Jeff Fiorentino dfa'd

by gashousegang on Jan 2, 2008 2:47 PM EST

anyone think your ball club could use this kid on your 40 man roster....i like him as a reserve type 300 ab guy. Think he could be an upgrade for several teams off the bench. Baltimore fan what do you think of this kid....as a Royal fan he reminds me of Lubanski in some ways.

He has had two cups of cofee with the big club in 05 and 06 and was definitely brought up too early but i think he could be a nice guy to have on the ready in AAA in 08 with a chance to be a fixture in the future

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Can someone explain?

Why hasn't he played in Triple-A yet? He's been solid in Double-A, solid enough to deserve a move anyway. Two full seasons?

by MontrealMets on Jan 2, 2008 3:33 PM EST reply actions

Mostly Timing...

He was decent at AA in 2006, but the Orioles had rushed him in the past, and they decided to play it safe and they started him at AA again this year.

Fio's OPS this year by month:

.416    April (81 ABs)
.920    May (92 ABs)
.733    June (95 ABs)
.943    July (77 ABs)
.930    August (86 ABs)

It wasn't until mid-August that Fio's numbers had rebounded to respectable from his abysmal April.

At that point, the season was almost over, so there was no pressing reason to promote him while he was hitting well.

by dkdc on Jan 2, 2008 3:53 PM EST up reply actions

not really

failed to post above an .800 OPS in two years of AA ball. 24 years old and not great defensively. He had a horrible fall league but pretty much didn't do much in two years. Your 4th/5th outfield types should either hit enough to DH or be able to field cf, Fiorentino can't do either.

by LindInMoskva on Jan 2, 2008 4:15 PM EST up reply actions

That's exactly right

He cant play CF, so he's a corner OF, and his bat doesnt carry well there. I usually shy away from calling a guy "AAAA" but that may be Fiorentino. He's a decent player all around but really doesnt do anything well enough to find a spot... not even on a major league bench.

I never liked him that much as a prospect.

by alskor on Jan 2, 2008 4:55 PM EST up reply actions

first callup

I remember when he was first called up, and they told him, "don't worry about hitting, just catch the ball". At the time, he was regarded as being MLB-caliber as a centerfielder. And the team had lots of hitting in 2005. But, apparently, his range has dropped off a lot, and his hitting hasn't developed as hoped.

He did get something like 5 straight hits to begin his MLB career, though. Something to tell the grandkids, I guess.

I sort of agree with OP, though... I think there are some teams who should give him a role. While the DH/DR comment is true in the abstract, guys like Timo Perez end up with jobs all the time (possibly a bad example after his 90 en fuego AB in 2007, but you get the idea... John Mabry made $1MM his last year with the Cubs, and he can't really do either). With a relatively young guy who was once highly regarded, there's some glimmer of hope that he'll re-find whatever he lost... and he's cheap.

by BobbyMac on Jan 2, 2008 8:15 PM EST up reply actions