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Orioles Interested In Cardinals RHP Kyle McClellan

By: Tucker Blair 
Published: January 29, 2012 4:36 pm

The Orioles are interested in RHP Kyle McClellan, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Dispatch. However, the asking price is too high at the time, according to Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports.

McClellan, 27, posted a 12-7 record with a 4.19 ERA, 1.313 WHIP, 4.92 FIP, and a 4.34 xFIP in 141.2 innings as a starter and reliever last season for the Cardinals. The Orioles like him in either role, according to Kubatko.

As a starter last season, he posted a 6-6 record with a 4.21 ERA, 1.280 WHIP, and a 4.6 K/9. As a reliever he posted a 4.14 ERA, 1.405 WHIP and a 5.6 K/9. Last season was his first time ever starting at the MLB level.

McClellan has a career 19-22 record with 3.61 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 4.16 xFIP, 6.16 K/9, and a 3.16 BB/9

It seems the Cardinals are attempting to relieve some salary in the attempt to sign Roy Oswalt. For the Orioles, he would either jump into the starting rotation battle or assume a role in the back-end of the bullpen.

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Buster Olney @Buster_ESPN
Year after year, it's the Orioles who are left to pick at the carcass of the offseason, after every other team is finished feeding. Amazing.

Quote (Minestrone @ Jan 30 2012 08:40am)

http://okayface.com/okay-face.jpg

Quote (tuckerblair89 @ Jan 30 2012 10:57am)

I don't really know what he is trying to say really. What did he want us to do? Go sign Ryan Madson? Sign prince?

If the orioles got McClellan or koji I would be fine with that.
Teams don't have to sign or trade for high priced guys to have an effective offseason.

This is the kind of shit that makes us look bad in the national media.
Orioles have had one of their better offseasons in a while (built depth without spending much at all)

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Monday, January 30, 2012
Prospect Watch: Joe Mahoney
The Orioles have a couple studs at the top of their prospect lists. But the Orioles have a few other intriguing guys in their system as well. Joey Mahoney is a big-framed first basemen that may surprise some people in the future...If he can continue to develop properly.

Mahoney is a left-handed hitter drafted in the 6th round of the 2009 draft out of the University of Richmond. At 6'6'' 240lbs, Mahoney possesses the body type that one would desire at first base. When the Orioles drafted Mahoney, they most likely projected that his big-framed body would offer plenty of power. So far that has not been the case. In five seasons, Mahoney has only 53 HR. That averages out to only 10.6 HR per season. Of course he has only reached 500 plate appearances once in his minor league career, but it shows that the Orioles are still waiting on his power to emerge. However, if you dig deeper into his body of work, you can see that maybe Mahoney IS hitting for enough power.


Here is Mahoney's ISO (Isolated Power= SLG%-Batting Average) over the past 5 seasons:
2007 (A-): .169
2008 (A) : .128
2009 (A) : .129
2010(A+): .166
2010(AA): .225
2011(AA): .213

I only listed stops through the system where he had more than 100 AB. As you can see, there is some fluctuation going on. His ISO has been trending upwards since 2010 though, indicating that he may have taken a step forward. So while his HR's are not exactly showing up, he is still proving to have power. An ISO in the .200's is very good.
Mark Reynolds led the Orioles with an ISO of .262 in 2011. He had 37 HR.
Jose Bautista led the MLB with an ISO of .306 in 2011. He had 43 HR

So maybe Mahoney is beginning to realize his potential in the power category. Of course he still will need to work on producing in other areas, but they have never seemed to have been much of a challenge. He currently has a .276/.332/.443 batting line throughout his five seasons.
His wOBA the past five seasons has been .351, .283, .356, .388, and .370.
His BABIP over the past five seasons has been .315, .278, .348, .355, and .349.

These numbers indicate that Mahoney is putting up viable enough numbers to eventually reach the majors. If you take out his 2008 season, his numbers look exceptional. The only knock is that as a first basemen, power is essential. The ability to hit the ball deep is a factor in moving up. Mahoney may be a sleeper right now in the Orioles system, but one day he could become a major league first basemen.

Quote (tuckerblair89 @ Jan 30 2012 03:57pm)

I don't really know what he is trying to say really. What did he want us to do? Go sign Ryan Madson? Sign prince?

If the orioles got McClellan or koji I would be fine with that.
Teams don't have to sign or trade for high priced guys to have an effective offseason.

This is the kind of shit that makes us look bad in the national media.
Orioles have had one of their better offseasons in a while (built depth without spending much at all)

Quote (Babolat @ Jan 30 2012 03:40pm)

Unfortunately, building depth on an already shitty team won't win you many games...