Chris Young: Starting Left Fielder?

Posted in Offense, Offseason with tags , , on November 19, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

During the off-season, ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog, Camden Depot has had some excellent analysis regarding rumors and the potential moves the Orioles could make this offseason, and if you’ve been paying attention at all, Baltimore has been involved in a lot of rumors in this young offseason.  I haven’t heard his name specifically mentioned in any connection to the Orioles, but today at Camden Depot I took a look at whether the Orioles should consider signing free agent center fielder Chris Young to be their starting left fielder in the 2014 season.

Direct Link to Article –> Chris Young: Starting Left Fielder?

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Declining Options: Potential Hitting Fits for Baltimore

Posted in Offense, Offseason with tags , , , , , on November 10, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

The offseason is a week old, and one of the very first orders of business for teams (or players) is to do decide whether or not they should pick up their contract options or cut bait and become free agents.  On Friday we took a look at the pitchers, so today we’ll look at some bats.  If I state that I think the team should make an offer, it doesn’t mean that they should do whatever it takes to sign them.  Due to the larger number of players, I’ll try to keep the explanations brief.

Infielders

Alexi Casilla ($3 million team option declined by Orioles)

As expected, Casilla did nothing with the bat in 2013, but made up for the lack of being able to hit a baseball by doing a good job of fielding it at 2B, and was essentially the definition of a replacement player.

Verdict: Make a minor league offer with an invite to spring training Continue reading →

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Declining Options: Potential Pitching Fits for Baltimore

Posted in Offseason, Pitching with tags , , on November 8, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

The offseason is a week old, and one of the very first orders of business for teams (or players) is to do decide whether or not they should pick up their contract options or cut bait and become free agents.  Over the next 2 days we’ll look at all of the options that have been declined and see if there are any potential good fits for the Orioles in the 2014 season.  If I state that I think the team should make an offer, it doesn’t mean that they should do whatever it takes to sign them.  Due to the larger number of players, I’ll try to keep the explanations brief.

First up, the pitchers.

Starting Pitchers

Chris Capuano ($8 million mutual option declined by Dodgers)

In 2013, Capuano only pitched 105.2 innings this past year, due to two separate stints on the DL.  He started 20 of the 24 games in which he appeared.  Capuano shows a pretty heavy platoon split, but hasn’t been terrible as a starter the last 3 years, posting a FIP at 4.03 or under in each season.  He’d be an interesting sign for depth purposes, either as a spot starter or another left handed option out of the pen.

Verdict: Make an offer Continue reading →

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Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014

Posted in Offense, Offseason, Pitching with tags , on November 5, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

Over the past month, the writers at Camden Depot took on the task of analyzing the 2013 Baltimore Orioles on a position by position basis, which was followed with our own suggestions to make the 2014 better.  The following are links to each write up.

Starting Pitching (Nate Delong): Part 1 and Part 2

Right Handed Relievers (Stuart Wallace)

Left Handed Relievers (Stuart Wallace)

Catcher (Jon Shepherd)

First Base (Jon Shepherd)

Second Base (Joe Reisel): Part 1 and Part 2

Third Base (Stuart Wallace)

Shortstop (Nate Delong)

Left Field (Matt Kremnitzer)

Center Field (Matt Kremnitzer)

Right Field (Matt Kremnitzer)

Designated Hitter (Joe Reisel)

Bench (Joe Reisel)

Conclusion (Jon Shepherd)

Everyone did a great job on these posts and there is a lot of good information here, so I suggest you check it out.  Feel free to leave your own suggestions as to what the Orioles should do this offseason by commenting in the posts at Camden Depot (preferred) or here on this site.

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Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014: Shortstop

Posted in Offseason with tags , , , on November 1, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

The “Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014” series at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog, Camden Depot rolls on.  This time I take a look at the shortstop position, which has been occupied by J.J. Hardy since 2011.  Hardy has been solid as a rock since joining Baltimore, but should the team look to trade him in the offseason and allow Manny Machado to move back to his natural position?  Check out my post on Camden Depot and find out.

Direct Link to Article –> Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014: Shortstop

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Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014: Starting Pitchers – Part 2

Posted in Offseason, Pitching with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

Today, over at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog, Camden Depot, I have part 2 of the offseason starting pitching outlook for the Baltimore Orioles in our continuing “Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014” series.  Since I looked at how the Orioles starters performed in 2013 in Part 1, I’ll be looking at what they can do to improve their rotation for the 2014 season.  We’re getting close to wrapping up this offseason outlook for the Orioles, so check back soon for links to every position.

Direct Link to Article –> Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014: Starting Pitchers-Part 2

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Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014: Starting Pitchers – Part 1

Posted in Offseason, Pitching with tags , , , , , , , , , on October 17, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

As I mentioned in last week’s post, over at ESPN Sweetspot Network affiliated Orioles blog, Camden Depot, the writers are undertaking a position by position review of the Orioles 2013 season, followed by what we think the Orioles should do in the offseason to make them World Series champions in 2014.  I was put in charge of looking at the team’s starting pitching as well as the shortstop position.  First up (for me) are the Starting Pitchers, Part 1.  In Part 1, I review the 2013 season, as it pertains to Baltimore’s starting staff, and it’s not too pretty.

Direct Link to Article –> Making the Orioles a Champion in 2014: Starting Pitchers – Part 1

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Statistically Speaking: Wrapping up the 2013 Orioles

Posted in Offense, Offseason, Pitching with tags on October 12, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

Like most teams, the 2013 Baltimore Orioles came up short of the playoffs, and will have some decisions to make heading into the offseason.  The Orioles finished the season with an 85-77 record, tied for 3rd place in a predictably competitive AL East.  They were 12 games behind the Boston Red Sox and 6.5 games out of the second wild card spot.  They were in the thick of the wild card race up until a 6 game losing streak beginning on September 19 ultimately did them in.  As I mentioned last week, despite winning 8 fewer games than they did in 2012, they arguably had a better team this year than last year.  In large part, this was due to the fact that they went from having the best record in one run games in 2012 (29-9) to the worst record in one run games in 2013 (20-31).  Some of this is luck, but some of it is also due to a less effective bullpen in 2013, as you’ll see below.

After the jump, you’ll find several tables that look at how the 2013 Orioles performed in certain categories compared to the rest of the American League as well as all of baseball.  It will provide a starting point to look at what the Orioles need to do to improve for the 2014 season.  In addition to my offseason opinions on this site, the writers at Camden Depot (the ESPN affiliated blog for the Baltimore Orioles) will be doing a position by position analysis that looks at what happened in 2013, and the steps that the Orioles need to take to improve that position to win the World Series in 2014.  I am responsible for the starting pitchers and the shortstop position.  I plan on linking to my posts as they go up, and will also post links to all the position write-ups at the end of the month when we’re all finished.

As always, please consult the Fangraphs Library for definitions of advanced statistics such as wOBA, FIP, UZR/150, and DRS.

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2013 Playoff Predictions

Posted in Playoffs with tags on October 1, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

Even though the Orioles (or Phillies) have not made the playoffs this year, the thought of postseason baseball fills me with warmth, even as the weather cools off (not the most poetic line, but whatever).  And despite the high probability of these looking really bad at the end of the month, I submit my 2013 playoff predictions.

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Eulogizing the 2013 Orioles

Posted in Defense, Offense, Pitching with tags , on October 1, 2013 by oriolesprovingground

Friends and fans, we are gathered here today to remember the extremely promising, but ultimately unfulfilling life of the 2013 Baltimore Orioles, as their season officially came to an end.  Building on the playoff appearance last year that many analysts called “lucky”, the Orioles made a valiant effort to return to the playoffs, only to fall out of contention (mathematically) with 5 games remaining, due to an ill-timed losing streak at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays.

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