Petition to Move Eloy to DH Permanently

[YourWhatHurts]

I think this has to be done.  

Eloy is a LF of the future the same way Coby White is the PG of the future.  Sometimes you have to just admit it's not going to work and move forward.  If Eloy is disappointed by such a decision, well, you can't say he hasn't "earned" it with his play.

Edited March 24, 2021 by YourWhatHurts

[South Side Hit Men]

I’m entering year three of saying permanent DH and ban him from owning or wearing a mitt.

Lance Lynn or David Wells would make for a better LF option on their off days.

[Dominikk85]

How though? If you do it one of Vaughn or Jose have to go. I think Eloy needs to stay at lf until Jose's contract is over. 

[YourWhatHurts]

Just now, South Side Hit Men said:

I’m entering year three of saying permanent DH and ban him from owning or wearing a mitt.

Lance Lynn or David Wells would make for a better LF option on their off days.

It's sad to think this guy is like at least 1 if not 2 steps down from players like Schwarber and Carlos Lee.  Even Manny Ramirez could play without hurting himself.

[Bob Sacamano]

If Miguel Cabrera can fake it for a while, so can he. He just can't try to be better than he is because he's not athletic and hurts himself. Catch what you can, pick up the ball when its rolling and its good enough. If you're going to have someone stiff and below average defensively, Left Field is where you want it.

Edited March 24, 2021 by manbearpuig

[YourWhatHurts]

Just now, Dominikk85 said:

How though? If you do it one of Vaughn or Jose have to go. I think Eloy needs to stay at lf until Jose's contract is over. 

The Sox don't really need to give Vaughn a full season of everyday ABs, but if they choose to, I would take him LF over Eloy.  It wouldn't be pretty but I think he'd probably prove to be a much better athlete and much more capable out there.

The Sox are the ones that loaded their roster with 1B/DH types.  I wouldn't have done that in their shoes but whatever.  Regardless Eloy isn't safe out there.

[Dominikk85]

Eloy is a much better athlete than vaughn. He is a bad outfielder but his sprint speed is actually above average if you look at statcast. 

[black jack]

Just stay away from the wall.  

Don't touch the wall.

When it's close, get in position for the carry off the wall.  

[ChiSox59]

Then what? Play Engel in LF? And Vaughn to the bench? Eloy in LF doesn’t work with the way this roster is constructed. The Sox don’t even need him to be anything better than a bad LF. They need him to not hurt himself. 

[Bob Sacamano]

10 minutes ago, YourWhatHurts said:

It's sad to think this guy is like at least 1 if not 2 steps down from players like Schwarber and Carlos Lee.  Even Manny Ramirez could play without hurting himself.

Yes exactly. 

[Harold's Leg Lift]

6 minutes ago, Dominikk85 said:

Eloy is a much better athlete than vaughn. He is a bad outfielder but his sprint speed is actually above average if you look at statcast. 

There's more to athleticism than being able to run in a straight line. Body control and agility are huge parts of athleticism and Eloy is severely lacking in both.  Like he has none. 

[SonofaRoache]

12 minutes ago, Dominikk85 said:

Eloy is a much better athlete than vaughn. He is a bad outfielder but his sprint speed is actually above average if you look at statcast. 

I'd sacrifice sprinting speed in LF to avoid sprinting speed to the trainers room. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by SonofaRoache

[caulfield12]

This is also a petition to play Adam Engel or Leury Garcia with Eaton everyday...and trade Vaughn at less than peak value while Abreu is declining, creating yet another positional hole in the future that won’t or can’t be closed by the likes of Sheets or Collins.

Maybe they get lucky and Hahn executes a trade for pitching or 1B, but not counting on it.

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

It would be incredibly stupid and shortsighted to move him to DH right now.

[Dominikk85]

Just now, caulfield12 said:

This is also a petition to play Adam Engel or Leury Garcia with Eaton everyday...and trade Vaughn at less than peak value while Abreu is declining, creating yet another positional hole in the future that won’t or can’t be closed by the likes of Sheets or Collins.

Maybe they get lucky and Hahn executes a trade for pitching or 1B, but not counting on it.

This. The Sox absolutely have no outfield depth in both majors and minors (they had good depth there but essentially it evaporated with Rutherford, Adolfo, basabe, Gonzalez, walker all underperforming expectations). Essentially they have Robert, Eloy and that's it and Robert is not even a fully proven commodity. 

Maybe that changes in 2 years with the Cubans but really in the next two years they need Eloy there unless they can make a big trade or signing. 

The Sox don't need a DH, they need an outfielder. 

What they could do is of course trading either Eloy or Vaughn for a young all star outfielder. Losing either would hurt but if you get an under 26yo all star with 3-4 years of control it might be worth it. 

Not many of those around who fullfill those criteria (under 27, good enough to produce 3+ war and 3+ years of control) 

[vilehoopster]

Oh my God we overreact on this board. First of all, we don’t know how badly he is hurt. 
 

Also, he’s our left fielder. Just because people exaggerate how bad he is doesn’t mean he should DH. Is he below average, yes; so is Anderson at short. Are we gonna DH Anderson too. 
 

The Sox have a powerful lineup because we have a great bat in left field. It’s relatively easy to get a good bat at DH; the Sox have one ready to take over right now. The trick is the great bat in left field. But the Sox have one there and they’ll keep one there and ignore fan forums that always , always overreact.

[caulfield12]

12 minutes ago, vilehoopster said:

Oh my God we overreact on this board. First of all, we don’t know how badly he is hurt. 
 

Also, he’s our left fielder. Just because people exaggerate how bad he is doesn’t mean he should DH. Is he below average, yes; so is Anderson at short. Are we gonna DH Anderson too. 
 

The Sox have a powerful lineup because we have a great bat in left field. It’s relatively easy to get a good bat at DH; the Sox have one ready to take over right now. The trick is the great bat in left field. But the Sox have one there and they’ll keep one there and ignore fan forums that always , always overreact.

Maybe never making two consecutive playoffs in over a century does that to a fanbase? 

And since when in baseball history was it extremely difficult to find a defensively limited corner outfielder with plus offensive production (especially in a platoon) and limited arm strength?   Maybe one who's consistently a 900+ hitter, but Eloy won't accomplish that if he can't stay on the field or keeps getting hurt.  He will end up like Carlos Quentin at this rate. 

Anderson has the tools to be one of the elite fielding shortstops in the game, but makes careless errors, loses focus and occasionally tries to do too much. There's really no comp there to Eloy's limitations in the field. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by caulfield12

[Vulture]

55 minutes ago, vilehoopster said:

Oh my God we overreact on this board. First of all, we don’t know how badly he is hurt. 
 

Also, he’s our left fielder. Just because people exaggerate how bad he is doesn’t mean he should DH. Is he below average, yes; so is Anderson at short. Are we gonna DH Anderson too. 
 

The issue is the high risk of injuring himself or a center fielder. I think most can otherwise live with his poor defense

[Pants Rowland]

Where is the option to trade him and all that he promises to be for as big of a haul as possible. The guy is clearly an idiot and doesn't learn his lesson out there. I know how promising his bat looks, but I'd trade him at the deadline (assuming he's not injured) for a dominant starter on a short term contract and some low level high upside lottery tickets. 

[caulfield12]

24 minutes ago, Pants Rowland said:

Where is the option to trade him and all that he promises to be for as big of a haul as possible. The guy is clearly an idiot and doesn't learn his lesson out there. I know how promising his bat looks, but I'd trade him at the deadline (assuming he's not injured) for a dominant starter on a short term contract and some low level high upside lottery tickets. 

This is why the Cubs ended up with nothing for Schwarber... Eloy's the better hitter, but not going to fetch a premium pitching prospect.   His market is already pretty much limited to the DH role in AL unless they know it will change in next CBA.  What would White Sox fans give up for Yordan Alvarez, for example?   Let's see some names that would be realistic, not the 3-5 player package of 40-45 FV extraneous minor leaguers. 

Keep in mind you're already committed to that long-term extension with Eloy. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by caulfield12

[Pants Rowland]

20 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

This is why the Cubs ended up with nothing for Schwarber... Eloy's the better hitter, but not going to fetch a premium pitching prospect.   His market is already pretty much limited to the DH role in AL unless they know it will change in next CBA.  What would White Sox fans give up for Yordan Alvarez, for example?   Let's see some names that would be realistic, not the 3-5 player package of 40-45 FV extraneous minor leaguers. 

Keep in mind you're already committed to that long-term extension with Eloy. 

I may be off base, but just this afternoon, I told my buddy that Eloy is our version of Schwarber. I am not sure Eloy will ever be more valuable than he is today. 

[A-Train to 35th]

I voted to keep giving him a chance to play a season unhurt, but the more I think about it I don't think that's possible.  If he doesn't hurt himself, like today's effort, he may hurt someone like Robert, Moncada or Andersen which would be a double whammy.   DH NOW!

[Flash]

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

This is why the Cubs ended up with nothing for Schwarber... Eloy's the better hitter, but not going to fetch a premium pitching prospect.   His market is already pretty much limited to the DH role in AL unless they know it will change in next CBA.  What would White Sox fans give up for Yordan Alvarez, for example?   Let's see some names that would be realistic, not the 3-5 player package of 40-45 FV extraneous minor leaguers. 

Keep in mind you're already committed to that long-term extension with Eloy. 

Too funny. I've advocated trading Eloy several times here in the past and specifically for Corbin Burnes. The overwhelming feedback to the mere suggestion was deemed as heresy. 

[Jack Parkman]

2 hours ago, Pants Rowland said:

Where is the option to trade him and all that he promises to be for as big of a haul as possible. The guy is clearly an idiot and doesn't learn his lesson out there. I know how promising his bat looks, but I'd trade him at the deadline (assuming he's not injured) for a dominant starter on a short term contract and some low level high upside lottery tickets. 

^^^^^

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

I love Eloy. I really do. He has the chance to be a very special bat for many years and cheap for a long time. But to be honest in a post a few months back I said if I had to trade anyone from the core it would be him. It's why I also wanted David Dahl or Mike Yazstremski before we signed Eaton. Eloy has not learned his limitations. He tries so hard and wants to be a better fielder so badly . I don't think he is even used to his grown up body yet. He probably weighs 25 or more lbs than he used to when he played RF. Remember that spectacular catch he made in the Futures game 2016. Foul ball, basically an exhibition game . Moncada won the MvP of those games but Eloy was the talk of the games with that catch and some Stat Cast rockets despite being in low A at the time.