Base Hits: 5/8/2009

According to Roch Kubatko, Ryan Freel is telling people that he is going to be traded or released before he come off the DL.

Good, good, good. I've said it before but that acquisition of Robert Andino was the last straw in making Freel redundant. I'd much rather see Lou Montanez, Ty Wigginton, Andino and even Felix Pie get the at bats.

It also gives Pie's career new life...at least for a couple weeks. His defense has greatly improved over the past two weeks and maybe they can platoon him with Montanez to get him some playing time.


Update: Looks like Freel has been traded to the Cubs for Joey Gathright.

*****

Ron Gardenhire is not happy about the Twins rain-shortened loss to the Orioles on Wednesday.

"Once we got going, we tried to play five innings," Gardenhire said. "And Major League Baseball is nine innings. And we didn't get a chance to do that because the weather, from the get-go, showed that we shouldn't be doing this. From the get go!

"Somebody made a mistake here and screwed up. I don't know who is supposed to be accountable for this mess, but my team ends up paying the final price."

Waaaah!

I could see Gardenhire's point if, say, the long reliever he put in there after the second rain delay gave up a three-run homer. But the Orioles scored enough runs off the original starter to win. And if you can't score off of Mark Hendrickson or Brian Bass...well, you really have to look in the mirror, don't you?

O's sweep the 1.5 game series. We'll take it.

*****


RP Dennis Sarfate will find out soon if his career is in jeopardy from symptoms related to a circulatory problem.

*****

Grimace of the Week:

Matt Garza looked none too happy as Brian Roberts took him deep.

*****

The Orioles will have to face a returning Alex Rodriguez but they won't have to face Jorge Posada...nor Jose Molina. O's running wild tonight?

*****

Song of the Week

How about some old Mary Prankster?

Many Yankee fans are posers, no?

Beat them Yanks!

Change We Can Believe In

"I think change is good for people. I think the expectations were for me to come here and perform in a different way than I did. I don't think I met the expectations the way I did in spring training. There is nothing wrong with change. I don't think I fit here. I can't control what they do with me. It's putting a damper on my career."

- Ryan Freel

I agree. It's time for a change Andy MacPhail should grant Freel his wish by any means necessary.

I wasn't a huge fan of adding Freel to begin with but figured it was necessary evil to take on his contract so we could move Ramon Hernandez and he kind of filled a need. That need was alleviated a bit with the addition of Felix Pie and even more with the signing of Ty Wigginton. The trade for Robert Andino just before Opening Day made him downright redundant.

So Freel is unnecessary and he's an ass. If you don't believe me, read the rest of his quotes in Steve Melewski's blog post. I won't bother rehashing them here.

It goes to show you that just because you hustle in the field and bring all that energy to your game...it doesn't mean you're a good guy. Oriole fans everywhere should be sending thank you notes to Justin Masterson for beaning Freel in the head.

His time is Baltimore is done. Either by trade or release, I doubt we'll see Freel in the black and orange again.

Injuries, Roster Moves and the Trials of Felix Pie

Turns out Ryan Freel is only hard-headed when it comes to his self-perceived worth as a ballplayer.

Freel was placed on the 15 day DL with a head injury after being hit in the head by Boston pitcher Justin Masterson during a pickoff throw to first.

If you read regularly, you know that I was not a big fan of the Hayden Penn trade. But I have wondered if the presence of Ty Wigginton and the addition of Robert Andino made Freel redundant. I guess now we'll find out.

Radhames Liz was sent down to Norfolk to make room for Brad Bergesen. That's where Liz belongs for the forseeable future; he shouldn't have been called up to begin with.

Lou Montanez is being recalled from AAA Norfolk and will get a another chance to stick with the big club as the 4th outfielder and part time DH. Montanez has supposedly worked on his defense in the offseason (and I saw some of that improvement firsthand on Sunday) and he is destroying International League pitching through the first two weeks of the season. I think the team is better with Lou on the bench at this point.

Some are already grumbling about the lack of production from Felix Pie and seem to think that this spells the beginning of the end for Pie's starting gig. That would be disappointing.

They decided to give Pie a shot and they should stick with him at least through the All-Star break. Let's not go crazy based on 11 games.

Randomly, I decided to see how three young Baltimore outfielders fared during their first 38 games as regulars in the Majors.


Adam Jones

.223 AVG, 31 SO, 7 BB, 2HR, .633 OPS

Nick Markakis

.204 AVG, 17 SO, 9 BB, 2 HR, .604 OPS

Luis Matos

.350 AVG, 30 SO, 11 BB, .916 OPS

Jones didn't start to hit until mid-July last season. Markakis didn't take off until mid-June of 2006. And Luis Matos didn't start to come back to Earth until mid-July.

Early returns don't mean much. Eleven games mean even less. Let's give Pie a little more time before we run him out of town.

Bringing the Energy!

Ryan Freel was supposed to be a sparkplug for this team when he was acquired from the Reds in the offseason. But it looks like he's not crazy about his role...even as the team wins early in the season.

"I know it's somewhat early, but I think my role is what you see right now. That's what they want to do, play those [other] guys. I think they're pretty clear about that....Where we go, I don't know."

Wow! That's what I call energy! That's what I call spunk!

See, just because a guy hustles and plays all out on the field doesn't mean he's actually a good guy, a team player, a nice guy to have around the clubhouse. Freel is a "me first" kind of player. And he's the worst type of "me first" kind of player; the kind who is not a very good player to begin with.

I suppose that playing in Cincinnati all those years on last place teams will inflate the self-worth of a career 90 OPS + player(and declining) but he is not actually very valuable to anyone these days except as a bench player, a spot starter, a guy who fills in when a better player is hurt. Instead, he thinks he was the National League's answer to Chone Figgins. That's simply not the case.

Quite frankly, you have to wonder if Robert Andino makes him quite expendable at this point. Would the team be any worse off if they dumped Freel and promoted Lou Montanez? I think not.

A Quick Word About Chris Gomez...

Since the signing of Ty Wigginton, the composition of the expected three-man bench has been kicked around, specifically the future of Chris Gomez. Sure, this Wigginton signing probably means Gomez doesn't make the team but who will back up Cesar Izturis at shortstop?

My response: Who cares?

You may want a defensive specialist who can play short on your bench if you have an offensive shortstop with some fielding deficiencies (Miguel Tejada). But the O's already have a defensive specialist as a full-time starter. You're not lifting Izturis late in the game for a defensive specialist. And if you pinch hit for him, stick Freel out there if necessary for an inning. One inning won't hurt.

Izturis blows out his knee? Stick Freel there for a game, then call up Jolbert Cabrera or Donnie Murphy (or someone of that ilk) from Norfolk.

Backup catcher I understand. Backup shortstop? Why keep a guy who would ONLY fill that role on a three-man bench? Not thick enough.

Gomez should not make this team barring injury or an expansion to a four-man bench. Period.

Ryan Freel: Mining for the Value

While there is much rejoicing that we Baltimore fans will no longer have to watch the lackluster efforts of Ramon Hernandez this season, there seems to be a surprising amount of enthusiasm for the centerpiece player we received from the Reds in return. I always had the impression that Ryan Freel was a defensive specialist and light hitting utility player. Am I missing something? Is this guy really going to have more impact on the team than, say, Chris Gomez did for a few years. Gomez was a versatile fielder and a decent enough hitter that he could contribute and not embarrass himself. That's nice but is it exciting? There seems to be a common thread when it comes to Freel's apparent value.


"Adding Freel to the mix in the outfield will help boost the energy on the Orioles..."- Dean Jones, Jr., Baltimore Sun

"Freel, a high-energy player and once the Reds' starting center fielder..." - Jeff Zreibec, Baltimore Sun

"Ryan Freel, if any of you have suffered through my talks in Baltimore, you've heard a lot about effort, energy and enthusiasm. Those are the three things as a franchise we want to instill in our players. It is hard to think of a poster child that more represents those things for a major league player than Ryan Freel..." - Andy MacPhail

Freel's a good energy guy that will at least make them more watchable. - Steve D.

I like the fact that the guy's a high-energy player - Dave Trembley

Did the Orioles trade for a player or a couple cases of Red Bull?

So I am starting to think that I am missing something here. Let's take a closer look at Freel and see what we can expect from him in 2009.

First, I'm going to assume that Freel will be healthy in 2009. He hasn't been healthy since 2006 but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

He gets on base. Even with a couple of down years, his career OBP is .357. During the seasons where he was healthy, the rate was in the high .360's. That's a valuable talent and when he's in the lineup, he should probably bat at least in the 2 spot. I can't imagine that with Cesar Izturis on the team that anyone else would hit in the 9 spot to give Dave Trembley the "dual leadoff" hitter lineup.

He hits lefties well. Well, at least as well as he hits against anyone. He has a .737 career OPS against RHPs and a .732 career OPS against LHPs. He would theoretically hit lefties better than Luke Scott or Adam Jones (although not by much over Jones). This would make him a nice, not great but nice, platoon option, especially in LF.

Great Glove. Freel's range is phenomenal when he's healthy. He's a top notch defender at 2B, 3B and the outfield. (The only place where he lacks a bit is in CF but he's still above average. Fantastic range. He'll be a great defensive replacement and will flash the glove nicely when he fills in.

On top of all this, he has a great outfield arm. I have no idea if he has a cannon like Nick Markakis but it must be very accurate. Defensive metrics aren't prefect but by this measure he's as good as anybody. His rep is the same.

(By the way, Buck Martinez seemed to think that Freel "will bunt more" than Brian Roberts. Roberts bunts about 2 times every 100 plate appearances. Freel bunts about 3 times per 100 PA. All that adds up to 4 or 5 times more over the course of a full season. Sure, that's more but I don't think it's a stark difference.)

So Ryan Freel brings a great glove, an ability to get on base and can hit hit lefties better than a couple of our other outfielders. A nice utility player. But am I excited? Not really.

Speaking of energy, I'll leave you with another player whose GM thinks he'll bring a lot of energy to the club. Right.

We do think a change of scenery will help him immensely. We've got a pretty good pitching staff. I think he's a guy who will work well with that staff and develop that staff and have renewed energy." - Walt Jocketty

Hernandez is a Red; O's Get Freel and Two Prospects

Andy MacPhail shipped Ramon Hernandez to Cincinnati yesterday for utility man Ryan Freel and two infield prospects.

Matt Wieters has made Hernandez expendable. His defense has declined and his heart didn't seem to be in it for Baltimore last season. Hernandez had really bad luck with the bat last year. His batting line of .257/.308/.406 was in stark contrast to his PrOPS line of .292/.341/.457 and he managed to hit .285/.341/.446 in the 2nd half. He hit the ball hard but didn't catch a lot of breaks. He's still got something left in the tank offensively and he'll be moving to a hitter's park in a weaker league. The Reds may get a good year at the plate from him even if they don't get a good year from him behind it.

Freel is a good glove who can play 2B, 3B and all outfield positions. I don't think he'll be able to hit his way out of a wet paper sack in the AL even if he's healthy and he's expensive at $4 million a year but a good defensive replacement and he's only signed through the end of '09.

I like that MacPhail was able to get some prospects although they are not great ones. Brandon Waring is a 22 year old 3B who hit .270 with 20 homers with the Class A Dayton Dragons. But he struck out 156 times to only 43 walks and at 22 was pretty old for that level of ball. Still, it was an .813 OPS from a thirdbaseman and he could be a late bloomer.

Justin Turner is a light hitting 2B who has shown potential to play other positions. He hit .289 at Chattanooga last year with 8 HR in 78 games and got on base at a .359 clip. Interesting guy who should start at Bowie next season at age 24.

Since we were getting rid of Hernandez anyway, this was a pretty good deal though the real impact is the room made for Matt Wieters, not the players we got in return.

Many O's fans are pretty excited to get Freel but he's not really that great at playing baseball. Great attitude, fine glove, mediocre player.

And now a word about Buck Martinez. I'm in the minority, I think, when it comes to Buck. People seem to hate Rick Dempsey and find him annoying as a color guy. I enjoy Dempsey enormously and find Martinez cringeworthy. People complain about Jim Palmer talking about what things were like when he played but at least he was a Hall of Fame pitcher! Why do I have to listen to Buck talk about his lackluster playing career or his pitiful managerial record?

Anyway, Roch talked to Buck Martinez about the Hernandez-Freel trade and in between the hurky-jerky gesticulations and spasmic shoulder shimmies, Martinez said this about Ryan Freel:

"He plays with a lot of energy. He's kinda like Brian Roberts with a lot more enthusiasm, you know, he does the same types of things."

Really. Brian Roberts with more enthusiasm? First, if I was Brian Roberts, I would be enormously offended. You think I am Ryan Freel with less enthusiasm? Really? Roberts has slugged over .400 for the last four years. He's hit double digit homers in three of the last four seasons. He has played in 138 games or more for the last 5 seasons. He hit 50 doubles last year!

Freel has never slugged .400, has a lower batting average than Roberts for his career (.284 vs. .272) and only beats out Brian's OBP by .002! Guess all that enthusiasm saps your energy. I'll take the more reserved Roberts, thanks. There's more:

"He'll bunt more than Brian Roberts. He won't steal as much but he'll steal key bases. He's a great baserunner."

Forgetting the fact that Roberts has stolen 226 career bases to Freel's 142, Freel has a career success rate of 74% to Brian's 79%. And Freel's numbers have regressed over the last three years (77%, 65%, 60%) while Roberts have gotten better (83%, 87%, 80%). There's little to support the assertion that he's a "great" baserunner. And outside of the fact that Freel can play secondbase too, he's nothing like Brian Roberts.

Freel's a nice utility player but let's not get carried away.

Base Hits: 12/8/2008

Still not much going on in the Oriole offseason but...

I though it was interesting that the Orioles signed minor league catcher Adam Donachie. If you've read this blog from the beginning, the Orioles selected Donachie in the Rule V draft and he was with the Orioles during Spring Training 2007. I was a big supporter of Donachie (at least over Paul Bako, an offensive black hole whose defensive prowess paled in comparison to Donachie's) and think he could help the club in a couple years as a defensive specialist.

The Orioles have no organizational depth at catcher (after Matt Wieters) so Donachie has a good opportunity here. Donachie has never hit for average but showed decent plate discipline and some pop.

ISO for the last 5 years:

Year   Level  ISO

2004    A     .043

2005    A+    .173

2006   A+\AA  .135

2007    AA    .144

2008    AA    .087

 

2008 was not a good year for Donachie but he has shown some raw power over his minor league career. Donachie should start the season at Bowie and, perhaps in a couple years, he can be the Doug Mirabelli to Matt Wieters' Jason Varitek. (Chronic Red Sox haters; please forgive me for the comparison but it's the best analogy I could think of...)

*****

Over on Roch Kubatko's blog, there is some discussion about trading Ramon Hernandez to the Cincinnati Reds...for Ryan Freel. A couple of comments:

I would take Freel on the O's. He can play many positions and I like the way he plays the game.

I'm going with Ryan Freel. He can play 2B, 3B and OF well. Even some games at SS.

OK. If he could play SS, I would be OK with this. The truth is that Freel has never played a game at shortstop and will be 33 next season. He hasn't played more than 75 games in a season since 2006. He has never been an average bat. even in the NL. Nice glove but outside of a salary dump, that's a bad deal for Baltimore.

*****

The Orioles have not yet made a decision about their future Spring Training home and the suitors are getting impatient. Sarasota has made an offer and wonder if the Orioles are actually serious about coming. Indian County (Vero Beach) has given the Orioles a December 15th deadline or they will rescind their offer to move the Orioles into the old Dodgertown.

*****

Khalil Greene had been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. For the second straight year, the Cardinals have helped the Orioles avoid a stupid move for a mediocrity at shortstop.

*****

I want the Orioles to sign one of these Japanese pitchers they are talking to. We need pitching of every kind and it would be a sign that Andy MacPhail's focus overseas is starting to bear fruit.