Everyone brace yourselves, because what I'm about to tell you is perhaps the most upsetting, heartbreaking news since the start of spring training.
As of yesterday, Orioles catcher Chad Moeller has been reassigned to Triple-A Norfolk, multiple sources reported, including MLB.com and the Baltimore Sun.
And the thing is, I'm not the only one upset about it.
Being the creepy Moeller enthusiast that I am, I've read numerous stories and blogs with him as the subject, not only looking at Moeller as a player, but also as a person. I've also read comments on the same stories and blogs from other Baltimore fans like me. There are many people out there who--with good reason, I'll admit--criticize Moeller's skills both behind the plate and at bat. But there are also a lot of people who love this guy. They believe in him as a veteran catcher who knows the game inside and out and can offer wisdom to a young pitching staff and an extremely talented, but still young and inexperienced, catcher (Matt Wieters). And it's been alluded to many times that "a lot of people" also includes Orioles players. So why does O's manager Dave Trembley insist on being a spoiler?
Thirty-five-year-old Moeller losing the backup catching job might have been all well and good if it was to someone that offered more than what Moeller has to offer, which is expertise at the position. And although Trembley said he believes Craig Tatum, 27, the player who beat out Moeller for the job, offers better catching and throwing skills, his inexperience makes the decision laughable (or cryable, which is what I want to do right about now). Moeller saw action in 492 games in 10 seasons; Tatum has played in just 26 games, all last season with Cincinnati. I understand the O's organization's desire to keep our team young, but that disparity seems a little ridiculous.
Not only that, but Moeller and Tatum were even offensively in spring training. Moeller batted .300 in 20 at-bats, with Tatum batting .294 in 17 at-bats. Moeller also showed some offensive promise after Zaun was traded away last season (and yes, I cried when the O's chose Zaun over Moeller, too) and Moeller was recalled to the majors. He finished the season with a .258 in 89 at-bats over 30 games. That's not too shabby for a then-34-year-old.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Moeller "was shocked and disappointed" by the news. "'I felt like I had a good spring and things had gone really well here last year and that's why I signed back,'" Moeller said in the story. Seriously, the runaround that this guy gets from the O's just breaks my little heart.
Trembley claimed that this all boils down to defense. According to the Baltimore Sun, he said that Moeller's veteran presence is no longer needed because "'This is Wieters' team'" now. Bull crap. Wieters hasn't even played a full year in the majors and the O's are just going to hand over the reins that quickly? I disagree. Give Wieters another year with someone who's played a lot of games with a lot of different teams, someone who's caught a lot of different pitchers.
Baltimore Sun blogger Peter Schmuck agrees. Check out his take on the Moeller situation here.
What I most like about what Schmuck had to say is him verifying the reality of a "leadership gap" and the fact that a lot of players were upset about the decision.
And Schmuck, other disgruntled Moeller supports and I can only wait and find out whether Tatum will stick in the majors or if the O's will come crying back to Moeller when things don't work out.
In the mean time, MASN's Roch Kubatko reported this morning that Moeller is waiting to find out whether he'll have the chance to see major-league playing time for another organization or whether he'll be headed down to the minors. We should find out in the next couple of days.
Later tonight: I'm going to talk about another surprising roster move, with pitcher Chris Tillman also getting reassigned. And I know it's been a while, so I'll give a wrap-up of what I haven't talked about so far in terms of spring training, which ends very soon! O's first game on Tuesday, followed by their home opener on Friday (and I'll be there).
UPDATE: Someone give me a tissue. :( http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-moeller0401,0,5387799.story
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