Is Atkins the Middle of Order Big Bat AM Promised or Not?

[Old#5fan]

Poll - note this is not to predict if Atkins hits well enough to be the middle of order bat the team needs but rather to vote if you believe he is the player to fill that role which McPhail referred to as one of his objectives

[wildcard]

Not

Letters

[Birds of B'more]

I don't ever recall MacPhail "promising" to get a big bat this offseason. However, while not 100% ruling it out, I don't think he sees Atkins as a true "cleanup hitter" for this season, much less beyond 2010.

[Frobby]

I don't uderstand this poll. MacPhail didn't promise anything. He said the O's would be looking for a middle of the order bat.

Atkins fits in the category of someone who could be a middle of the order bat, but only if he rebounds significantly from the last year or two.

[waroriole]

I don't ever recall MacPhail "promising" to get a big bat this offseason. However' date=' while not impossible, I don't think he sees Atkins as a true "cleanup hitter" for this season, much less beyond 2010.[/quote']

Ditto, that's why I voted for one of the confused options, but mostly I'm confused as to why people think AM said he was going to get a "big bat for the middle of the order."

[Hank Scorpio]

Accountability, promises, and guarantees.

Love it.

[Roll Tide]

Atkins saw his only chance to start here. Which is why he signed so quickly & Cheap! He is not a #4 hitter (No Way No How). Still hes the only offense player hard up enough to sign here. Oh wait Delgado is still available:eek:

[Icterus galbula]

Invalid question. MacPhail never promised a middle of the order bat.

[larrytt]

Poll - note this is not to predict if Atkins hits well enough to be the middle of order bat the team needs but rather to vote if you believe he is the player to fill that role which McPhail referred to as one of his objectives

Considering he slugged .342 last year (just edging out Izturas's .328), of course not, and this has never even been a serious consideration. (I believe Trembley even said he'd be batting lower in the order, though I don't remember the exact quote.) Atkins is a stopgap who's getting a chance to get back to his 2006-2007 form, when he was a middle-of-the-order hitter. If he does, he may earn a spot in the middle of the order; if he doesn't, he'll be gone next year or sooner. I like the signing because a stopgap with potential is better than a stopgap who's simply keeping the bag warm.

-Larrytt

[El Gordo]

Yet. Another. Stupid. Thread.:rolleyestf:

[Frobby]

Invalid question. MacPhail never promised a middle of the order bat.

He promised nothing, but he definitely said, "We're looking for a middle of the order bat." http://scott-miller.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/view/6270335?tag=Hideki%20Matsui

[Old#5fan]

Invalid question. MacPhail never promised a middle of the order bat.

Okay, take the word "promised" out of the equation and just respond if this is the middle of the order Big Bat referenced by AM.

[Old#5fan]

He promised nothing, but he definitely said, "We're looking for a middle of the order bat." http://scott-miller.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/view/6270335?tag=Hideki%20Matsui

Yeah, if people are hung up on the word "promise" just take it out of the equation. The question is whether or not Atkins is the big bat middle order hitter AM was referencing getting this off season - or not!

I don't think a single OHer knows the answer to this question for certain either.

[larrytt]

Poll - note this is not to predict if Atkins hits well enough to be the middle of order bat the team needs but rather to vote if you believe he is the player to fill that role which McPhail referred to as one of his objectives

Here you call it one of his "objectives." But in the heading, you wrote, "Is Atklins the Middle of Order Big Bat AM Promised or Not?" What MacPhail wrote, in his only known reference to a "middle of the order bat" (as quoted and linked in another thread), was, "We're looking for a middle of the order bat." You have changed "looking" to "promised." It's time to back off and stop putting words in MacPhail's mouth.

-Larrytt

[Birds of B'more]

He promised nothing, but he definitely said, "We're looking for a middle of the order bat." http://scott-miller.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/view/6270335?tag=Hideki%20Matsui

And I'm sure he did look. Unfortunately it would appear he didn't find anything that looks like the right match for us now. And while many here might disagree with that assertion, I'm not so sure MacPhail isn't right.