Pods or Rowand in CF?

[TLAK]

I know Oz has mentioned Rowand as the CF but we'll have to watch in spring training, things have a habit of changing. Based on last year's numbers, as nice as Aaron played, I have to give Pods the edge.

	Year	Ag	Tm	Lg	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP	FP	lgFP	RFg	lgRFg	RF9	lgRF9	GS	Inn
Pods	2004	28	MIL	NL	CF	153	392	5	4	2	.990	.987	2.59	2.26	2.63	2.53	152	1361.0
Rowand	2004	26	CHW	AL	CF	126	290	8	6	1	.980	.988	2.37	2.35	2.63	2.64	114	1018.7

 

Pods equaled Rowand's range per 9 innings, despite playing in the National League. Everybodys range numbers are lower in the NL because of all the extra strike outs from the pitchers hitting. He also has an edge in fielding percentage.

 

 

I've heard the grumble's from Milwaukee about Pods over running or misreading balls (wait until they see Carlos!), but he sure got to alot of them. This is a nice problem to have for a change. Until we see a couple weeks of games I have to vote for Pods in the middle.

[retro1983hat]

I would say Aaron just because he earned the spot last year. But they really are interchangable.

[ChWRoCk2]

I would say Aaron just because he earned the spot last year. But they really are interchangable.

let me remind you spod is faster from what ive seen, id rather have someone faster out there

[southsider2k5]

I am glad Ozzie made it clear that he prefers Aaron. He deserves the chance to keep CF. I never realized that Aaron never played CF until he got the majors. He has made huge strides in his short time up here. Ozzie said he should have gotten the Gold Glove.

[False Alarm]

aaron also has a stronger arm than pods from what i've heard. gotta factor that into the decision.

[southsider2k5]

aaron also has a stronger arm than pods from what i've heard. gotta factor that into the decision.

 

Aaron's got a B arm for a CF. Everything I have heard is that Pod has a bad arm. That is another good reason for Aaron in CF.

[DBAHO]

Aaron's got a B arm for a CF.  Everything I have heard is that Pod has a bad arm.  That is another good reason for Aaron in CF.

My thoughts on the subject too, at least with Pods, his arm won't hurt you as much in LF, which was the same deal with Carlos Lee, and why the Brewers had to move Geoff Jenkins to RF to accomodate him.

[backman]

i say let them fight for it in spring training, then we'll see who deserves the spot, and most likey ozzie will give the spot to the player most deservant.

(i'd rather have a stronger arm in left field)

[Jake]

yes, i've heard that pods has quite the rag. rowand has a more than capable arm in center, which is what you need

[Leonard Zelig]

i say let them fight for it in spring training, then we'll see who deserves the spot, and most likey ozzie will give the spot to the player most deservant.

(i'd rather have a stronger arm in left field)

 

 

Could you elaborate on that comment?

[JUGGERNAUT]

The dimensions are L-R 330, 377, 400, 372, 335.

That means you need a guy with good vert leap & speed in LF. If Pods has a better vert leap than Rowand then I would put him in LF. You can still take advantage of his speed by shifting the OFers so that Rowand covers more RF than LF.

If Rowand has the better vert leap than I would put him in LF. Balls hit near dead CF either have the distance or they don't. They are rarely hit to where a CF can make a leaping play on them. That is not the case in LF & RF. There are plenty of plays when an OF can snag the ball will a good leap.

[Wanne]

Yeah...well my mom had a better arm than Lance Johnson did...and he was still a pretty decent CF. I say Pods in center and move ARow over to left. I rather have the speed in the middle to cover both gaps.

[JUGGERNAUT]

http://baseball.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/park...r?sort=HRFactor

Another interesting link. We are the #1 HR park in all of MLB. You are 6% more likely to see a HR at the Cell than at the #2 park, Wrigley Field.

 

Runs: Cell #3, Wrigley #5

Hits : Cell #3, Wrigley #9 (more indicative of a weaker NL) - 7% difference

2B's : Wrigley #14, Cell #16

3B's : Wrigley #15, Cell #17

BB's: Cell #11, Wrigley #17 - 3% difference

 

Our new OF should drop us in 2B's & 3B's.

[soxman352000]

I would leave it to Arron he has earned but I don't think he would mind moving to a corner position. Wasn't he brought up as a corner outfielder?

[qwerty]

I would leave it to Arron he has earned but I don't think he would mind moving to a corner position. Wasn't he brought up as a corner outfielder?

 

Yes, i believe he didn't play much center field in the minors.

[JUGGERNAUT]

The MLB fantasy take likes Pods:

-You can pencil Pods in for another 60-75 thefts.

-Pods got carried away after an early season power surge

-Pods should get avg back to high 200's.

-With double-dig HR power, you want to grab him quickly.

 

Damn! I hope they're right. All the media sites have scored this trade to the Brewers. But if Pods can do that I give it to the Sox.

[JoshPR]

Ozzie said he'll use Pods in Left so he can cover gorund and not burn his legs out so he can use his speed on the basepaths. I think it's been the 10000th times it's been discussed

[southsideirish]

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 17, 2005 -> 04:07 PM)

Aaron's got a B arm for a CF.  Everything I have heard is that Pod has a bad arm.  That is another good reason for Aaron in CF.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You really think he has a B arm for a CF? I think he has a B arm overall, but for a CF I believe he rated higher than that.

[southsider2k5]

You really think he has a B arm for a CF? I think he has a B arm overall, but for a CF I believe he rated higher than that.

 

Yeah, I think his arm is decent, but not great in general. One thing Aaron does well is technique. He gets into a throwing position and is technically beautiful when he makes a throw. His raw arm isn't that great, but his technique makes him one of the most feared arms in the AL in CF. But when it comes down to throwing while not set, you can tell a big difference.

[3 BeWareTheNewSox 5]

I would put Pods in CF, I would want my CF to be able to cover the most ground, and I think Pods would be able to do that with being so fast

[ChWRoCk2]

Ozzie said he'll use Pods in Left so he can cover gorund and not burn his legs out so he can use his speed on the basepaths.  I think it's been the 10000th times it's been discussed

yeah kind of a boring topic that keeps getting posted in some way

[aboz56]

I asked Hawk about this at one of the Q&A's at Soxfest, where he seemed to think Pods was going to be in CF.

 

Then the next day, Ozzie said Rowand, which I agree with because he has earned the job.

[chisox05]

Personally, I feel that Rowand is worth of starting in CF but not because he's better there than Podsednik.

 

Whenever Rowand played right field during the season he looked very uncomfortable, and from looking up his stats there, he had a below 900 fding pct and poor hitting statistics when playing there.

 

Now, I am not a big defensive statistics guy because often they are very misleading(ala carlos lee-Id like to add that I was made fun of by multiple members, especially qwerty, cuz they felt he was a good LF purely from no errors and range rating-well now we know that me and once he was traded, his teammates and coaches bashed him for effort in LF). THESE STATS MEAN NOTHING. RANGE IS FAR MORE ON WHO PITCHES THAN WHOSE FIELDING.

 

 

Anyways, got a little off topic. Rowand should be our CF.

[qwerty]

Personally, I feel that Rowand is worth of starting in CF but not because he's better there than Podsednik.

 

Whenever Rowand played right field during the season he looked very uncomfortable, and from looking up his stats there, he had a below 900 fding pct and poor hitting statistics when playing there.

 

Now, I am not a big defensive statistics guy because often they are very misleading(ala carlos lee-Id like to add that I was made fun of by multiple members, especially qwerty, cuz they felt he was a good LF purely from no errors and range rating-well now we know that me and once he was traded, his teammates and coaches bashed him for effort in LF).  THESE STATS MEAN NOTHING.  RANGE IS FAR MORE ON WHO PITCHES THAN WHOSE FIELDING.

Anyways, got a little off topic.  Rowand should be our CF.

You are a good person for making me laugh.

[Gene Honda Civic]

I forgot about TangoTigers scouting report by the fans, for the fans -- http://www.tangotiger.net/scouting/scoutResults2004.html -- But it further enforces my belief that Rowand should be in Center.

 

Here's how the two ranked.

Player	Age	GP	Overall Position-Neutral	Instincts	FirstStep	Speed	Hands	Release	Strength	Accuracy	Ballots	Agreement Level
Rowand, Aaron	27	122	70	71	74	71	66	67	69	67	17	0.79
Podsednik, Scott	28	151	44	31	53	83	35	36	22	39	11	0.46

 

The league average for each of the seven traits of fielding is fixed at 50, with one standard deviation equal to 20 points. This means that a player with a trait value of 70 is in the top 16% in the league.

 

Rowand is in the top 20% in every defensive category. The agreement level is very low for Podsednik, but across the board his numbers are worse than rowands. The low agreement means that some people rate him very high, while others rate him low (see Jeter/Valentin)

Edited January 21, 2005 by Gene Honda Civic