Princess Dye

Lilli's Ks Doin what he do.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 27, 2009 -> 04:04 PM) Nice to see guys like me that only see WGN turning it off by the 3rd inning! It's surprising to read those comments. You watch these games not to see a victory but to see how the guys are progressing individually. At least thats what i do.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 27, 2009 -> 03:45 PM) Crede would have hit a double. The funny thing about all this Fields/Crede stuff I apparently started is that I never mentioned Crede, nor am I any big supporter of his having been retained. It was his time to go. My main point was just that a 3b with quicker instincts gets to that, Fields has a ways to go. No mention of Crede in my post.

I believe DJ just said that he was bragging about Richard to the Cubs' people before the game

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 27, 2009 -> 03:26 PM) Oh dear lord, tell me we won't have to deal with these type of posts all year. There's not a 3rd baseman in the history of baseball who could have fielded that. Farmio indicated immediately he felt Fields didnt see that one early enough off the bat. There's no 3rd baseman in history who couldve gotten to that one as late as Fields started moving. By no means a very doable play but it was not a top tier absolute scalder down the line

Hate to say it but that extra base hit couldve been had by another 3b He was playing the line too

There's one poster here who is big into BL right? Hey maybe he can play here this year. Losses will cause a shakeup and he can play a few question mark positions.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 27, 2009 -> 03:16 PM) First three players single against Richard. And yes DA, it's pathetic Owens hasn't had his fate determined already. Why would they cut him early if he's out of options? Not saying he's going to turn it around but there's no upside to it. If your pinch runner Lillibridge gets hurt, you have Owens to fall back on. That's the downside to doing it, there's no upside. I'm glad fan-type passion is absent from most coaching staffs out there.

Soriano's hop is shocking every time.

DJ just said on the radio that it's shaping up to be Lillibridge likely making the team as a utility guy. I know he's not that young -- but being purely a ceiling guy (with little in the present).....shouldnt he be in the minors playing every day? We may never really find out about him if he's up here sitting on the bench.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Mar 26, 2009 -> 08:40 PM) What are your keys to success this season? Mine are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The problem with this year is how many more there potentially can be than 5. Last year a lot went right. Yet since then ....we dumped top-of-the-order OBP, infield defensive players and a major innings eater.

I guess I just think that everyone responding here is going back to the old Wise/BA debate, whereas no one is addressing the topic of the thread.... which is whether or not the good things BA brings you get thwarted when he's placed in the 1-slot. Again, to me the good things BA brings are negated if you give him that many crucial atbats per game. Wise is part of the discussion b/c he brings talents more suited to leadoff. But if we're talking about the two players without talking about leading off..... then there are other more appropriate threads for these types of responses. I probably contributed to this getting off track myself. I would wish it wasnt an issue, but the team has said it prefers Getz lower in the order. We all hope that changes it seems, but b/c of Ozzie's comments, the topic is a necessary one.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 12:58 PM) You're trying to look at this in isolation now which is a flawed way to go. I believe it was you that brought up the solitary incident of a shallow OF pop up, im just reactin here

Let me also say that I'd join most in wanting Getz leading off and then wanting the CF in the 9th hole. But this thread's about the possibility that BA will be getting regular playing time in the leadoff slot. To me we give up more than we get with that.

Can you guarantee me Wise doesnt get to that ball? But we're talking about the batter who gets the most chances to do something per game. I would fully agree that KW has not stocked our roster right this year. That aside, if taken back in time to 2005 opening day.....would you rather decrease Rowand's defensive abilities..... or lop off a bunch of Pods' OBP?

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 12:44 PM) Arguing against Brian's D in favor of a 16 point increase in batting average, a 21 point increase in OBP, and a mistake pitch Wise hit for a home run off a young pitcher in his first playoff game that we also happened to lose is about the weakest argument that can ever be made. To me a 21 point increase in OBP matters if youre talking about the hitter who bats most per game. Then once he's on base one guy is better suited to making a pitcher lose his focus.

I guess I just dont share this view at all. How many opportunities are there for a guy like Anderson to impact a game with his ability to cover more ground? The .300 hitter gets several opportunities per game.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 12:24 PM) Uribe 10 times out of 10 vs. Wise. In that same postseason when they were teammates, Uribe was .167 av, .167 OBP. Far below Wise's #s. Obviously these are tiny sample sizes. It's just my view that the BA side of this overvalues defensive CF. We're going to be the type of team that needs to hit. I think Wise's .248/.293 from last year made a difference over BA's .232/.272. He's more of a 'when he hits em' type. With guys like Thome and Fields, I just feel we need an extra batter who can hit in situations.

And people will get on me for the last post, but I think in 05 our winning the world series was not all-out determined by having Rowand in CF. That was icing on the cake, but we couldve won the title with a lesser defensive CF. A bigger reason we won is that we were dangerous 1 thru 9. We had quick bats in that lineup, not long swings like Anderson's. A guy like 05 Uribe, to me, compares to Wise. He can be clutch, even if his norm is unimpressive. Anderson at the ML level has only shown the occasional power and hasnt proven he can do X in situation Y. It's just totally random with him.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 11:34 AM) I still haven't seen a convincing argument as to why this is the case. Wise last year had the higher Avg and OBP than Anderson. He had 5 RBIs in 7 ABs in the postseason. Overall his postseason offensive stats were solid. I think that adding a clutch hitter to your lineup matters more than that sliver of flyballs that cant be gotten to by Wise/Dye that can be gotten to by Anderson/Dye. If your team's out of contention, fielding can get you more wins. If your team's in contention, which we hope to be, then what will matter more is that extra clutch hitter. If our pitchers are allowing tons of gappers that test the centerfielder all year, then we arent playing for anything anyway and it matters less. To me, the opportunity cost of BA in the lineup is too great. I hope this is finally the year that this stance is wrong.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 11:13 AM) When exactly did Wise show the capability to play decent defense. He is a poor defender who takes bad routes constantly. How many times must we see him react poorly on the stroke of the bat, then run to the wall to get the ball that he should of either caught or kept in front of him. Defense is not one of Wise's skillsets. I dont think we saw him enough there last year. For offense and defense, people act as if we had Wise as a starting CF for a whole year. I'm not saying it'll be a strength but I dont know that it's a giant weakness for him over the course of the next year. I remember a bad moment or two last year, but I wont judge until I see a larger sample size. No one would argue he's a worldbeater. Just saying he's better than the other two CF options.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 09:57 AM) Handing a career minor leaguer 31 year old a starting job because he turned on a straight fastball from Kyle Farnsworth in mid-september sounds like a pretty stupid idea to me. He has shown more of an ability to get hot than the other two candidates. They're all poor hitters. One has shown he can hit in the clutch. Seeing as how he'll lead the team in plate appearances each game, I'll take that over the other two options, as long as defense will remain decent at the position.

It makes sense that Floyd would jump at this before Danks, in that he has already faced some serious turmoil in his development already. Went for the security.

If you refuse to sign free agents to market deals, then you have to do stuff like this. I'm fine with it. putting a staff together piecemeal is how we did it immediately prior to 05. If it means payroll stays up later by getting big bashers in the lineup (once Dye/Pk/JT are gone) then i will be ok with doing it this way. But Danks is smart to wait and see.

Many thanks. I could hear the people with torches headed down my block.