The Forgotten Man: Scott Moore

[Anonymous]

The '07 Spring training version of Scott Moore is a better internal 3B stopgap than the current version of Wiggy, Turner, Bell, or any other candidate one might conjure up.

Should the bad Moore of the past two years conclusively indicate that the good Moore was a fluke? If he'd been healthy throughout these two years, then the answer would probably be yes. But since he hasn't been, should the answer still be yes? I think the jury is still out on this one.

The odds on Scott Moore having a great Spring training next year aren't looking great, admittedly. But the idea of such an event occurring seems to me more-than-plausible. It doesn't change my view at all that the acquisition of a stopgap 3B is far and away our biggest position need for OD 2010. So a Moore resurgence is certainly something I'm not banking on in any way, shape, or form. Yet I wouldn't be shocked to see it happen -- less shocked, in fact, than I would be to see an improvement to major league average for Wiggy's defense or Turner's defense and power for a 3B or Bell's hitting against LHPs.

[Crazysilver03]

Moore is a minor league free agent after the season. Bell will hold down 3B at Norfolk and Waring at Bowie. There isn't really going to be space for him if he signs a minor league contract and doesnt make the Orioles. He could always be released at the end of Spring Training though. Either way, it is doubtful he comes to ST with the Orioles.

[JTrea81]

Moore is a minor league free agent after the season. Bell will hold down 3B at Norfolk and Waring at Bowie. There isn't really going to be space for him if he signs a minor league contract and doesnt make the Orioles. He could always be released at the end of Spring Training though. Either way, it is doubtful he comes to ST with the Orioles.

He'll sign with an organization that might actually give him a fair shot to play. The Orioles would bring back Mora before they'd give Moore a chance at the 3B job in 2010 IMO.

As for ST, I'm not sure what more Moore could have done to win a spot on the 25 man roster for the duration of the season. He was constantly blocked by light hitting MIers or underperforming veteran CIers.

[Ruzious]

He's going to be 26 next month, and he has a lifetime OPS... in the minors... of .789, and it's been declining. And why should we take his Spring Training stats more seriously than his .267 OBP in over 100 major league plate appearances? Forget the O's - Is there any ML team that would take him seriously as a candidate for their 25 man roster going in to next season?

[Anonymous]

While it would have been nice to get some concurrence on this Moore-may-not-be-less concept in addition to that offered by my partner the Treaster, the even-better news is having Ruz back on board -- unless I just haven't been seeing your posts lately.

[Tony-OH]

He's going to be 26 next month, and he has a lifetime OPS... in the minors... of .789, and it's been declining. And why should we take his Spring Training stats more seriously than his .267 OBP in over 100 major league plate appearances? Forget the O's - Is there any ML team that would take him seriously as a candidate for their 25 man roster going in to next season?

The answer is quite simple. No. He's a AAAA guy at best who on top of just not being that good, can't stay healthy for any extended time. He'll be with another organization next year.

[Mashed Potatoes]

The answer is quite simple. No. He's a AAAA guy at best who on top of just not being that good, can't stay healthy for any extended time. He'll be with another organization next year.

Yea, but he's not good or healthy because we didn't give him a chance! It's certainly not the case that we didn't give him a chance because he's not good.

[ShaneDawg85]

Scott Moore is what he is, AAAA fodder, if that. He can't stay healthy, and his offensive numbers have gotten worse when he has. Another in a long list of retreads and barely bench types the Orioles will never regret having gotten rid of and most will forget that we ever had.

[BRobinsonfan]

Scott Moore is what he is, AAAA fodder, if that. He can't stay healthy, and his offensive numbers have gotten worse when he has. Another in a long list of retreads and barely bench types the Orioles will never regret having gotten rid of and most will forget that we ever had.

He hasn't really even shown that he can be AAA fodder at this point as far as I'm concerned. He's old for the league he's playing in and... injury considerations aside... he seems to be regressing rather than improving.

[Fairfax Bird]

He'll sign with an organization that might actually give him a fair shot to play. The Orioles would bring back Mora before they'd give Moore a chance at the 3B job in 2010 IMO.

As for ST, I'm not sure what more Moore could have done to win a spot on the 25 man roster for the duration of the season. He was constantly blocked by light hitting MIers or underperforming veteran CIers.

This is so dead on ... Look at the way Moore has completely dominated on the field in his time with the Orioles. He has been unstoppable and yet the Orioles won't give him a chance.

What's that you say ... he didn't play this year? He stunk last year? Oh ... nevermind, no big loss.

[Anonymous]

While I respect Tony's judgment enormously as well as that of many of the other posters, I must concede that I find the dripping-with-sarcasm comments posted here rather remarkable and unseemly -- even if they're somewhat motivated by JTrea's having jumped in on a different side of the argument than that of the other posters.

Whatever else you want to say negatively about Moore, the collective package that he presented as of Opening Day 2008 was deemed good enough by the braintrust that he not only made the team out of Spring training, but also triggered the decision to eat the remaining $18 mil on Gibbons's contract. I know, I know, Gibbons sucked, blah blah blah ... and I don't disagree at all, as long as we make clear that we're talking about the ballplayer and not the man. But for those who recall the situation, Moore was a highly appealing candidate for the roster; and the decision to eat such a large contract was rather different from what we'd seen before during PA's reign as owner. It was a pretty big deal.

Now roll forward through the next two years, and admittedly Moore's stats have been horrendous. But having lived through that period and recalling my immediate reaction rather than simply looking them up now and making some glib comment about him obviously being a journeyman or a AAAA guy or a AAA guy who really isn't even good for that level or whatever, my general take is that his bad performance related mostly to a series of injuries and secondly from a bad initial stretch during 2008 when he probably took the demotion badly (and after a period of inactivity when he sat on the bench during the early part of his 2008 season with the Orioles). Once he got over that initial period, and during times when he was back in the flow of things after injury returns, he tended to do pretty well. So I don't put as much stock as a lot of others here onto some of the stats cited -- whether full-career minor league stats (which to me constitute some of the most meaningless aggregates one can conjure up), big-league stats (generated when he was not playing with any regularity), or the aggregate of his past two years in the minors (for the reasons described above).

All of this is now almost certainly moot, as it appears very likely based on what I've read in this thread that Moore will voluntarily depart from the organization. But that doesn't excuse the rude tone, as I perceive it, of many of the responses I've seen in this thread. That's my opinion.

[JTrea81]

This is so dead on ... Look at the way Moore has completely dominated on the field in his time with the Orioles. He has been unstoppable and yet the Orioles won't give him a chance.

What's that you say ... he didn't play this year? He stunk last year? Oh ... nevermind, no big loss.

Scott Moore had a .333/.373/.587 line in ST in 2009 and hit .333 in the previous ST.

Injuries have derailed his career unfortunately, but the talent was there.

From a 2008 article:

“He’s going to be a factor here at Camden Yards when his career settles in a little bit,” said hitting coach Terry Crowley. “He’s a talented player. I think in the last year or so he’s had more good instruction in all phases of the game. He’s made big strides for me, hitting-wise. He’s a young guy, and he’s got a chance to be a big part of the Oriole future.”

Crowley has been particularly impressed with how focused Moore has been on his many roles. Despite the multitasking in the field, Moore has remained an attentive pupil in the batting cage as Crowley works to cut down his strikeouts.

“Hitting-wise, he comes into the tunnel and works hard every day,” Crowley said. “We’ve ironed out a few things, and I can say he’s a much better hitter now than when he got here -- and he wasn’t too bad when he got here.”

[Big Mac]

Scott Moore had a .333/.373/.587 line in ST in 2009 and hit .333 in the previous ST.

Injuries have derailed his career unfortunately, but the talent was there.

From a 2008 article:

It's ST stats, they don't mean jack. Get that through your head.

[JTrea81]

It's ST stats, they don't mean jack. Get that through your head.

For somebody trying to make the team, ST stats sure mean something.

The Orioles did release Gibbons because of Moore's performance.

Sadly because I was a big supporter of Moore, he'll never get the credit on this site he deserves, so I apologize to him and his fans. He deserves better and I hope he gets a real shot to succeed somewhere. I think he'll have a Casey Blake like career if somebody was willing to give him an honest shot.

[Anonymous]

It's ST stats, they don't mean jack. Get that through your head.

He was good enough to make the team and induce PA to eat an $18 mil contract. Get that through your head. Jeez.