Its Time For The Josh Fields Era To Begin...........

[BHAMBARONS]

Fields strikes out 31% of the time he goes to the dish. 52ks already.

 

How is that going to translate to the majors.

 

 

His long causes him a lot of problems and especially when pitchers throw him breaking pitches on the outside corner and Josh gets into a pull happy mode if he uses right field he will be a special hitter. He does have power to all parts of the park (If you can hit a 425 ft shot to the opposite field in August at the Met then he can in any park).

[Chisoxfn]

Brian hit .295 in AAA last year with a .469SLG% and a .829 OPS over the course of an entire season. He struck out at a lower rate than Fields with a 25% rate of King last year.

 

So he almost hit 300, he had a good slugging percentage, he k'd less than fields will this year. And look at him now, overmatched. Yet you think that Fields coming up will solve all, why again.

 

Fields will come up, and will be overmatched.

Fields has a superior approach at the plate and despite his High K totals has a good eye. I have no doubt Fields would come up here and hit (especially if he gets a little more seasoning in AAA) and he wouldn't even be the problem in left (he is good enough of an athlete to handle it if he was able to play a few months in AAA to adjust).

 

Its Pods playing CF that would be scary.

[Kalapse]

Jason, please never mention Erstad's name again. The guy may not even be comming back this year due to his ankle (depends on how he reacts to the cortozone shot he recently had). The guy has always been a mediocre offensive player and now that he can barely walk plays a below average CF. I'd much rather have Mack starting out there.

 

I wouldn't want him on the roster simply due to the fact that he may get an AB in a clutch situation, which would not turn out well.

 

Also, would you be willing to move any of our top prospects to the Twins for Torii Hunter?

[Heads22]

And those of us who are saying this shouldn't be done.....we aren't trying to say Fields will suck (well, some might) but we think this just wouldn't be in our best interest.

[Chisoxfn]

Bad Jason.

 

If you were a woman I'd slug you.

Why?

[Kalapse]

If he's getting on base more than humanly possible, maybe he should be called up.

I was going to do this but I felt it would be over the top for me to use that much sarcasm over the course of an hour.

[Heads22]

Why?

 

 

I expect better out of you than Hunter and Erstad. I really do.

[southsideirish71]

His long causes him a lot of problems and especially when pitchers throw him breaking pitches on the outside corner and Josh gets into a pull happy mode if he uses right field he will be a special hitter. He does have power to all parts of the park (If you can hit a 425 ft shot to the opposite field in August at the Met then he can in any park).

 

Shocking that one of our prospects would be pull happy.

 

Well how most pitchers have approached our right handed hitters over the last few years is to target low and away. Then nibble away with breaking stuff, maybe dump on into the other batters box to see how anxious our hitters are. If he is pull happy, then he will get owned pretty quickly on this team. He will need some time in AAA to work on going the other way a bit more.

[Chisoxfn]

Jason, please never mention Erstad's name again. The guy may not even be comming back this year due to his ankle (depends on how he reacts to the cortozone shot he recently had). The guy has always been a mediocre offensive player and now that he can barely walk plays a below average CF. I'd much rather have Mack starting out there.

 

I wouldn't want him on the roster simply due to the fact that he may get an AB in a clutch situation, which would not turn out well.

 

Also, would you be willing to move any of our top prospects to the Twins for Torii Hunter?

Which is why I edited the post to say I'd prefer Cameron or Erstad. We are talking about the back of the order. If Erstad is healthy (and we have a month or two to evaluate that) he is a solid pickup. He's extremely over-rated by some, but we wouldn't have to give up any top prospects to get him and he's got plenty of playoff experience.

 

He's a very good baserunner and can get a clutch hit from time to time (don't know what his stats are, but I've seen him get plenty of em in Anaheim). Defensively he's not what he once was, but when healthy he's solid. If he proves he's not heatlhy, than thats an obvious pass.

 

Cameron would need to prove he's healthy as well. I doubt I'd give up the prospects for Hunter, especially since I think the Twins would demand Anderson (who is a Hunter clone- TOOLS WISE) plus a guy like Valido and probably even a Whisler type).

 

I am sure a few other solid enough CF's will enter the market, but the most important thing is finding defense. If Mark Kotsay didn't have such a high salary, I'd consider making a deal with the A's, but Beane really likes him and I think Kotsay is signed relatively long term (plus the A's aren't dealing unless they get major league help in return so it would have to be a 3 way deal; if by some shocker the A's were out of contention than there may be a possibility).

[Gene Honda Civic]

On another note, Ryan Sweeney only has 24ks in 135Abs. Or 17% of the time. His swing probably projects more as being not overmatched like the long looping swings that we have brought up before.

 

But then again, he is another left handed bat and we are trying to get more right handed in our lineup.

Sweeney struck out about 12 times his first week and a half, and didn't walk at all for a little bit. Since then, he's been steady, 1:1 K/BB ratio.

 

The one encouraging thing about Fields is that he has walked more in May than in April. He still needs to limit the K's but if he can develop a solid batting eye, he'll survive like Thome/Dunn/Gomes etc.

[Chisoxfn]

I expect better out of you than Hunter and Erstad. I really do.

One will come very cheaply and the other is just the 2nd best defensive outfielder in the game. He will also hit 25 hr's in a full season at the cell (with ease) and post a .265-.270 avg. In fact, with him actually having a bit of protection and a lot less pressure, he could even do a tad better. Don't forget guys power numbers really seem to go up when they leave Minnesota (AJ, Ortiz).

[southsideirish71]

Fields has a superior approach at the plate and despite his High K totals has a good eye. I have no doubt Fields would come up here and hit (especially if he gets a little more seasoning in AAA) and he wouldn't even be the problem in left (he is good enough of an athlete to handle it if he was able to play a few months in AAA to adjust).

 

Its Pods playing CF that would be scary.

 

 

I think Fields will have a nice high ceiling. However he needs more seasoning in AAA. If we do decide to move him to LF we will need to have him play there a bit so he can get used to the position. We just cant dump him over there for a few games, then run him up here to play defense in a packed house for a pennant race. Its not fair to him or his development.

 

I still think the next move up should be sweeney.

 

Fields is a 07 target.

[Chisoxfn]

I think Fields will have a nice high ceiling. However he needs more seasoning in AAA. If we do decide to move him to LF we will need to have him play there a bit so he can get used to the position. We just cant dump him over there for a few games, then run him up here to play defense in a packed house for a pennant race. Its not fair to him or his development.

 

I still think the next move up should be sweeney.

 

Fields is a 07 target.

I feel the same way you do about Sweeney and after he gets enough AB's after missing time with that hamstring injury and we may just see him. I'm curious to see how he is out in CF.

 

Sweeney struck out about 12 times his first week and a half, and didn't walk at all for a little bit. Since then, he's been steady, 1:1 K/BB ratio.

 

The one encouraging thing about Fields is that he has walked more in May than in April. He still needs to limit the K's but if he can develop a solid batting eye, he'll survive like Thome/Dunn/Gomes etc.

Fields has a pretty good batting eye and seems to have really gained comfort at the plate. He's obviously not afraid to strike out, but we have a guy on the Sox who gets by despite high k numbers. Fields will hit for a higher AVG than Dunn and should be a .275 hitter with 25-35 HR power if everything works out well.

 

Plus Fields is just adjusting to AAA so he should continue to make strides and get even better. He's grown a TON at the plate in the past 3/4's of a season (since his hot streak for most of the 2nd half of last year). I remember seeing Fields 2 years ago and he would whiff a lot but he'd also lay off tough pitches and when he hit the ball it just exploded off his bat (I saw him hit a few bombs in BP and than he hit a towering shot to dead center during a game).

[Gene Honda Civic]

Another thing about Fields, he currently has a .436 BABIP. TOTALLY UNSUSTAINABLE!

 

The highest BABIP for a major leaguer qualified for the batting title last year was .356.

 

You can't continue to find the holes at a rate much higher than that for any sustainable period of time. Fields will not finish his this season above .300 unless he does two things 1) hit 35+ homeruns 2) cut his K:B ratio to around 1:1 or better. If he doesn't do either both of those, he won't hit .300.

 

In fact, part of the reason Brian Anderson may have been overvalued was that he was able to hold a .365 BABIP last season at AAA, which again, isn't really sustainable unless you're Ichiro or Jeter or something.

[DBAHO]

However he needs more seasoning in AAA.

I think right now, this is a huge issue we should be looking at for our young players.

 

I'm all for the theory, that once young players are up, they should be allowed to fight thru their struggles in the majors, and you should stick by them.

 

But the most important thing there, is that they should be ready. Fields has only been in the system for just over a season and a half. After seeing what's happened to Anderson, I'd be letting our hitters develop for around 2 and a half to 3 seasons in the minors at least, even if they prove that they're probably outgrown AAA.

 

He's still got flaws in terms of his K's and plate discipline, but we should all be majorly happy with the steps he's taken so far this season. It was at this point last year, when he was hitting about .220-.230 for B-Ham that quite a few people were question the pick that high in the draft.

[pcullotta]

How bad is Fields' arm? You can mask one bad arm, but 2 you can't.

Note I could have mentioned the Cubs OF in this, but I am refusing to.

 

I don't support this idea but I wanted to point out that Fields was a QB in College. He has to have a decent arm.

Edited May 31, 2006 by pcullotta

[Wedge]

The only way Fields is a solution to any of our problems is if he can play SS. Otherwise, we do not have any viable options for starting CF and I really doubt Fields is ready to handle that position.

[DBAHO]

The only way Fields is a solution to any of our problems is if he can play SS. Otherwise, we do not have any viable options for starting CF and I really doubt Fields is ready to handle that position.

In the Ask Mark Gonzales section of yesterday's Trib, there was a guy asking about the possibility of the Sox trading for Jimmy Rollins.

 

If you say for example traded Pods and Uribe for Rollins and a bullpen guy (cos Rollins makes a lot of $$$), then you could have Fields come up and play LF, if he was ready to play the position. Then you'd have a leadoff hitter still in Rollins (albeit he ain't doin so well this season as to previous ones).

[RockRaines]

Ya, this could be the worst idea ever.

So much for pitching and defense. WE NEED THUMPING!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

Idiots.

[AngelasDaddy0427]

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ May 31, 2006 -> 06:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In the Ask Mark Gonzales section of yesterday's Trib, there was a guy asking about the possibility of the Sox trading for Jimmy Rollins.

 

If you say for example traded Pods and Uribe for Rollins and a bullpen guy (cos Rollins makes a lot of $$$), then you could have Fields come up and play LF, if he was ready to play the position. Then you'd have a leadoff hitter still in Rollins (albeit he ain't doin so well this season as to previous ones).

 

Why in the hell would Philly do that deal... Trade one of their their better known names and fan favorites for our oft injured leadoff hitter and over weight shortstop with discpline problems... and who the hell do you suggest they give us as a bullpen arm. Considering we'd be already robbing them blind... Hell maybe if we throw in Brian Anderson they'll give us AROW back too...

Edited May 31, 2006 by Jeckle2000

[Felix]

I feel the same way you do about Sweeney and after he gets enough AB's after missing time with that hamstring injury and we may just see him. I'm curious to see how he is out in CF.

I certainly hope we don't see Sweeney in the bigs. He needs a lot more time down in the minors to develop his power.

[AngelasDaddy0427]

QUOTE(Felix @ May 31, 2006 -> 06:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I certainly hope we don't see Sweeney in the bigs. He needs a lot more time down in the minors to develop his power.

 

You do realize that their have been successful outfielders in the majors without power... It could be that he's just not going to be a power hitter... I'd rather have Sweeney hitting close to .280 with no homers then BA at .180 with 20 homers...

[TitoMB345]

You do realize that their have been successful outfielders in the majors without power... It could be that he's just not going to be a power hitter... I'd rather have Sweeney hitting close to .280 with no homers then BA at .180 with 20 homers...

 

I would too. And when you consider that BA probably wont even get to 20 homers by the end of the year, it looks even better to me.

[DBAHO]

Why in the hell would Philly do that deal... Trade one of their their better known names and fan favorites for our oft injured leadoff hitter and over weight shortstop with discpline problems... and who the hell do you suggest they give us as a bullpen arm. Considering we'd be already robbing them blind... Hell maybe if we throw in Brian Anderson they'll give us AROW back too...

Pat Gillick wants to put more money into his starting pitching, and get away from the "all or nothing" approach in terms of their hitters (think us in 2004). There were big rumors yesterday about a 3 way b/w the Phils, Yanks and Marlins where the Phils would get Willis, Yanks Burrell, and Marlins cash and prospects.

 

How does Juan Uribe have discipline problems might I add? Consider the lines Pods and Rollins are putting up right now;

 

Pods - .281/.374/.409

Rollins - .255/.317/.394 (I expect this will definitely improve as the season continues though)

 

Not to mention, Philly gets out of the 4 year 36M deal Rollins was signed to, while Uribe only makes about 4M next season and Pods is arbitration eligible IIRC.

 

As a bullpen arm, how does Arthur Rhodes or Aaron Fultz sound for you?

 

I would too. And when you consider that BA probably wont even get to 20 homers by the end of the year, it looks even better to me.

I'd say there's little chance Ryan Sweeney could hit .280 right now in the major leagues, unless he pulls a Jeff Francouer on us.

[Texsox]

When we had the best record in the AL, I thought we could continue the BA experiment. But now that we have the second best record in the AL, we need a major house cleaning and get some guys in who can play both ways.

 

BA = Crede 2004