This seems like a bad move. Prospects should be introduced to the big leagues carefully and with some preparation, not as an ad hoc gesture when a player is injured. The way the Birds have bounced around Tillman is already quite shocking, let's not repeat the mistake, please.

I wish him the best, of course.

Why nOt?

should have called up ryan minor

1) Not overwhelmed by his stats at AAA;
2) What about Pie

(that rhymed)

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Jeff Z"s reply: Pie will be up Monday. He need to play a couple of games in left field first.

And Tejada, for that matter? This makes very little sense, unless there's something brewing that we don't know about.

Why? Is he going to play 3rd while Tejada sits? Is Tejada moving to SS?

Calling Bell to sit makes no sense and you use an option for him.

This is not a smart move. I guess we're only bringing him up to give him a little taste of the bigs before we can reactivate Pie. MacPhail and Samuel will probably inform him that he is only here temporarily, regardless of his performance. If this is the case, they're wasting an option on a guy who may be important to the organization in the future. If it's not the case, we're bringing up a kid who isn't ready yet.

I imagine this means lots more time for Miggy at DH - and maybe a trade in the run up to the deadline? Think anyone wants Izturis or MIggy? I don't imagine they are bringing Bell up to sit on the pine or just as a 2-week fill-in for Scott's time on the DL. And as Pie is ready soon, who else goes? Would the team really carry that many infielders?

cool beans man

When are the birds calling up Billy Rowell?

He's not ready. Too many strike outs...26% of his at bats are K's.

I say try bell at third and miggy at shortstop maybe there will be fewer errors at third cant hurt

This is great i do not understand the negativity, the Orioles are starting to come around and he is the future 3rd baseman why not bring him in now i am looking forward to seeing him grow as a player, lets be honest is there any other reason to watch the Orioles other than to hope to watch the young players develop into a contender. Good Luck Josh !

Why not?

We've already ruined the rest of our prospects by bringing them up too early... what's one more?

Go O's upper management!

Talk about setting your rebuilding plan back...

Phillies just lost Utley and Polanco, so I wouldn't be surprised if Miggy and/or Wiggy are about to be traded.

I had thought about this this morning and wanted to see this very move. I think they need to be cautious with Pie. He has a proven upside growth rate. Still raw but I do not know if anyone can see how far his talent with take him and the team. He would be my number 2 hitter behind Patterson with Markekis number 3. His speed and potential bat are sorely needed in the line up but not at future expense.

Bell should be played. He will not develop on the bench. This is not a year of contention but of growth. If he is not going to be in the field 5 out of 7 game leave him in minors.I think we have all seen enough of Tejeda trying to handle 3rb but it is not working.

Candidily I think we need to see more of Moore in the field and lineup. He may be developing his pop. This leaves Tejeda as DH. Playing Wigginton at 1b is good for the lineup and unfortuanately for his trade potential. Both these players have given the O's there best. BUT I have a lot of concern about their undisciplined plate patience. Much more could be had if they both only waited for the pitch best suited to their swings. Instead both are suckers for 1st ball hitting and inside/ tight. I think who ever gets them will let them go to free agency for this winter. So the O's can decide more then.

One note - It would be nice to see the O's bring in someone to work with Jones in Center Field like Blair or Brady or... His bat is coming around. He needs a personal consultant. Looks to me like he is not hearing the coaches about fielding.

Still predicting a good part of the season after the trade dealine!

I have never bought the argument that prospects are "ruined" by bringing them up too early. Some may struggle for a while, even bounce back and forth between majors and minors, but those who belong figure out how to make the adjustments at the big-league level. Those who don't, don't.

Why did we acquire Jake Fox? He's sat on the bench the whole time here, and that's part of the reason why his numbers were poor in Oakland. He's not a PH. Could have easily put him at DH, 1B, 3B, and called up Salazar to fill Luke's spot. Or if you do that, then Bell at 3B, Miggy at SS, and Fox at DH.

It just seems we aren't giving Fox a shot, and if that's the case, why trade for him at all?

I like your optimisim Ed So Pa Fan but how would you define "proven upside growth rate"??!!??!!

Sounds like an NBA draftee's "Tremendous Upside Potential"

Interesting JB gets called so soon after his wild Tuesday night which he hits 2 homeruns including a grand slammer, scores 2 runs and knocks in 6 runs during the Tides 12-3 win over Charlotte.

But I wonder what Bell has to do with Felix Pie that some posters are referring? Bell is an infielder (mainly 3rd base) while Pie is an outfielder.

Secondly I too question JB's call up. Why? Unless the Orioles plan to use him as DH where Scott batted (now the DH position is becoming injury prone).

Ok Jeff, now provide the answers.

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Jeff Z's reply: If team officials deemed Pie ready to play outfield regularly,he, not Josh Bell, would be here right now. I think Bell will probablyget a couple of starts at DH, but I'm not sure I understand the move either.

Downside in bringing up Bell? What is the downside? If he's up for c ouple of weeks or amonth, or, even better, if he forces the O's to keep inon the ML roster, so much the better. If he goes 0-24 and gets sent down again, nothing ventured/nothing gained. The "running out of options" thing is overblown anyway, especially on a young player up for the first time.

I hope he tears the league up. Doubt he will, but at least you're getting a good look at the player we've all been told is the third baseman of the future.

Hopefully Bell will move to 3B and Tejada goes to SS. No more "automatic out" Izturis. Get rid of "I can't hit or field" Lugo while you're at it.

Bell 3B
Tejada SS
Moore 2B
Wiggington 1B

The organizational philosophy doesn't seem to have changed. Rushing yet another prospect to the majors.

I really think MacPhail has tried his best here but he hasn't had much to work with and now they're just rushing guys to the major league level.

How can they possibly expect Bell to succeed with this lineup?

Dig the tats on Josh Bell. Fearsome!

BTW, Jeff, what is with the O's ridiculous policy about no facial hair? It makes everybody look like choir-boys. These are grown men and ought to be able to decide for themselves if they want beards or mustaches. Whose idea is this, Angelos'?

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Jeff Z's reply: I was always told that the facial hair policy was already in place before the Angelos regime, but he'd certainly have the power to change it.

I'm all for it. I don't believe that you can "ruin" a prospect by bringing them up too early: you can expose them as not being true prospects, but the really special players are contributing in the big leagues at 22, 23, 24 years old. If you're making your debut at 25 or 26 then you may have a decent career, but you're probably not all-star material.

I think when you are this bad you simply start handing out passes weekly to guys in AAA and AA and send a message to all the underachieving, overpaid, over-hyped players that are not cutting it at the big league level. Not to say that some guys aren't trying but obviously too many guys are way to comfortable with their position on the team and the only way to push them is to bring up guys with a hunger to play at the highest level. Next week call up someone else and keep em comin'.

Bell will go 0-4 with 2 K's

75 K in 74 games with only 18 BB and a 311 OBP = NOT READY

This move makes perfect sense. Is he fully ready - of course not, but he has had a pretty good last 45 days, he is on a bit of a hot streak and there is no pressure at all, being called up for a couple of weeks while Scott is on the DL. If he gets hot, he can stay a while, if he struggles, you send him back in two weeks, acknowledge it was a short term call-up and he gets a taste of what it's like at the ML leve. Absolutely noting to lose and everything to gain.

As I posted yesterday, if he can come up and hit .240 or .250 and pop 10 HR's in the second half while learning to hit, that would be a huge bonus, just in figuring out what they have for next year.

As for his playing third base - of course that's what he is going to do. Miggy has been awful there over the last week, and long term is probably a DH anyway. Let's see the what the kid can do both offensively and defensively for a week or two. It doesn't mean Miggy won't be back at third tomorrow and it doesn't mean he'll be traded, but is that such a terrible idea?

I like Miggy and he is starting to hit, but it is painful to watch him play 3rd. Meanwhile, last night's jack notwithstanding, we've seen the best Wiggington has to offer, so if Bell played well enough to make him expendable for some level of value - that would be another bonus.

All that said, my guess is the kid struggles to hit .200, strikes out once every three or four at bats and is back in Norfolk in two weeks - but so what - the O's might win 59 games instead of 61?

Notice how it just takes a little winning and everyone gets joyous or at least not completely glum? Baseball's nice that way.

I like Jack Daniel's proposed left side of the infield:
Bell 3B
Tejada SS

I hope he succeeds, of course, but does anyone think this guy can field the position yet? His minor league stats say otherwise. He has a minor league career .901 fielding percentage at third base for goodness sakes. And it is not like he’s getting to a lot of balls that are causing the errors. He’s averaging around 2.7 chances per game. By way of comparison, Tejada averages 3 chances per game, has a range factor 10% above the league average, and his fielding percentage is about close to the league average. Translation: He gets to more balls than the average fielder and makes no more mistakes.

Bell is not ready to field yet, but he may be ready to hit. His confidence could get blown when, and not if, he costs the O’s a few games with his butcher kni…I mean glove.

How is it that MacPhail came to restore the Oriole way but has staffed the field with leaden gloves like Scott, Moore, Patterson, Jones and now Bell? If the O’s are going to use him I’d like to see them sit down Izturis and have Miggy step in. Tejada’s range factor last year at SS was better than Izturis’ is this year, so it is not like it would be such a great drop off. With that instant out gone from the line up we might see more night’s like last.

I'll be rooting for the guy, but closing my eyes whe the ball is hit to third.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Surely a taste of midseason MLB ball can't hurt Mr. Bell and will help him learn what to work on assuming he heads back to Norfolk. Meanwhile, tonight's game will be interesting...and we are not risking the division title with this move.

What about Scott Loomis? Call him up!

How is it that a player who's never been in the bigs gets "recalled?"

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Jeff Z's reply: He was already on the 40-man so that means he was recalled. If he hadn't been on the 40-man, the terminology would have been "selected the contract of Josh Bell."

Calling up Bell does not affect his options. This year he was already optioned to Norfolk. He can ride the shuttle between Baltimore and Norfolk all he wants this year and it won't affect his number of option years. It's the easiest move to get someone already on the 40-man roster to take the place of Scott while he is on the DL without rushing the rehab for Pie. Unless something unexpected happens, it will only be for four games before Pie gets activated. Then Bell will go back to Norfolk and someone else will be removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Pie, who is not on the 40-man roster because he is on the 60-day DL.

It all makes sense when you look at it from a roster management perspective.