In the previous post, I projected the O’s going with a 4 man bench of Moeller, Montanez, Freel, and Wigginton.
With Zaun becoming the obvious backup Catcher, once Wieters is promoted.
The backup Catcher, Freel, and Wigginton are locks… so the only question that exists is what the O’s do with the 25th spot on the roster.
I believe the O’s should have Montanez included with the roster, over a traditional UTI infielder such as Chris Gomez, Jolbert Cabrera, or Donnie Murphy.
The O’s are looking at Izturis as their everyday SS that will play 135 games in 2009.
We know that Izturis is all glove, and no-stick.
If the O’s had a 4 man bench of Zaun, Montanez, Freel, and Wigginton… and Izturis was injured in game… what would happen?
To me, the O’s would have two viable options.
1) Mora could cover at SS for the remainder of the game, with Wigginton or Huff taking over 3rd for Mora.
2) Freel could cover SS for the remainder of the game.
Freel has not played SS for 7 years, but has played 70 professional games at the position.
Even if he could not handle the position on an extended basis, there is little reason to believe he could not handle the position for several innings, or a game at a time.
If Izturis was out for an extended period, the O’s would promote the best internal candidate at the time (probably Blake Davis, http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/D/Blake-Davis.shtml) to handle the position on an every-day basis.
That is what would happen if Izturis was injured… what about the 30 games you would want to rest Izturis in 2009?
Freel has played 416 games at 2nd, and 142 games at 3rd during his professional career…. He has not played SS since 2001, which leads you to the obvious conclusion that he is probably a very poor defensive SS… I wonder if he could he be livable there for 30 games?
Would the gains in Freel’s offense, off-set any defensive gains you might get from Gomez? Remember, Gomez is turning 38 this year… who knows how good of a glove he has left, anyway?
How about the advantage of also having Montanez’s bat available off the bench as opposed to Gomez?
Montanez just turned 27… due to that age, he is not a prospect you need to find everyday at-bats for at AAA. He can contribute to the Orioles by being another bat off the bench, and playing LF vs LHP (with Wigginton getting at-bats at DH over Scott).
I would give Freel every opportunity to prove in camp that he can not handle any-time at SS.
If the O’s decide they need a traditional UTI player…. I think Murphy would have the lead over both Cabrera and Gomez for that last roster-spot.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/M/donnie-murphy.shtml
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/jolbert-cabrera.shtml
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/G/Chris-Gomez.shtml
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/F/ryan-freel.shtml
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/M/Luis-Montanez.shtml
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