Outfield Posibilities

[palesox38]

I was surfing a few sites today and ran into a few interesting names that might be able to help out in the outfield. The possible CF's were Ryan Freel, Joey Gathright, Juan Pierre, and Torii Hunter. Possible LF's were Alfonso Soriano, Luis Gonzalez, Pat Burrell, and Raul Ibanez.

 

Personally, I find Ryan Freel the most interesting name on the board. His average isn't the best right now but he will steal a good amount of bags. Plus he can play CF, 2B, and 3B. He can also leadoff (as he does in Cincy) if Pods needs a day off. You might say we already have a player like him in Ozuna, but every play in the outfield is an adventure with him. I'm not sure of his contract status, but he's a young guy that the might be able to sign if needed (ex. Dye doesn't resign). Who do you guys think would be a good fit out of these candidates?

[3 BeWareTheNewSox 5]

I read that Gathright is back in the minors now with Baldelli being activated.

 

Saw you mentioned Soriano, but I doubt that. The price would definately be high. One of the best hitters in the game right now (probably is with Pujols out)

 

Don't see Hunter being traded within the division

 

I think Freel has performed below expectations, but Cinci loves him, he's like RMack, can play anywhere, I think they would keep him (also still in the race, would probably want something to win now, wouldn't give McCarthy for Freel)

 

Pierre...ehhh, having a bad year, would rather raid their pen

[DBAHO]

Gathright hit as bad as BA is in the majors and he's much worse defensively.

 

Freel would be an interesting option, but the Reds want pitching.

 

Soriano can't play CF.

 

Ryan Church is your man, with Corey Hart and Chris Denforia not far behind.

[beck72]

As far as guys realistically being available, Milw.'s Brady Clark would have to be up there. With his $3.1 mill salary, and age 33. Esp. if the Brewers continue free falling. I don't know much about his defense. But his RH bat [both avg, obp and slg] would be nice.

Edited June 7, 2006 by beck72

[Guest JimH]

As far as guys realistically being available, Milw.'s Brady Clark would have to be up there. With his $3.1 mill salary, and age 33. Esp. if the Brewers continue free falling. I don't know much about his defense. But his RH bat [both avg, obp and slg] would be nice.

 

Good call on Brady Clark, forgot about him.

 

I have always like Freel, not sure the Reds would part with him though, especially now that they're playing well.

[DBAHO]

As far as guys realistically being available, Milw.'s Brady Clark would have to be up there. With his $3.1 mill salary, and age 33. Esp. if the Brewers continue free falling. I don't know much about his defense. But his RH bat [both avg, obp and slg] would be nice.

Clark's an interesting one. I remember he was in RF for a while when Pods was their CF, but he's better defensively than Scotty, with a much better arm IIRC (or at least that was the discussion we had going here a while back).

 

The thing is with Clark he's hitting .282, but he only has an OPS of .716. Great OBP of .384 though. He's pretty much a Podsednik clone offensively minus the speed.

 

I'd really like to take a chance on a guy like Church who has a +.800 OPS, and hits for better power. And I think those numbers would go up as he moves from RFK to the Cell.

[GreatScott82]

1. The Cubs wont trade any of thier talent to the Sox. So no Pierre.

2. I love Hunter, but he isn't that much of an upgrade offensively over Anderson. PLUS it is within the division. It would take alot to get him over here.

3. I like Freel, but Cincy is in the race. Lets see how things are panning come late July.

4. If Gathright is in the minors what makes you think he can improve here? Like Uribe he goes in major slumps and major hot streaks inconsistently.

5. Soriano has surprised people out in LF this year. But changing him over to CF might be too much to ask. Unless we can move Pods to centerfield and keep Soriano out in LF? Hmmm I like that i dea.

6. Luis Gonzalaz- No

7. Pat Burrell- Eh

8. Ibanez- He's a gamer but has a bad attitude. I remember him saying that he wanted out in KC in 2003 when they were in the divisional race. What kind of players says that?

[BigSqwert]

1. The Cubs wont trade any of thier talent to the Sox. So no Pierre.

I don't know who would want that noodle arm.

[fathom]

 

2. I love Hunter, but he isn't that much of an upgrade offensively over Anderson.

 

 

WOW! I couldn't disagree with you more if I tried.

[Chisoxrd5]

Ryan Church is your man, with Corey Hart and Chris Denforia not far behind.

 

Didn't Washington just send Ryan Church down to the minors? I would imagine he would come pretty cheap because he is only collectively hitting around .210 for the year.

 

 

Also how in the world do you think that the Brewers would be willing to trade Corey Hart? Aren't they very high on that kid?

[Balta1701]

5. Soriano has surprised people out in LF this year. But changing him over to CF might be too much to ask. Unless we can move Pods to centerfield and keep Soriano out in LF? Hmmm I like that i dea.

Wow, it's really hard to imagine a worse defensive outfield. Ozuna in CF with Soriano in LF may be worse, but aside from that.

[YASNY]

Wow, it's really hard to imagine a worse defensive outfield. Ozuna in CF with Soriano in LF may be worse, but aside from that.

 

That was my thought as well.

[BigSqwert]

2. I love Hunter, but he isn't that much of an upgrade offensively over Anderson.

Maybe you are referring to supermodel Rachel Hunter because Torri Hunter is a huge offensive improvement over BA.

[Kalapse]

Clark's an interesting one. I remember he was in RF for a while when Pods was their CF, but he's better defensively than Scotty, with a much better arm IIRC (or at least that was the discussion we had going here a while back).

 

The thing is with Clark he's hitting .282, but he only has an OPS of .716. Great OBP of .384 though. He's pretty much a Podsednik clone offensively minus the speed.

 

I'd really like to take a chance on a guy like Church who has a +.800 OPS, and hits for better power. And I think those numbers would go up as he moves from RFK to the Cell.

Yes, Brady Clark is quite good defensively in both RF/CF with a terrific arm.

 

He'd be a great fit for the Sox right now, it's just more speed and OBP at the bottom of the lineup, he's been the Brewers leadoff hitter so it's really not fair to be looking at his SLG/OPS. He's not going to give you a ton of pop but he's going to hit singles, get on base and can run. Considering all the mashers the Sox have in the middle of the order, Clark would be a nice contrast at the bottom of the lineup.

[Balta1701]

Yes, Brady Clark is quite good defensively in both RF/CF with a terrific arm.

 

He'd be a great fit for the Sox right now, it's just more speed and OBP at the bottom of the lineup, he's been the Brewers leadoff hitter so it's really not fair to be looking at his SLG/OPS. He's not going to give you a ton of pop but he's going to hit singles, get on base and can run. Considering all the mashers the Sox have in the middle of the order, Clark would be a nice contrast at the bottom of the lineup.

Ok, now we're starting to come up with ideas that make sense. The questions then are going to be if Milwaukee decides to become sellers and what the cost would be. It'd be really nice to not have to give up Anderson, Sweeney, or Fields in such a deal, but if it comes down to it, Fields might be an ideal guy for them, if they lose El Caballo to FA at the end of the year they'll need someone who can hit to play LF.

[greasywheels121]

I like the idea of Clark. That's a much more legit name for the Sox to be looking at.

[YASNY]

I like the idea of Clark. That's a much more legit name for the Sox to be looking at.

 

It makes more sense than most of the names that have thrown around.

[southsideirish71]

I like the idea of Clark. That's a much more legit name for the Sox to be looking at.

 

This is a great call. He would fit our team well.

 

Here is to the brewers getting rocked in the next few weeks.

[beck72]

Clark's an interesting one. I remember he was in RF for a while when Pods was their CF, but he's better defensively than Scotty, with a much better arm IIRC (or at least that was the discussion we had going here a while back).

 

The thing is with Clark he's hitting .282, but he only has an OPS of .716. Great OBP of .384 though. He's pretty much a Podsednik clone offensively minus the speed.

 

I'd really like to take a chance on a guy like Church who has a +.800 OPS, and hits for better power. And I think those numbers would go up as he moves from RFK to the Cell.

 

My thinking is the Sox would need another righty bat, esp. with Mack and Pods in the OF. The Ozuna OF experiment should be over

 

Good call on Brady Clark, forgot about him.

Looks like I beat Peter Gammons, huh . Of course technically, he could have beat me, depending on when insider was posted

[That funky motion]

My thinking is the Sox would need another righty bat, esp. with Mack and Pods in the OF. The Ozuna OF experiment should be over

Looks like I beat Peter Gammons, huh . Of course technically, he could have beat me, depending on when insider was posted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DBAHO]

Didn't Washington just send Ryan Church down to the minors? I would imagine he would come pretty cheap because he is only collectively hitting around .210 for the year.

Also how in the world do you think that the Brewers would be willing to trade Corey Hart? Aren't they very high on that kid?

Yeah Church was only hitting .210, but he still put up an OPS over .800 with that BA. And last season he had splits of .287/.353/.466. Would be perfect in CF at the moment if he could re-produce that.

 

Milwaukee's in an interesting situation at the moment. Carlos Lee could either be re-signed or traded. Brady Clark could be let go like you've said. And I think this is Geoff Jenkins's last year on his contract (or he may have 1 left I can't remember exactly).

 

They've got a lot of guys like Hart, Gabe Gross and Nelson Cruz who are too good for AAA but not in the Brewers everyday lineup. You could probably get an OF from them for the right offer which would be some sort of pitching.

 

Clark, Hart or Church would work for me.

[VAfan]

Let me throw two other names into the mix that aren't mentioned here.

 

1. Eric Byrnes, CF, Arizona. He signed a one-year contract as a bridge to Arizona bringing up our own Chris Young, and he's tearing it up offensively, with 10 HRs. Now, they are still in first place, so they may be happy with him being a bridge player and won't want to jeopardize their playoff chances this year. But he's still a bridge guy, so it is not as if they wouldn't listen to an offer for him.

 

2. Mike Cameron. He has absolutely sucked in cavernous SD stadium, but was fine last year in NY. Compare the two years.

 

2005 NYM 76 308 47 84 23 2 12 39 29 85 13 1 .273 .342 .477 .819

2006 SD 42 167 23 40 7 0 1 18 19 48 11 0 .240 .321 .299 .620

 

Given his inability to give SD anything, why wouldn't they be happy to deal him. He signed a 3-year deal in 2004, so it will be up after this season.

 

*************

 

My feeling is that Cameron is the guy we should go after. Give San Diego Jerry Owens since he can't clear the fences in SD anyway, take on most of the balance of Cameron's $7.3 million 2006 deal, and count ourselves lucky.

[Balta1701]

One of the big reasons the Padres are even still in the NL West race is defense. They have excellent defense up the middle, and Cameron keys that.

[VAfan]

One of the big reasons the Padres are even still in the NL West race is defense. They have excellent defense up the middle, and Cameron keys that.

 

Okay, but I can't believe they wouldn't consider moving Cameron, whose offensive game doesn't fit their ballpark at this point, especially if the Sox were willing to take on the roughly $4 million balance of Cameron's 2006 contract. I know Jerry Owens is no great shakes defensively, but can't they find someone to play CF who could match or better Cameron's pathetic .620 OPS? I just think it wouldn't take that much to pry Cameron away. He's got much more offensive upside for us than Brady Clark, and he's by far the best defensive outfielder we could get our hands on. Plus, the fact he's a stop-gap is a good thing.

 

Acquiring Cameron would make great sense for the Sox.

[brewerbacker]

Yeah Church was only hitting .210, but he still put up an OPS over .800 with that BA. And last season he had splits of .287/.353/.466. Would be perfect in CF at the moment if he could re-produce that.

 

Milwaukee's in an interesting situation at the moment. Carlos Lee could either be re-signed or traded. Brady Clark could be let go like you've said. And I think this is Geoff Jenkins's last year on his contract (or he may have 1 left I can't remember exactly).

 

They've got a lot of guys like Hart, Gabe Gross and Nelson Cruz who are too good for AAA but not in the Brewers everyday lineup. You could probably get an OF from them for the right offer which would be some sort of pitching.

 

Clark, Hart or Church would work for me.

 

 

View from a Brewer fan...

 

I will go so far as to say that Brady Clark is not a "could" but a "will" go. Once JJ Hardy is back off the DL, there is a strong chance that Bill Hall could be moved to CF in order to keep him in the line-up every day. On days when Hall needs a day off or moves to 3B to replace lefty Cory Koskie, the Brewers will likely play a Hart/Gross platoon in center.

 

Cory Hart and Gabe Gross will not be easily had. In addition to the reserve platoon they are likely to play in CF, Gross is our #1 left-handed pinch hitter. Hart appears to be moving into that role as the righty. Hart is also our fastest bench player, and Yost's #1 pinch runner. Manager Ned Yost has made many comments this year as to how much he likes the flexibility of his bench. Giving Yost that improved bench was GM Doug Melvin's #1 job this past off-season, so I don't see him trading it away now.

 

I think Nelson Cruz could be had, but would you really want to trade for a prospect with virtually no big league expereince?

 

And you are all right, the price for either Clark or Cruz would be pitching. (We REALLY need it with Sheets on the DL)