The 2008 Shortstops.

So the other day I was looking at how my favorite National League team was doing. As I noticed how R.A. Dickey and Carlos Beltran had the same batting average, I also noticed a shortstop named Lu. Hernandez. I thought to myself, gee whiz, where have I heard that name before. That's when I remember, it must be Luis Hernandez, one of seven Orioles shortstops on the now famous 2008 Baltimore Orioles. This made me want to dig a little deeper. I remember Hernandez playing some good baseball at one point, so I decided to check out what happened to him. I thought I would explore what happened to the six guys. Here is what I found:

Luis Hernandez. Luis earned his spot on that 2008 team with some decent play at the plate and at shortstop in 30 2007 games. But in 2008 his AVG. dropped to .241. Hernandez would then play for the Royals (of course) in 2009, where he hit just over .200. Before spring training this year he was picked up by the Mets and placed in their minor league system. But after hitting a combined .290 in both AA and AAA, as well as being named a AA all-star, he was called up by the Mets after 104 minor league games. He is 1-5 with a single for New York. Best of luck to you Louie!

Juan Castro. In the middle of the 2008 season, the Orioles traded a useless infielder named Mike McCoy for Juan Castro. Castro, at the time was 0-10 with the Reds and 15-50 with the Rockies AAA team. After coming to the Orioles Castro would hit just .205 while committing 5 errors. Despite his terrible 2008 effort, Castro continues to hold employment in Major League Baseball. He would sign with the Dodgers in '09 and hit a solid .277 then he would be signed by the Phillies in '10 released by the Phillies and signed by the Dodgers again. In 2010 he is hitting .194 and he has played in 55 games. At 38 he is making 700,000 dollars a year. At least the Orioles never paid him a dime.

Alex Cintron. After meeting with some success in Arizona and little to none as a White Sock, Cintron was signed before the 2008 season and released almost immediately after. In 61 games Alex hit a surprising .281, in the spirit of Julio Lugo he had just 7 extra base hits. After 2008 he would cross over to our bitter rivals, the Nationals. When one hits .077 with the Nationals however, one cannot expect ones phone to ring regarding further employment. Cintron however managed to get a job in the Mariners organization where he hit .248 in AAA Tacoma. In 2010, he was signed by the Mets. In AAA Buffalo he is hitting .228.

Melvin Mora. Melmo played one game at shortstop. You know the rest.

Freddie Bynum. Good old Freddie. Bynum was acquired from the Cubs for a guy named Kevin Hart, who stinks. In 2007 Bynum hit .260 in 70 games for the O's "earning" himself a spot on the 2008 squad. But in 121 Ab's he hit just .179 and at the end of the year, the let him go. He has yet to play in the Majors since then, poor Freddie. In 2009 he hit a combined .253 with three levels of the Nationals minor league system. After the 2009 season he was signed by the White Sox, before the 2010 season, he was released. He was then signed by The Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese Baseball League. He is 2-18.

Brandon Fahey. Known as the smallest baseball player ever and the benefactor of a well connected father, Fahey was drafted 3 times, twice by Baltimore. In 2006 he finally made it pro, he hit .235 in about 250 at-bats. He would play again for the birds in '07 when he hit .196 in 54 at-bats. His final year as an Oriole was 2008, he hit .226 in just over 100 at bats. He would be released after that year and signed by the Blue Jays. As of now, he does not play baseball. But I hear the O's might need a shortstop next year Brandon.

Oscar Salazar. Played one game in '08 at shortstop. He was a key player on Birdland Day. We got Cla Meredith for him in a trade. He is a bench player on the Padres, although he is currently in A+ ball.

Eider Torres. Torres signed with the O's in '06, his only MLB games where in '08 with Baltimore. He went 2-9. He was picked up by the White Sox and currently plays in the Rockies system hitting .323 in AAA.

That concludes my report. All stats courtesy of http://www.baseball-reference.com

I was going to add some pictures, but there I'm not sure about all these new rules regarding usage.