NewsInbox: What's O's most pressing need?
Beat reporter Spencer Fordin answers fans' questions
By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com
11/13/09 4:40 PM EST
The Orioles are in need of a couple things this offseason. What is the most important thing the O's need to take care of through either free agency or a trade?-- Pat R., Forest Hill, Md.
In past seasons, this would be obvious. Trade Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard. Extend Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts. This year, it's a little different. The Orioles need to find a veteran starter and a big bat at either first or third base, but their most pressing need might actually be to staff a better bullpen.
Baltimore's relief staff finished with a league-high 4.83 ERA in 2009, and it tied for a league low by converting 58 percent of its save opportunities. Part of that was due to the midseason trade of George Sherrill, but the rest was due to a staff-wide meltdown.
Dennis Sarfate spent most of the season on the disabled list, and Matt Albers had to make a few trips down to Triple-A Norfolk. Former closer Chris Ray suffered through a difficult season in his first year back from ligament replacement surgery on his pitching elbow, and situational southpaw Jamie Walker had to be released.
Now, the Orioles may find themselves with wholesale changes to make. Setup man Jim Johnson is expected back in the same capacity, and former starter Koji Uehara will get a chance to stick as a reliever. Danys Baez and Mark Hendrickson have both filed for free agency, but Baltimore may opt to bring Hendrickson back.
The bullpen, more than any other component of a team, is easy to build and rebuild with minimal investment. The Orioles are basing their next competitive team around the fortunes of Brad Bergesen, Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman, and in the American League East especially, they'll need to make sure that they keep a lead whenever they have one.
Who would you rank as the Orioles' top prospect now that the likes of Matt Wieters, Matusz, Tillman and others have all moved on to the big club?
-- Branden R., Germantown, Md.
Baltimore's best prospect is probably Josh Bell, the third baseman who arrived from the Dodgers' organization in exchange for Sherrill. Bell batted .296 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs in 94 games for Double-A Chattanooga, and then he hit .289 with nine home runs in 33 games for Double-A Bowie after the trade.
Bell, a former fourth-round Draft pick, just turned 23 and will likely start next season at Norfolk. He's been billed as a strong defender at the hot corner, but he may need some more time to figure out southpaw pitching. Bell batted just .193 with one home run against lefties in 2009, and he will be watched carefully in Spring Training.
The Orioles didn't let Bell rest after his breakout season, opting instead to send him to face more upper-level arms in the Arizona Fall League. The youngster batted .324 with a .403 on-base mark in his first 17 games with the Phoenix Desert Dogs, including seven extra-base hits and a 7-for-13 showing against left-handers.
Baltimore has Bell at one corner and former first-round pick Brandon Snyder at the other, a pairing that could make Norfolk box scores interesting to watch next April. Snyder, like Bell, is believed to need at least a half-year of seasoning at Norfolk, but he could break into the big leagues at some point in 2010.
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What is the status of Jeremy Guthrie for next year? Will the Orioles sign an established pitcher to help round out the starting rotation?
-- Dave, Chambersburg, Pa.
Guthrie is still in the fold and anxious to get back out there after a difficult season. Guthrie, Baltimore's Opening Day starter in each of the past two years, will have his first chance at salary arbitration this winter. Guthrie pitched 200 innings for the first time in 2009, but he also allowed 35 home runs and lost a league-high 17 games.
Andy MacPhail, Baltimore's president of baseball operations, has said multiple times that he'd like to add a veteran to help Guthrie point the team's cadre of young arms in the right direction. The Orioles would love to see Bergesen, Matusz and Tillman in their rotation next season, which leaves them room to add one arm.
Now, does that mean the Orioles are going to go after the top arms on the market? Probably not. Baltimore is looking for more of a mid-level arm, someone who will come for a one-year or two-year deal without breaking the bank. That could mean Braden Looper, Joel Pineiro or former Oriole Bedard, to name a few candidates.
Various reports have placed Detroit's Edwin Jackson on the trade market, and the Orioles may inquire there to see how much it would cost to acquire him. Baltimore is highly unlikely to do any deal that would break up the team's current troika of young arms, but it could deal a prospect like Jake Arrieta or Zach Britton.
Will Luke Scott be a full-time DH next year? Would he be happy with that?
-- Jason S., Shippensburg, Pa.
He might not like it, but he probably will understand the situation. Scott was pretty much a full-time DH last year, when he played just 26 games in the outfield and 10 more as a late-season experiment at first base. Scott got 327 of his 449 at-bats as a DH, and he batted .257/.341/.505 under those circumstances.
Those numbers are right in line with his career splits (.265/.350/.495), suggesting that Scott wasn't really affected by his transition off the field. Then again, the veteran had an extraordinarily cold streak after the All-Star break, batting just .208 with a .375 slugging percentage in 62 games and 216 at-bats after the intermission.
And that drought, in and of itself, is why Scott will have to be accommodating. The Orioles will have to feed a steady stream of playing time to both Felix Pie and Nolan Reimold, which means Scott will have to share some at-bats. And if he goes cold at any point like he did last season, he'll be in danger of losing his starting job.
It will be manager Dave Trembley's responsibility to mix and match and keep everyone involved, and the competition could coax the best performance out of each of the players involved. Lou Montanez will also be in the mix during Spring Training, and Scott could well find himself as Baltimore's best piece of trade bait.
Spencer Fordin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
