The Story of Scott Moore (or Why Can't These Guys Get At Bats?)

A while back, I wrote a post about how Andy MacPhail has acquired minor league corner infielders and lauding him for producing Rhyne Hughes out of that mix.

Now, Hughes is back in Norfolk but another guy, Scott Moore is here.

The quick background on Moore:

Moore was a 1st Round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in 2002 and was eventually dealt to the Cubs. The Orioles acquired him from the Cubs for SP Steve Trachsel in 2007. Moore played in Baltimore that season posting a .622 OPS over 17 games.

It looked like Moore would get a shot to play in Baltimore in 2008 but it was not to be. Injuries limited him to 78 games in Norfolk and he only got 9 at bats in Baltimore. 2009 followed with still more injuries.

So in 2010, with the Orioles desperate for bodies, they called Moore up from Norfolk and started letting him play...a little. Moore started out 0-9 over his first 7 games but then the O's started giving him more regular playing time.From June 2nd to June 13th, he went 9 for 24 while posting a .375/.423/.542 line. Then, inexplicably, he hasn't gotten a start since. (OK, not completely inexplicably...he rolled an ankle before Wednesday's game.)

Why would a team that is so desperate for offense leave a guy with a hot bat on the bench? Why would the O's take a 26-year-old player, a former 1st round draft pick, a guy who can play all over the infield, and leave him in the dugout while the corpses of Garrett Atkins and Julio Lugo drag their undead carcasses to the plate night after night? Are the vets going to get better? Do they really give the team a better shot to win in 2010? What about 2011? The season is long lost. Why?

I'm not saying Moore will be a good player...but could he be average? Absolutely. Could he be a late bloomer ala Jayson Werth? Perhaps. But we'll never know while he's on the bench.

Aside from that, couldn't this team still use Rhyne Hughes? Hughes is wearing out lefty pitchers in AAA and his overall MLE numbers would give him a .710 OPS. Again, not great but he's still only 26. He just might get a little better. He's arguably already a better option than Atkins.

The Orioles have two of the worst position players in baseball getting regular at bats. Atkins is OPSing .575 and Lugo is OPSing .495. There is nothing to lose by jettisoning these guys and giving a younger player a shot.

The one upshot to losing like this is that there is no longer anything to lose. You can try anything at this point. Why not make a bold move? (Hell, giving Moore and Hughes more ABs wouldn't even be considered bold at this point...just for this organization.)

Give the younger guys a chance to play regularly; they'll improve the team this season and you'll find out if you have any diamonds in the rough. In 2010, anything else is ludicrous.

Can He Play First?

No, not Nolan Reimold. I think Reimold can play first but when you're hitting .105 in AAA it doesn't matter much where your glove plays.

I mean Pat Burrel who was cast off from the Rays earlier this week. You scoff? Burrell's hitting line compared to Oriole first baseman this season:

          Slash Line
Burrell  .202/.292/.333

Atkins   .221/.261/.283
Hughes   .213/.275/.255

Overall, Oriole first basemen have combined to OPS .520 this season. Burrell's OPS of .625 would (sadly) be a big improvement.

If you can get Burrell for the league minimum, I say you do it. Burrell started for the Phillies at first for most of his rookie season. I'll bet he can field as well as Atkins can.

Oh, and Atkins needs to be released but I'll write more about that later...

Orioles Add 3B Garrett Atkins to the Fold

The Warehouse has been busy with their holiday shopping this December. Shortly after news of the signing of RP Mike Gonzalez comes word that the Orioles have reportedly signed former Rockies third baseman Garret Atkins for a one-year deal.

Third base was a big hole that the Orioles needed to fill this offseason but outside of Chone Figgins and Adrian Beltre, the list of free agents was a flawed group. The candidates were either aging, inury risks, couldn't hit, couldn't field or some combination of these. Atkins is no different.

Atkins was once a promising young hitter for Colorado but last year he managed a meager .226/.308/.342 line, losing his starting job. He also has big home/away splits, hitting far worse away from Coors Field for his career (.892 OPS at home, .735 OPS away). Add the fact that he's not a particularly good fielding third basemen in terms of UZR and you have to wonder why Atkins was appealing to Baltimore at all.

I can find three encouraging things about Atkins. The first, he has played third and first before. If either Josh Bell or Brandon Snyder proves ready to play in Baltimore, he can slide to the other corner.

Second, he wears out lefties. Even through his struggles last season, he OPS'ed .790 against southpaws. He could come in handy against the likes of C.C. Sabathia, John Lackey, John Lester, Andy Pettite and David Price as the Orioles make their way through the Al East.

Third, his BABIP last season was just .247 so he is a decent candidate to improve on his numbers from last year.

It's only a one-year deal so whatever they are paying him can come off the books in 2011. He's a stop gap and he's no better or worse than the rest of the free agent lot. Nothing wrong with this signing at all but nothing to get excited about.

edit: Looks like the contract is for $4.5 million for 2009 with a club option (worth $8.5 million...what?!?!) for 2011. There's NO WAY Atkins will be good enough to get that option picked up, so call this a 1 year, $5 million deal ($4.5 mil plus $500,000 buyout). It's fine for one season.