Thursday Thoughts: O’s Unwise to Keep Selling Draft Picks

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. I really wanted to avoid even thinking about what the Orioles did with Brian Matusz this week, but it’s so preposterous that I can’t evade it. There’s no doubt that Matusz had to go. He was not performing at a Major League level and I have no issues with the O’s cutting ties with him.

But to sell another draft pick to save a few million bucks is just inexcusable. For this team, it’s become commonplace. They did it last year with Ryan Webb. They even gave up two international signing bonus slots in a separate trade on Monday. Matusz meant nothing to the Braves. He just meant a draft pick. It’s sad that the Orioles don’t value those as much as other teams. Perhaps it’s because they so rarely do anything productive with them.

2. When it comes to the Orioles and the draft, it’s been a rocky road. I don’t pretend to know much about college baseball, or how prospects shake out going into each June, but I do know the O’s have struck out a bunch over the last decade-plus. There are a few hits, sure. Manny Machado and Matt Wieters come to mind as guys that the O’s have drafted and developed into big leaguers. But the quantity of misses makes the Matusz deal, paired with the Webb deal last year, so frustrating.

If I’m throwing darts, which is truly what any team is doing during the draft, wouldn’t I want more to throw knowing I may not hit the target every time? The Orioles are practically tossing darts with blunt tips, not knowing if they’ll even stay on the board. Might as well get as many of them as possible and hope a few stick.

Saving a few million bucks on Matusz seems silly after the O’s spent the way they did this offseason.

3. Speaking of saving money, don’t expect Ubaldo Jimenez to be a candidate for the same treatment Matusz received. I don’t think he’s extremely tradable because he’s making way more than Matusz. I also don’t think the Orioles are going to eat all of that salary by simply releasing him. He’s also not really a great candidate to be moved to the bullpen because he’s not really good there either.

Sure, the O’s pulled that off in 2014, but they basically already have a guy in the pen they are trying to hide in Dylan Bundy. More on him in a moment.

When it comes to Jimenez, he’s simply going to have to pitch out of whatever funk he’s in. We all know he’s simply not very good at times. At others, he’s decent. For now, he’s going to take the ball every fifth day and pitch. I’m sure the team will look to skip him at times if things get really bad, but that’s only going to be when an off day allows for it.

I referred to Jimenez as the “box of chocolates” pitcher a few weeks ago. Right now, the chocolate tastes pretty bitter.

4. I don’t think I’ve seen Buck Showalter as frustrated this season as I saw him following Tuesday’s extra-inning loss in Houston. You could tell that he was upset with the approach hitters were taking, the one that led to a season-high 19 strikeouts (and 18 more on Wednesday). The Orioles couldn’t scratch across three runs in that game against Doug Fister, who hasn’t pitched well this year. They couldn’t even get one against Scott Feldman or any of the other Astros relievers.

There’s no doubt that the O’s can be fun to watch offensively, but they can also be frustrating. Showalter was spot on when criticizing the approach. I did find this stat interesting, however.

The top 3 teams in 2016 for pitches seen per plate appearance all have losing records: pic.twitter.com/F4N803wzY4

— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) May 24, 2016

The O’s are swinging and missing a ton, but they are also seeing a lot of pitches. I think there was always a belief that this offense could be hit or miss, if you’ll excuse the pun. They are going to hit homers, but they are also going to strike out a lot. It’s something they’ll have to battle all season long.

5. I have serious concerns about the starting rotation, despite the team’s strong start to the season. It seems like a lot of negative coming from me lately despite the fact that the O’s are right near the top of the division. I just see the potential for it to come crashing down, and that starts and ends with the rotation.

Chris Tillman has been great. Kevin Gausman has been fine. Tyler Wilson has been surprisingly decent. Beyond that, it’s shaky. Ubaldo Jimenez will continue to trot out there and Mike Wright will still be a borderline fifth-starter type. I question what happens with Yovani Gallardo when he returns from injury.

It turns out that over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a few of the things we thought would be problems for this team creep up. The rotation remains the top concern for me no matter how poorly the offense performs.

GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld

6. No matter how the rotation shakes out over the next few months, let’s stop with the idea that Dylan Bundy should be a part of it. Bundy is being hidden in the bullpen this year. He’s not going to be able to build up the innings to go deep into a game, much less have the ability to go through a lineup three times. I don’t even think he could go through a lineup twice if called upon right now.

The absolute earliest I could see Bundy being a real option for this rotation is the start of next year, but even that’s pushing it at this point. He’d likely be a very bottom of the rotation type of pitcher by next April.

It’s important to remember that he’s still learning how to pitch at this level. That’s going to take more time.

7. I really enjoyed seeing all of the tributes to Buck Showalter earlier this week for his 60th birthday. It made me think a few things. First of all, Buck is only 60? All kidding aside, seeing the players and coaches and even former players like Jim Palmer, Brady Anderson and Cal Ripken take a moment to say a few nice words was special.

They really pointed out what Buck has meant not only to the Orioles organization, but to the City of Baltimore as a whole. He really has changed the mindset of the team and the fan base during his time. I don’t think Buck is underappreciated by any stretch, but when we look back 20 years from now on this stretch, I think it’ll be looked upon fondly as one of the better times to be an O’s fan.

He’s the biggest single reason for that.

8. Let’s close this week’s thoughts with some fashion news. MLB announced this week that it has a new partnership with Stance to be the official on-field sock provider for teams. I am really interested to see what happens from here on out. I consider myself a bit of a uniform junkie, and that goes for all sports. I’m an avid reader of many uniform and logo blogs and take a real interest in what leagues/teams do for holidays and special occasions.

Stance will provide special socks for the All-Star Game in San Diego this year, and I’m excited to see what they come up with for teams. Stance has gotten good reviews for its work in the NBA thus far. I’ve enjoyed some of the sock action we’ve seen from the Orioles in recent years, so let’s hope it continues.