Baltimore Orioles: Miscellaneous Mid-Winter Moves and News
While waiting for the Baltimore Orioles to make a big move involving Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton or some player of repute, a couple of small moves have been made.
While all is well that ends well, with the Orioles the end is truly not until THE END … the end of the offseason. And maybe it does end well, but in the meantime, it is a tough experience to be a fan and wonder how the roster can be adequately filled out.
It is not just the local detractors within the O’s fanbase who wonder at this lethargy, or, stated more positively, this intentional 11th-hour strategy. Reading national baseball writers (who have a lot to say about the Orioles this offseason after seeing the huge offer to Davis), many chuckle along with their written words as to what constitutes “news” out of Baltimore.
For this past week, the news involved the hiring of an assistant hitting coach and the claim of a very marginal player with a funny name.
Assistant Hitting Coach Mark Quinn
The Orioles announced the hiring of Mark Quinn to work with Scott Coolbaugh. In what was one of the more interesting Orioles articles I have seen this winter, Roch Kubatko recorded quite a number of lengthy quotes from Mark Quinn relative to the new hire’s hitting perspectives and philosophy.
Players need the natural tools and abilities of eye-hand coordination, etc. to have success at swinging a round object to hit another round object coming at them from 60 feet away with a velocity of up to 100 miles per hour. Most humans cannot do this, no matter how hard they might work at it. Even so, a critical matter for a hitter is that of making adjustments to the adjustments that are made about you.
Take Jimmy Paredes for example. His first half of the season was outstanding by any measure. But then the league inevitably found some weaknesses and began to exploit them. He should by talent be able to adjust — the first half numbers show that the skill is there. But there needs to be a coach or two around such a player to help them analyze and adjust, which might not be a resident analytical skill within the player.
Listening to the thoughtful remarks of Mark Quinn and seeing the personality behind them, I was very encouraged to read about a coach who might be uniquely gifted to communicate to younger men in a way that produces results.
Laugh away at this Quinn hiring as silly, worthless news. But it could quietly prove to be as valuable as multi-million dollar contracts with players. Orioles hitters are simply not currently good at making adjustments to changes in the way they are pitched. This needs to change.
Beyond all of this, I am always encouraged when I see or read that Brady Anderson was heavily involved in the discussion or decision about anything O’s related. Along with the training and fitness component he brings to the franchise, he is in my opinion an invaluable asset and baseball mind behind the scenes that is not nearly as credited as deserved.
Waiver Claim
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The Orioles made a claim of former Braves OF/1B Joey Terdoslavich. If you have heard of him before this move, you’re a way bigger baseball guy than am I. Being from Sarasota, he can sleep late before rolling out of bed and getting to spring training. He was a 2010 sixth-round pick by the Braves out of Cal State, Long Beach.
Duquette said late on Friday that Terdoslavich could be a possible piece as a bench player. He’s a switch-hitter who can play the corner outfield positions and first base.
He has played in 92 MLB games, though only 26 as a starter, with 58 of them as a pinch hitter. His career average is .221, but he is only .154 in PH situations. He’s no Delmon Young.
His minor league numbers are naturally much better and feature some very good OBP. For example, in 45 games at AAA this past year (he’s an experienced shuttle rider), he hit .281 with a .391 OBP. But there is not a lot of power in his resume, and I don’t see what he can do that, say, Nolan Reimold cannot. He is optionable, so there’s that.
Next: How the O's can yet spend many millions
Beyond all of this is the fun of playing with his name in totally juvenile fashion. Orioles boards lit up quickly with such comments. I have to say that I literally did LOL when one person said that the O’s free agent efforts had them trying to take a Leake, but getting a Terd instead. That’s so awful, but I couldn’t resist sharing it, because, well, I’m immature like that.