Buck Logic Failure #1: Veterans over Prospects

So I was all set up to write the concluding piece on my concerns for the Orioles future, but then I realized that reasons 3 and 4 were overkill.  Reason 3 being the Orioles young pitching regression, not progression.  I think it may be a little early to proclaim the "pitching cavalry" as a failure.  I'm going to hold off my judgment of the Orioles pitching prospects for at least another year.  My 4th reason for concern was the lack of quality minor league depth in the Oriole system - this is a major concern, but I don't have the resources to fully analyze this issue.  I suggest you visit Camden Depot and Orioles-Nation for a complete and accurate breakdown of the Orioles failing farm system.

Lately, I've developed a habitat of placing a #bucklogic hash tag on my tweets whenever I am disappointed with Buck Showalter's managerial decisions.  I believe the majority of his actions are devoid of the new-age baseball logic being used by the best baseball managers in MLB.  In my opinion, the baseball logic that accompanies winning involves the use of advanced statistics, substance over style, and production over experience.  I see a lot of managers making game decisions based on their 80's inspired instincts instead of the new sabermetric statistics developed by Bill James and others.  Because of this, I see numerous Old School managers giving too much playing time to older, "veteran" players that contribute the same, if not less than young, developing prospects.

Now granted, Old School managing can be very useful for teams like the Yankees and Red Soxs.  Those teams are not as concerned with young player development since they can continually sign high-priced, productive free agents each off-season.  Their end goal is to win now, and 99% of the time, they are competing for divisions titles and league championships because of their 1st-Tier free agent acquisitions.  The Orioles, on the other hand, cannot lure the best players to Camden Yards, so they sign 3rd-Tier free agents to fill lineup holes.  Buck Logic #1 is the result...

Buck Logic #1:  Veterans (3rd-Tier Free Agents) put in lineup over Talented Prospects (Possible Future Winners)

Playing an aging, overpaid veteran during a losing season over a young prospect is counter-productive to the future success of the Orioles.  Okay, yes, the veteran MAY (not this year though) help the Orioles win an additional two or three games, but is 66 wins all that different from 70, or even 75 for that matter?  In my opinion, no, placating the fan base will the idea of 81 wins and .500 record is insulting.  I want to see the Orioles strive for the playoffs and division titles, not "let's get 81 wins and try again the next year" (2011 unofficial Orioles slogan).  Losers talk about achieving a .500 record whereas Winners never accept defeat.  I don't believe Buck is a loser, but as you will see below, his decision to constantly play veterans over young players this season is costing the Orioles wins and precious development time.

2011 Season Advanced Stats
Annoying Veterans	Position	GP	OPS	wOBA	wRC+	fWAR
Vladimir Guerrero	DH	84	0.695	0.307	89	-0.1
Derrek Lee	1B	81	0.698	0.306	89	0.4
Luke Scott*	LF/DH	64	0.703	0.309	90	0.0
Cesar Izturis	IF	16	0.442	0.209	22	0.1
Talented Prospects
Nolan Reimold	LF/DH	35	0.813	0.350	119	0.5
Brandon Synder	1B	6	0.720	0.345	115	0.0
Blake Davis	IF	16	0.641	0.290	78	0.2
Ryan Adams	IF	9	0.497	0.235	40	-0.3
Felix Pie (just kidding)**	LF/DH	72	0.523	0.231	37	-1.8

*Should injury impact should be noted.  Finally DL'ed for rest of season last week.
**Former Talented Prospect that is terrible at baseball.  Orioles still think he has potential despite every statistical measure stating the opposite.

Conclusions:

1. Nolan Reimold should start every game at DH or LF.  His overall production (fWAR) is 0.5 in 35 games, which is 0.6 better than Vlad's in 84 games and 0.5 better than Scott in 64 games.  Reimold's salary for 2011 is ~500k, Vlad's is ~8 million.  Orioles could have saved around $7 million and gotten more production by not signing Vlad.
2. Brandon Synder should have been given a chance to play 1B more, but signing Lee kept him in AAA.  It's a small sample for 2011, but he doesn't seem lost at the plate and is making less than $1 million.  Lee's contract is $7.25, so I would take the player for $6 million less and sacrifice a win or two in a "quest for .500" season in order to put more money into international signings and domestic draft prospects.
3. According to most news sources, the Orioles will activate Izturis (0.1 fWAR in 16 games) from the DL soon.  Izturis is a one year stopgap that adds no value to the team.  Cut him and keep playing Blake Davis (0.2 in 16 games).  Davis is young, cheap, and has a little upside whereas Izturis is what he is - an average and versatile fielder that bring nothing to plate.  
4. Most importantly, Felix Pie needs to be cut immediately.  I didn't list Matt Angle in the chart, but I don't think his bat and fielding can be worse than Pie's.  Every time Pie plays, he is hurting the Orioles more than he is helping.  Pie's fWAR of -1.8 is the worse amongst all MLB outfielders.