SEASON SUMMARY

Only one player who spent time with the Orioles in 2001 had a better offensive year than Jeff Conine and that was David Segui...and since Segui missed half the season with injury while Conine was available for virtually every game, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Jeff Conine was the Orioles best offensive player last season.  Of course, that's damning with faint praise.

But Conine did have a solid offensive year overall.  He posted a solid .633 OWP, and OPS of .829, he hit .311, he created about 6.4 runs per game.  The team may have a lot of other problems with the bats, but at least they have a solid performer to build around, explaining why the Orioles picked up Conine's option for 2002, right?

Well...

While it was a solid season for Conine, who really didn't become an everyday player for the Orioles until May 18 and then spent time at first base (80 games), left field (22), third base (17), right field (16) and designated hitter (12), it's not all peaches and cream.

First, Conine turns 36 in June of the coming season.  That's pretty long in the tooth to be a centerpiece of a team and it brings inevitable questions about how fluky last year might be.

Second, versatility is a wonderful thing, but some players appear at a host of positions because they aren't particularly adept at any of them.  That description fits Jeff Conine to a tee, since he's below average at every defensive position he plays, including first base where he has sported below average range (14th in Zone Rating among 15 qualifying AL first baseman ahead of only...David Segui).

Third, if you poke around the edges of last season's stats, you find out that the year wasn't all that great to begin with.  For one thing, a very large part of Conine's value was centered in his batting average, and last year that equated to his ability to hit singles.  His walk numbers were more or less average.  His extra base hit numbers (39 in 524 ABs) were well below average, and resulted in a mediocre Isolated Power mark of .132 and a very unimpressive slugging percentage of .443.  Conine spent the largest share of his time last year at first base.  While Conine's OWP was .633, the average AL first baseman posted an offensive winning percentage of .629.  Nothing like a little context.

In light of all of the above, the fact that Conine's value will probably never be any higher than it currently is, and given that the Orioles are miles from contention, it's surprising that Conine--whose name appeared repeatedly in trade rumors during baseball's winter meetings--hasn't been dealt to a viable contender for younger players.  Stay tuned.

TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY NEXT YEAR, HE MUST:

1) ratchet up the power; it's the most obvious shortcoming in Conine's 2001 offensive stats

2) find a position; Conine probably doesn't have the bat to be a plus player at first or DH, but he arguably doesn't have the glove to be an asset anywhere else

3) continue to do the things that did make him a solid offensive performer in 2001--keep the batting average up, continue to hit with runners in scoring position (see below)

NOTES

Really rocked left-handed pitchers (.376/.451/.544 in 125 ABs); much more ordinary against righties (.291/.365/.411)...made himself into a very tough out with runners on base (.352/.422/.528 in 250 ABs)...a terror with runners in scoring position (.400/.486/.664 in 140 ABs)...slugged a pair of grand slams in 15 ABs with the bases loaded...on rare occasions when falling behind 0-2 (30 plate appearances), still hit .310...hit .346 in 46 day games...drove in 17 runs in 18 games against the Yankees.