O’s to Promote Ishikawa

You may be asking yourself: who is Travis Ishikawa. He’s like… a guy. In our system. Ishikawa was signed as an insurance policy, in case Chris Davis was unable to provide acceptable defense at first base, given regular playing time. Davis has answered the bell, and Ishikawa has become a luxury.

The date that Travis Ishikawa can opt out of his minor league contract with the Orioles is rapidly approaching.In fact, he has already filed the paperwork. OK, so maybe he’s serious about this, but what makes him so damn cocky? Well, let’s take a look at what he’s done in the minors:

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As it turns out, Ishikawa is having a fine season in AAA. Any club would want that in their system, and therein lies the problem. No team is going to trade away talent to get someone they can pick up in free agency. The O’s are faced with the option of letting him walk, or finding room for him. Dan Duquette can’t pull the Jair Jurrjens trick (nullifying the opt-out clause by calling him up and sending him back down), as his service time gives him the right to reject a minor league assignment.

Bringing up Ishikawa would force either Valencia or Pearce to the minors, and leave the bench short on right-handed options. Letting him go will also leave the organization a little thin on positional depth, and waste the investment that they made on bringing him to the Orioles.

It is possible that Ishikawa finds himself on the roster thanks to Leah Gonzalez, who made her appearance late on June 17th. That is a short-term solution, as Miguel Gonzalez can only be listed on paternity leave for three days. After that, the  roster would need to be juggled again, jeopardizing Ishikawa’s roster spot.

Duquette has said that his “leaning toward taking a look at him in the major leagues,” but there is no indication of how long that look will be. Travis Ishikawa may have forced his way to the big club, but for how long? There are too many factors involved to accurately predict – performance, health, and Duquette’s continued ability to squeeze every last drop of talent from the 40-man roster.