On Day 2 of the Winter Meetings, there are numerous reports that the Baltimore Orioles are considering trading OF Nolan Reimold for SS Jason Bartlett.
The best part of this deal would be that Izturis and his .545 OPS (.619 for his career) would not be the everyday SS for the O’s in 2011. (There are reports of the O’s being interested in bringing back Izturis as a UTI)
Any evaluation of this potential Bartlett/Reimold deal has to begin with the idea that Izturis was the worst everyday player in the Major Leagues. No matter what questions you have about Bartlett, he is almost certainly an upgrade for the O’s.
In regards to the proposed trade itself, I think that is an expensive price for Bartlett. With Brignac, Zobrist, and Rodriguez the Tampa Rays have good depth up the middle. It has been apparent for some-time that Bartlett would be available, because Tampa does not figure to retain him, when they could get similar/better production cheaper from Brignac.
So, knowing that Tampa is going to move Bartlett, I would be disappointed that the O’s could not obtain him for less than Reimold. Obviously Reimold had a horrific 2010 season. He was dealing with the Achillies’ injury when the season started, and that hurt him. He struggled in his first 90 at-bats with the O’s and was sent back to AAA. It took months for him to get going at-all in AAA, and the reports came out of Reimold being distracted by off-field issues. Called back to the Birds in September, he found just 33 at-bats over 10 games of playing time.
I’m an unabashed Nolan Reimold fan, and believe he can be a very productive Major League player. He has tremendous power, a solid batting-eye, is a good athlete, and plays hard. Now healthy, I believe he would rebound for Tampa in 2011. If I am wrong though, the O’s would still be moving him when his value is at a low. I think it would be better to see if he could rebuild his value with the Orioles, vs. trading him now. I don’t like giving up the years of player control you have with Reimold, for 1 year of Bartlett.
I do acknowledge that I could be wrong about Reimold. He turned 27 in October, and has had just 474 at-bats in the Majors. I like the hustle that Reimold plays with, but maybe the O’s have a point questioning his maturity in how he dealt with the off-field issues. There are many reports that the O’s were not happy with him declining to go to Winter Ball this off-season.
Getting past Reimold, let us take a look at Bartlett.
2008: .690 OPS, 25 doubles, 128 games, 2.8 UZR/150
2009: .879 OPS, 29 doubles, 7 triples, 14 homers, 137 games, (-6.9 UZR/150)
2010: .675 OPS, 27 doubles, 135 games, (-13.8 UZR/150)
*FanGraphs.com UZR Primer
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-fangraphs-uzr-primer/
You do not make this trade believing you are getting Bartlett’s 2009 production. You make this trade with the idea you are hopefully getting an OPS near .700 (which would be 155 points above Izturis in ’10). The issue with Barlett is just how good (or bad?) a defensive player is he currently?
The summation of the FanGraphs article linked below is, “If you think Bartlett’s a -7.5 run shortstop with average offense, then he’s roughly a two WAR (Wins Above Replacement) player.”
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/bartlett-on-the-market/
If the O’s convinced themselves Reimold would not rebound, you can argue the merits of this move. Even if you disagree with the move in-general, you have to agree the O’s have improved at SS.
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