Orioles: Simon's stock rises
Shockingly, I'm no longer hearing any second-guessing about the Orioles' decision to pull out of the A.J. Burnett auction a few years ago. The book on the guy was that he was erratic and undependable and the book has proven to be gospel.
Funny how things sometimes turn out. Alfredo Simon also has been erratic and undependable the past couple of years -- on a couple of levels -- but he seems to be on the rise as Burnett comes unglued in New York.
In his 10 starts this year, he has pitched through five innings eight times and has a very respectable 3.86 ERA. Who knows what kind of opportunity he would have been afforded at the very start of the season, so it's strangely fortuitous for him that he showed up after the starting rotation began to disintegrate. The circumstances that led to that eventuality are sad and troubling, but Simon has emerged as a seemingly legit candidate to win a place in next year's rotation.
This is a gratuitous comparison that really means nothing, but while Simon has put up solid numbers in his 10 starts (dating back to July 9), Burnett has been awful. He's 1-5 with a 7.79 ERA in his last 10 starts, but he'll get at least one more chance to hold his place in the Yankees rotation on Thursday night.
If he pitches well, he might have to throw some credit to Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, who recently counseled him to take some pressure off himself.
“He told me to relax,'' Burnett told the New York Post. "He said in the past I looked more relaxed. He said to check my finger pressure because if the grip on the ball is tight, you aren’t as smooth. He also talked about breathing techniques, trying to hear your heartbeat. He said to relax and have fun.”
We'll find out soon enough. His likely start after the big Red Sox series -- if he's still in Joe Girardi's rotation, would be against the Orioles next week at Yankee Stadium.
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Comments
Very silly comparison really. What has Simon accomplished on a big league level?? Burnett is a proven winner. I would bring him here in a heartbeat.
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Pete's reply: That's why they call it a blog. I said it was just a temporal comparison. Now, I'm confused, are you saying you'd take Burnett in Boston or Baltimore...and would you pay $80 million for him. I'd take him in a minute, too, if I only had to pay him $6 million per year.
Posted by: steveinboston | August 30, 2011 1:23 PM
It still makes me cringe that in this day and age we look at a starting pitcher just getting through 5 innings as a success.
Not pointing the foam finger at you, Peter - just baseball in general. The game is either too watered down or something broke down in the way minor leagues graduate major league pitches.
Posted by: Tom | August 30, 2011 1:52 PM
Why is Jim Palmer trying to help a pitcher on another team, a team the Orioles face quite often? No matter.
Anyway, remember when the Orioles had a chance to trade for Burnett, what was that, three, four years ago? The only reason the trade didn't go through, I don't even remember who the Orioles would have sent south, was that Baltimore would've had to have taken on the contract of Mike Lowell. Peter Angelos didn't think he was worth all that.
Lowell is now out of baseball, and Burnett might soon be. Chalk one up for the much maligned owner.
Posted by: ken | August 30, 2011 1:54 PM
It's "Orioles" not "Oroiles" lol.
Posted by: Sean | August 30, 2011 1:55 PM
It would be the Orioles' luck that Jim Palmer's advice helps Burnett throw a no-hitter against us next week.
Posted by: Uncle Rob | August 30, 2011 3:21 PM
Why is Palmer counselling a Yankee? Burnett is like the only Yankee pitcher the Orioles seem to beat. Don't help him.
Posted by: T | August 30, 2011 4:20 PM
Wait a minute!!! One of the greatest Orioles of all time, and one of my personal favorites, is giving tips to the enemy (whether I wanted him in an Os uniform a couple years ago or not) ? And we still have to face him again this season? Jim, please, save those tips for our pitchers. I'm sure that you have already tried to counsel at least some percentage of our pitchers, but we can't give the enemy any advantages.
Posted by: dspedden | August 30, 2011 4:57 PM
You know what would be nice? Maybe we could get that Hall of Fame advice to our staff on a regular basis. Any chance of that happening, Pete?
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Pete's reply: Jim helps the O's pitchers all the time.
Posted by: socalbirdfan | August 30, 2011 5:34 PM
Simon may turn into a serviceable 4th or 5th starter and I really hope he does so we can forget about the ridiculous idea of turning Jim Johnson into a starter!
Do we not realize that a succesful team needs 3 solid relievers, given that most starters are only able to ptich 6-7 innings? Case in point-last night's game...The Yanks handed the ball to 3 relievers who have been light's out.
The O's only dependable reliever has been JJ since Koji was traded and we want him to fill another role??? If anything, the O's should be grooming more late inning arms and I'm not talking about picking up duds like Gregg, Gonzalez and Baez.
In a prior thread, Pete sings MacPhail's work in making a few decent trades but how about his dismal work with the pitching staff, especially the bullpen? He should have kept Koij and Sherrill(as Josh Bell is a dud) and his whole approach of assembling a pitching staff has been a failure and he should be fired for that alone.
The O's are actually worse off than when MacPhail took over; we have holes all over the infield, the worst ERA in MLB and our OF depth and bench is terrible.
Other than a few signings and the Bedard trade, it's really hard to defend MacPhail and the O's performance under his watch.
Posted by: TerryP | August 30, 2011 6:20 PM
Would palmer accept job as orioles' pitching coach if he were offered it?
I'm available if needed to replace him on game broadcasts.
Palmer fan
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Pete's reply: No, Jim likes what he's doing and likes bouncing between Florida and Southern California and Baltimore. He's got a pretty good setup.
Posted by: J.roberts | August 30, 2011 6:25 PM
Somebody (named Angelos?) tell Jim Palmer not to help any Yankees.
Posted by: section 34 | August 30, 2011 6:59 PM
Yeah, but sad to say only one has a chance at getting a world series ring this year. Or last year, or the year before that or .......
Posted by: Dennis in WV | August 31, 2011 7:12 AM
I had the same - wait a minute! - about Palmer helping a Yankee. But you know what - team loyalty is for fans, not players. Their identity and their loyalty (whatever they say for public consumption) is as major league ball players, members of an elite fraternity, almost a pure meritocracy. So - when JP gives advice to AJ - it is as one member of the fraternity to another. The team they happen to belong to is part of their "branding", their marketing, incidental to what makes them special and is essential to their identity.
I'll say it again - loyalty is for fans, not for owners or players. But that's just the perspective of someone stuck in the upper left corner. What Baltimore got from the Irsays - a chance to watch the exciting Indie Colts! - Seattle got from the NBA - the exciting OKC Thunder! So pardon me if I'm cynical when an athlete or owner expresses enthusiasm for team identity/loyalty.
back to my coffee now -
Tom in Seattle
Posted by: Tom in Seattle | August 31, 2011 1:53 PM
You're shameless, ken.
"Chalk one up" for Peter Angelos for nixing a trade six years ago because he didn't want to spend any more money than he had to?
Have you forgotten that Mike Lowell went on to put up a .295 average and 19 homers per year from 2006 though 2009? Have you forgotten that he was an integral piece of a division rival for those four seasons?
By the by, the money involved in the hold-up was $9MM per for two more seasons. $18MM total. Over those two seasons, Lowell put up a .305 average and an .847 OPS while hitting 20 home runs in 2006 and 21 home runs in 2007.
But sure. Chalk one up for Peter Angelos because a 37-year-old's swing never recovered after a serious thumb injury/surgery. I'm sure Angelos saw that coming four years before it happened. I'm sure he saw the upcoming collapse of Burnett (then just 28 years old) as well.
Shameless, ken. Just shameless.
Posted by: not brooks | August 31, 2011 3:10 PM
Simon is another scrap heap project that outperforms all of our minor league prospects.
Posted by: Kurt | August 31, 2011 3:35 PM
Sure, it's easy to wait until someone who signs a big contract fails to make a statement against going after free agents but guess what ...
What Burnett did in NY doesn't mean that would be the same as what he would have done here. He might have gotten Palmer's advice sooner.
Burnett might have given one of the mighty Oriole young hurlers a chance to stay healthy and develop in Norfolk.
Burnett has one more ring than anyone on the Oriole roster (unless you want to count Guerrero, another sore subject).
When the Yankees fail, they are mediocre. When the Orioles succeed, they are mediocre.
Are we really celebrating Simon? Really?
Already? With so little body of work? Ugh!
Oh, and Burnett wasn't the one and only player on the wish list. Are we supposed to be thankful for all who the Orioles avoided? The Nats "failed" (maybe) with Werth but will go after Fielder. And they might get him in part because of their willingness to get Werth and not be deterred by it. It's called commitment to winning. It's not a guarantee but it's far more fun, and still better.
So, yeah, I still wish we had tried to have gotten Burnett. I still wish the Orioles had some sort of commitment. Doing nothing has accomplished nothing; so let's continue to do nothing. 97 losses, here come.
Meet the new boss.
Same as the old boss.
We don't get fooled again.
Posted by: waspman | September 1, 2011 12:55 PM
I see another fan has already jumped in on this, but I wanted to add my 2 cents.
Lowell spent 5 years with the Bo Sox and posted a .290 .346 .468 slash line with an OPS+ of 107. Name me a current Oriole player who compares to that over that long of a time frame. He hit 80HR and drove in 374 runs at a position of need for the Orioles, that being either 3B or 1B, which is STILL a need for this club.
That trade also included Josh Beckett, not AJ Burnett. Beckett has been amazing for Boston. Burnett became a FA and signed on with Torono before going to the Yankees as a free agent.
I wasn't clamoring for the Orioles to sign Burnett at all, but I did really want them to get Tex. Of course he never really wanted to come here...and I think that is the same problem we would have in trying to get Prince.
There are not many moves that Angelos has been involved with that have turned out well for the Orioles. When he decided to nix the trades of some vets like Bonilla and the team went on to win, it was the worst thing that could have happened. After that, Angelos decided he knew more about baseball than his baseball people. You can see the results for yourself.
He wanted Albert Belle. How did that turn out. Rumors are that Angelos is the one that really wanted Vlad. How has that turned out. He is the one that insisted on our CF'er being Luis Matos. How did that go?
Angelos needs to step back and let the baseball people run things again. That is the only way this mess of a franchise gets sorted out.
Hire some young buck hotshots to long term deals and let them get a real long term plan in place. Stop firing guys every 2-3 years and say we're rebuilding again. Nonsense!
Posted by: The Mythical One | September 3, 2011 1:04 PM