The Story of Scott Moore (or Why Can't These Guys Get At Bats?)

A while back, I wrote a post about how Andy MacPhail has acquired minor league corner infielders and lauding him for producing Rhyne Hughes out of that mix.

Now, Hughes is back in Norfolk but another guy, Scott Moore is here.

The quick background on Moore:

Moore was a 1st Round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in 2002 and was eventually dealt to the Cubs. The Orioles acquired him from the Cubs for SP Steve Trachsel in 2007. Moore played in Baltimore that season posting a .622 OPS over 17 games.

It looked like Moore would get a shot to play in Baltimore in 2008 but it was not to be. Injuries limited him to 78 games in Norfolk and he only got 9 at bats in Baltimore. 2009 followed with still more injuries.

So in 2010, with the Orioles desperate for bodies, they called Moore up from Norfolk and started letting him play...a little. Moore started out 0-9 over his first 7 games but then the O's started giving him more regular playing time.From June 2nd to June 13th, he went 9 for 24 while posting a .375/.423/.542 line. Then, inexplicably, he hasn't gotten a start since. (OK, not completely inexplicably...he rolled an ankle before Wednesday's game.)

Why would a team that is so desperate for offense leave a guy with a hot bat on the bench? Why would the O's take a 26-year-old player, a former 1st round draft pick, a guy who can play all over the infield, and leave him in the dugout while the corpses of Garrett Atkins and Julio Lugo drag their undead carcasses to the plate night after night? Are the vets going to get better? Do they really give the team a better shot to win in 2010? What about 2011? The season is long lost. Why?

I'm not saying Moore will be a good player...but could he be average? Absolutely. Could he be a late bloomer ala Jayson Werth? Perhaps. But we'll never know while he's on the bench.

Aside from that, couldn't this team still use Rhyne Hughes? Hughes is wearing out lefty pitchers in AAA and his overall MLE numbers would give him a .710 OPS. Again, not great but he's still only 26. He just might get a little better. He's arguably already a better option than Atkins.

The Orioles have two of the worst position players in baseball getting regular at bats. Atkins is OPSing .575 and Lugo is OPSing .495. There is nothing to lose by jettisoning these guys and giving a younger player a shot.

The one upshot to losing like this is that there is no longer anything to lose. You can try anything at this point. Why not make a bold move? (Hell, giving Moore and Hughes more ABs wouldn't even be considered bold at this point...just for this organization.)

Give the younger guys a chance to play regularly; they'll improve the team this season and you'll find out if you have any diamonds in the rough. In 2010, anything else is ludicrous.

How The Orioles Got Rhyne Hughes

The obvious answer to the above title is, "He was the PTBNL in the Gregg Zaun deal with the Rays." But there is more to it than that.

When Andy MacPhail took over as President of Baseball Operations in June of 2007, he took to overhauling the Oriole farm system. His first task was to acquire all the quality arms he could get. But he also saw that the prospects at the corner infield positions were thin, to say the least. There were only two 1B/3B prospects of note: Billy Rowell and Brandon Snyder, both former 1st round picks, both flawed in their own ways and both way down the ladder in Delmarva.

MacPhail knew he needed more depth at the corners in the minor league system and many of the trades he's made since have focused on getting upper-level prospects at a discount.

Some of his acquisitions of note:

August 2007 - Acquired 3B Scott Moore from Cubs
December 2007 - Acquired 3B Mike Costanzo from Astros
January 2008 - Signed 1B/3B Oscar Salazar
December 2008 - Acquired 3B Brandon Waring from Reds
June 2009 - Drafted 1B Tyler Townsend in 3rd Rd
June 2009 - Acquired 1B Michael Aubrey from Indians
July 2009 - Acquired 3B Josh Bell from Dodgers
August 2009 - Acquired 1B Rhyne Hughes from Rays

Some guys flamed out (Costanzo), some are still toiling in the minors (Waring, Moore) and some have contributed already (Salazar, Aubrey and now Hughes). The point is, MacPhail increased the depth, gave up little for any of these guys and is now seeing the fruits of this labor in Rhyne Hughes. Hughes may not be a long-term solution but you never know. He certainly offers a short-term upgrade over Garrett Atkins.

(All of this makes the $4.5 million deal for Atkins all the more frustrating. There were plenty of cheaper internal options that could have reasonably duplicated or exceeded his performance.)

Some things in baseball don't change. Branch Rickey said,"From quantity comes quality." and with MacPhail increasing the minor league talent at the corner infield positions, he seems to have found some quality in it. This is not to say that those positions are now strengths in the system...just that it is no longer moribund and it was improved without spending millions.

Rhyne Hughes Recalled Form Norfolk. What Does That Mean?

1B Rhyne Hughes has been recalled from AAA Norfolk and will join the team in Boston. No corresponding roster move has been announced.

Hughes is a 26-year-old (who looked larger than the 6'2" height and 215 lb weight he is listed at in Spring Training) who was acquired from the Tampa in the Gregg Zaun deal last season. He was an 8th round pick in 2004. Since 2008, he has slugged north of .500 in the minors.

This could mean a few different things:

1. The team has decided that is made a horrible mistake by signing Garrett Atkins, are eating his contract and giving Hughes a shot to hold down first base.

2. The team finds Justin Turner or Julio Lugo redundant and are either sending down Turner or releasing Lugo.

3. The team will let Hughes play left and send down Lou Montanez.

4. The team is sending down a reliever and Hughes will provide an extra bench player.

While I would like for #1 to be true, it probably isn't. The team is not going to eat that contract in April.

#3 is unlikely as well since Montanez has not played any worse than anyone else and Nolan Reimold has not looked that great with the glove in left; no sense if bringing in another questionable outfield glove in Hughes.

And I don't see Dave Trembley going with an 11-man bullpen.

So, one of the middle infielders is going...probably Turner since he has options. While I think I've seen enough of Lugo as this point, I don't think the team is giving up on him yet.

Anyway, Hughes is coming up to provide some offense for a team that is struggling at the plate. Hughes in OPSing 1.088 in Norfolk so the Orioles are hoping they can catch lightning in a bottle.