Orioles Lineup with Derrek Lee

[waroriole]

Jeez, I open the OH to talk about the great news of signing Lee, and I see that the resident troll is back to his old tricks. Please go away.

[Mad Mark]

Well, since our "drummer" is back in full effect...

I am the Prophet, par rum pa pum pum

Where is my "premium" bat?, par rum pa pum pum

They all signed with the $ox!, par rum pa pum pum...rum pa pum...rum pa pum

Mac Fail's a loser, par rum pa pum pum

Perhaps a boozer, par rum pa pum pum

This team it won't win squat, par rum pa pum pum...rum pa pum...rum pa pum

So I'll still beat my drum, par rum pa pum pum

Til I get rushed like a bum, par rum pa pum pum

Maybe if they sign Beltre and Fielder, too, and Fielder too, and Fielder too

They might not smell like poo

Might not smell like poo...

Not smell like poo...

[Moose Milligan]

Some cool stuff from this article:

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post?id=14997

Lee struggled through a forgettable 2010 season during which he saw his home run total nearly cut in half from the previous year, while his slugging percentage dropped over 150 points and his isolated power slipped from .273 to .168. However, there may be some evidence that this power outage was a mere blip for Lee and that he actually was hitting the ball harder last season compared to 2009.

The Inside Edge video scouts tell us that the percentage of Lee’s at-bats ending in a ball that was “well-hit” increased from 28.4 percent in 2009 to 29.1 percent in 2010, while Fangraphs.com has his line drive rate also increasing from 19.2 percent to 22.5 percent over the last two seasons.

Something else that may help is that Lee is going to a league in which he can rest his body by occasionally being a designated hitter, and he’s going to Camden Yards, a ballpark that is right-handed power hitter friendly.

Odd that they don't take his thumb injury into account when talking about why his 2010 season was subpar...but I found the "Well hit" part pretty interesting.

[GoldGlove21]

Quote from Markakis (Sun)

"He's not just going to protect me. He's going to protect a lot of the guys in the lineup. With him being right-handed and us having a lot of left-handed hitters, he's a perfect fit."

If you assume Markakis will bat second where he should, then Lee looks to be the #3 hitter and that is a great fit.

[JTrea81]

Well, since our "drummer" is back in full effect...

I am the Prophet, par rum pa pum pum

Where is my "premium" bat?, par rum pa pum pum

They all signed with the $ox!, par rum pa pum pum...rum pa pum...rum pa pum

Mac Fail's a loser, par rum pa pum pum

Perhaps a boozer, par rum pa pum pum

This team it won't win squat, par rum pa pum pum...rum pa pum...rum pa pum

So I'll still beat my drum, par rum pa pum pum

Til I get rushed like a bum, par rum pa pum pum

Maybe if they sign Beltre and Fielder, too, and Fielder too, and Fielder too

They might not smell like poo

Might not smell like poo...

Not smell like poo...

I haven't bashed MacPhail once in this thread. Nor have I suggested Fielder at all since Greinke was traded there, nor Beltre since we traded for Reynolds.

I've just said the Orioles need to do more to upgrade offensively, the opportunity is out there to do more and that as fans we should expect more.

There shouldn't be anything wrong with any of those statements.

[Napoleon Solo]

I haven't bashed MacPhail once in this thread. Nor have I suggested Fielder at all since Greinke was traded there, nor Beltre since we traded for Reynolds.

I've just said the Orioles need to do more to upgrade offensively, the opportunity is out there to do more and that as fans we should expect more.

There shouldn't be anything wrong with any of those statements.

You are correct, there is nothing wrong with those statements. It's when the threads are getting derailed with a variation of the same statements ad nauseam, that people get peeved.

[JTrea81]

You are correct, there is nothing wrong with those statements. It's when the threads are getting derailed with a variation of the same statements ad nauseam, that people get peeved.

I posted about the lineup, other posters chose to take the thread off course by bringing up my projections for the Red Sox, hyperbolized viewpoints I had that aren't even relevant any longer and constant comments about me trolling...

As it's been said it's others who can't stand me posting here or my viewpoints that actually de-rail the threads.

Frobby said it was a "sweet" lineup, I disagreed - posters didn't like it, and then the de-railing began...

I've said I don't mind the Lee signing despite people posting to the contrary. I just want to see the team add more to the lineup to win more games.

[larrytt]

I've just said the Orioles need to do more to upgrade offensively, the opportunity is out there to do more and that as fans we should expect more.

You also wrote, "But the Orioles still need more offense, and it is still out there for the taking..." This statement bothered me more than most of what you wrote because it again implies the mistaken notion that (to quote you word for word) these players are "out there for the taking." They are not.

They are out there, but getting them to agree to become an Oriole is a very difficult thing. True impact players would almost always rather play for winning teams that have a better chance of making the playoffs, for organizations with a (more recent) history of success, and in a division where they don't have to face the best players in baseball on a regular basis (thereby bringing down their stats when they become free agents again). Why would a true impact player want to play for the Orioles? They are not out there for our taking. To even have a chance to get them to become Orioles, we pretty much have to way overpay for them, which is easy to call for, since we aren't the ones way overpaying for often past-their-prime veterans who are often only hoping to use us to build up their value for future years as free agents, and add little long-term value to the club. So I (and I'm pretty sure others) object to the way you describe them as being "out there for the taking." They are not.

When we do make a serious upgrade (Hardy, Reynolds, Lee, thereby fixing up the most glaring weaknesses of the 2010 O's), each is a step in the direction toward a potential playoff team, and those steps should be applauded in the appropriate threads, not used as another chance to criticize. (We sign Derrek Lee, and your response is to criticize, and then defend it by saying, "I don't mind the Lee signing"??? If Wieters singles in the tying run in the 9th inning rather than hitting a game-winning home run, would you find that the appropriate time to criticize the Orioles and then defend it by saying, "I don't mind his hitting a single"?) There are plenty of OTHER threads to give us your "analysis." You have no idea how irritating your tendency to jump into so many of these threads to post your mantra. Enough already!!!

The problem here is when you choose to post your pessimism. Be a pessimist if you'd like (and you are a pessimist, not a realist, since the realist sees the good as well as the bad), but don't tread on every celebratory thread when the O's do something good. It's like going to a New Year's Eve party and constantly pointing out that people around the world are starving. It's true, but it's not the time to bring it up, and not over and Over and OVER.

["Clank"]

I think this would be interesting-

1. Markakis RF

2. Roberts 2B

3. Jones CF

4. Lee 1B

5. Scott DH

6. Reynolds 3B

7. Wieters C

8. Pie/Reimold LF

9. Hardy SS

[joeyc]

For mediocrity or slightly better? There is more the Orioles can do to strengthen that lineup with the players that are left out there via FA and trade. I would hope you'd expect more from the team than that...

Any lineup with a .718 OPS Pie in it and a batter with a .198 AVG hitting 5th is not "sweet" IMO...especially not for Jones, Wieters and Markakis.

I would love to see Jim Thome blasting bombs towards the warehouse. Any chance we may still go try and get him?

[larrytt]

Here's an interesting way of looking at the Orioles improvement.

1st base: A healthy Derrek Lee replacing Atkins/Wigginton from last year. Big improvement.

2nd base: A healthy Brian Roberts replacing Wigginton/Lugo from last year. Big improvement.

SS: JJ Hardy (age 28) replacing Izturis. Big improvement.

3rd: Mark Reynolds (age 27) replacing Josh Bell. Big improvement.

RF: Almost every prognosticator, as well as his career stats, has Nick Markakis (age 27) doing better than his off season last year. Small to medium improvement.

CF: Almost every prognosticator has Adam Jones (age 25) improving over last year. Small to medium improvement.

LF: Almost anything will be better than last year, and a healthy Pie (age 25) and Riemold (age 27) should be at least marginally better, especially as a platoon. Small improvement, maybe more. (Of course, we might still sign someone for DH, and move Scott to LF, and then we have major improvement here.)

C: Almost every prognosticator has Matt Wieters (age 25) substantially improving over last year. Medium improvement, potentially much more.

DH: Scott had his best year with a .902 OPS. His career OPS is .857. So we'll predict a small decrease to his career numbers.

Conclusion: We should be better in 8 out of 9 offensive positions, with big improvement at all four infield positions. (Not to mention the great improvement in infield defense!)

[Frobby]

I posted about the lineup, other posters chose to take the thread off course by bringing up my projections for the Red Sox, hyperbolized viewpoints I had that aren't even relevant any longer and constant comments about me trolling...

As it's been said it's others who can't stand me posting here or my viewpoints that actually de-rail the threads.

Frobby said it was a "sweet" lineup, I disagreed - posters didn't like it, and then the de-railing began...

I've said I don't mind the Lee signing despite people posting to the contrary. I just want to see the team add more to the lineup to win more games.

For the record, I didn't think there was anything wrong with your post, and personally, I'm tired of people jumping on you every time you express your opinion. You are in the right here, IMO. You don't attack other posters personally and yet you get a lot of attacks in response.

Now, as to your opinion, when I said the lineup was "sweet," what I meant was there is no real weak spot, either offensively or defensively. It's vastly better than last year's, and maybe the best we've had since 2004 when we scored 842 runs. I really like the R/L balance we have now. I'm very pleased.

I didn't mean to suggest that I think MacPhail can rest on his laurels. We clearly have at least one more spot that needs to be settled, and we need to see what MacPhail has up his sleeve over the next 6 weeks to augment what he has assembled. But we are vastly improved.

[Crazysilver03]

I posted about the lineup, other posters chose to take the thread off course by bringing up my projections for the Red Sox, hyperbolized viewpoints I had that aren't even relevant any longer and constant comments about me trolling...

As it's been said it's others who can't stand me posting here or my viewpoints that actually de-rail the threads.

Frobby said it was a "sweet" lineup, I disagreed - posters didn't like it, and then the de-railing began...

I've said I don't mind the Lee signing despite people posting to the contrary. I just want to see the team add more to the lineup to win more games.

This is all true.

Regarding the line-up though, you were one of a few that was wicked behind line-up protection, citing quotes from Markakis, yet here he is saying that he is excited to have Lee.

To add to the line-up ideas, I would go with:

2B Roberts

RF Markakis

1B Lee

DH Scott

CF Jones

3B Reynolds

SS Hardy

C Wieters

LF Pie/Reimold

I would prefer to put Pie in the 9 hole, because as it was mentioned in a broadcast a few months back, having Pie in the 9 hole and Roberts in the lead up spot is like having two lead-off hitters.

[Shopay]

For the record, I didn't think there was anything wrong with your post, and personally, I'm tired of people jumping on you every time you express your opinion. You are in the right here, IMO. You don't attack other posters personally and yet you get a lot of attacks in response.

Now, as to your opinion, when I said the lineup was "sweet," what I meant was there is no real weak spot, either offensively or defensively. It's vastly better than last year's, and maybe the best we've had since 2004 when we scored 842 runs. I really like the R/L balance we have now. I'm very pleased.

I didn't mean to suggest that I think MacPhail can rest on his laurels. We clearly have at least one more spot that needs to be settled, and we need to see what MacPhail has up his sleeve over the next 6 weeks to augment what he has assembled. But we are vastly improved.

One of the few days we have to celebrate together as O's fans because our front office has done a nice job this off season and Trea does everything he can to "throw cold water on it" by discussing how it isn't enough. And you know as well as I do his sole purpose for doing so is to take indirect shots at AM. Why does he have to bring the negative energy now? He's relentless with the negative energy. It's the O's, he will have more than enough valid opportunities to attack, so why do it now? Why not take one of the few opportunities we O's fans have to celebrate and think optimistically, if it's only for a few days. That's why he gets jumped on.

P.S. - I'll add that it's unfortunate because Trea is clearly a smart guy that can and does bring a lot to the board when he doesn't let his post be driven by his agenda.

[Crazysilver03]

One of the few days we have to celebrate together as O's fans because our front office has done a nice job this off season and Trea does everything he can to "throw cold water on it" by discussing how it isn't enough. And you know as well as I do his sole purpose for doing so is to take indirect shots at AM. Why does he have to bring the negative energy now? He's relentless with the negative energy. It's the O's, he will have more than enough valid opportunities to attack, so why do it now? Why not take one of the few opportunities we O's fans have to celebrate and think optimistically, if it's only for a few days. That's why he gets jumped on.

P.S. - I'll add that it's unfortunate because Trea is clearly a smart guy that can and does bring a lot to the board when he doesn't let his post be driven by his agenda.

To be fair, we are banking on a resurgence by Lee that will most likely only last one season. We will likely be back in the hunt for a 1B next off-season, so we are still lacking a long term solution.

I am excited about adding Lee but I would still like to see more done.