Analysis of the O’s Off-season Acquisitions

Dave said his next post was on the O’s recent acquisitions. I decided to beat him to the punch and give an objective view on the situation.

Derrek Lee:
Even with a new manager, the Orioles couldn’t help but sign at least one overpaid, over-the-hill veteran to their roster. Lee hit .260 last year and is expected to make around $10 million at age 35. Lee is a gold glove caliber first basemen. But, the question is if he has any “pop left in his bat”. The same question arose when the O’s signed Sosa, Palmeiro, and Tejada(the 2^nd time). Actually, their question was if there was any “juice left in the syringe?”

Mark Reynolds:
The good news for Reynolds is that he will not lead the NL in strikeouts in 2011, a title he has claim the last three seasons. The bad news is that he will surely lead the AL in strikeouts. Burn. He is the "Sultan of Swing-and-a-miss", the "King of the K,” and the "Colossus of Called Strike Three." (okay that last one was pretty weak, but I had to complete the Sandlot/Babe Ruth reference) Reynolds has the Major League record for most strikeouts in a season with 223 in 2009! In 2010, he became the quickest player to record 100 strikeouts after only 67 games. Also, he can’t field! As a third basemen, he has been in the top two in the league with errors the past three seasons.
Fortunately for Dave and O’s fans, the man can kill the ball. He hit 44 home runs in 2009 and has been ranked in the top 5 of at-bats per HR over the last two seasons. The Orioles got the power they wanted, but it came with some baggage.

JJ Hardy:
I’m not going to lie. I think JJ is a great pick up for the Orioles. I wish the Buccos would have picked him up. Maybe they are bitter that Hardy dominated the Pirates when he played for the Brewers. (He has a lifetime BA of .338 against us). If Hardy can stay healthy, he might be able to get back to his 2007/2008 form when he averaged .280/25/78 during the two seasons. Hardy is a great addition with plenty of upside in my opinion.

Kevin Gregg:
Gregg is a solid reliever that will help improve the worst bullpen in baseball. The best resume builder for Gregg is that he had an ERA of 3.51 with Toronto last year. He is familiar with the division and maybe he can give some tips to the Uehara on how to pitch to A-Rod. Cue the fireworks!

Who the O’s should have picked up:
Chien-Ming Wang was the Yankees ace for a couple years and almost won the Cy Young in 2006! He got injured and released. The Nats signed him for 2 million dollars. The jersey sales alone would have covered his salary. Also, it ruined my Christmas present for Dave…