Jeff Conine's two year career as an Oriole can be easily defined: he's one of those players who can do a lot of things well but isn't great at anything. He'll fill in at 1st or 3rd base, or run around the outfield if that's what's needed. He can DH of course, giving you a .280 to .290 BA with a double once a week, and a HR every other week. Nothing spectacular, but also nothing that will hurt the team too much as long he's kept within limited roles.

The key word here is "limited". Under ideal circumstances, last season Conine would have started maybe 40 games in the field, and maybe another 40 at DH, the bulk of his ABs coming against left handed pitching. That he was called on to play 83 games in the infield and 19 in the outfield while DHing for only 17 games speaks volumes about the aging, injury-ridden roster the Orioles fielded for most of 2000. First it was Will Clark's hamstring and then Cal's back and then Albert's hip and before you knew it backup Conine was seventh on the O's in games played (119) and at-bats (409).

To make matters worse, 289 of Jeff's ABs came against right handed pitching. Conine hit just .263 with an OPS of .699 against righties last year (.333/.970 against lefties), numbers that were so anemic Hargrove could have written the Oriole Bird into the lineup against right handers and suffered little for having done so. Jeff actually had more HRs against lefties last year than right-handers -- in 169 fewer ABs. It appears that the use of a platoon is in Conine’s (and his ball club’s) best interest.

In the field, Conine was most successful at filling in for Clark at first base. He committed only 5 errors in 39 games w/a .985 fielding % and a zone rating of .848, which would have been good for a projected fourth best among AL 1st basemen. 3rd base was a relatively new position for Conine, and it showed. He committed 7 errors in 44 games for a .932 fielding % and a zone rating of .681, both of which would have been at or near the bottom of the pack for AL 3rd basemen. In fact his ZR suggests that Conine has significantly less range at 3rd than Cal Ripken, something most observers would have thought impossible. Jeff spent 19 games in the outfield (7 in left, 12 in right) and he was adequate -- 3 errors in 43 chances with 2 assists, .930 fielding % (which was poor) and a zone rating of .881 (about average). DISCLAIMER: we're aware that Zone Ratings as a defensive standard have faults, but they are one of the best means available to measure the seemingly unmeasurable. We use them as a point of interest, nothing more.

Jeff Conine's future on a rebuilding ballclub must be the same as his role on a contender, as a capable fill-in player. He'll be 35 years old this summer and his best spots -- 1st base and DH -- are positions where offense is a must, offense that Conine has not been capable of generating for most of his career. The Orioles need to keep in mind what he does well and what he doesn't do well and restrict his playing time accordingly.

 TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY NEXT YEAR, HE MUST:

1) Play a more limited role: DH against lefties and fill in at 1st base if necessary. Step in against right handed pitching only as a last resort.