I think we’re all pretty much over the initial shock of Nick Markakis going to the Atlanta Braves. He was one of our favorites, a good hitter and a marvelous defender. Markakis only had two errors in his last four seasons. I know one of those was abbreviated but I’ll just let you think about that. He has two Gold Gloves because of it and I would argue that he should have picked up another in 2013. Now that pillar is gone and Dan Duquette has already started to move on, which is a good thing.
[RELATED: O’s Can Replace Markakis’ Production]
It’s a step in the right direction, yes, but it’s still not putting Orioles fans at ease. Consider that we have our main man, Adam Jones, in center field for the whole season. Position covered. Now the team has to find some way to keep the outfield on either side of him in some sort of consistent state.
Acquiring right fielder Travis Snider from the Pirates is a good start and a good trade. Snider played 140 games last year, the most of his career, had 108 put-outs from right field and had a .991 fielding percentage in a part of PNC Park that is almost identical to the dimensions in the same spot at Camden Yards. Snider is also only 27 years old, that baseball age sweet-spot where this could prove to be a break out year, especially with the flag court in reach to the left-handed batter.
We’ve also got David Lough and Steve Pearce to try out in right field, but both of those guys had more time over in left field last year, and Pearce was also filling in at first base initially when slugger Chris Davis got injured and again when he was suspended. It comes down to who you would rather have in the lineup any given game. Pearce had a nice year last year, a career year for him, batting .293 with 21 home runs and 49 RBIs but Lough didn’t have quite that much success with the long ball hitting only four HRs. The guy is fast; though he stole only eight bases last year, he made one of the most spectacular catches of the year in late April last year in a 9-3 loss to the Royals.
That being said, I’d rather have Lough in left field where he can cover the ground easier.
Alejandro De Aza is at the top of the depth chart for left field and he’s another fast base stealer the Orioles need. The team and their manager, in general, seem to have gotten away from base stealing due to the lack of bullets they own, but I think that could be changing. De Aza had 17 stolen bases last year, most of those before he came to us from the White Sox. His upside, as I see it, is that in his 20 games last year his average was a comfortable .293, albeit in a small sample size. So we have two very fast left field propositions. Of course, Showalter will want to see bats.
Delmon Young, the hero of ALDS Game 2, the guy that shook Baltimore and the surrounding areas with his bases clearing double to give the Orioles the lead for good, is probably the last on our list to take over left field for a prolonged period of time. The man is a hitter, but he is not a fast mover in the outfield. Let the man be your DH in place of Nelson Cruz and it could turn out to be something special.
Spring Training is the perfect time to experiment and to find new players to load into those outfield positions permanently. Have we (I) been so spoiled by having Markakis as a constant presence over in the right field corner that fans won’t be happy with “position by committee”? That committee is pretty limited which is somewhat worrying and looking in to the minor leagues, there are only three outfielders in the top 20 Orioles Prospects. One of them, Dariel Alvarez, played 44 games for Norfolk last year with a .301 avg and 19 RBIs. He’d be the closest one to calling up and that most likely won’t be happening until 2016, barring some catastrophic implosion of our outfield depth:: knocks on wood::
Duquette and Showalter are going to have to farm during the spring in Sarasota and try to find some more diamonds in the rough. It’s also prudent that whomever they get to occupy those flanking positions next to our All-Star Adam Jones has got to be able to keep up with him and be able to contribute with his bat and base stealing, because the Orioles are going to need to play all facets of the game to get back where they were.
