SB Nation User Blog: UMterp08

The interest in Adam Dunn is non-existent...

UMterp08 — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:37:32 -0000

Things have appeared oddly quiet for the biggest slugger on the free-agent market. That would be Adam Dunn, who may find his value isn't quite what he had hoped (though we have to believe he doesn't actually expect the $100 million that ex-Reds teammate Bronson Arroyo says he's expecting).

The Nationals, who have been in on many big names (including Maryland native Mark Teixeiraand Maryland resident A.J. Burnett), could be a possibility. Nationals GM Jim Bowden is said by baseball people to love Dunn, who hit .236 with 100 RBIs and 40 homers last season.

A few other teams might look Dunn, as well. He is the most consistent 40-homer hitter in baseball. How consistent? Well, he's hit exactly 40 home runs for four years running. And the year before that he hit 46, giving him a grand total of 206 homers in the last five years.

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/hot_stove/posts/27101-top-free-agent-slugger-may-come-cheap

We haven't talked about this guy in a while. Yeah hes not as good as Tex, but hes almost on the same level. MacPhail should be considering Dunn as plan B if they don't get their main targets. But Dunn and his agent are probably waiting for Tex and Manny to sign and set the market or something. Can't hurt to begin courting him to make him feel loved though. Did Wayne Krivsky have a good relationship with him? Maybe he could give Dunn a call...

So can we offically declare Mora as the worst 3B in the league yet?

UMterp08 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:38:11 -0000

Third base is typically a power position with those players expected to anchor their respective line ups. Teams are getting this average production out of their third base spot:

2006: .804 OPS

2007: .782 OPS

2008: .779 OPS

Mora on the other hand has given us the fantastic stats of:

2006: .733 OPS (18th out of 22 qualifed 3B)

2007: .759 OPS (14th out of 19)

2008: .691 OPS (21st out of 23)

I'm not an expert on fielding, but I believe it is the consensus here that hes on dreadful on defense. In fact in the latest Fielding Bible rankings, he got the second least votes in his position (only ahead of Chipper Jones).

This year, the only two 3Bs that are (barely) worse than MelMo is Jack Hannahan in Oakland and Bill Hall with the Brewers. Hannahan was simply filling in for Eric Chavez and no longer starts, and Hall was recently displaced by Russell Branyan. Due to that, and his 2/8 steals rate and terrible defense, we have the absolute worst 3B in the league on our hands. And this clown is our #3 hitter!!!!! Can't Trembly look past this respect/seniority bull crap and bat him lower in the line up or something? I would say bench him, but we know that won't happen. Mora, outside of a few big hits, has been killing this team in every plausable way and something needs to be done.

Nick Markakis: On base machine (by default)

UMterp08 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:11:20 -0000

A lot has been made in the Sun and on the broadcasts that Markakis isn't getting anything to hit, which is completely true. We all knew that Tejada's departure would limit the amount of good pitches he sees, but this is worse than I thought. His 1 HR and two 2Bs thus far are the result of pitchers not giving him anything down the plate.Opposing pitchers would simply rather go after Millar and Huff, and I don't blame them at all.

As of now, Nick as 12 walks in 13 games (for a robust .473 OBP), which leads the AL. Our CC community projection predicted that he would draw 72 walks all season, now we have legitimate reason to believe he'll break 100 and have a .400+ OBP.

As long as Brian Roberts is still around and getting on base, I see no reason that this trend can't continue. We will just have to deal with the fact that he might not clear 20 HRs this season.

Can't say Nick isn't a trooper though:

"I'm seeing a lot more of 3-1, 3-2 off-speed pitches, but that's how it's going to go," he said. "I don't mind. I'll take the walks all day long and give more opportunities for guys like Millar and Huff to drive in runs."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-sp.osnotes13apr13,0,4920076.story

From Yahoo's MLB blog: Scout in the stands: Scott Moore hit a homer to give the O's an early...

UMterp08 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:10:31 -0000

From Yahoo's MLB blog:

Scout in the stands: Scott Moore hit a homer to give the O's an early lead, pretty much doing what a dude on Camden Chat said Moore would do if given a shot to play.

Morning Juice: Orioles befuddle Nolan Ryan, rest of Rangers

Alex Rios signs extension with Blue Jays- A sign of things to come for Markakis?

UMterp08 — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:02:29 -0000

For those of you that haven't heard, Alex Rios signed a $64 million, six-year contract extension with the Jays. It breaks down as:

2009: $5.9 million (arbitration year)
2010: $9.7 million (arbitration year)
2011: $12 million (free agency years begin)
2012: $12 million
2013: $12.5 million
2014: $12.5 million
2015: $13.5 million option

He also has a full no-trade clause for 2009-2010, and a partial one after that.

So if Rios entered the market as a free agent, he would have received a 4 year, $49 million contract, a fair price. Most outlets say that Toronto did pretty well in this contract.

I bring this up because its never too early to think about locking up Markakis. Right now, him and Rios are pretty much the same player, so the free agency years should be about the same price if an extension were to occur.

But lets say Markakis steps up his game and becomes a .900 OPS ish type of player, then his free agent salary would probably be $15 million+.

Due to his greek heritage and good looks, I have absolutely no doubt that Angelos will pay whatever it takes to retain him, but some major cash could be saved if they move to lock up Nick within the next year or two. Some might say a long term deal this early is a risk, which it certainly is. But lets face it, in the fickle world of baseball, Markakis is as sure of a thing as it gets in terms of young players.

O's purging their 40 man roster

UMterp08 — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:44:36 -0000

The club outrighted Eider Torres, Val Majewski and Adam Stern from AAA today. This being a week after they did the same J.R. House, Gustavo Molina and Rob Bell. And Victor Zambrano and Jaret Wright before that.

I love the direction MacPhail is taking. These guys were all garbage and everyone knew it. They had no potential and chances of them ever helping the MLB roster was non existant. Hopefully they start getting rid of more players to make room for some guys with actual upside, as opposed to hanging on to these quadruple A players for years.

So... what do you think about Aubrey Huff's season?

UMterp08 — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:51:03 -0000

Coming into this season, I hope none of you were crazy enough to predict a return to glory for Huff. My expectations for him was a 20 HR, 80 RBI, .800 OPS type of season. Though a little short on all counts, he basically performed the way I expected him too. Huff was a total disaster for the first half, but as advertised, turned in a very strong 2nd half of the season. For better or for worse, he was basically the same caliber of hitter Tejada was this year. Now to compare him to other players at his positions:

Huff's statline:

.284/.337/.448, .786 OPS

Average 2007 AL 1B:

.267/.347/.443, .790 OPS

Average 2007 AL DH:

.267/.354/.446, .799 OPS

For all intents and purposes, Huff was an average player this year. At his $4 million salary this season, thats not really a bad thing.

If the FO wants to make him a bargain, they should somehow get rid of Mora and let Huff put up those numbers at the softer 3B position.

"Significant" trade talks between Cubs/O's invovling Jay Payton

UMterp08 — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 13:25:50 -0000

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-osnotes0729,0,3821877.story?track=rss

If the deal is to happen, the O's would likely receive 2 midlevel prospects. The guys at mlbtraderumors.com speculate that one of the players could be Matt Murton. Doesnt make much sense for the Cubs, but I would be ecstatic if a deal like that were to happen. Both teams have made a ton of deals in the past and have a good relationship. Jay Payton sucks and I would be very happy to see him go.

Looks like the Orioles are out of the Teixeira race

UMterp08 — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:48:14 -0000

I mean the O's were never in the sweepstakes in the first place, seeing as how they havent been mentioned with Teixeira the past 2 weeks. But according to Rosenthal, the Braves offer is as following:

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, LHP Matt Harrison and SS Elvis Andrus

The Angels are also in the mix, offering a package of Casey Kotchman and a pitcher (Nick Adenhart, Ervin Santana and Joe Sanunders).

The Dodgers have also been involved with a package centered around James Loney.

The Orioles have absolutely nothing in their farm system to counter these deals (besides Markakis, but trading him for Tex would be a lateral move at best considering everything). Tex was a long shot in the first place, and looks like the O's have no chance. Lets pray he hits free agency instead of signing an extension with the team he is traded to.

One of us made the Washington Post... kinda

UMterp08 — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:08:41 -0000

I was riding the METRO train home from work today and was reading my daily edition of the Washington Post. They usually have a section called the "Blog Log" where they take relevant quotes from blogs all over the net. Seeing a quote about Perlozzo wasn't surprising, but I pleased to see that it was from our very own Camden Chat. It doesnt specify who posted it the comment, but its good enough. I scanned it for all of you too see.