SB Nation - Cesar Izturis

How Dodgers Became Dodgers: Where Pedro Astacio Becomes Blake DeWitt

Eric Stephen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:00:16 -0000

More photos » by Ed Andrieski - AP

Blake and DeWitt are two of seven players currently on the 40-man roster who have links to Dodgers past.

Major league 40-man rosters were set last Friday in preparation for the upcoming Rule 5 draft in two weeks. With the free agency period just starting, there are many open spots on rosters throughout baseball. The Dodgers, for instance, have 33 players on their 40-man roster. Over the next few weeks, free agents will be signed and some players will be non-tendered, so rosters will change, but for now let's look at the 33 Dodgers and how they became Dodgers.

Almost half of the Dodgers currently on the 40-man roster -- 16 of 33 -- were drafted by the team with their own draft pick:

Draft(ed) Dodgers
Player	Year	Round	Pick

James Loney	2002	1	19
Jonathan Broxton	2002	2	60
James McDonald	2002	11	331
Eric Stults	2002	15	451
Russell Martin	2002	17	511

Chad Billingsley	2003	1	24
Xavier Paul	2003	4	121
Matt Kemp	2003	6	181
Lucas May	2003	8	241
A.J. Ellis	2003	18	541

Scott Elbert	2004	1	17
Javy Guerra	2004	4	118
Cory Wade	2004	10	298

Brent Leach	2005	6	196
Trayvon Robinson	2005	10	316

Clayton Kershaw	2006	1	7

These are pretty straight forward original transactions, as are these other four amateur free agents:

Amateur Free Agents
Player	Date	Origin
Hong-Chih Kuo	6/19/99	Taiwan
Ramon Troncoso	6/20/02	Dominican Republic
Chin-Lung Hu	1/31/03	Taiwan
Kenley Jansen	11/17/04	Curacao

That makes 20 of 33 Dodgers who are with are with their original club. In addition to them, there are six more Dodgers that joined the club independent of other players. That is, their acquisitions aren't linked to anyone else:

Free Agents
Player	Date
Rafael Furcal	12/19/05
Juan Pierre	11/22/06
Travis Schlichting*	10/7/07
Hiroki Kuroda	12/16/07
Ronald Belisario*	1/13/09
Charlie Haeger*	1/17/09
*minor league free agents

This is where we get to the fun part of this exercise, as reminded by Rocknjosie in her excellent Fan Post last month. There are seven Dodgers left that were acquired as the result, directly or indirectly, of previous transactions. These are listed in chronological order based on the earliest transaction.

Andre Ethier
Date	Transaction
6/1/88	drafted Mike Piazza in the 62nd round (#1390 overall)
8/4/96	signed Luke Allen as an undrafted free agent
12/8/96	signed Todd Zeile as a free agent
5/14/98	traded Piazza and Zeile to Marlins for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson, and Manuel Barrios
11/18/00	signed Franklin Gutierrez as an amateur free agent
1/15/02	traded Sheffield to Braves for Odalis Perez, Brian Jordan, and Andrew Brown
1/17/03	traded Allen to Colorado for Jason Romano
4/3/04	traded Romano to Tampa Bay for Antonio Perez
4/3/04	traded Gutierrez and Brown to Cleveland for Milton Bradley
12/13/05	traded Bradley and Perez to Oakland for Ethier
Total Related Players: 9

Blake DeWitt
Date	Transaction
11/21/87	signed Pedro Astacio as an amateur free agent
6/14/91	signed Ismael Valdez as an amateur free agent
8/28/94	signed Luke Prokopec as an amateur free agent
8/19/97	traded Astacio to Rockies for Eric Young
12/12/99	traded Young and Valdez to Cubs for Terry Adams, Brian Stephenson, and Chad Ricketts
12/31/01	traded Prokopec and Ricketts to Toronto for Cesar Izturis and Paul Quantrill
12/17/03	Quantrill signed as a free agent with the Yankees
6/7/04	drafted DeWitt with a compensation first round pick (#28 overall)
Total Related Players: 6

Ivan DeJesus
Date	Transaction
7/7/94	signed Adrian Beltre as an amateur free agent
12/17/04	Beltre signed as a free agent with Seattle
6/7/05	drafted DeJesus with a compensation second round pick (#51 overall)
Total Related Players: 1

Jason Repko
Date	Transaction
1/16/96	signed Scott Radinsky as a free agent
11/23/98	Radinsky signed as a free agent with St. Louis
6/2/99	drafted Repko with a compensation supplemental pick (#37 overall)
Total Related Players: 1

Manny Ramirez
Date	Transaction
12/12/98	signed Kevin Brown as a free agent
6/3/03	drafted Andy LaRoche in the 39th round (#1171 overall)
12/13/03	traded Brown to Yankees for Jeff Weaver, Yhency Brazoban, Brandon Weeden, and cash
2/23/06	Weaver signed as a free agent with the Angels
6/6/06	drafted Bryan Morris with a compensation first round pick (#26 overall)
7/31/08	traded LaRoche and Morris to Pittsburgh in a 3-team trade; received Manny and cash from Boston
Total Related Players: 4

Casey Blake
Date	Transaction
8/13/04	signed Carlos Santana as an amateur free agent
6/7/05	drafted Jon Meloan in fifth round (#166 overall)
7/26/08	traded Santana and Meloan to Cleveland for Blake, and cash
Total Related Players: 2

George Sherrill
Date	Transaction
6/7/05	drafted Josh Bell in the second round (#74 overall)
6/7/05	drafted Steven Johnson in the 13th round (#406 overall)
7/30/09	traded Bell and Johnson to Baltimore for Sherrill
Total Related Players: 2

Free Agent Profile: Miguel Tejada

davoag — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:00:13 -0000

by Alex Brandon - AP

The market for Tejada will be tough to ascertain.

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Lots to talk about since the last time we looked at the free agency market. In this profile of what kind of deal Miguel Tejada may get, I thought it prudent to look at two important facts. First, how much will the Astros have available to spend?

If, as Wade said, the Astros will reduce payroll in 2010, that means their number will be lower than the 102 million they spent on Opening Day 2009. How much less is up for debate. After arbitration raises to Hunter Pence, Wandy Rodriguez and others, the Astros will have about 80 million committed already in 2010. Assuming the Astros lop 12 million off last year's number, that leaves them with 10 million to spend. Seems about right, doesn't it?

It's still what we've been projecting as their available room since the offseason began, before Wade confirmed it was the case. We'll get to my theory on how much Tejada will cost, but that's not a lot of money to spend to fill a couple of glaring holes.

The second thing to look at is the current market for third baseman. It may not be a foregone conclusion that Tejada will have to switch positions, his bat seems to fit more in line with the corner of the infield market. Of that list, Tejada is probably not going to get the richest deal and possibly not the third-richest deal. I still think he commands a good chunk of change, though. The question is, does it make more sense for the Astros to spend on Tejada or a guy like Pedro Feliz? Just some things to think about when looking at last winter...

The Shortstops

Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers

Contract Details: 3 years, 30 million (09-6.5m, 10-8.5m, 11-12m, 12-12m option)

Notes: Furcal entered last year's market after totaling just 164 plate appearances. Still, the then-31-year old posted a wOBA of .440 and a UZR/150 of -15.2. The Dodgers still rewarded Furcal with the richest contract any shortstop earned last winter. Furcal's defense has been all over the boards the past couple of years, but I think it's safe to say conventional wisdom shows he's was better defensively heading into last offseason than Tejada is now. Consider this contract the upper boundary of what Tejada can expect.

Nick Punto, Minnesota Twins

Contract Details: 2 years, 8.5 million (09-4.25m, 10-4.25m, 11-5m option)

Notes: The 30-year old got this contract coming off a season where he played 99 games. Punto hit pretty decently when he did play, posting a wOBA of .324 and had a UZR/150 of 17.9. Punto is a much better fielder than Tejada, but can't hit nearly as well. He's also younger, but couldn't get more than a two-year deal in last year's market.

Orlando Cabrera, Oakland A's

Contract Details: 1 year, 4 million

Notes: Cabrera couldn't have illustrated the plight of Type A free agents any better. With no team willing to give up draft picks for a 34-year old shortstop coming off a season where he posted a wOBA of .316 with excellent defense (by all accounts). Obviously, Cabrera falls into the same situation as Punto. Both players were good defense, bad bat types, which makes them the exact opposite of Tejada. Still, it may be hard for Tejada to get more than a one-year deal this winter.

Cesar Izturis, Baltimore Orioles

Contract Details: 2 years, 5 million (09-2.4m, 10-2.6m)

Notes: Another good defensive shortstop that posted a sub-par wOBA heading into his free agency period. Izturis got a multi-year deal and performed admirably for Baltimore. His contract is lower than the deals that Punto and Cabrera ended up with, but not for a lack of offense. In fact, the only difference tangibly between these three players is that the other two had a better defensive reputation and Izturis had a down year offensively with the Cardinals in 2008. Of course, I say 'reputation' about defense since there is not much difference in the three's defensive stats.

Edgar Renteria, San Francisco Giants

Contract Details: 2 years, 18.5 million (09-7m, 10-9.5m, 11-10.5m option)

Notes: While Renteria's defense wasn't as bad as Tejada's, at least by UZR, Renteria also didn't post as good a wOBA as Tejada's. It fits that Renteria would be the best shortstop comparable for Tejada, though by all accounts, his defense is good enough to stay at short for a little while longer. This deal, though, feels like something Tejada could end up with this winter.

The Third Basemen

Casey Blake, Los Angeles Dodgers

Contract Details: 3 years, 17.5 million (09-5m, 10-6m, 11-5.25m, 12-6m option)

Notes: Now we move into the third basemen that hit the market last winter. Blake had a great run with the Dodgers after being traded to Los Angeles and was locked up to a reasonable deal. Blake more than outperformed his contract in 2009, but his deal was the richest given to a potential third base free agent last winter. If Tejada moves to the hot corner, look for his deal to be in this range.

Ty Wigginton, Baltimore Orioles

Contract Details: 2 years, 6 million (09-2.5m, 10-3.5m)

Notes: Ahh, the dearly departed Astro, Wigginton signed with Baltimore for two years at a very reasonable 6 million. Wigginton probably was over-extended as a third baseman and only played 39 games there in 2009. Wigginton was close to as valuable offensively as Tejada but wasn't good defensively at third. Tejada's advantage over this deal is that he's moving from a premium defensive position to third, instead of moving off third like Wigginton.

The Utility Players

Ramon Vasquez, Pittsburgh Pirates

Contract Details: 2 years, 4 million (09-1.75m, 10-2m)

Notes: There is a lot of Wigginton here too, as Vasquez wasn't as good offensively as Tejada nor was he as good defensively (comparatively, that is). Still, Vasquez landed a role with the Pirates and a reasonable contract. This reminds me too much of a Geoff Blum signing instead of what Tejada will fetch.

Mark Loretta, Los Angeles Dodgers

Contract Details: 1 year, 1.25 million

Notes: At this point in his career, Loretta was going to be nothing more than a valuable addition off the bench. His contract reflects this and though he could still play third base in a pinch (Loretta played 23 games in 2009), but this is more like the contract Tejada may get in two years.

The Outlier

Willie Bloomquist, Kansas City Royals

Contract Details: 2 years, 3.1 million (09-1.4m, 10-1.7m)

Notes: Remember when we were talking about Jose Valverde? And we saw all the crazy stuff that Dayton Moore has done? Fit the Bloomquist signing into that vein. The utility player with the Mariners was given a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract and played mostly in the outfield for the Royals. This was just a weird signing all around.

Non-Free Agents of Note

Edwin Encarnacion, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays

Contract Details: 2 years, 7.6 million (09-2m, 10-4.7m)

Notes: This starts a couple of third basemen who recently signed contracts, before they get to free agency. With Encarnacion, the Reds were simply buying out a couple of arbitration years, but the numbers fit into the overall picture of what Tejada could command. Interestingly enough, the Reds traded Encarnacion to the Blue Jays mid-season for Scott Rolen.

Chipper Jones, 3B, Atlanta Braves

Contract Details: 3 years, 42 million (10-13m, 11-13m, 12-13m, 13-7m option)

Notes: Jones is the outlier of all outliers, since he's a franchise icon in Atlanta and could end up in the Hall of Fame some day. The Braves couldn't have let Chipper walk out the door, but after flirting with .400, his leverage was very high to get a huge deal done. Thus, this three-year deal, averaging 13 million per. Was an aging player worth this? I'm not sure, but it's definitely going to be the contract Tejada's agent bases his sales pitches around.

Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Washington Nationals

Contract Details: 5 years, 45 million (09-3.325m, 10-6.25m, 11-8.925m, 12-12m, 13-14m)

Notes: Another deal which bought out part of Zimmerman's arbitration years. This also goes for Troy Tulowitski and Ryan Braun's new deals. Zimmerman got a nice bump and quite the salary security for the next five years.

The Breaking News

Jack Wilson, SS, Seattle Mariners

Contract Details: 2 years 10 million (10-5 million, 11-5 million)

Notes: Wilson avoided free agency by agreeing to a deal with the Mariners last Friday. Wilson is nowhere near the hitter Tejada is, posting a wOBA of .286, but is much better with the glove. The Mariners acquired Wilson midway through last season to replace the departed Yuniesky Betancourt. Wilson had an 8.4 million dollar option, which the Mariners didn't have to exercise by coming to terms with him on this deal. If a more one-dimensional player like Wilson can get an average of 5 million per year, it doesn't bode well for Tejada, who may be moved to a less premium defensive position.

Forecast for Tejada

Taking into account Buster Olney's latest comments from above and the market from last season, it's safe to assume Tejada will sign for somewhere around 7 million per year for two years. Some team may be willing to up that number to around 9 or 10 million, but only over one season. I could see the White Sox possibly making a move here, but I don't see Tejada getting more than a two year deal from anyone. Not at his age nor when he'd have to most likely move positions. It's also highly unlikely any team would commit serious money to him as a shortstop, but don't rule out the Royals.

The Changing of the O's

Stacey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:12:47 -0000

2007 - Pre-MacPhail. 2010 - Based solely on current players. How much have we improved, really? Discuss. Is it fair to say that the only position where the 2010 Orioles are worse off than the 2007 Orioles is shortstop?

All lineups are based on who played that most games at that position in each year.

2007 Baltimore Orioles	2008 Baltimore Orioles	2009 Baltimore Orioles	2010 Baltimore Orioles
C: Ramon Hernandez	C: Ramon Hernandez	C: Matt Wieters	C: Matt Wieters
1B: Kevin Millar	1B: Kevin Millar	1B: Aubrey Huff	1B: Luke Scott
2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts
3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Ty Wigginton
SS: Miguel Tejada	SS: Juan Castro	SS: Cesar Izturis	SS: Cesar Izturis
LF: Jay Payton	LF: Luke Scott	LF: Nolan Reimold	LF: Felix Pie
CF: Corey Patterson	CF: Adam Jones	CF: Adam Jones	CF: Adam Jones
RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis
DH: Aubrey Huff	DH: Aubrey Huff	DH: Luke Scott	DH: Nolan Reimold

Kemp, Hudson Win Gold Gloves

Eric Stephen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:59:20 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

The Bison took home his first Gold Glove award today, joining teammate Orlando Hudson

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Matt Kemp and Orlando Hudson of the Dodgers are among the National League Gold Glove winners, to be announced later today. This is the first award for Kemp, and the fourth for Hudson, who also won from 2005 to 2007 with both the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks. Here are the full list of winners:

Pos	Player	Team	GG
P	Adam Wainwright	StL	1st
C	Yadier Molina	StL	2nd
1B	Adrian Gonzalez	SD	2nd
2B	Orlando Hudson	LA	4th
3B	Ryan Zimmerman	Was	1st
SS	Jimmy Rollins	Phi	3rd
OF	Matt Kemp	LA	1st
OF	Shane Victorino	Phi	2nd
OF	Michael Bourn	Hou	1st

This is the first time the Dodgers have had two Gold Glove winners in the same season since 2004, when Cesar Izturis and Steve Finley (who was acquired at the trade deadline that season) took home the hardware.

Kemp, who led all major league center fielders with 14 assists and four double plays (tied with Nate McLouth), is the ~~first~~ second full-time Dodger center fielder to take home a Gold Glove, joining Willie Davis (1971-1973). Finley played center field for the Dodgers in 2004, but only for 55 games. Kemp is also just the ~~fifth~~ sixth Dodger outfielder to win the award, joining Wally Moon (1960), Davis, Dusty Baker (1981), Raul Mondesi (1995, 1997), and Finley.

The only other Dodger second basemen to win a Gold Glove award were Charlie Neal in 1959, and Davey Lopes in 1978.

Thanks to Kensai at Memories of Kevin Malone for the scoop.

Gold Gloves vs. UZR: The Laziest Article I've Ever Written (AL Edition)

SFiercex4 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:20:29 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

During a pitching change in the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres in a baseball game Tuesday, June 23, 2009, center fielder Franklin Gutierrez (center) ponders aloud "You think I'll get a Gold Glove this year?" Left fielder Wladimir Balentien assures him while right fielder Ichiro Suzuki (kneeling right) snickers. "Gold Gloves?" he thinks as he stares off into the diamond. "I have a million of those." (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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So, today we got to see the American League Gold Glove awards as voted on by coaches and managers. The following is the list of players who won for the American League

Player	Team	Position
Mark Buehrle	CHA	P
Joe Mauer	MIN	C
Mark Teixeira	NYA	1B
Placido Polanco	DET	2B
Evan Longoria	TBR	3B
Derek Jeter	NYA	SS
Adam Jones	BAL	OF
Torii Hunter	LAA	OF
Ichiro Suzuki	SEA	OF

If you are reading this site, I do not think you need to be told that the Gold Glove awards reward players for their name, good looks, reputation, lack of errors, and degree of difficulty, whether real or fabricated by a player's skill. What it does not generally reward is actual defense, though that occasionally gets thrown into the mix as well.

In what will undoubtedly appear as a lazy article (after all, it's so easy to pick on these things, why even bother?), I am going to pit the Gold Glove awards with UZR to see how much agreement there may be. Of course, so as to not raise the ire of one MGL, I will not be quoting single-season UZR totals. Rather, I'll do something simple: a 3-year pseudo-Marcels projection of defensive worth based on both UZR and the Fans Scouting Report. I'll take the single-season UZR leader (yes, I know, but this allows me to not have to do too many projections) and the 2009 GG winner and run a weighted Marcels, weighting UZR at 75% and the Fans at 25%. I'll then regress each total by 75 games of average defense for infielders and 100 games of average for outfielders.

For outfielders, I'll look at the players with the best UZR + positional adjustments, so as to account for the fact that you can pick any three outfielders. For catchers, I'll use the defensive estimates done by devil_fingers in this post, and TotalZone data available at B-Ref courtesy of Sean Smith. Catcher defense is regressed 125 games; I do not have a basis for this, but I figured it should be regressed the most because we know the least about it. I won't be looking at the pitchers, though it is worth mentioning that Buerhle also won the Fielding Bible Award for pitchers this season, so that probably goes down as an agreement. Finally, because the 2009 FSR is still in the voting format, 2009 data will only include UZR. Sorry.

Let's find out how the voters did against the numbers (why do we always have to fight?).

First off, here are the players the Gold Glove voters selected.

Player	Position	Defense
Joe Mauer	C	+7
Mark Teixiera	1B	+2
Placido Polanco	2B	+9
Evan Longoria	3B	+15
Derek Jeter	SS	+0
Adam Jones	OF	+2
Torii Hunter	OF	-2
Ichiro Suzuki	OF	+9

As you can see, the list is not all that bad. Among the players listed here, the Fans Scouting Report agreed a whole lot more than UZR did with the GG voters. Teixeira has come out as around the second best first baseman in baseball over the last few years, behind only Albert Pujols, but UZR has had him with two seasons of below average play and one very strong 2008 campaign; overall, he ended up at around +2 runs. Torii Hunter ends up as the only player in the negative side; here the Fans and UZR disagree heavily, with UZR rating Hunter as solidly below average while the Fans have still have him as one of the best center fielders in the game.

I was rather surprised to see Derek Jeter rate as an even shortstop under this methodology. The Fans have him as slightly above average (+2 and +1 runs in 2007 and 2008 respectively), while UZR has him over the three-year span as a -4 run defender per 150 games. it is worth noting that in the 2009 FSR, Jeter ranks in the middle of the pack as well at shortstop, around the likes of Juan Castro, Tyler Greene, and Miguel Tejada.

Ichiro was an interesting case as well. Each of the three years, UZR rated him well, even with his move to center field in 2007. The Fans, however, were off the charts in favor of Ichiro, labeling him likely the best defender in baseball. The Fans had Ichiro at +27 and +22 runs in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Taking the conglomerate, Ichiro ended up at +9 runs, still the second best total listed here.

There were still places where UZR, the Fans, and even the GG voters agreed. Everyone came to terms on how ridiculous Evan Longoria is at third base, and no one should be surprised there. Similarly, Placido Polanco received reviews from the Fans that were very similar to his UZR numbers, at least in 2008. And Adam Jones received high marks in '08, in concordance with his solid UZR. Jones however was hurt in that his second season in 2009 weighed in more than half of his rating and he happened to receive poor marks from UZR; the Fans still rank him very highly among center fielders, and his numbers would have looked better had I used this season's FSR data.

The Numbers Tally

In comparison, let's take a look at the leaders in terms of UZR or catcher defense this season. Note that in the case of third base, Longoria was the UZR leader and the award recipient, so I went to the second-ranked player for the comparison. Also, in the case of second base, the leader was Ben Zobrist, but I felt with such little data at our disposal in terms of his second base play, his skewed 2009 UZR would have a significant hold on his projection, so I went with the next available player, Dustin Pedroia. Finally, I added four outfielders, three of them center fielders, for comparison. Only one corner outfielder, Carl Crawford, would have approached the amount needed when combining both UZR and positional adjustment.

Player	Team	Position	Defense
Gerald Laird	DET	C	+7
Kevin Youkilis	BOS	1B	+3
Dustin Pedroia	BOS	2B	+8
Chone Figgins	LAA	3B	+9
Cesar Izturis	BAL	SS	+7
Franklin Gutierrez	SEA	OF	+21
B.J. Upton	TBR	OF	+8
Rajai Davis	OAK	OF	+7
Carl Crawford	TBR	OF	+10

As mentioned, the GG voters nabbed two of the UZR leaders (at third base and at second base, if you don't count Zobrist). It would appear as if they did a very good job in that department, as this methodology shows Longoria as absolutely dominant defensively and Polanco a very defensible choice given the difference between him and Pedroia. Mauer and "One Man, Five Tools" Laird came out fairly even in the projection, so there should be no quibble in handing the award to the future AL MVP. Likewise, the Youkilis vs. Teixeira debate came fairly even, so deeming Teixeira the winner is certainly a decent choice.

The shortstop position was a very interesting find. I was quite surprised to see that Cesar Izturis came out on top this season, though he carries a very good reputation. I was also quite happy to see strong agreement between the Fans and UZR on Izturis' year-to-year performances. Overall, he would have been a solid choice. I recognize also that I left Elvis Andrus out of the picture for similar reasons to the Zobrist argument. He did end ever-so-slightly behind Izturis on the leaderboard, so I do have that to back me up. With the type of regression Andrus probably would have received for not having played a whole lot, I imagine Izturis would still have come out on top.

It is perhaps in the outfield where the voters missed the mark. Two of the three winners of the Fielding Bible awards, center fielder Franklin Gutierrez and left fielder Carl Crawford, came up missing in the final awards, while a player that, according to this projection, actually hurt the team's defense when compared to the average was awarded (another) Gold Glove. The decision to take Hunter in this case seems very poor when in comparison to the options available. Gutierrez's exclusion was expected but still heinous in light of how good he was this year and how good he has been the past three seasons.

Any of the above choices, between Crawford, Upton, Davis, and Gutierrez, would have been much better than Hunter in this case. Replacing either Jones or Ichiro would be more questionable, and admittedly I did not factor in positional adjustments into these, so Ichiro's numbers as a center fielder and right fielder are counting the same, as are Gutierrez's.

Conclusion

The voters actually did a decent job overall, minus the one giant oversight of Gutierrez and the awarding of yet another Gold Glove that Derek Jeter likely did not earn. Compared to recent results over the last few years though, this year's ballot was a nice change of pace, even though it included a lot of the "old guard" in terms of defense. I hope that in a few years, we can expect to see less of Jeter and Hunter and more of Gutierrez, Andrus, and Crawford on these ballots, reflecting a changing of the guard in defense, a changing of the system and how it is run, or maybe even a more open view on defensive metrics, at least in the context of rewarding good defense.

Expect the National League version tomorrow, or later still, depending on how infuriating it looks. I'm a pessimist.

A Preliminary Look at the 2010 AL East Offenses - Part 2

Stacey — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:08:43 -0000

More photos » by Mark Lennihan - AP

He's flashy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

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Last week's 2010 AL East projections post covered catcher, first base, and second base for the O's and their divisional rivals, so today we'll take a look at shortstop, third base, and designated hitter. In case you missed the last post, the projections being used are those by Bill James that will be contained in his 2010 Handbook. This information was provided to SB Nation with permission to be posted as we see fit.

The projections for the first part were easier to narrow down as they covered two sure things in the lineup (Matt Wieters and Brian Roberts) and one guess made by me based on the players in the Orioles system right now (Luke Scott). This section, however, is trickier. For one thing, the bulk of the 3B projections by Bill James goes to Melvin Mora. Remember that Bill James doesn't make predictions on if a player will play/be on the team but rather how he will do if he IS on the team. And if Melvin Mora were on the team next year the chances are he'd be the starting 3B for the O's in most games. But Mora will not be back, so those projections can be scrapped as far as we're concerned. That leaves at 3B, among the current options, Ty Wigginton and Joshua Bell. The odds are that Wiggy will start the year at 3B and if Bell proves himself at 3B he will make an appearance sometime in the season. But it's the off-season and frankly talking about Ty Wigginton isn't very fun, so instead I'm going to pretend that Josh Bell makes the team out of spring training.

Additionally, I already used last year's main DH in the projection for first base, so I'm going to go completely off base and suggest a brand new DH for the O's in 2010. It's based on nothing more than a little dream I have that you can feel free to make fun of. Of the existing options, it's much more likely that the O's will stick Luke Scott back at DH and start the year with Michael Aubrey or the equivalent at 1B, but that's boring.

And of course, Cesar Izturis plays SS and he is not good at hitting.

On to the projections after the jump!

Shortstop

Let's get Izzy out of the way first. We all know that, while head and shoulders above the shortstops used in 2008, Izzy still isn't great shakes with the bat. On a team with a lot of big hitters Izzy can be a valuable glove as long as his bat stays at the bottom of the order. For some reason Dave Trembley loved using him in the two hole last year, which was possibly the most infuriating thing about his managing, at least to me (I'm sure you all have your own).

Cesar Izturis	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
James '09 Projections	138	446	122	19	1	52	34	36.9	28	33	.274	.321	.336	.657
Izturis '09 stats	114	387	99	14	2	34	30	32.7	18	38	.256	.294	.328	.622
James '10 Projections	126	387	100	16	1	40	28	37	22	34	.258	.303	.318	.621

Yeah, that's not very pretty. The only real thing Izzy has to going for him is that he is indisputably a very good defensive shortstop. Even with his abysmal hitting in 2009 (an OBP of under .300? Seriously?), his defense was good enough to warrant him a WAR of 1.3. Not great in comparison to the other AL East shortstops, but not bad considering the offensive numbers he put up. Because of the more glaring holes at other places in the lineup, Izzy's job appears to be safe in 2010 but filling the position with better talent will most certainly be a goal before the 2011 season.

James '10 projections	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Derek Jeter	156	631	200	31	15	103	72	108	64	99	.317	.388	.444	.831
Jed Lowrie	129	384	100	35	9	55	59	59	53	80	.260	.350	.438	.788
Jason Bartlett	146	540	157	31	8	82	54	78	48	89	.291	.355	.407	.763
Marco Scutaro	147	549	145	30	10	79	57	72	68	76	.264	.347	.381	.728

Derek Jeter is Derek Jeter. He's consistent. He's going to get in the neighborhood of 200 hits, his OPS is going to be in the mid .800s, and we're going to dislike him. I'm not really one to play the what if game, but do you know who the Orioles drafted two picks before Jeter? Jeffrey Hammonds. Imagine how things might have been just a little different with Jeter on the team. Hell, imagine how different Derek Jeter's life would have been. I somehow doubt he'd have ended up dating all of those celebrities while spending the summer living in a condo in Canton.

Shortstop is a weird place for the Red Sox. In 2009 no one played more than 81 games there. Jed Lowrie, their young prospect, missed most of the year recovering from wrist surgery. Nick Green filled in for him but then missed much of the later part of the season with a back injury. Alex Gonzalez completed the SS merry go round when he arrived via trade in mid-August to fill in for Green.

Jason Bartlett hit 14 home runs in 2009. In his 4 big league seasons prior to '09 he hit a total of 11 home runs. Consider me skeptical that he'll hit 8 in 2010. Everything else seems pretty in line with his career, though. Similiarly, Marco Scutaro's 12 HR in 2009 was a career high for him. He usually hits about 7 and has 50 in his career. There isn't a huge difference in 7 and 10, I suppose, but it still strikes me as just a touch high.

Verdict: Izzy's the worst. Sorry Izzy.

Third Base:

Third base might be the biggest question mark going into the 2010 season. Will Andy MacPhail sign or trade for someone? Will that someone be a short term fix while the team waits for Joshua Bell, or someone who might stay there long term? Will MacPhail choose to wait patiently for Bell to prove himself in AAA and put Ty Wigginton out there in the meantime? Will he say screw it and throw Bell out there on Opening Day to see if he sinks or swims? I have no idea. One thing we do know is that longtime Oriole Melvin Mora will not be back in 2010. It'll be a little strange not having Melvin out there on Opening Day. Good, don't get me wrong, but strange.

I was a little surprised when I saw Josh Bell's projections from Bill James. It's my observation that his projections tend towards the optimistic side for younger players, so I'm taking this with a few grains of salt. Still, it's hard not to get just a little excited at the prospect of this sort of production from a rookie 3B.

Joshua Bell	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 AA (LAD & BAL)	127	448	138	35	20	65	76	61	98	.295	.367	.516	.892
James '10 Projections	91	347	100	21	11	51	61	45	71	.288	.370	.455	.825

Bell's numbers are only projected out to 91 games which probably makes sense given the fact that he's never played above AA. But if there is any chance at all he could put up numbers like that, I can't wait to see him. As has been noted, he's a switch hitter who has his troubles hitting lefties. In his minor league career, he's hit .245/.327/.366 against lefties, which is beyond terrible. He was even worse in 2009 when he spent the entire year in AA. If he does make the jump to the big leagues in 2010 it might be a good idea to play Wiggy at 3B against lefties, at least until Bell proves he can do something, anything, against lefties.

But forget about the whole lefties issue for just a second and look at those numbers. Those are pretty great numbers coming from the 3B spot, and would be the best numbers from that position for the O's since Mora's career year in 2004. It'd be a great start to have that position contributing again, especially considering the talent at 3B throughout the division.

James '10 projections	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Alex Rodriguez	145	544	160	26	37	104	113	84	125	.294	.400	.550	.950
Mike Lowell	138	529	147	35	19	66	84	46	74	.278	.339	.456	.795
Evan Longoria	157	595	171	42	37	106	120	73	134	.287	.370	.548	.918
Edwin Encarnacion	129	452	117	28	21	64	69	50	91	.259	.343	.465	.808

I pine for Evan Longoria. I'm so jealous of the Rays because they have him. When you compare him, Alex Rodriguez, and even Mike Lowell to 2009 Melvin Mora it's no wonder the Orioles did as poorly as they did. It's not even in the same league. But I am cautiously optimistic about Josh Bell. He'll obviously never be A-Rod or Longoria, but he's young and talented. As much as I missed George Sherrill during the great bullpen implosion of '09, I'm thrilled at the idea of what Josh Bell might become.

Verdict: The future is uncertain, but at least it's not Melvin Mora.

Designated Hitter

And here is where I really go off the rails. As mentioned above, I'm going to share with you a little dream I've had about the Orioles designated hitter in 2010. I don't really think it will happen but I am sort of in love with the idea. When I looked at the original projections provided by James I made a lineup in my head where Reimold is the everyday DH with Felix Pie in LF. The more I thought about it however, the more I wanted to put together the most imposing lineup. It's no secret I love Pie, so I felt a little guilty leaving him out, but it was a sacrifice I had to make.

It's been said that the Orioles are going after a bat this year. The lineup is pretty set other than DH, 1B, and 3B, and I don't think they'll do anything long term for 3B given their hopes for Josh Bell. That leaves 1B and DH. What Andy MacPhail is going to do is a mystery to everyone, so allow me to propose a solution at DH: Jim Thome. I know what you may be thinking. Thome is old, he's been hobbling around most of this year, he's not a long term solution. All of those things may be true, but hear me out.

Jim Thome can hit. He hits home runs, and a lot of them. The flag court calls to him, "Hit it here, Jim!" Not to mention how he'd abuse the wind tunnel that is right field in Yankee Stadium. So he's old, it's true. On more than one occassion I've found myself chatting with Brotz13 when the topic turns to Thome and how we'd like him to be the Jake Taylor of the 2010-2011 Baltimore Orioles. By all accounts Jim Thome is just an awesome dude. Not that it matters all that much, but the team could benefit from an older dude who's been in the playoffs, who can mash, who will take a walk with the best of them, and who is awesome.

Jim Thome	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
'09 James Projection	150	530	134	25	38	93	102	107	166	.253	.382	.515	.897
Thome '09 stats	124	362	90	15	23	55	77	69	123q	.249	.366	.481	.847
'10 James projections	132	441	108	20	29	73	84	88	146	.245	.374	.488	.862

Thome's '09 stats are a little weird thanks to the fact that he was traded to the Dodgers on August 31st and therefore had just 17 AB in the entire month of September. As it turns out, Thome isn't a very good pinch hitter. Prior to his move to LA he was hitting .249/.372/.493. Not a huge difference, but an OPS of .865 looks a heck of a lot better than .847.

The designated hitter in the rest of the AL East isn't really so scary, in my opinion. Ortiz is on the downward swing, Matsui is still very good but gets hurt pretty much every other year. Pat Burrell was a huge disappointment in Tampa Bay. Adam Lind of the Blue Jays is the most awesome of the bunch, but considering how sad the Blue Jays are it doesn't really matter. Yes, an Orioles fan is calling the Blue Jays sad. I'm arrogant that way.

James '10 Projections	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Hideki Matsui	139	507	143	27	23	75	88	65	81	.282	.367	.475	.842
David Ortiz	138	484	128	34	29	79	99	77	112	.264	.369	.519	.887
Pat Burrell	119	346	82	17	17	59	54	62	100	.237	.356	.439	.795
Adam Lind	153	590	180	43	31	90	113	52	107	.305	.364	.542	.907

Color me skeptical on that Ortiz projection. He hasn't had numbers like that since 2007 (when they were much better) and his numbers in 2008 and 2009 have gotten progressively worse. Yes he turned it around this year but you can't ignore the massive slump he was in for the first half of this past season.

Verdict: The O's actual DH will probably be much worse than Jim Thome.

And thus ends the fantasy portion of the 2010 projections. Stay tuned for part 3 which will focus on my very favorite part of the lineup: the outfield.

Orioles 3, Rays 2: Finally

Stacey — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:38:07 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Good job, Chris. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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Our long national nightmare is over! The Orioles won their first game since September 16th. I couldn't even remember that game, so I looked back at the recap. Wow. I was happy back then. Sadly, even then Jim Johnson pitched poorly as he blew the save that night and was saved by Matt Wieters' walk off home run.

Matt Garza made the start for the Rays and pitched 6 innings, giving up three runs. He didn't pitch poorly by any means. The only extra base hit he allowed was a first inning double to Cesar Izturis, who would score on a single by Nick Markakis that deflected off of Jason Bartlett's glove. The O's other two runs were scored on singles by Melvin Mora and Jeff Fiorentino. Most days 3 runs wouldn't be enough for this team and its pitching staff, but tonight it held up.

Chris Waters made his first start of the year and came through in a big way. He pitched 5 innings, allowing 1 run on just two hits. He was rolling after 5 innings, but since he hadn't started a game since September 5th in Norfolk, he probably didn't have much left. The effective and decidedly un-Oriole like pitching continued as Cla Meredith, Alberto Castillo, and Danys Baez pitched the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings without allowing a hit.

The O's entered the 9th with a 3-1 lead when poor, sad, awful Jim Johnson came into the game. The perfect way for this losing streak to end would be if JJ had been strong and looked good. If he'd thrown that sinker we all know he's capable of, struck a few guys out, and restored our faith in him.

Yeah, that didn't happen. Johnson allowed a lead off double to Ben Zobrist, who is pretty much my least favorite Ray ever. He retired Upton on a popout, and Willy Aybar hit a fly ball to center field. It wasn't hit deep and Jeff Fiorentino, who was playing on the warning track, couldn't get to it. Zobrist moved to third and then scored on Pat Burrell's sac fly. Gregg Zaun hit a pinch hit ground ball single that just eluded Brian Roberts and the tying run was on third with two outs. Jim Johnson looked miserable. He and Matt Wieters couldn't agree on any pitches so Wieters had to go to the mound. Kranitz also went out for good measure. I've never seen anyone sweat more in a temperature controlled dome than Jim Johnson. But he ultimately got the job done, getting Iwamura to ground out right back to him.

O's win! It wasn't pretty, but it worked. They now head home for the final three games of the season where Jason Berken, Mark Hendrickson, and Jeremy Guthrie will do their best to go out on a good note.

Poll

Hey it's been forever since we've done this, but who was tonight's Most Birdland Player of the game?

Chris Waters (5 IP, 2 H, 1 R)

87 votes

Cesar Izturis (2-3, 2B, BB, R)

6 votes

Melvin Mora (RBI single, several sweet plays at 3B, plus there are only three more days to ever vote for him again)

48 votes

141 votes | Poll has closed

We have an answer, and I'm not Ryan!

chuckb — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:22:41 -0000

by KYLE ERICSON - AP

Despite wearing that horrible caterpillar on his head, Ryan's defense has made him a long-term solution at shortstop. (AP Photo/Kyle Ericson)

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Two years ago when Brendan Ryan was first called up, the team was going nowhere quickly and David Eckstein was the starting shortstop. Ryan hit fairly well in sporadic playing time and it was my opinion that we needed to see what he could do. I never really believed that he’d end up being more than a utility player but we were languishing in third place, Eckstein was a free agent-to-be, and I really didn’t see that there was a lot to lose by running Ryan out to short. It was fairly clear to me that Ryan was a solid defensive player – much better than Eckstein – and that he could handle the position defensively. I just didn’t really think he’d ever hit enough to justify full-time status.

Ryan seemed to be in Tony’s doghouse a lot for his eccentricities and the fact that he once missed a take sign on 3-0 and Tony went all Milton Bradley on him in the dugout. This site divided pretty clearly into a group who wanted to see more of Ryan and a group who took the view that Tony’s the manager and he runs the club and it’s the player’s job to do what the manager says…period. More managers should act this way. I wondered then whether Ryan ever would get a chance to see what he could do.

He didn’t get much of a chance last year but his play didn’t exactly inspire a lot of extra chances, either. I’m not sure he hit a loud foul all season and, while Cesar Izturis hardly inspired a lot of confidence at the plate either, his defense was solid. I got the impression that I was right all along about Ryan – that his relatively strong offensive performance in a third of a season in ’07 was somewhat of an aberration considering his minor league track record and that he’d never really end up more than a utility infielder.

Neither Mo nor Tony seemed to be convinced that Ryan was the solution either as the team traded for the declining and mercurial Khalil Greene in the offseason. Hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, Greene started 17 of the Cards’ 23 April games, batting .219/.333/.344 w/ 2 homers. More troubling, however, was Greene’s defense. At the end of May, Greene had started 26 of the Cards’ 47 games, was hitting .200/.287/.295 and was on the D.L. w/ anxiety issues related to his poor play. Ryan took over more out of necessity than the team’s intrepid confidence in his ability.

Meanwhile, as May came to a close, Ryan was hitting .280/.345/.387 (in just 86 PAs) and was playing solidly at shortstop. In fact, I don’t think I was alone in noticing that Ryan was even a much better defensive player than I had remembered. He was simply making plays that the Cards hadn’t seen at that position since #1 ran out there every day. I’m not calling him Ozzie, but Renteria never made as many really good plays as Ryan was making. Eckstein and Greene damned sure weren’t that good defensively either.

Now, of course, Ryan’s the every day shortstop on a team that’s 24 games over .500, has the largest lead in the majors, and is tied for the best record in the NL. Who’d a thunk it? Not me, that’s for sure. Ryan’s been solid, offensively. He’ll never be Renteria, Rollins, or Reyes at the plate but neither is he a liability. He’s got a respectable .713 OPS and .309 wOBA. Make no mistake, he’s a below average offensive player, even at the shortstop position, but it’s not like he’s an automatic out either.

It’s his defense that’s made Ryan an everyday player. As I mentioned, he’s been spectacular defensively and it allows the team the ability to tolerate his offense. Let’s face it, if he was playing defense like Greene was, the team just couldn’t abide his offense. But right now his UZR at short is 9.1 runs above average. That’s the 2nd best rate in the majors, behind only Jack Wilson. According to RZR, he’s not quite that good. THT has his UZR as .837, 7th best in the majors. Still, it’s very good. The really interesting thing is that, despite our perceptions, according to UZR, he’s not really a better shortstop than he’s been the previous 2 seasons. We just didn’t notice it b/c of the limited playing time he received. His UZR/150 this season is 11.4 but it was 14.4 in 2008 and 13.7 in 2007. We can point to the limited innings in each of those seasons and say "small sample size" and that’s true, of course, but it’s right in the same range as the 660+ innings he’s garnered there this year.

In terms of his value, he’s been worth 2.2 WAR w/ about a month left in the season, putting him on a pace for about a 2.5 win season. Not too shabby for a guy making the major league minimum. Despite the fact that Ryan played very little in the season’s first 2 months, only 12 major league and 4 NL shortstops have been more valuable this season.

It’s pretty clear to me that the Cards have now found the young shortstop they’ve needed – and not really been searching for. It’s also clear to me that Ryan should get some Gold Glove consideration. Will he? I doubt it. Jimmy Rollins has won the award each of the last 2 seasons but his offense has gone south this season. That should be irrelevant but, unfortunately, it isn’t. Still, he has just 3 errors, the highest fielding percentage, and he’s a big name so he’ll probably get it again. The thing that hurts Ryan the most is the fact that he hardly played the first 2 months of the season and will have played only about 2/3 of the season when it ends next month. Both RZR and UZR have J.J. Hardy and Ryan Theriot above Rollins but it’s unclear how much playing time Hardy will get over the last month and his poor offensive season has gotten as much attention as Rollins’s has. As for Theriot, I’m not sure he’s a big enough name to win the award.

Right now I see Ryan as the best defensive shortstop in the NL. I’m biased, of course, but it’s pretty clear to me that he’s going to be worth 1-1.5 wins defensively, 1.5-2 wins for the replacement level adjustment, and another half a win or so for the positional adjustment. Given 140+ games at short next year, he’s at least a 2.5 – 3 win player for the Cards, earning just a million bucks or so. This is a position for the team that’s appeared to have no long-term solution available, just a perennial series of band-aids but now it seems as though the team has found its solution.

Orioles 5, Twins 1: This is what I'm saying!

Stacey — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:06:44 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

3 months ago: Baltimore Orioles' Felix Pie watches his solo home run against Minnesota Twins' starting pitcher Nick Blackburn during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

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In tonight's Game Thread post I said, "Hopefully the Orioles can make up for their embarrassing display last night with a well pitched, fundamentally sound game and come away with the win." Well, from my keyboard to the Orioles' ears, because that's exactly what they did. Jeremy Guthrie pitched his second consecutive strong game, the Orioles offense was solid, and the defense was perfect as the Orioles beat the Twins 5-1 to end the road trip with a record of 4-5.

Tonight Jeremy Guthrie looked like the Guts that we saw in 2008 and it was a welcome sight. Guthrie has pitched good games this season, but he is rarely capable of pitching more than one in a row. Tonight he pitched 7 innings, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. He struck out 5, walked 0 (just the third time this year), and didn't give up a home run for just the 7th time this year.

After giving up a leadoff single in the first inning, Guthrie retired the next ten in a row before allowing back-to-back hits to Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in the 4th inning. Mauer scored the only Twins run on Morneau's double, but Jeremy shut it down, retiring the next 7 batters. Mauer broke up that streak with a two out single in the 6th inning, but Guthrie got Morneau to end the inning. Better pitchers than Guthrie have been foiled by Mauer/Morneau, and it was encouraging to see Guts pick right up where he left off after they got their hits in the 4th.

Guthrie went into the 7th inning with just 89 pitches and got into trouble for the first time in the game. After striking out Jason Kubel for the first out he surrendered singles to Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young. Guthrie has been known to unravel this year, but not tonight. With two runners on and one out, he retired Brandon Harris and Alexi Casilla to get out of it unscathed. He finished the game with 112 pitches (72 strikes). The team needed Guthrie to step up and for once he did just that, with a little help from the defense.

Cesar Izturis was very impressive at shortstop tonight. He was involved in 7 plays and made multiple throws from deep in the hole. In the bottom of the 9th he expertly fielded a slow roller by Michael Cuddyer, bare handing it and just getting the out at first to end the game. Luke Scott, not known for his defense, had a very good play at first base on a grounder and made a very nice scoop on one of Izzy's long throws. Nolan Reimold made a nice play in the 7th, covering a lot of ground to catch the third out in shallow left near the foul line. Even that lollygagging, defensively challenged Brian Roberts made a few great defensive plays, including a ground ball in the 9th that was slowed down by Jim Johnson. Brian had to rush to the ball and make a quick throw, but made the out.

Offensively, the Orioles scored their five runs with a little bit of help from the Twins. In the first inning, Nolan Reimold came to bat with two outs and runners at 2nd and 3rd. He hit a grounder deep into the hole at SS and, in typical Reimold fashion, ran full speed towards first. It would have been a difficult play for Twins SS Orlando Cabrera, but in his haste to beat Reimold he threw the ball away. Izturis and Scott scored and Nolan went to 2nd on the error. Felix Pie, one of last night's goats, hit his 5th HR of the year in the 4th inning, a solo shot to right center.

Pie was on base again in the 6th via a walk when Chad Moeller knocked a double to left field. Pie, who's exuberance is exceeded only by his speed, scored from first on the play. The Orioles final run on the night came in the 8th inning when Chad Moeller again came to the plate with the bases loaded. Moeller took a 5 pitch walk to force in Nolan Reimold. The Orioles had a chance to really break it open, but Twins reliever Matt Guerrier retired Brian Roberts and Cesar Izturis on ground balls.

After Guthrie pitched his 7 innings, Danys Baez and Jim Johnson pitched the 8th and 9th innings respectively. Baez walked Denard Span to start the inning, although the AB was interrupted by a joker running onto the field. Other than that walk both Baez and Johnson were perfect, preserving the win for Jeremy Guthrie and sending the Orioles home on a good note.

Last night's game was a messy affair for both teams. The Orioles looked like hapless cellar dwellers and the Twins didn't look much better, despite being in a playoff race. Tonight the Orioles looked totally different; they came to play. It was evident from the get go, and it was fun to watch. The Twins, on the other hand, continued to look a little sloppy. From Cabrera's error in the first to yet another walked in run, they just didn't seem to have it together. They played a tighter game than yesterday, for sure, but the Twins organization and fans have to be disappointed that their team had a chance to gain a game on both Chicago and Detroit and weren't able to capitalize.

The Orioles are back home tomorrow against the Cleveland Indians. They have four against the Indians followed by three with the Yankees and three with the Rangers. It'll be a tough homestand with the O's trying to play the role of spoiler. Tomorrow's matchup is David Hernandez vs. Aaron Laffey.

Poll

Who was tonight's Most Birdland Player (MBP)?

Jeremy Guthrie (7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 0 HR)

193 votes

Chad Moeller (2-2, 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI)

16 votes

Felix Pie (1-2, HR, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI)

19 votes

Cesar Izturis (2-5, 1 R, gold glove plays at SS)

7 votes

235 votes | Poll has closed

Twins win ugly

cmathewson — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:24:57 -0000

More photos » by Andy King - AP

Minnesota Twins Justin Morneau homers in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles in a baseball game on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009 in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Andy King)

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Delmon Young singled home the game winner to lift the Minnesota Twins to a rare walk-off win 7-6 over the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday night at the Metrodome.

The win pulls the Twins into a tie for second place in the American League Central Division with the Chicago White Sox, despite both teams playing .500 ball to this point.

The game was one of the sloppiest the Twins have played all year. The Twins started Armando Gabino, who had 12 professional starts in his nine-year minor league career. His inexperience showed as he was all over the place with his fastball, walking three and leaving with the bases loaded after giving up three runs in 2 2/3 innings.

His own defense didn't help his cause. With one out in the second dinning, a pick-off attempt ended up in the Orioles' bullpen, sending Cesar Izturis to third. In the same at bat, he scored on what would have been a double play ground out to short by Brian Roberts. With one out in the third inning, Gabino failed to cover first in time on a double play grounder to short. He later filled the bases with two outs and had an early exit.

The Orioles matched the Twins blunder for blunder through three innings, despite a terrific play by Felix Pie on a slicing gapper off the bat of Carlos Gomez. (OK, what's with he French pronunciation? The guy's name is Pie, as in Apple Pie. If he introduced himself to me for the first time as Pee-eh? I would have said, "You're shittin' me right? You're name is Pie and you'd rather go by a phrase a French Canadian uses when he's gotta go take a leak.") Anyway, great catch aside, the Twins took advantage of some poor pitching to string together three hits and score two runs. The big hit was a Denard Span triple to score Alexi Casilla and Young.

Philip Humber relieved "Garbino" (Bert's pronunciation) and had even less control, walking four--two with the bases loaded--in a full inning of work. Bumbler has a nice curve, but he doesn't know where his fastball is going half the time. He might just be the first of the pitchers acquired in the Johan Santana trade to get shown the door.

The Twins relief corps got steadily better after Bumbler left. Bobby Keppel was more like Dr. Keppel than Mr. Hyde on this night, holding the Orioles to one run over the next 2 1/3 innings. He was throwing strikes, which seemed to breath fresh life into the Twins, both in the field and at the plate. Jesse Crain relieved him and, amazingly, also threw quality strikes to breeze through 2 innings and give the Twins a chance to catch up.

Justin Morneau blasted a high fastball into the sky box and later started a rare double play. After a Pee-eh? double, Nolan Reimold popped up near the Orioles dugout. Both Joe Mauer and Morneau converged on the ball, with Morneau making the catch and Mauer stumbling into the dugout. Somehow Pee-eh? thought he could tag up on the play and was easily caught trying to go to third. This matched his bone-head play earlier in the game when Orlando Cabrera deeked him on a line drive single to right, getting him to run back toward first on a ball that easily could have sent him to third with his speed. The double play cost the Orioles at least a run, so Pee-eh? was even on the day, having saved them a run earlier with the great catch.

The heroes of the night--Young and Casilla--helped to tie the game in the (you guessed it) sixth inning. After Orioles starter Brian Matusz had retired six batters in a row, the Orioles inexplicably brought in former Twins nemesis Brian Bass. In truth, B-Ass is only a Twins nemesis if he wears a Twins uniform. Right on cue, he allowed five base runners and three runs without retiring a batter before getting pulled. Despite a Mauer double play grounder and a Morneau ground out off of lefty Mark Hendrickson to to end the inning, the Twins took the field in the seventh with the game tied at 6.

Crain left the game in the ninth after giving up a lead-off double to Nolan Reimold. Jose Mijares came in and retired the three batters he faced to preserve the tie and give the Twins a chance to win the game in walk-off fashion.

The Orioles didn't just roll over, however. They had flame thrower Kam Mickolio pitch the last two innings and the Twins couldn't do anything off of him. At least until two were out in the ninth. After a Michael Cuddyer single and Jason Kubel walk, Young got rewarded with a long, patient at bat to line a single to right. The 3-2 count allowed Cuddyer to be off with the pitch from second and score the winning run.

Studs and duds after the jump.

Studs:

1. Delmon Young: I think DHing suits him. On this night, he went 4-5 with 2 runs and the game-winning hit.

2. Alexi Casilla: OK, so he didn't get the bunt down. No worries, he got the job done by doubling off the baggie. 2-3 with a walk, 2 runs and an RBI

3. Jose Mijares: That was closer material. That change-up on a 3-2 count to strike out Matt Wieters and end the inning to strand the winning run on second was a thing of beauty.

Duds:

1. Felix Pie: I know it only cost them one run, but who tags up on a pop out near the dugout?

2. Philip Humber: My God man, throw the ball over the plate! You can get guys out with your stuff. Try it some time. It has to be better than nibbling and walking guys.

3. Armando Gabino: Hate to pick on the new guy, but he doesn't belong in this role. Talk about thrusting a guy into a pressure cooker with no experience. The results were predictable.