I had the post all ready to go, too. I was prepared to skewer Andy MacPhail for turning into the Orioles of the early 2000’s, trading away what little talent they had in the farm system for short-term fixes that were barely upgrades over what they already had. Fortunately for Orioles fans and unfortunately for my time management skills, the Orioles have backed out of trade talks that would have sent Nolan Reimold (and perhaps Alfredo Simon as well) to Tampa for a one-year rental of shortstop Jason Bartlett. Baltimore will have to look elsewhere for their shortstop.
Reimold is a natural power hitter who, while he was recovering from surgery and personal issues last season had the worst year of his career. Of all the times to deal Reimold, this is when his value was at its nadir. Bartlett symbolized a definite offensive upgrade from Cesar Izturis, but then again I am pretty sure your average Double-A shortstop would be an offensive upgrade over Izturis. That said, Bartlett would have provided a consistent bat (.254/4/.350 last season, .320/14/.389 in 2009) and decent enough defense to be a worthy addition to the club.
Nolan Reimold had a horrible 2010, but this late-blooming hitter had one of the best rookie seasons in 2009, one derailed only by injury issues while he played hurt throughout August and September. For those who don’t recall, Reimold hit .279 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI in just 107 games. He was already developing his power stroke in the majors when it was shorted out by an extended layoff following surgery, rushing back too quickly, and a combination of events that ruined this past season.
Despite his struggles, Reimold remains a top candidate to at least platoon in left field this season with the streaky Felix Pie. Pie, despite a relatively strong 2010 campaign, remains a serious injury concern and a definite work in progress in the field and on the basepaths. At this point in his career, one wonders how close he is to his ceiling. Reimold, despite his age, has shown astonishing growth in recent seasons, and is a player who has a chance to be an everyday starter or better in the majors. There isn’t even any guarantee that Bartlett will be much better offensively than Reimold. If Reimold returns to his 2010 form, he is just as good a bat as Jason Bartlett. For a one-year rental, this just wouldn’t have been worth it- especially given that the Orioles will have to face him on a regular basis.
What is clear is that Bartlett was at the top of the Orioles’ wish list at shortstop, which probably pushed the negotiations as far as they wound up going. They will now have to turn their attention to the likes of J.J. Hardy, who I personally prefer despite his injury history. Given the Orioles focus on Bartlett is it highly unlikely they will settle for the few free agent shortstops on the market, unless they double back to Cesar Izturis as a fallback option. More deals are certainly on the way.
I guess I'm the only one who views Reimold as a AAAA player. XP, while you view the Orioles as selling low, if Reimold turns in another year like last year, you may not get a bag of BP balls in a trade for him. The Orioles typically overvalue their young players and Im afraid that may be the case with Reimold. He's 27 and has had a cup of coffee in the show. Not enough to convince me to hold onto him when you have a legitimate major leaguer being offered who has been listed as a pretty decent clubhouse guy and a guy who brings energy to the team.
Honestly I was fine with the Orioles trading Remiold for Bartlett, but apparently they wanted more. Reimold is a fine player, but I think Pie won last year and I'd like to have Bartlett in Baltimore.
1) Pie didn't win anything last year…He has that rare combination of no power and no speed to go along with an inability to get on base as a corner outfielder!
2) X-Pat mentioned something about JB being a one-year rental…Is that not what JJH is going to be?
3) I havta agree with MGD when he says he is not convinced of Reimold's value as a Major Leaguer. His sample size is very, very small…He's injury-prone..And is, or will be soon, 27 years old…At this point, if he has half the career Brian Daubach had, that would be saying something…
If I remember correct, Reimold had one big injury/surgery that took a long time to recover from. Injury-prone implies a number of injuries that keep coming up. There is no reason to think Reimold will keep getting hurt over and over. Not saying he is a major leaguer, just saying he shouldn't have the injury prone label.
Sheila, I'm not sure what to call it. The "kid" is now 27 years old. In 2007, his 3rd year as a Pro, he played in just 59 games. In 2010, he played in just 113 games. That's two significant injuries in four years.
In other news, he has just 464 ABs in the Bigs in his career.
Brian Daubach was 27 when he first became a regular with Boston…He hit 21, 21, 22, and 20 HRs before fading from the spotlight as quickly as he found it. As mentioned earlier, if Nolan winds up with 48 Career Homers and 167 RBIs, I'll be surprised!
Bruz is right, Reimold had some injury issues int he minors as well. There also have been rumors that some of Reimolds struggles last year had something to do with off the field personal issues. I don't know all the details, and don't want to speculate, but this is a make or break year for him. He needs a good spring to at least prove he can handle being the right handed LF and DH.
Also, I think because of Hardy's age, he can be more than a 1 year fix at short. The Orioles hope at the position are pinned to Manny Machado. It is not likely that Machado will be ready to take over by 2012.