2010 Orioles Position-By-Position: 3B
Ed. note: this is the second in a series looking at the Orioles‘ 2010 roster. For the first installment, click here.
At the end of the 2009 season we knew that Melvin Mora wouldn’t return. He had a good (great?) run, but his time was up. It made sense on both sides even as it created a hole in the lineup and added to Andy MacPhail‘s already long offseason to-do list.
Initially it seemed the spot was filled when Garrett Atkins signed back in December. Rumors quickly emerged, however, that the O’s saw him at first. Confusion gave way to clarity on FanFest weekend when word leaked out that Miguel Tejada would return to the black-and-orange and take up residence — for the first time in his career — at third.
It was, and remains, a questionable move.
My best-case scenario goes something like this: Miggles hits as well as he did last year for Houston (or close) and plays average defense. Along the way he once again displays the energy and leadership that made us love him during the early stages of his first Orioles run. He helps us win a few more games than we would have otherwise, and leaves the seat warm for an emerging Josh Bell.
Lots of variables in that, no?
His backup looks to be Wigginton, provided Ty isn’t traded during Spring Training.
It comes to this: whatever we get out of 3B at the major league level, this is a year of transition. We might end up pleasantly surprised. We just as easily might find ourselves frustrated as hell by June. No matter, because the real story is what Bell puts together at AAA.
I hope Miggles does well — very well — but I hope Bell does even better. He pretty much has no choice.
Tejada is not around for his numbers (at least I hope not at this stage of his career.) If anything, the guy is a veteran who can help young guys learn how to hit. If he can’t provide leadership experience, he’s probably not worth a whole lot on the downside of his career.
@David Gross – If it’s so important that you have a veteran around “who can help young guys learn how to hit”, then why don’t we just hire a second and third hitting coach?
The more I’ve thought about Tejada, the more okay I am with it. It tells Josh Bell to pace himself – he does still have a lot to prove, after all – and I’m not convinced that other options were better than Tejada on the market (I’d have taken Troy Glaus first, but whose to say that he wanted to be here after he asked out of Toronto), so as far as stopgap moves go, this trumps Adam Eaton.
I think the most likely scenario is that Tejada plays ok but not great – think 2007 Melmo, and then he leaves as a Type B free agent. The thing that worries me the most, honestly, and that is probably the big pitfall here is moving to third base. Cal once said that the adjustment period is about 100 games – which, you know, would be bad when we’re talking about one season. Could be a loooong summer if Miggi can’t adjust faster than Cal Ripken.
Also: I’ve heard these Ty Wigginton things a lot, but I’m not sure why anyone would trade for Wigginton unless it was something like Wiggy + cash for PTBNL. I just don’t see how he’s valuable to anyone when he can’t play quality defense anywhere and had a horrendous year with the bat in ’09.
@David Gross – You don’t think? I’d argue that numbers are a big reason why he’s here. This is strictly a short-term move and there’s only one reason for making it: to help the team win more games in 2010 than they won in 2009. I agree that his potential leadership is part of that, but it’s no more important than his potential offensive production.
@Andrew – Ryan97ou and i talked about that 100-game quote last week. It’s definitely a concern. My take is that if he can start off adequate and grow into being good, we’re OK. If he starts below average and can only grow into being adequate then, yeah, long summer.
I’ll be watching mostly to see how he comes in on the ball. I can live with some suspect lateral defense if he can handle the short and mid-range stuff down the line. If not, teams will be able to toy with him all year long.
I don’t know whether it’s college or the fact that I’m tired, that when I first saw “PTBNL” in Andrew’s post I thought it meant “Peanut Butter and Natty Light” for a hot second.
You gotta admit though, it makes the trade a whole lot more interesting.
@Tomás – I’m willing to bet that Wigginton would eat it before the trade was finalized, ruining EVERYTHING!
I think that Miggy’s numbers won’t be that bad. You gotta figure that our lineup from top to bottom is pretty damn good. Except for Izturis, everybody has the potential to hit at least 20 HR
My dad just said he remembers as a kid in ’66 there being a huge snowstorm. Same in ’70 and in ’83. Maybe all this snow is a good omen for the birds?
@Kevin – Hey, why not? That works for me.
@Kevin – I remember we were saying that at WBAL during the blizzard of 2003.
Sadly, Steve Bechler died shortly after we started kicking that theory around.