Melewski: Keep Reimold in LF

[Frobby]

Just one man's opinion:

Some want to open left field for Felix Pie. For me, Pie is still a fourth outfielder, granted one with promise, but is not among the three best outfielders on the team.

There's another reason to squash any talk of Reimold playing at first. He's going to turn out to be an above average defensive left fielder with a strong arm.

He was shaky at times in left last year for two main reasons - inexperience at that particular position and he was playing with an Achilles tendon injury in his left foot that needed September surgery to repair.

Reimold played solid defense in the outfield for the O's during his time in the minors, but he just almost never played in left field....

* * *

Reimold had about 50 games under his belt as a pro in left when he played there for the Orioles last year.

* * *

Also, Reimold himself feels that the Achilles surgery will benefit him more in the field than at the bat. He told me so with this quote right after the surgery in September:

"It didn't affect my swing at all, I didn't feel it then. Running it impacted me. I think I'll be a better defensive player now in the outfield, I can now be more athletic. It probably affected me more on defense. A lot of times I was running on the side of my foot."

With his speed, hustle and solid arm, I'd like to see if Reimold can turn into a solid defensive left fielder with more time out there. I bet he can.

Meanwhile, for the suddenly growing list of Pie fans, Felix will get his at bats. There are always injuries, plus he could DH some and rest guys at times. It will all work out, as it often does in this game.

http://masnsports.com/2010/01/staying-put-for-reimold.html

[clapdiddy]

Until we can move Scott, which doesn't seem like a priority at this point, Pie will remain the 4th outfielder. It's really not a bad position for us to be in as AM pointed out in his comments yesterday.

Having outfield depth is very important, as you never know when one of these guys may need some time off. I'd much rather have Pie in any of those positions than Montanez. I'm not taking anything away from Montanez...Pie is just a much better option at this point.

[Sports Guy]

He can have his opinion...He is just wrong.

Right now, Pie has to be in LF...First of all, he is better defensively(and we have a flyball staff) and isn't coming off the achilles injury.

Secondly, the Orioles need to see what they have with Pie.

You know what you have with Reimold...An offense first, defense second type guy. He will still get his time in LF and maybe first but for right now, his main job is to hit.

You see what Pie is giving you..not just for his potential future as an Oriole but because of trade value..Right now, he has some but its limited....If he plays very well for 3-4 months, then you have raised that value and at that point, you can choose to deal him.

[Moose Milligan]

He can have his opinion...He is just wrong.

Right now, Pie has to be in LF...First of all, he is better defensively(and we have a flyball staff) and isn't coming off the achilles injury.

Secondly, the Orioles need to see what they have with Pie.

You know what you have with Reimold...An offense first, defense second type guy. He will still get his time in LF and maybe first but for right now, his main job is to hit.

You see what Pie is giving you..not just for his potential future as an Oriole but because of trade value..Right now, he has some but its limited....If he plays very well for 3-4 months, then you have raised that value and at that point, you can choose to deal him.

Even if he plays well, I wouldn't be looking to deal him.

[Sports Guy]

Even if he plays well, I wouldn't be looking to deal him.

That's fine too.

The point is, it gives you options...legit options.

The Orioles are still in a position where they need as many options to them as possible.

Pie's value is partially due to his very good defense...That wastes away on the bench.

[Moose Milligan]

That's fine too.

The point is, it gives you options...legit options.

The Orioles are still in a position where they need as many options to them as possible.

Pie's value is partially due to his very good defense...That wastes away on the bench.

True, options are nice.

I agree with your last statement and thats exactly what Melewski is overlooking here. No matter how much Reimold improves his defense he won't be as good as Pie.

[Can_of_corn]

Right now, Pie has to be in LF...First of all, he is better defensively(and we have a flyball staff) and isn't coming off the achilles injury.

You are right, he is currently nursing a quad injury that has kept him from playing winter ball. That is tons better then having surgery before the season ended right?

[bird watcher]

That's fine too.

The point is, it gives you options...legit options.

The Orioles are still in a position where they need as many options to them as possible.

Pie's value is partially due to his very good defense...That wastes away on the bench.

Over a 162 game schedule one could make an argument that there is a lot of value in having a guy who can step right in at any position in the OF and not kill you defensively. Some of our lack of starter quality could be made up really quickly with AB's from a competent back up in case of injury. Other teams who may have better starters but whom may need to replace that starter with a below average replacement at times, may end up having similar cumulative production when it all comes out in the wash.

The other thing I think about is things can certainly change. If Pie looks like he should be starting then he will start and the person who is under-producing will be moved into the 4th OF role. If nobody underproduces AND Pie looks to be a starter then we can look to trade him for a BIG return or keep him and have that strength.

[Frobby]

Right now, Pie has to be in LF...First of all, he is better defensively(and we have a flyball staff) and isn't coming off the achilles injury.

You are right, he is currently nursing a quad injury that has kept him from playing winter ball. That is tons better then having surgery before the season ended right?

To me, you are both making the case for why we don't trade either of them. MacPhail is right, out of our 4 young outfielders, Nick is the only one who has proven he can stay healthy for 162 games.

This stuff will sort itself out. I think pretty much everyone agrees that we don't want Pie languishing on the bench the way he did from late May until the end of July. Beyond that, whether he plays 1/3 of the time, 1/2 of the time, 2/3 of the time or slightly more than that is going to be dictated by how he plays relative to the people he is competing against.

[Can_of_corn]

To me, you are both making the case for why we don't trade either of them. MacPhail is right, out of our 4 young outfielders, Nick is the only one who has proven he can stay healthy for 162 games.

This stuff will sort itself out. I think pretty much everyone agrees that we don't want Pie languishing on the bench the way he did from late May until the end of July. Beyond that, whether he plays 1/3 of the time, 1/2 of the time, 2/3 of the time or slightly more than that is going to be dictated by how he plays relative to the people he is competing against.

I don't want to trade Pie. I want him to be the fourth outfielder. Three of the O's top four outfielders seem to be injury prone. I like the idea of a fourth outfielder that has some promise with the bat and can play centerfield.

I do think that it is a lot more likely that Reimold becomes a league average left fielder with the glove then Pie becomes a league average left fielder with the bat.

[Frobby]

I don't want to trade Pie. I want him to be the fourth outfielder. Three of the O's top four outfielders seem to be injury prone. I like the idea of a fourth outfielder that has some promise with the bat and can play centerfield.

I do think that it is a lot more likely that Reimold becomes a league average left fielder with the glove then Pie becomes a league average left fielder with the bat.

I am not so sure about that.

Average AL team in LF, 2009: .267/.338/.441

Felix Pie: .266/.326/.437

Pie doesn't have very far at all to go to be an average or better LF offensively. Considering how he hit after May 1 (.294/.347/.493), one could argue he's already there.

But I'd rather not argue about it. Like I said, let these guys compete for playing time (not just with each other, but with the other OF's and DH candidates) and everything will sort itself out.

[Mackus]

Melewski saying "he played solid defense in the minors, just not in left field" is a bit of lazy journalism. There were plenty of scouts who doubted his defensive ability, including Tony. That doesn't mean he can't become a solid defensive LF, but simply concluding essentially that "he will become an above average defensive LF" is also not a fair statement now either.

[hoosiers]

We are better off with Reimold in LF - agree with Melewski 100%.

Not worried about there being enough at-bats for our OFers.

[Stacey]

I do think that it is a lot more likely that Reimold becomes a league average left fielder with the glove then Pie becomes a league average left fielder with the bat.

I certainly don't agree with this assessment. The Felix Pie I watched the second half of last season looked amazing. And even if he's just a league average hitter, his defensive skills make him the more valuable player than Reimold.

With the team as it stands right now, Pie in the outfield and Reimold at DH makes most sense. Honestly, Pie in CF makes the most sense but I don't see that happening so it seems pointless to talk about it.

Melewski is just straight up wrong in his assessment, IMO.

There's all this talk of who should be the 4th OF, but I personally think it'd be more logical to look at who'd be the best extra CI/DH on the bench. If they were willing to put Luke at 1B, Nolan at DH, and the other 3 in the OF, then Luke and Nolan could fill in in the OF if necessary with someone coming off the bench to play 1B/DH.

[Frobby]

I wonder if this turns into a Roenicke/Lowenstein situation. Here are their plate appearances in the years they played together.

1979 - 453/232

1980 - 349/231

1981 - 252/213 (strike-shortened season)

1982 - 477/384

1983 - 366/366

1984 - 393/307

1985 - 274/29

Roenicke consistently played more, but Lowenstein played regularly enough where he was sharp and added a lot of value.

That said, because Pie can play CF, I'd want him to get 400 PA this year at a minimum.