Archive for December 9th, 2006

Rule 5 Nonsense

December 9, 2006

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The Orioles drafted right handed pitcher Alfredo Simon from the Rangers organization, then traded him to the Phillies for their Rule 5 selection. That being catcher Adam Donachie who played in the Royals organization last year. Also among the process, the Orioles lost 1B/DH Josh Phelps to the New York Yankees in the draft.

Grade: F

Its really not acceptable that we lost Josh Phelps in the Rule 5 draft. Not that Phelps is anything special, or was he even guaranteed to start the season with the big league club, but he was more valuable to the O’s than alot of players on the 40 man roster were. All we had to do was place Adam Stern on waivers and put Phelps on the 40 man roster and it would have been impossible to lose him. I don’t think its the end of the world, but it really pisses me off that we made a smart move to sign him to a minor league deal, only to lose him to the Yankees in the Rule 5. As for the other stuff in the draft, it really has no significance. We did the favor for the Phillies since they did one for us last year with Chris Gomez in the same draft.

Orioles Sign Outfielder

December 9, 2006

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The Orioles signed outfielder Jay Payton, who played for the Oakland A’s last season.

Payton: .296/.325/.418, 32 doubles, 3 triples, 10 homeruns, 59 RBI, 8 stolen bases

Cost: 2 years/$9.5 million

Grade: C-

I can see this deal going one of two ways. If the O’s don’t acquire another outfielder and Payton is the starting left fielder, I would grade this deal as a D. If we do manage to get someone better to play left field (Marcus Thames?) and Payton becomes the 4th outfielder/center field platoon, then I would grade this signing a C+. Payton would be good in the second scenerio, albeit a very expensive option. Payton plays good defense and shows the occasional pop. He has some speed, but doesn’t have much patience at the plate. Lets hope that the Front Office can trade Rodrigo Lopez and get back a real left fielder so they can make this signing look good. (Or at least better.)