Camden Chat: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
New Blog: The Boxing Bulletin for Boxing Fans!

White Sox 6, O's 1: Jose can you see?

Dc279067d6fcc79a71555d076675cc05-getty-80327343cc003_baltimore_ori_medium

copyright Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images

The Orioles are keeping Jose Contreras relevant.

 

A Tale of One Team IP H R ER BB K
04/04, @ DET 5.0 10 5 4 4 2
04/11, DET 6.2 6 4 4 3 2
04/16, @ BAL 7.0 4 1 1 0 6
04/22, NYY 6.1 7 4 4 1 3
04/27, BAL 6.2 5 1 1 3 3

 

Like, come on, you guys. Seriously.

But I'll let Sox fans worry about the 71-year old Contreras. I'm not all that concerned with him.

What does concern me is the turd brigade that the Orioles are running out there at shortstop. Not a single one of these guys is even good enough to be a major league utility player. In the last three games, Luis Hernandez, Eider Torres and Brandon Fahey have all been given starts.

None of them are really shortstops to begin with. Hernandez and Fahey do not have the arm for it. It's been very apparent. Fahey makes rainbow throws a lot of the time, and Hernandez's just have no zip and often come in really low. If Kevin Millar wasn't actually a pretty damn good first baseman, we'd have seen a lot more errors on throws from Hernandez. Having your arm compared to David Eckstein's is no praise.

I'm not telling anyone anything they don't already know, and I'm aware of that. But this is a serious issue. Even on a rebuilding club, even when you're talking stopgaps, these guys are completely unqualified for major league jobs. I'm sure they're all super dudes and work their asses off and are doing the best they can. But that's part of the problem. They aren't any good.

And please don't ask me or anyone else to wait on judging Eider Torres. He's 25 and wasn't even a footnote anywhere in this year's Baseball Prospectus. His career minor league line is .280/.325/.350. He's not a major league player. We said the same thing about Hernandez, and everyone said, "Oh but wait, oh but wait." Are you done waiting? He's terrible. When a guy hits as weakly as Hernandez or Torres (who is a better hitter than Hernandez, to be fair) in the minor leagues, they cannot contribute to a major league team in any real way.

You get 25 roster spots on a club. Three of them are being wasted on Hernandez, Fahey and Torres. It's bad math.

If you're going to ask me if I think Alex Cintron is better than these guys, then I'll answer: Yes. He's not any good, and certainly isn't a viable starting shortstop, but yes, he's a lot better than these guys. He IS a stopgap player, and not a good one. A lot of this is why I thought we should try to sign Adam Everett, who is a legit Gold Glove shortstop even though he can't hit. If we're going to have a guy who can't hit, let's get a guy who can pick it. That's been done before.

Of course, Everett's on the DL right now, but I still believe he would've been an effective one-year signing. Then you see where you're at after 2008, and maybe you give him another year, or whatever.

But let's move past that, too. The shortstop situation is a black hole of suck, and that's not going to change any time soon.

What killed us today, really, was LET'S GET GREG AQUINO OFF OF THIS TEAM FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. HE'S HORRIBLE. HIS ERA IS 14.21. I'D RATHER SEE FAHEY COME IN TO PITCH. HE'S JIM BROWER, THE DOMINICAN VERSION.

Also, the 5-through-9 hitters went 0-for-19 with one walk. You can't win like that.

We remain in first place. Thanks, Rays.

0 recs  |  Comment 11 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Yep.. and at LEAST if these guys were amazing fielders..

I would completely tolerate their ineptitude at the plate. But they’re proving to be below-average fielders. Oh, oh .. and not to mention that Luis Hernandez is a horrible baserunner. So what does that mean? He’s absolutely worthless as a major league baseball player.

And finally, I want to post this picture again.. because it’s kinda weird (from the Baltimore Sun):

by Y Not on Apr 27, 2008 5:58 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm guessing it's a blister check.

I can’t tell who dropped the ball. tho’

Writing is God's way of showing you how sloppy your thinking is.

by typozzz on Apr 27, 2008 6:19 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Fahey and Aquino

are some of the worst players I’ve ever seen on this team. Fahey’s play today was some of the most Mickey Mouse shit I have ever seen. All players make bad plays, but I was cringing watching him out there today.

Could we leave that spot empty? Cintron is not good, but he looks like Ripken compared to these clowns.

"We might as well just win this game." -Adam Jones

by exitfare on Apr 27, 2008 6:21 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

PS

I hope Fahey reads this, starts crying, packs his bags and leaves the team.

"We might as well just win this game." -Adam Jones

by exitfare on Apr 27, 2008 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Something has to be done

about the SS situation and, by extension, the bench situation. I really hope to see this addressed soon.

Looks like the series against the Rays this week will be a battle for first! Who would have guessed?

by Stacey on Apr 27, 2008 7:08 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Tell me again

how good this bullpen is.

by Bill In Elkton on Apr 27, 2008 7:20 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Amen SC

on the Acquino and SS situation, amen.

Although not everybody said wait on Luis because I know I didn’t.

by Reddrummer9187 on Apr 27, 2008 11:06 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I know I was anti-Luis from the get go

and Torres’ numbers in AAA scream “SMALL SAMPLE SIZE.” His arm will also clearly not play at SS in MLB. You could put Fahey, Hernandez, and Torres together, all their skills in one guy, and you might get a marginally competent SS, but he’d be nothing to write home about.

Whatever trades we make in the coming months, we have to get middle infield prospects back. Have to.

"Might as well just win this game." - Adam Jones, 4/17/2008

Adam Jones is the tits.

by KenDixonFanClub on Apr 28, 2008 12:08 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I was pro-Luis

My bad….

MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC

by spike2131 on Apr 28, 2008 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

The SB Nation blog covering the Baltimore Orioles.

Please read our Community Guidelines
Start posting about the Orioles »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Small
Desert Dogs Championship Thread
Small
Which players have you met?
Small
Reunite the "Why Not?" Orioles on RBI Baseball 2
0207_large_small
Oriole Park Rated #1
Brad-bergesen_away_small
A Long-Term Deal for Dr. Jones?
Small
Project Prospect report on Josh Bell
Small
2010 CHONE projections for BAL Hitters
11405642_small
Trading for a True Ace?
11405642_small
Dan Uggla at 3B/DH
Ritm_small
Dr. Jones is a Gold Glover

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

SPONSORS

GAMETHREAD SPONSOR

Masn_medium