Let’s say you’re going to make a pizza at home. You have all the ingredients to make a delicious pie: pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, onions, etc. And then, for some reason, you have a box of yellow raisins.
This is not a knock against yellow raisins. They’re all right by themselves; they’re just not a topping you’d probably ever want to see on a pizza. They don’t complement the other ingredients.
Craig Gentry is that box of raisins.
The Orioles signed the 33-year-old veteran, hoping he could provide outfield defense and speed on the base-paths. Gentry has been in the league since 2009, and has posted a positive WAR in every season he has appeared in at least 64 games. Thus, it seemed a reasonable dice-roll for a club that specializes in such off-season moves.
The signing threw him into the backseat of the Orioles’ clown car of corner-outfielder/first-basemen/DH-types. Buck Showalter deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for the way he’s been able to divvy up time between them, while still winning ballgames.
They toyed with using Gentry as the weak-side of a leadoff platoon with fellow newcomer, Seth Smith. It’s not a large sample size, but Gentry’s production (.290 OBP when leading off) is hardly anything to write home about.
He’s seen his playing time shrink, accordingly. When he does get into games, it’s usually as a pinch-runner or defensive-replacement - supposed areas of strength for the University of Arkansas
That was another factor that led to Baltimore signing him in the first place – many of the Orioles’ outfielders do not share Gentry’s defensive prowess. Merely from the eye test, we can see he’s faster tracking down balls than some of his lead-footed brethren. Whatever acumen he provides is not enough, however, to avoid receiving negative fielding marks on sites such as ESPN and Fangraphs.
Overall, he's posted a -0.2 WAR. So, if he’s not providing positive value on offense or defense, one might quote John C. McGinley’s character from Office Space: What would you say, you do here?
Teams use phrases like “provides veteran smarts” and “gives professional at-bats” as explanations to justify keeping guys like Gentry around. But, in an era of bullpen specialization and hyper-utility players, there’s not much room for corner-outfield defensive-specialists who don’t add much at the plate.
Besides, as I mentioned, Baltimore has plenty of options to turn to (Smith, Joey Rickard, Hyun Soo Kim). Every hapless Gentry at-bat is an opportunity that could have gone to a player on the upswing of his career.
Gentry is barely receiving playing time. He's kind of just there, sitting around like a third set of car keys. The Orioles would be better served using that roster spot to shore up their bullpen, which has been a leaky faucet of late. With Zach Britton on the DL, it’s an all hands on deck situation. Whatever form of relief help that exists in the minors may and will be summoned.
It’s time to trade him in for some anchovies or at least some pineapple.
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