What Nate McLouth Means for the Orioles

[Jordan Tuwiner]

http://orioles-nation.com/?p=13863

The Orioles came to an agreement with 31-year-old outfielder Nate McLouth on Wednesday. According to sources, the deal will be worth $2 million for one year, with additional bonuses totaling $500,000 for reaching 550 plate appearances.

McLouth’s return is a welcomed one, as both parties were interested in working out a deal and the outfielder became a fan favorite for his energetic and productive performance down the stretch and in the playoffs in 2012. Considering the free agent market for veteran outfielders -- 32-year-old Shane Victorino and 31-year-old Angel Pagan recently agreed to multiyear deals worth $39 and $40 million respectively -- the contract is clearly on team-friendly terms, despite McLouth’s rocky recent history. The 31-year-old outfielder would barely need to perform above replacement level to earn his keep.

Dan pretty much covered my thoughts.

If Reimold is healthy and they can platoon in LF that would be best.

[LA Detective]

Even though he will most likely be a starter he provides great depth. We went yrs with only BR as the leadoff and failed when he got hurt. Now we have a guy that can bat 1 or 2. Nick being the other.

He can also play center. If AJ got hurt our options might be limited. Now McClouth can slide over and Reimold,CDavis, Hoes, Pearce can play left. Otherwise we would of been forced to move Nick to center or only Avery could of been recalled.

I like him becuase he plays great D and does everything the right way on the field. The Oriole Way I remember. I see him as .280+/345+OBA..430 slg..25+steals..and he proved he can hit when its most needed....If he reaches these numbers he is a bargain compared to some of the others. I liked him better than Victorino..

[Matt P]

Those stats are a bit unlikely IMO. He did post a line near that in his two months with the O's last year but I sure hope you are right.

[OriolesRedskins28]

Those stats are a bit unlikely IMO. He did post a line near that in his two months with the O's last year but I sure hope you are right.

Keep in mind that this year he probably won't play as often against LHP as he did during that two month stretch. That should balance out his potential regression.

I'd be happy if he was in the neighborhood of .260/.330-.340/.420 with that good speed and defense.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Keep in mind that this year he probably won't play as often against LHP as he did during that two month stretch. That should balance out his potential regression.

I'd be happy if he was in the neighborhood of .260/.330-.340/.420 with that good speed and defense.

That seems reasonable. I really think with the way the roster is constructed we are going to see a lot of shifting anyway. Playing who is hot, who has better splits, etc.

[ofahn]

Those stats are a bit unlikely IMO.

I can understand your doubts, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him do better than that IF Davis, Jones, and Wieters take their game to the next level and he's hitting in front of those guys. He can be a patient hitter but he jumps all over mistakes. Put him in front of three impact hitters and he'll see a lot more mistakes. Limit his ABs against tough LHs and an .850 OPS is not out of the question.

[Matt P]

I can understand your doubts, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him do better than that IF Davis, Jones, and Wieters take their game to the next level and he's hitting in front of those guys. He can be a patient hitter but he jumps all over mistakes. Put him in front of three impact hitters and he'll see a lot more mistakes. Limit his ABs against tough LHs and an .850 OPS is not out of the question.

We've been waiting for Wieters to go to the next level for a few years now. At some point he is what he is.

[LA Detective]

For some reason Defensive minded catchers develop offensively later. Varitek comes to mind. I believe MW puts so much Mentally into his work behind the plate that his O suffers. I would like to see him DH a little more to keep him in the line up and more of a mental breather. I fully believe he has a few .280+/ 30 HR seasons in him coming up soon.

[ofahn]

We've been waiting for Wieters to go to the next level for a few years now. At some point he is what he is.

I look at Wieters and see strong similarities to Jason Varitek. Aside from being a switch hitting C from Georgia Tech Wieters has not shown the early results at the bat that his potential would suggest. He HAS; however, improved every year. If Davis and Jones take the next step Wieters is going to see a LOT better pitches to hit, then we might see what we have been expecting for a couple of years.

[Matt P]

How much bigger of a step could Davis and Jones take though? They both had very good seasons last year. I'm not sure there is much more of a step for either of them to take.

[ofahn]

How much bigger of a step could Davis and Jones take though? They both had very good seasons last year. I'm not sure there is much more of a step for either of them to take.

Davis needs to lay off the low inside pitches and Jones the low outside ones. If they do that they'll add an EASY .100 points to their OPS. IMO, that's a step.

[Matt P]

Davis needs to lay off the low inside pitches and Jones the low outside ones. If they do that they'll add an EASY .100 points to their OPS. IMO, that's a step.

Again, at some point they are what they are. People have been waiting for Jones to lay off that pitch since he came to Baltimore. Everyone in the stadium knows it's coming when the pitcher is ahead 0-2 or 1-2 and he just can't lay off it.