams in more than half the seasons of his career (including a pair of 96-loss disasters), Eaton has a 68-63 career record for a .519 winning percentage.

I now turn the floor over to the "Wins are a meaningless stat" party.

Haven't you watched an episode of "Law & Order"? You never argue the case for the other side

[Pickles]

Do you understand the concept that the Orioles tried to obtain Eaton all offseason?

If you do, then you would know that it wasn't some last minute, what the hell decision.

First of all, with all due respect to yourself, we don't have a single direct quote here from AM, but rather your remembrance of an interview he gave on TV, during a game you admittedly weren't watching closely. So forgive me if I don't take it as Biblical revelation.

Secondly, AM saying something political correct about a player he has on his roster should really be taken with a huge grain of salt.

I'll turn this around for you: Do you think Eaton would be on this team right now if Hill hadn't been hurt, Penn had pitched like he was worthy of a ML roster spot, or one of Redding/Looper had accepted the offers AM put forth for them?

If the answer is no (and I don't see how it can't be) to act as if AM was just itching to get Adam Eaton into his opening day rotation is farcical, at best. Eaton is the bottom of the barrell. But I don't expect AM to say that- and you really shouldn't either.

[Boy Howdy]

There was a time where he would have been a serviceable starter...Its just not anymore.

You may be right, you may be wrong.

As recently as last year, however, Eaton averaged 6 innings and a sub-4.00 ERA in roughly 60% (or 3/5) of his starts. (The wins and no decisions).

In his losses, he was utterly helpless on the mound (2.000 WHIP & 8.56 ERA), but still managed to endure five innings of punishment on average.

With all we've witnessed in recent years with the Orioles starters, that is "serviceable", which is about as backhanded a compliment as there is. (and rightfully so).

Your opinion about this issue has a lot of merit, but you can't expect to be taken seriously throwing around your "Stupid" and "mind boggling" cards. How's your decision to release Baez working out, for example?