Melewski: Keep Reimold in LF

[JTrea81]

Might as well have it an open competition in ST. Whoever plays the best in LF gets the spot, while the other player is traded or gets the lesser amount of time.

Reimold or Pie have more trade value than Luke Scott IMO.

[Mackus]

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

Its way too early to say that any one take on this is wrong.

There are way too many unknowns at this point. We don't know if Jones is better suited for CF or LF defensively. We don't know if Reimold can handle LF defensively or not. We don't know just how good Pie is defensively in either LF or CF. We don't know if Pie will hit well enough to be a regular in either CF or LF. And we don't know if Jones will hit well enough to be an asset in LF if needed or just in CF.

Starting with one set configuration and sticking with it all year in long in 2010 would be the only way we could make a mistake. We need to get a look at all of these guys at the plate and in the field. Jones plays the most, but Reimold and Pie will both get plenty of at bats and defensive innings, and that's the way it should be.

We simply haven't seen enough of any of them to know what they all can do and where they can do it. Anyone saying they have is just guessing and hoping they end up being correct. Its not something that anyone can know definitively right now.

[Stacey]

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.

It's not a bad idea. Based on their minor league splits they both fare much better against different handed pitchers (Reimold vs LHP, Pie vs RHP) but given how much more often we see righties I can't imagine them taking Reimold out of play that often. Especially since in his one year in the bigs he didn't have THAT much of a difference between righties and lefties and it'd be a shame to cut him out of the equation against them without seeing for sure. He could always slide to DH though.

Reimold or Pie have more trade value than Luke Scott IMO.

I don't disagree but I think that they both also have more value to the team than Luke Scott, so you'd have to leverage that as well.

Its way too early to say that any one take on this is wrong.

I think it's way too early to say any one take is RIGHT, not wrong. If you stick Reimold out in LF full time you're not seeing what Pie can do just as if you stuck Pie out there and kept Reimold out of the lineup.

One thing I'm certain of is that Pie's glove is always be > Reimold's.

[Mackus]

I think it's way too early to say any one take is RIGHT, not wrong. If you stick Reimold out in LF full time you're not seeing what Pie can do just as if you stuck Pie out there and kept Reimold out of the lineup.

Well, inherently, aren't those statements pretty much the same? I know that sticking Roberts in LF would obviously be wrong, but I'm talking about the reasonable options.

One thing I'm certain of is that Pie's glove is always be > Reimold's.

I agree, but how much better is certainly up in the air and could be anywhere from just barely to a couple wins. We need to find out, and that means we need to see plenty of both those guys out there this year to get a better idea.

[Agent0]

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.

I agree, and that pretty much invalidates most of the blog entry.

I like Melewski, but this one is off base. There have always been concerns about Reimold's OF defense. A couple of years ago, I had heard that his defense was really the thing that was keeping him from advancing faster through the system. Last year was really no suprise to me, though it may have been exacerbated by his achilles problem (I ruptured one once so I know how dibilitating that can be).

He's got the speed and the arm, so there is always hope that he can get better. He is 26 now though, so he's not exactly raw.

[Stacey]

Well, inherently, aren't those statements pretty much the same? I know that sticking Roberts in LF would obviously be wrong, but I'm talking about the reasonable options.

I agree, but how much better is certainly up in the air and could be anywhere from just barely to a couple wins. We need to find out, and that means we need to see plenty of both those guys out there this year to get a better idea.

Yeah, we're basically in agreement. I just tend to jump to Felix's defense no matter what. It's practically involuntary.

I do think there is a way to evaluate both Reimold and Pie adequately but I don't know that I have enough faith to believe the Orioles will do it.

[Kevin Lomax]

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.

If you are saying you already know that Pie is a better defensive player than why must you see him play LF every day?

What they need to see from him is, can he get on base. He can do this from the DH spot. Put Reimold in LF because his defensive is the question mark.

Seems to me you have this backwards.

[capanson]

Might as well have it an open competition in ST. Whoever plays the best in LF gets the spot, while the other player is traded or gets the lesser amount of time.

Reimold or Pie have more trade value than Luke Scott IMO.

That sounds like a poor idea to me. Open competition in ST based on only a few at-bats for players who have already accumulated several hundred in the majors? Why would we want to make a decision in that manner? ST competition works in situations like last spring, where we brought a ton of mediocre pitchers in, and needed a fast and easy way to evaluate who would be more effective. For a young team who needs to accumulate as much potential ability as possible, and who has time and space this year to evaluate players, such a move with Pie and Reimold would be horrible.

[DrungoHazewood]

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.

No, no it won't. Lowenstein couldn't play center field, and no manager will be as strict as Weaver/Altobelli were with him. He had years where he got two (!) plate appearances against lefties.

Smaller position player rosters and Pie's skills mean that Reimold and Pie could and should get more at bats than a fairly strict platoon from 25 years ago.

[DrungoHazewood]

Might as well have it an open competition in ST. Whoever plays the best in LF gets the spot, while the other player is traded or gets the lesser amount of time.

Reimold or Pie have more trade value than Luke Scott IMO.

Why would you limit yourself to what they do in 50 or 75 PAs against wildly varying levels of competition, then force a trade or bench the guy? Why not go into the spring with the assumption that everyone is going to get semi-regular at bats? With four spots and five players everyone could average 480 PAs.

Of course Reimold or Pie have more trade value than Scott. They're better players with higher ceilings and more years under team control. Which means they'll also win more games for the Baltimore Orioles.

[alexei606]

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

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

Exactly. Reimold had plantar faciitis (heel spur, swelling of thick muscle on the bottom of the foot) in 2006 which certainly could have caused the heal spurs that led to his achilles being frayed (achilles started bothering him in 2008). In 2005, the NYPL managers and scouts felt Reimold was very good defensively and he played in CF as well as RF. As I have often stated, I think Reimold should be given the chance to show what kind of defense he can do - I do think that he could be an above average OF due to his speed, arm, and work ethic.

Pie's small sample size of mostly hitting against RH pitching was encouraging -but, he still has major concerns about his ability to adapt when pitchers adapt to him and hitting LH pitching. That said, I still think that Jones should be traded for a TOR or big bat and Pie should play CF (his tool set and hitting are much more suited to CF). I think that you are short changing his defensive capability by playing him in LF. Jones would bring back much more than Pie, Reimold or Scott. Though, I do understand keeping all four since three have injury issues.

[Slappy]

To me it looks like an ideal platoon situation at both LF (Reimold and Pie) and DH (Reimold and Scott). Pie gets his extra ABs spelling Jones in CF. I really like having all 3 guys. Andy is rightly focusing on 1B/3B and get something done there instead of worrying about the OF/DH situation.

[Frobby]

No, no it won't. Lowenstein couldn't play center field, and no manager will be as strict as Weaver/Altobelli were with him. He had years where he got two (!) plate appearances against lefties.

Smaller position player rosters and Pie's skills mean that Reimold and Pie could and should get more at bats than a fairly strict platoon from 25 years ago.

I think you are taking me a little too literally. What I meant was, a situation where Reimold and Pie essentially share LF, with Reimold getting more PA but neither really getting a full season's worth of PA. You are right that there would not be as strict a platoon as with Roenicke and Lowenstein, but I'd still bet Pie won't start many games vs. LHP.

[JTrea81]

If course Reimold or Pie have more trade value than Scott. They're better players with higher ceilings and more years under team control. Which means they'll also win more games for the Baltimore Orioles.

It also means they could bring a piece back that we need or be put in a package for a piece such as a LT solution at SS.

[Webley Webster]

The best O's teams of all time had an outstanding fourth outfielder by the name of Merv Rettenmund. Let Pie be that guy on this team and you're one step closer to replicating what served us so well way back when.