2010 ON Hitter of the Year?

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Our pitcher of the year will be posted shortly...in the meantime, what are your guess for ON's hitter of the year? (which will be posted sometime tomorrow).

[allstar1579]

Our pitcher of the year will be posted shortly...in the meantime, what are your guess for ON's hitter of the year? (which will be posted sometime tomorrow).

Probably Mahoney, because he did it over a large chunk of the season. Adams had too many Ks, Avery split a bunch of levels and hasn't finished developing, Townsend was hurt too long.

[BuckMagic]

O's announced their awards today. Britton and Mahoney.

[allstar1579]

Jim Callis jimcallisBA

Just a solid year, nothing special as a prospect. 1B w/no plus tool. @luke_jackson10: Is there anything to Joe Mahoney's big year? #Orioles

Just thought I'd throw this out there for all those who think Mahoney is a top 100 prospect or something now.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Jim Callis jimcallisBA

Just a solid year, nothing special as a prospect. 1B w/no plus tool. @luke_jackson10: Is there anything to Joe Mahoney's big year? #Orioles

Just thought I'd throw this out there for all those who think Mahoney is a top 100 prospect or something now.

Think Callis nailed it. Also aided by high BABIP. Not a top ten prospect in the system for me.

[allstar1579]

Jim Callis jimcallisBA

Just a solid year, nothing special as a prospect. 1B w/no plus tool. @luke_jackson10: Is there anything to Joe Mahoney's big year? #Orioles

Just thought I'd throw this out there for all those who think Mahoney is a top 100 prospect or something now.

Think Callis nailed it. Also aided by high BABIP. Not a top ten prospect in the system for me.

Same here, I've been saying this til blue in the face in other places...I chalk it up to people WANTING to have breakout stars come out of nowhere SO bad because we've been losing so bad for so long.

[Don]

I think Callis is selling short on Joe. He is a tremendous athlete with raw power and speed. How anyone can say he has no plus tools and be considered a scout is beyond me? He has plus power with the massive amount of home runs and doubles. The Eastern league is not a hitter's paradise as some other minor league systems are known to inflate hitters or pitchers, such as the PCL.

I am not sure he cracks the top ten, but this guy is a prospect who ranks somewhere in the 10-15 level. He has the frame and attributes of a professional tight end. He can flat out hit the ball. If he can take his game another level next year, you can start to call him a future everyday player rather than a future utilty player.

This was not the first time I fail to agree with Callis and I know it will not be the last.

[allstar1579]

I think Callis is selling short on Joe. He is a tremendous athlete with raw power and speed. How anyone can say he has no plus tools and be considered a scout is beyond me? He has plus power with the massive amount of home runs and doubles. The Eastern league is not a hitter's paradise as some other minor league systems are known to inflate hitters or pitchers, such as the PCL.

I am not sure he cracks the top ten, but this guy is a prospect who ranks somewhere in the 10-15 level. He has the frame and attributes of a professional tight end. He can flat out hit the ball. If he can take his game another level next year, you can start to call him a future everyday player rather than a future utilty player.

This was not the first time I fail to agree with Callis and I know it will not be the last.

He is by far not the first person to say so, many scouts have said the same, and while he's not perfect, he is pretty darn good at what he does.

He does not have close to plus power. Plus power is a guy like Ryan Howard who hits 40HR in the minors, not a guy who in a career year hits 18 and who's career high before this was 9. The Eastern league is a very neutral league by the way, no skew hitters to pitchers. People try to throw the "plus tools" thing around a lot, but not very many prospects have any plus tools, it's not like every guy that has a good season in the minors does.

[ZBall2131]

Yeah, I too asked Callis about his opinion on Mahoney. I'm pretty sure O's fans have super-loaded his Twitter with questions about the big guy. You know he's sick of answering the same question with the same answer.

I like Mahoney, especially his raw power and his mysterious speed, but I'm of that same opinion that we as O's fans have been looking for some sort of breakout star. I remember a few years ago (probably more than a few) when Brandon Tripp had a "breakout year." He won the Orioles player of the year award, and didn't even make it through the next season before he was released.

Breakout seasons can be a fickle you-know-what.

That said, I'm big on Mahoney, especially because he brings so much to the organization as a whole. Power that the O's have lacked for years, and mostly a compelling story to follow.

Hitter of the year has to come down to Mahoney and Adams, and since Mahoney has the fewer Ks, I think he's pretty much a shoe-in.