The Orioles aren’t as interested in Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Jorge de la Rosa as it may seem. Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun hears that the O’s have not decided whether to bid on Nishioka, since the posting fee and contract could make the infielder prohibitively expensive. Earlier today, a Japanese report suggested the Orioles had decided to place a bid on Nishioka.
The Denver Post reported this week that the Nationals, Pirates and Orioles have pursued De La Rosa most aggressively, but Zrebiec says the O’s have just “tepid” interest in the lefty.
The Orioles have had multiple conversations with Koji Uehara’s representatives and, according to MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli, are active in trade discussions, too (Twitter link). Baltimore appears to be considering potential deals for a shortstop.
I think Nishioka would be a spectacular fit in Baltimore for 3 reasons…
1. He is a tremendous player
2. The team and fanbase needs to be revived and bringing in the “Ichiro’s” and other popular players of the world would make that happen.
3. He could really do some damage (not so much home runs) in the AL East.
I’d love to see him go to the Orioles
De La Rosa on the other hand I’d like to see go to the O’s as well…But if a contending team offers him a deal similiar to what the Orioles will offer, I don’t think they get him.
Nishioka hit .260 in 2009. What’s so “tremendous” about that? I guess you didn’t realize that 2010 was a huge outlier in Nishioka’s solid, but unspectacular, career.
And De La Rosa would be a disaster in the AL East. This is a guy who has never thrown more than 185 innings in four seasons as a starter. Prior to 2009, his career ERA was 5.55. Sure, he put up decent numbers over parts of two seasons in a big hitters park, but he’s still got a less than inspiring walk rate.
There are just way too many issues with De La Rosa that should turn on that little light bulb in every GM’s head that says, “I shouldn’t sign this guy for three years, $24M”, but some idiot is going to do it. It’s a good thing for the Mets that Omar Minaya is no longer in control.
He had one tremendous year in Japan and several good ones that were marred by injury. I wouldn’t call him “tremendous” by any means yet, especially given the difficulty quality Japanese infielders have had sticking in MLB… Kaz Matsui, Tad Iguchi, Aki Iwamura…
Most are quality defenders, but really struggle at the dish… I think Kaz Matsui is a great comparison to Nishioka. Kaz may not of hit many homers, but was a serviceable player and I see no reason why Nishioka couldn’t be the same. I think people need to stop calling every Japanese import “the next Ichiro”, these players are talented, but let them be themselves.
I don’t know about the defense even. All three of the examples I mentioned wound up being below average defensively over their careers.
Matsui had two strong seasons but for most of his career he played at or below replacement level. He only totaled 5.7 WAR for his whole career in MLB to this point… that’s not good for someone who came into the league in 2004.
If Nishioka is drawing comparisons to Kaz Matsui, which I’ve seen, that’s not a flattering concept and I think most teams should stay away from him.
First of all, Nishioka would be a great fit for the orioles.
I wouldn’t compare him to matsui because not only is he scouted as an above average glove as a middle infielder, he is a slasher at the plate and can get on base. Yes, the japanese league is different from MLB, but he killed at the WBC classics and beijin and bobby valentine was his manager and he thinks nishioka can be a great middle infielder in the mlb. Not to mention that Nishioka has 3 gold gloves in the japanese league (1 at second base, 2 at ss).
I don’t think he’ll have a problem being a good hitter in the mlb. The fact that he’s the only player in the japanese league to hit more than 200 hits in their 144 game season since ichiro in 1994 doesn’t say he’s going to be an ichiro but does say a lot about him. He has dealt with minor injuries from 05-09 but he is only 26 and he’s just reaching his prime.
The orioles should give it a shot. He can play ss and hit second behind roberts or at the bottom of the order and then when machado is ready we can move him to second. I think we should also resign itzuris. He would be a good back up with his defense.
As for pitchers, we need to get whatever we can. I feel the orioles need at least 1 starters. We won’t win unless we have a solid rotation we can count on. Garland or del la rosa would be solid. We also need to sign koji as our closer and get some good relievers.
I feel like realistically the orioles could get nishioka, sign paul kanerko, del la rosa and resign wiggington and koji
The line up could look like Roberts, markakis, konerko, scott, wiggington, jones, pie, wieters, nishioka and del la rosa, guthrie, matusz, bergensen and arrieta
I would say its def an upgrade from last year and it gives the orioles’ corner infield prospects time to develop in the minor league
I don’t know about the defense even. All three of the examples I mentioned wound up being below average defensively over their careers.
Matsui had two strong seasons but for most of his career he played at or below replacement level. He only totaled 5.7 WAR for his whole career in MLB to this point… that’s not good for someone who came into the league in 2004.
If Nishioka is drawing comparisons to Kaz Matsui, which I’ve seen, that’s not a flattering concept and I think most teams should stay away from him.
Disagree. I don’t think he would be cost-effective nor as good of a fit as other major leaguers could be. Personally I’d rather trade for Bartlett than sign Nishioka.
De La Rosa on the other hand is interesting as he would give us another solid lefty and fill out an intriguing top 3 in the rotation (Guthrie, Matusz, De La Rosa)
It’s going to take at least three years, $21M for anyone to sign De La Rosa. Which means it’ll take at least three, $24 for the Orioles.
And this is a guy who had a 5.55 career ERA prior to 2009, has a career BB/9 of 4.5 and has surpassed 130 innings just once in his four seasons as a starter.
GM’s should be lining up to say “Thanks, but no thanks” to De La Rosa, but instead, he’s going to get that three year deal from someone. And I sure hope it’s not the Orioles.
Boy, first Kevin Towers is shopping Justin Upton…now they are going to hire Omar Minaya….can it get any worse for the Diamondbacks?
The Upton trade idea is a sure way to get elite players to build your team