The Ryan Flaherty Dilemma

There might not be a single backup, utility infielder in the history of baseball that has gotten more flak from fans than Ryan Flaherty.  A former first round pick for the Cubs and Rule 5 pickup for the Orioles, Flaherty has found himself in a starting role, a backup role, as a defensive replacement, a pinch hitter; basically any way you can be a baseball player, Ryan Flaherty has done it.

To Orioles fans, though, he might as well be the second coming of Albert Belle, Glenn Davis, or any name that incites anger in the mind of most O’s fans.  If “Flash” is in the lineup, you know you’re going to hear plenty of fans call into the local radio station moaning about how he’s a “piece of garbage” and “we should have traded him” and how “we should have sent down Flaherty instead of Lamboardazzi”.  Dave in Salisbury thought the O’s should have traded him for Chris Sale.  Come on, Duquette!  How could you pass that up!

When Flaherty is not in the lineup, the youngster Jonathan Schoop is.   Schoop was signed as an amateur free agent by the O’s in 2008 and is poised to become the second baseman of the future for the franchise.  When Johnny Baseball (as they like to call him on 105.7) is in the lineup, there is no outrage.  “That’s our guy, not Ron Flattery.”

What is curious about this is Jonathan Schoop is not providing much more production than Flaherty, if any more at all in relative turns.  Here are their respective stat lines as of August 7th:

	AB	H	HR	RBI	BB
Schoop	317	67	9	28	10
Flaherty	187	38	4	18	12

        

                               

AVG OBP SLG OPS Schoop .211 .251 .328 .580 Flaherty .203 .266 .310 .576

statistics courtesy of baseball-reference.com

Based on those numbers, Schoop has provided more raw production due to the fact that he has received more playing time.  Other than that, his numbers are not that much different than Flaherty’s.  It could be assumed that if Ryan Flaherty had the same amount of playing time as Schoop, he would have around 7-8 homers, 30 RBI, and 20 walks.  Even if his average were to stay around .205, would that not be essentially the same production as what the O’s have gotten from their current starter? 

Both players are plus defenders at second base, so Schoop’s playing time cannot be attributed to defense (although his arm is something straight out of Rookie of the Year.  Sweet reference.  Thanks).  At this point, there seems to be no reason why one should get more playing time than the other outside of the team’s future plans for each player:  Flaherty looks to be a career utility man, while Schoop is looking to earn the full-time job to the short stop’s left. 

So why is it that Ryan Flaherty has acquired so much animosity, while the guy he sits behind plays the same game?  Is it because Schoop has taken Tanaka deep twice (by the way, Schoop has yet to hit a home run at Camden Yards this year)?   Is it because fans think it’s cool to not wear batting gloves?  We have a baffling mystery on our hands.

So what is the answer?  What do the Orioles need to do at second base to solidify the team before a big playoff push?  Play Schoop full time? Play Flaherty full time? Platoon?  Lombardozzi?  Any one of these could be an answer, but it seems that the true answer to the O’s second base woes lies somewhere outside of the organization.

According to a few sources, the Orioles were in on Asdrubal Cabrera from Cleveland before the Nationals completed a trade for him (though he’s batting an unimpressive .208 so far in Washington).  Since then, there has been word that Dan Duquette is actively looking on the market, but nothing of substance has popped up in the rumor mill.

Two names that come to mind, however, are Ben Zobrist and Chase Utley.  Both of these players are approaching the latter part of their careers, but are still producing at a high level.  Chase Utley was voted into his sixth All-Star game this season while batting .281/.349/.426 for the year so far; a vast upgrade over both Schoop and Flaherty.  The issue with Utley, however, is he has a strict no trade clause and does not appear to be leaving Philadelphia any time soon.  Zobrist would also provide much increased production with his .278/.363/.426 line, but it may be unlikely that the Rays trade him to a division rival in the Orioles.

It seems the O’s are in a pickle.  Do you start the right handed power hitter who incites a hurricane with every swing and miss, the left handed utility guy who wishes they were throwing softballs, or do you try your hardest to upgrade from the outside with a large chance of failure?

It is a conversation that may go on through the rest of the season, but if Chris Davis and Nelson Cruz can find their bats again, it may not even matter.

--Patrick Maher, @WarehousePat