Tom Tango's 2011 Orioles Fans Scouting Report

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Let's help Tom Tango at Inside the Book fill out his Orioles Fans Scouting report: http://www.tangotiger.net/scout/

Here's his goal with this: fans grade players on a 1-6 scale and every player ends up with a final grade. That grade is then converted to a UZR scale and can be used in WAR instead of UZR if you don't like defensive metrics.

Not only have the fans voted Matt Wieters the #1 defender on the Orioles, but also the number one defensive catcher in all of the majors.

Right now, Matt Wieters is rated the best defender on the Orioles with a 73 grade, followed by Hardy with a 71 grade.

Read about Tango's project >>
View the already tallied results for the Orioles >>
Submit your evaluations for the Orioles >>
View the highest rated defenders from around the majors >>

Do you agree with the grades fans have handed out for the Orioles so far?

[BuckMagic]

This is a nice idea. The best part about this is we can use it to find the mean between this grade and UZR. Adam Jones looks like he's going to be an above-average fielder based off these fans votes, so for those that argue that Jones is a bad defender based on his -8 UZR can be pointed towards this to silence them. You could probably average the two for the mean or even just go with the fans conversion to the UZR scale if you think that's more accurate.

Now my two questions.......

1. Where can these conversions to UZR scale be found and when will they be released?
2. How can fans possibly vote Markakis to be a better defender than Jones?!

[OriolesRedskins28]

2. How can fans possibly vote Markakis to be a better defender than Jones?!

I think Markakis is an overrated fielder. Don't get me wrong, he's solid but I think he's far from great. His throwing has gotten significantly worse, it used to be a strength for him but now it seems to be merely average. He also seems slow when running down fly balls, it seems as though he reacts quickly but is slow getting to them.

Jones' fielding confuses me. He shows the great speed and athleticism but always comes up with a poor defensive metrics. He seems to make a lot of mistakes, I remember a play against the Rays earlier in the year where he let a 2 out line drive hit right at him by Evan Longoria with the bases loaded go right past him. It was a play he should have made but instead it turned into an in the park grand slam. But then there was the incredible catch he made in Seattle... I think overall he's a little bit below average at CF but has a cannon for an arm, I would prefer him in RF (with Trent Mummey, NOT Xavier Avery as the future CF) and Markakis on another team but maybe that's just me.

[Don]

I was looking over that list and I just think some fans are to reactionary and were not realistically ranking the players. As I said to Jordan, "really an 11 for Mark Reynolds, really..." He is not a gold glove candidate, but an 11 is saying he is the worst defensive fielder in the history of baseball and this simply not the case.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

2. How can fans possibly vote Markakis to be a better defender than Jones?!

I think Markakis is an overrated fielder. Don't get me wrong, he's solid but I think he's far from great. His throwing has gotten significantly worse, it used to be a strength for him but now it seems to be merely average. He also seems slow when running down fly balls, it seems as though he reacts quickly but is slow getting to them.

Jones' fielding confuses me. He shows the great speed and athleticism but always comes up with a poor defensive metrics. He seems to make a lot of mistakes, I remember a play against the Rays earlier in the year where he let a 2 out line drive hit right at him by Evan Longoria with the bases loaded go right past him. It was a play he should have made but instead it turned into an in the park grand slam. But then there was the incredible catch he made in Seattle... I think overall he's a little bit below average at CF but has a cannon for an arm, I would prefer him in RF (with Trent Mummey, NOT Xavier Avery as the future CF) and Markakis on another team but maybe that's just me.

Yeah, Jones makes boneheaded plays and that's what's holding him back from becoming an elite fielder. He gets a lot of poor reads and doesn't show the best instincts.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

I was looking over that list and I just think some fans are to reactionary and were not realistically ranking the players. As I said to Jordan, "really an 11 for Mark Reynolds, really..." He is not a gold glove candidate, but an 11 is saying he is the worst defensive fielder in the history of baseball and this simply not the case.

That would work but then it pushes Reimold to the bench.