Eaton and Atkins

[waroriole]

Sure they had the intention of playing him at 1st, but what if Miggi gets picked up by another team? Then what? We roll with Ty at 3rd?

He isn't even blocking anyone better from playing. The season isn't even over yet. I can bet the house that Crowley is spending extra time with him in the cages trying to straighten him out. The All Star break is a better barometer for this signing, IMO.

I still don't like it, but I see what they were trying to do with it.

I think we agree for the most part. I will say that he looks to have no bat speed, and that's not something that Crow will likely be able to help him with.

[AgentOrange]

I think we agree for the most part. I will say that he looks to have no bat speed, and that's not something that Crow will likely be able to help him with.

But it could be something that Miggi can help with. :laughlol:

[treasure07]

After seeing people say they prefer LaRoche, I was curious how he is doing. Here is what he's done so far this year, per http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=425560

.281 avg, 2 homeruns, 10 RBIs, 5 doubles, no triples, 11 walks, 17 K's, .397 OBP, .474 SLG, .871 OPS

So he's hitting for average and has walks but not much power.

[waroriole]

After seeing people say they prefer LaRoche, I was curious how he is doing. Here is what he's done so far this year, per http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=425560

.281 avg, 2 homeruns, 10 RBIs, 5 doubles, no triples, 11 walks, 17 K's, .397 OBP, .474 SLG, .871 OPS

So he's hitting for average and has walks but not much power.

.474 SLG isn't much power?

[sbauer]

After seeing people say they prefer LaRoche, I was curious how he is doing. Here is what he's done so far this year, per http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=425560

.281 avg, 2 homeruns, 10 RBIs, 5 doubles, no triples, 11 walks, 17 K's, .397 OBP, .474 SLG, .871 OPS

So he's hitting for average and has walks but not much power.

His OPS is over 800. The numbers are actually pretty good for LaRoche. He's usually a very slow starter.

Some numbers - During the months of March/April, LaRoche is a career .207 hitter with an OPS under .700.

[Sports Guy]

Money has to play a part in the value of the pick.

We picked him up because:

1. We thought Crowley could turn him around.

2. He signed for 1 year only.

3. He could play 1st or 3rd.

The main deal was point 2. In the rebuilding plan, it was obvious they were going after 2 stop gaps for 1st and 3rd. LaRoche signed for 2 years. Nick Johnson went back to NY. What else was out there for 1b?

The #1 answer...Luke Scott.

[Mackus]

LaRoche signed for 2 years.

He only got one year, although I think it would have taken a substantial amount more to get him here than Arizona.

There may not have been a ton of great options at 1B, but Atkins was one of the absolute worst choices. Even going with some of our in-house options would have been wiser.

We gave him significant money, its only for one year, but even that money could have been much better spent on additional BP help, a real 1B on a 1-year deal, or on international FA signings or the draft.

Its a bad signing not because we lost a ton of money on it, because we didn't. Its a bad signing because it signifies that MacPhail made a huge judgment error by having way too much faith that an awful player magically finding himself again. There was no logical reason to think that Atkins would bounce back: NONE.

When the best argument for signing a guy is that you hope he can bounce back to where he was 3 years ago the last time he was even remotely adequate for the job you paid him $4.5M to do, you know that its a pretty poor signing.

[treasure07]

.474 SLG isn't much power?

I was looking at the 2 homeruns. I guess the SLG comes from the doubles even if he hasn't hit many homers?

[sbauer]

I was looking at the 2 homeruns. I guess the SLG comes from the doubles even if he hasn't hit many homers?

Yes. It uses total bases.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slugging_percentage

[AgentOrange]

He only got one year, although I think it would have taken a substantial amount more to get him here than Arizona.

There may not have been a ton of great options at 1B, but Atkins was one of the absolute worst choices. Even going with some of our in-house options would have been wiser.

We gave him significant money, its only for one year, but even that money could have been much better spent on additional BP help, a real 1B on a 1-year deal, or on international FA signings or the draft.

Its a bad signing not because we lost a ton of money on it, because we didn't. Its a bad signing because it signifies that MacPhail made a huge judgment error by having way too much faith that an awful player magically finding himself again. There was no logical reason to think that Atkins would bounce back: NONE.

When the best argument for signing a guy is that you hope he can bounce back to where he was 3 years ago the last time he was even remotely adequate for the job you paid him $4.5M to do, you know that its a pretty poor signing.

I am not defending the signing. I have said multiple times that I am not happy with it. But we are making a mountain out of a mole hill here with a 1 year deal.

[Singleton]

Would Friedman make these kinds of signings? Bill Smith? Billy Beane?

These were moves that were destined to fail. I don't see other GM's of teams similar to the Orioles in payroll/market size, etc... making these kind of no-reward signings.

This is absurd. First off, by definition, no player signed as a minor league free agent can be considered a "huge" mistake. They're a minor league free agent. Little invested. Whether you understand the logic or not makes little difference. Perhaps you don't know as much as you think you know

Perhaps we had a scout who saw him over the winter and said he was worth minimum investment -- that should be a good enough reason for a minor league contract. Seriously.

I'm also sick of the gooey love for Billy Beane and other GMs. BB doesn't make mistakes? Yea? Ben Sheets is on the phone to thank you for his $10 million. How about resigning Jack Cust and trading for Jake Fox and carrying Daric Barton on the roster? Someone want to explain that one?

Think Theo Epstein is a boy genious? So does Julio Lugo.

Atkins seemed like a bad signing at the time. 20 games in he still seems sucky. If it ends that way, AM made a mistake. We all get it. If that's his big error we'll be just fine. Lets move on.

[Sports Guy]

This is absurd. First off, by definition, no player signed as a minor league free agent can be considered a "huge" mistake. They're a minor league free agent. Little invested. Whether you understand the logic or not makes little difference. Perhaps you don't know as much as you think you know

When that player sucks and has basically been guaranteed a spot, it sure as hell can be.

Perhaps we had a scout who saw him over the winter and said he was worth minimum investment -- that should be a good enough reason for a minor league contract. Seriously.

Then fire the scout and don't listen to them.

I'm also sick of the gooey love for Billy Beane and other GMs. BB doesn't make mistakes? Yea? Ben Sheets is on the phone to thank you for his $10 million. How about resigning Jack Cust and trading for Jake Fox and carrying Daric Barton on the roster? Someone want to explain that one?

You mean the same Daric Barton that has an OBP of almost 500? Or the Jake Fox that they have made a back up C/OFER/DH to have his bat in the lineup? If those are your examples here, then maybe you are the who doesn't know as much as YOU think you do.

[NewMarketSean]

Does Frank Thomas in Oakland count?

At 40, Thomas posted a .751 OPS. That's not horrible. if Atkins could post that I think we'd all throw a parade.

OAK also signed Thomas after Toronto cut him, so I am guessing Oakland paid Thomas the minimum and Toronto was still on the hook for the remainder of his salary.

They did not, however, sign him to a $4.5 million contract and make him their OD starter at 1B.

So no, this is nothing like Atkins.

[NewMarketSean]

This is absurd. First off, by definition, no player signed as a minor league free agent can be considered a "huge" mistake. They're a minor league free agent. Little invested. Whether you understand the logic or not makes little difference. Perhaps you don't know as much as you think you know

It doesn't matter what kind of deal a player signs for. If that player is getting MLB starts and sucking royally...when every fan said it would suck royally when he was signed...it's a bad move.

Eaton had no reward. Atkins had close to no reward. We should have gone with players who offered some kind of reward. Like Hughes. Or Aubrey. Or Snyder or the kid with the backwards O's hat who always sits behind the Orioles dugout.

Perhaps we had a scout who saw him over the winter and said he was worth minimum investment -- that should be a good enough reason for a minor league contract. Seriously.

OK, I see your point, but that is not what happened. AM said he'd targeted Eaton before he was released by the Phils and liked that he had a lot of QS's.

And if the same can be said of Atkins, fine...just don't blow $4.5 on a project.

I'm also sick of the gooey love for Billy Beane and other GMs. BB doesn't make mistakes? Yea? Ben Sheets is on the phone to thank you for his $10 million. How about resigning Jack Cust and trading for Jake Fox and carrying Daric Barton on the roster? Someone want to explain that one?

Ben Sheets can still work out. If healthy there is no reason to think he won't. I'd much rather spend $10 mil on Sheets than half of that on Atkins.

Think Theo Epstein is a boy genious? So does Julio Lugo.

There is a reason I didn't bring up GM's from big market teams that can absorb bad deals.

Atkins seemed like a bad signing at the time. 20 games in he still seems sucky. If it ends that way, AM made a mistake. We all get it. If that's his big error we'll be just fine. Lets move on.

Yeah, fine. But what will AM's next blunder be? He's been here 3 years and has made a no-reward move in each of those seasons.

[BRobinsonfan]

There is a reason I didn't bring up GM's from big market teams that can absorb bad deals.

And yet you seem to be supportive of the strategy of spending major money as if we were a free market team!