Post #32 by Don » November 29th, 2011, 12:12 pm
Mahoney has a serious hole on the out half of the plate and I think it will hinder him without addressing the concerns with his dead pull tendencies. Does this mean he cannot make it, no. It does mean that he may not be productive enough to handle first base as an everyday player. His age and production are likely making him a reserve or 25 man depth for injury.
Avery is still young enough that he can still project down the line. Too many people are writing him off, I have seen the adjustments over the years that he is slowly gaining strike zone judgement, spraying the ball with gap power (going with pitches), better at small ball. He still has a way to go for an everyday centerfielder. He must improve his first step and small aspects of his defensive (better routes, glove down, etc...). He must be a patient and effective hitter. Again signs are in the picture and I would not be writing him off at 21 years of age. He was always going to take that extra year or two for his skills to finally translate. If the Orioles write him off, I would gladly tell my team to "buy low" on him.
