Trib article today

[iamshack]

Just a few thoughts on the situation;

 

1 - I hope the Sox certainly did their research on Quentin's shoulder. At the time of the trade, I remembered hearing they did, but it's not promising to see him being held out etc. ATM. I think he'll start the season on the DL with BA as the 4th OF (unless he shows that he's healthy, then BA is dealt).

 

2 - Uribe starting at 2B, will frustrate me greatly. Another season of .220 hitting with over 100K's coming up, if he starts every game. Luckily, I think once Richar can actually show he's healthy, he'll be back starting, well at least that's what I'm hoping. Just annoying that you know 2 guys in Quentin and Richar, if healthy will produce decent to good numbers, and neither looks like starting at this point.

 

3 - And Dick, yes Uribe has a lot of talent. And that's why he annoys me so much with the numbers he puts up. He is capable of producing like Miggy Tejada did in his prime seasons in Oakland. Instead, now he's lost his SS job, and he really should be a bench player. Doesn't deserve another opportunity to start, because he's not going to make the most of it. He doesn't change his swing, and last season was once of his worst defensively.

 

Why is everyone so certain that Richar will produce at 2b? I have no problem with Juan starting at 2b and seeing what he can do. If he falters, replace him. It's as simple as that.

[iamshack]

See what he can do?? Uribe has just under 2000 AB's with the Sox(1959) and holds an astonishingly .292 OBP in that time.

What you see is what you get.

 

I understand that Uribe's performance has been unsatisfactory to many.

 

But that doesn't mean Richar should be given a job without earning it or without being healthy.

 

Heck, as far as I'm concerned, I'd rather see Ramirez get the job from what I've seen...

[Balta1701]

I understand that Uribe's performance has been unsatisfactory to many.

 

But that doesn't mean Richar should be given a job without earning it or without being healthy.

 

Heck, as far as I'm concerned, I'd rather see Ramirez get the job from what I've seen...

Well, at least IMO, Richar performed well enough last year to have easy first dibs on the job this season. He blew people out of the water at AAA, struggled at first when coming up (as expected) but showed more rapid progress than even I expected. Got a good hot streak going in Early September, showed good patience and ability at the plate overall, and at least to my eyes showed promise defensively as well. He was clearly raw, but was getting where he needed to be quite quickly.

 

But of course...if he's not healthy enough to get in the work in ST, we can't start him off with the big league club.

[DBAHO]

I agree with all of this, but the thing that is getting me is the use of Garland.

 

As of right now, IMO aside from the top of the order, the lack of a solid #3 starter is this teams biggest weakness/question mark. The reason for that is the absence of Garland. I am far from a Garland supporter, but his 4.08 ERA over the last 3 years was very adequate given what was asked of him.

 

The Sox felt they could trade Garland for an upgrade at SS, and still compete for this season, without any real additions to the starting staff.

 

I totally understand why Garland was traded. It was kinda stupid if they didn't, given the circumstances. However, my problem lies in the use of Garland on the open market. I said it in my previous post, but is the difference between Cabrera and Iguchi worth Garland, especially given the makeup of this club? You could argue Garland is much more valuable to us then most teams at this point given the shape of the rotation. If the Sox are content on given Uribe a starting role anywhere on the diamond, why bring in an upgrade at SS, when you could have just kept the pieces you had, or at least trade Garland for something that is more of a need.

You hit the nail on the head there Tony.

 

I think the Sox backed themselves into a situation with Danks and Floyd, where they both had to start in 08, and with Floyd out of options, Garland had to go.

 

But really, I think we should have gotten more for JG. We should have asked for Willits as well, and he fills your leadoff needs at CF, and then you don't have to give up 3 spects for Swisher (well you still could, but he plays LF instead). Or you could have asked for a good spect on top of the deal maybe?

 

I mean the Sox traded for Quentin and Richar, because they wanted to get younger players into the everyday lineup. Instead right now they're going with the same old with Uribe, and offensively that just ain't going to cut it.

 

This ST so far, is starting to get frustrating for me.

[Dick Allen]

You hit the nail on the head there Tony.

 

I think the Sox backed themselves into a situation with Danks and Floyd, where they both had to start in 08, and with Floyd out of options, Garland had to go.

 

But really, I think we should have gotten more for JG. We should have asked for Willits as well, and he fills your leadoff needs at CF, and then you don't have to give up 3 spects for Swisher (well you still could, but he plays LF instead). Or you could have asked for a good spect on top of the deal maybe?

 

I mean the Sox traded for Quentin and Richar, because they wanted to get younger players into the everyday lineup. Instead right now they're going with the same old with Uribe, and offensively that just ain't going to cut it.

 

This ST so far, is starting to get frustrating for me.

As bad as Uribe supposedly is offensively, his career OPS is just .002 lower than the big upgrade, Orlando Cabrera.

[DBAHO]

As bad as Uribe supposedly is offensively, his career OPS is just .002 lower than the big upgrade, Orlando Cabrera.

Well I counter with this;

 

1 - Uribe would have hit in argubly the 2 best hitting ballparks in the MLB for his career thus far. Cabrera has not.

 

2 - Uribe has been going downhill defensively since the 1st half of 2004. Cabrera had one of his better offensive seasons last year.

 

3 - Cabrera's fielding numbers were much better than Uribe in 2007.

 

4 - Cabrera would have a better BA, OBP and K/BB ratio than Uribe. Uribe's OPS is only close to Cabrera's because of his HR rate, which would be spiked from hitting at the Cell.

[almagest]

Well I counter with this;

 

1 - Uribe would have hit in argubly the 2 best hitting ballparks in the MLB for his career thus far. Cabrera has not.

 

Good point. Check out their career splits:

 

Uribe:

BA OBP SLG OPS

.273 .315 .489 .804 Home

.235 .275 .366 .641 Away

 

Cabrera:

BA OBP SLG OPS

.274 .322 .405 .727 Home

.271 .319 .400 .719 Away

 

[DBAHO]

Cabrera hit a lot of doubles off the LF wall in Angel Stadium last season as well IIRC.

 

Those could easily turn into HR's at the Cell, and that would certainly raise his power numbers and OPS.

 

The difference in RZR b/w the 2 was something around .975 to .895 as well, showing the difference defensively in 2007 b/w the 2.

[Vance Law]

Why is everyone so certain that Richar will produce at 2b? I have no problem with Juan starting at 2b and seeing what he can do. If he falters, replace him. It's as simple as that.

 

He hit in the minors. He looks good at the plate. He hit some in his callup last year and improved with time.

 

You don't have to be that great to outproduce Uribe. Richar does that easily, and will get better with time.

[Vance Law]

Good point. Check out their career splits:

 

Uribe:

BA OBP SLG OPS

.273 .315 .489 .804 Home

.235 .275 .366 .641 Away

 

Cabrera:

BA OBP SLG OPS

.274 .322 .405 .727 Home

.271 .319 .400 .719 Away

 

Somewhat surprising that Cabrera hasn't hit better away.

 

Not only has Uribe benefited from home ballparks, but these 2 are going in opposite directions the past 3 years. Cabrera averaging 40 doubles the past 2 years and some of those turn into homers in Chicago.

[Cali]

Ramirez will out hit Uribe easily this ST, but it won't matter. Which is quite a shame....

[hammerhead johnson]

Crede was born with a gold glove on his hand. Duh.

 

Crede actually had tremendous defensive upside as a young player. Fields is butcher status out of the 3B slot, and he has limited defensive upside. A corner outfielder is all.

[hammerhead johnson]

I was insulting SoxWS05, for the record.

 

You guys are tho thensitive.

[almagest]

Somewhat surprising that Cabrera hasn't hit better away.

 

Not only has Uribe benefited from home ballparks, but these 2 are going in opposite directions the past 3 years. Cabrera averaging 40 doubles the past 2 years and some of those turn into homers in Chicago.

 

Cabrera's away numbers make more sense when you realize that he spent almost all of his career in the NL East and AL West. I think the only hitter's park in either of those divisions is Citizen's Bank Ball Park, and that didn't come around until 2003, and Cabrera was traded to the Red Sox 2/3 of the way through 2004.

 

Uribe's away splits are absolutely putrid. I still can't believe how bad they are.

[DBAHO]

It shows how much he's gone into the swing for the fences mode also.

 

And I mean he'll get hot once in a while and it'll pay off. But that's not very often, and it really hurts this team offensively.

[WilliamTell]

I might be right in regards of Uribe starting, but it's not something I'm proud of.