Thursday Thoughts: Is there Anybody You’d Swap for Manny Machado?

This is a weekly column that dives into eight random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. Why eight? It’s a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. of course. That, and doing 2,632 of these would be a little overboard. – A.S.

1. Another Opening Day is in the books and while it won’t be remembered for great weather, it was another victory, and an exciting one. I feel for everyone who sat through two lengthy rain delays on Monday, but they got to see the pay off with Matt Wieters’ walk-off single in the ninth.

There were a lot of things that impressed me about the ultimate “small sample size” game, but it was mostly Chris Tillman. I was disappointed that he couldn’t come out to pitch more after the rain delay, but more on that in a minute. Mark Trumbo was also extremely impressive, and is going to be an obvious key to the O’s success this season. The Orioles have now won six straight openers, and while no one would argue that winning the first game is a sign of future success, it’s better to win it than lose it.

2. Tillman’s short outing on Monday means he’s being moved up to pitch tomorrow night. I like this move from Buck Showalter, not only because it makes sense from a standpoint of how many pitches Tillman threw, but it gives him a chance to get back out and see if he can’t re-create what he started earlier this week. Tillman looked brilliant in his two innings, and while it’s anyone’s best guess whether he could’ve kept it going, it had me excited.

Watching Tillman spot his fastball, use his breaking ball and elevate his pitches to get swings and misses was a joy. It’s just what he needs to do in order to be successful. It’s no secret that the rotation is a weak spot for the O’s this season, and Tillman is a big part of that. If he can have a bounce back season, he can help carry what appears to be a heavy load for the starting arms.

3. Yovani Gallardo had himself a fairly steady Orioles debut last night. It was nothing flashy, but the right-hander went five innings and allowed just one run while striking out four. What was somewhat concerning about Gallardo’s effort were the three walks. I view Gallardo this season very much like I view Ubaldo Jimenez. Both are important parts of the O’s rotation, and each will likely give you just about the same result all year. I see them as fairly similar pitchers. At times, they are going to have great stuff and look like they can throw a complete-game shutout. Other times, they are going to struggle to find the plate and frustrate you to the point where you wonder how they’ll ever get another guy out.

Managing expectations will be important with both of these guys. Much will be expected, and only some of it will be achieved.

Craig Landefeld/GulfBird Photo

4. One super important part of Monday’s Opening Day win for the Birds was Tyler Wilson’s outing. Wilson is another one of these pieces that could be a key cog in the Orioles rotation this season. With Miguel Gonzalez’s departure, it leaves a gaping hole in the starting five. Mike Wright is also in contention, while Vance Worley is also lurking, but I think Wilson will end up emerging as a regular starter for this team.

I like his potential as a long-reliever as well, which is a spot where he may be more valuable to the team. Wilson was able to go out and toss three innings of two-hit ball after the rain delay to bridge the gap to the later frames. With the predicted lack of strength in starting pitching, the types of outings Wilson delivered on Monday will prove crucial all season long.

5. I noticed how there were some fans booing Hyun-Soo Kim during his introduction on Monday. Personally, I didn’t hear it. The noise didn’t really come over on the TV too much for me, as it was mostly drowned out by the music playing as players ran down the orange carpet. But it was apparently noticed to the point that Buck Showalter and Adam Jones addressed it this week.

The fact that anyone felt compelled to boo Kim over his contract situation is baffling to me. I’m not an “anti-boo” guy, either. There is a time and a place to boo a player. David Ortiz, Jose Bautista, bring on the boos. Heck, I think I’d even boo Aubrey Huff if he were still an Oriole. No one calls Baltimore a horse s— town and gets a free pass. But Kim hasn’t done anything wrong, per say. He’s perhaps hurting the team a bit by not being more flexible in accepting a minor league assignment to work on his bat speed, but is that really worth booing the guy during his first introduction to the city, team and fans?

I say no, and to anyone who made the effort to tell him how they felt in that manner, I say shame on you.

6. If you thought I’d get through this entire piece without addressing what took place Tuesday in St. Petersburg, you’re wrong. If you missed it, the Blue Jays lost to the Rays on a reversed call that pointed to MLB’s new slide rule. Toronto would’ve taken the lead in the ninth, but instead, the call ended the game. I think NBC Sports’ Craig Calcaterra summed things up pretty nicely when it comes to this new rule:

You can argue that the new slide rules/emphasis on protecting fielders is dumb. But you cannot say enforcing a new rule is injustice.

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) April 6, 2016

and

I was personally against a new rule and think it should be a judgment call by an ump. MLB and MLBPA thought differently. Gotta accept that.

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) April 6, 2016

and

This is in response to people acting as if that ruling was wholly arbitrary, capricious and unexpected. Stop it. You knew this was coming.

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) April 6, 2016

Blue Jays fans acted as if they had been removed from the game entirely and told to sit out the rest of the season. What was worse though, was the reaction of the players and manager. Jose Bautista said a dumb thing:

#BlueJays Bautista: "Common sense has to come into this. I feel like I slid directly at bag. I could have done much worse + chose not to."

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) April 6, 2016

What are you supposed to do? Jose, you’re supposed to read the rules and follow them, or else be called on it. If you chose to “do worse” next time, it’ll probably result in a suspension, so I’d steer clear of that. But then Jays manager John Gibbons said a dumber thing:

#BlueJays Gibbons, asked about safety aspect of new slide rule after loss to #Rays, said, "I guess we'll come out wearing dresses tomorrow."

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) April 6, 2016

Not only is this dumb, but it’s also sexist. Sometimes we need to choose our words more carefully. Even Mike Bordick appeared to laugh off Gibbons’ comments last night on the MASN broadcast, which is disappointing. I question whether or not a copy of the MLB rule book was even sent north of the border this season, but I also question whether common decency has gone by the wayside in the Toronto clubhouse. It seems there is some learning to do. And some growing up as well.

7. If you missed it this week, former Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen made his debut with the Miami Marlins, and it didn’t go so well. Chen allowed five runs on nine hits across five innings of work against the Tigers. He simply looked a bit off, and perhaps this was part of the reason: Video – Chen takes liner off elbow.

Scary situation to say the least, but the Marlins think he’ll be fine to make his next start. He stayed in the game after that and was as effective as he could be against Detroit. I expect big things from Chen in the National League. He got a lot of grief during his time in Baltimore because he failed to go deep in games on a regular basis, but he was a model of consistency. I even told a few friends this winter that I thought Chen had the potential to finish in the top 10 of the NL Cy Young voting this year. I have such a belief in him that I picked him up on my fantasy team for this season. We’ll see how he pans out in South Florida, but I’m rooting for him.

8. I was pleased to see that former Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Connolly has started a new adventure in covering the Orioles. Dan’s now writing at BaltimoreBaseball.com, and is good people so I’d suggest checking him out. I was intrigued by a question he posed yesterday. He asked for a list of players you would swap for Manny Machado.

My first answer was simple – none. Then I thought about it a little more. I think Mike Trout and Bryce Harper would be on the list, but I can’t even say for sure. For this argument, position plays a big part. That brought me to Carlos Correa, because he’s a shortstop. Outfielders are more common than strong infielders, especially shortstops. Quality at the position is so scarce that Machado should be considered one of the better ones even though he plays third base. Machado’s injury history is a bit scary and his contract is up in a few years. Team control matters here in my eyes.

I’m intrigued to find out what Orioles fans think. The obvious first answer is that you wouldn’t trade Machado, but if you were forced to pick a player to swap him for, who would it be? Would there be more than one, two, or perhaps five? I’d personally like to see Manny doing Manny things for years to come, but there’s always the prospect that he won’t. Until then, we’ll enjoy all he has to offer.