LaRoche ??

[DrungoHazewood]

I don't remember Kilmer hitting a HR in Tombstone.:laughlol:

Alternate ending on the special edition DVD. Hit it off of Al Spalding.

Truthfully, the gunfight at the OK Corral occured about three weeks after the end of the National League's 6th season. A person could have easily watched Boston's 6-3 win over Cleveland on September 30th and gotten on a train in time to see Wyatt and his boys have it out with the Clantons.

Even crazier, the Custer's Battle of Little Bighorn was fought the day after Boston beat Cincy 8-7, Chicago beat NY 16-2, and St. Louis topped Philly 8-3. No games on Sunday back then due to blue laws, but no such prohibition on fighting Indians on the sabbath.

[Mike B]

Can you please explain to me what the problem is with starting Reimold in left?

A very good question. He was adequate out there, not great not as bad as people want to believe. He will get better. I for one hate making a guy this young just a DH.

[xKHx]

A very good question. He was adequate out there, not great not as bad as people want to believe. He will get better. I for one hate making a guy this young just a DH.

His rankings defensively, -13.6 rngr -10.9 uzr, -17.3 uzr/150 The stats speak for themselves fellas.

[Three Run Homer]

Reimold's defense in LF is not good--the stats say nothing that we couldn't have guessed by watching the guy with our own eyes. Still, that doesn't mean that he can't play LF in the big leagues. You don't have to have a defensive wizard at every position to win a championship--the Red Sox won titles with Manny Ramirez as their left fielder.

I don't think anybody regards Reimold as unacceptable in LF--he's not Adam Dunn or Jack Cust. But if we have Felix Pie, who is far better defensively and who showed a lot of promise with the bat last season, then it makes sense to let Pie play LF every day (or at least against RHP) and make Reimold a DH who can play LF occasionally (against tough LHP, for instance).

[Three Run Homer]

Does anybody think that the rumors about Atkins playing 1B and possibly signing Joe Crede to play 3B are just a negotiating ploy by AM to get LaRoche to bring his price down?

I have to think that LaRoche is AM's top target at this point. He's not old, he's got a good track record, and perhaps most importantly he is healthy. Peter Angelos historically is very averse to signing players with health questions.

[clapdiddy]

Does anybody think that the rumors about Atkins playing 1B and possibly signing Joe Crede to play 3B are just a negotiating ploy by AM to get LaRoche to bring his price down?

I have to think that LaRoche is AM's top target at this point. He's not old, he's got a good track record, and perhaps most importantly he is healthy. Peter Angelos historically is very averse to signing players with health questions.

I haven't really seen a whole lot out there about us and Crede. Most of that seems to be coming from here and an occasional rumor without a source.

I don't think they'd tell Atkins he was playing first base unless they intended on him doing it.

[xKHx]

Reimold's defense in LF is not good--the stats say nothing that we couldn't have guessed by watching the guy with our own eyes. Still, that doesn't mean that he can't play LF in the big leagues. You don't have to have a defensive wizard at every position to win a championship--the Red Sox won titles with Manny Ramirez as their left fielder.

Yeah because everyone hits like Manny. Tell you what when Nolan replicates a Manny season then yeah I'd have no problem with him in lf. Look at that same team and ask yourself if Manny was a .270 avg 20 hr guy would theu still trot him out to left?

[Arthur_Bryant]

Yeah because everyone hits like Manny. Tell you what when Nolan replicates a Manny season then yeah I'd have no problem with him in lf. Look at that same team and ask yourself if Manny was a .270 avg 20 hr guy would theu still trot him out to left?

It was Reimold's first season playing LF. The O's inexplicably didn't move him there in 07 and 08 when they had a chance at Bowie. And the ball does come off the bat differently.

And he did have an Achilles injury.

That said, if Felix Pie is around, I want him in left.

[Can_of_corn]

Reimold's defense in LF is not good--the stats say nothing that we couldn't have guessed by watching the guy with our own eyes. Still, that doesn't mean that he can't play LF in the big leagues. You don't have to have a defensive wizard at every position to win a championship--the Red Sox won titles with Manny Ramirez as their left fielder.

I don't think anybody regards Reimold as unacceptable in LF--he's not Adam Dunn or Jack Cust. But if we have Felix Pie, who is far better defensively and who showed a lot of promise with the bat last season, then it makes sense to let Pie play LF every day (or at least against RHP) and make Reimold a DH who can play LF occasionally (against tough LHP, for instance).

Pie: .266 .326 .437 763

Reimold:.279 .365 .466 831

Considering that it was Pie's third trip to the majors and that Reimold was injured his whole time up I would say that Reimold "showed a lot of promise with the bat last season".

If Reimold's defense in left does not substantially improve this season over last then I would entertain moving him away from a defensive position, but it is still way too early with that. The man was hurt, learning a new position, and adjusting to the major leagues last season.

[crowmst3k!]

At this point, putting Pie in left and Nolan at DH (or first, if the team goes that route) is a decision to get all three of the crowded outfield bats into the lineup at once. I wouldn't mind Reimold being the everyday LFer if the team didn't have Felix Pie sitting right behind him.

Actually, what I hope happens is Felix Pie puts on a show with his bat, and gets dealt to a team that needs an everyday CFer (good CF defense from Pie), so Felix can be flipped for a corner IFer or a pitcher.

[waroriole]

His rankings defensively, -13.6 rngr -10.9 uzr, -17.3 uzr/150 The stats speak for themselves fellas.

He was also dealing with Achilles problems, and learning a new position. I'm not saying he's gonna be Carl Crawford in LF, but it wouldn't be terrible to give him a chance to learn the position better.

[rooster1]

I have no problem with playing Pie in left, only if it doesn't cost Reimold his ABs. Reimold earned his spot and could end up being our clean up hitter this year. He has a much better bat than Pie. Did Pie even end up hitting against lefties last year?

[crowmst3k!]

I have no problem with playing Pie in left, only if it doesn't cost Reimold his ABs. Reimold earned his spot and could end up being our clean up hitter this year. He has a much better bat than Pie. Did Pie even end up hitting against lefties last year?

That's what the DH is for!

This is another reason why I wish the club would not totally abandon the Luke Scott at 1b project. Putting Luke there would allow all three of our left fielders to be in the lineup at once. The lineup then would have some real potency to it.

A healthy Nolan, Luke, Jones, Nick, Wieters could all hit 20-25 home runs a piece this coming year. That's not too bad, if you ask me. Felix could be good for 15-20 if he continues hitting like he did in the second half of last year. Roberts will be Roberts and Atkins could rebound.

[Mike B]

His rankings defensively, -13.6 rngr -10.9 uzr, -17.3 uzr/150 The stats speak for themselves fellas.

The man is young and can get better...to state stats which, I really do not view as an end all for evaluating players, especially defensive stats, and make a blanket judgement is just not fair. Let's see how hard Nolan works and see if he improves. I see a good athelete who hustles, and works hard. I think he can improve and if we stick him at DH then we are giving up on an important part of his overall game.

[Mackus]

His rankings defensively, -13.6 rngr -10.9 uzr, -17.3 uzr/150 The stats speak for themselves fellas.

They absolutely do not speak for themselves.

Its a) a small sample size, b) doesn't account for his severe foot injury, and c) not intuitively in step with how athletic he is.

I think its likely that Nolan ends up as a below average defender in LF and may need to move, he wasn't really regarded as a great defender in the minors, but I also feel that its way too early to dismiss his chances.

Using just his stats from about half a season while he was injured to come to any conclusions is not good science.