The Orioles sent SS/2B Joey Ortiz back to AAA and brought up red hot outfielder Kyle Stowers from Norfolk.
I’m fine with this move as long as Stowers is going to get “mostly” everyday PAs including at bats against lefties. Stowers has shown if he plays everyday he will produce. He has not shown the ability to be productive part-time, something many players struggle with.
Ortiz’s demotion is a product of having an $8 million Frazier that Elias still feel a need to play. I do think most of the Elias “roster mismanagement” conversation starts with Elias’s poor offseason and unneeded signing of Frazier.
Even now, Frazier is miscast as an everyday player, but his salary dictates that he will be for the most part. As many of said when he was signed, even if Elias didn’t believe in Mateo, he had plenty of internal options to overcome him if he struggled.
I mean, right now, who believes Frazier makes this team better than Ortiz?
By sending Ortiz back to AAA, he’s saying that he was no going to get everyday PAs and that’s because between he already has four guys for three infield positions right now. This goes back to Elias’ poor offseason where he was unwilling or unable to move guys that may have freed up this playing time allowing players like Ortiz and even Westburg to be in the majors contributing vs making Norfolk the best AAA team in all of baseball.
Now saying all that, the Orioles are 18-9 and playing very well so you can’t be too down on Elias’ major league roster moves.
The way the team is made up right now, and knowing that Frazier is going nowhere anytime soon, sending Ortiz back down makes sense. If the plan is for Stowers to be an everyday player, including against left-handed pitching, then I applaud that move as well.
As I said before, there are plenty of PAs for him, Santander, and Hays and at the very least this should end Frazier playing corner outfield in anything but an emergency.
