BA as the best CF

[Princess Dye]

How important is it that BA is our best fielding OF, and maybe one true CF?

 

To me, I'm thinking that they bring Swisher here PLANNING for him to share CF duties with Owens. Planning - to give Owens every chance for that.

 

 

 

What that says to me is AAA for Brian and Quentin is up here to see if he can make that jump. He's never had the chance to do so with the extended ML time that Brian has had. From everything we hear, Quentin projects to being a more MLB ready hitter than BA.

 

 

 

How much does Ozzie weigh in the defensive capabilities of Anderson? My thinking is, you dont need the CF on the bench, b/c Swisher or Owens is always going to be out there. Barring Thome injury (and obviously NS's own days off), Swisher is always going to be one of the outfielders. So he can be all the backup CF we need.

Edited March 18, 2008 by Princess Dye

[Princess Dye]

Furthermore, can we classify Quentin as "can play center in a pinch" ?

[iamshack]

I can't say enough how big of a mistake I believe it will be to not make BA your starting CF at the beginning of the season.

 

This team has all the offense it needs.

 

What it needs now is defense to help out this pitching staff, and BA is CLEARLY, hands-down, our best defensive CF.

 

I believe that is more important than anything Owens brings to the team.

[witesoxfan]

And that's not to bring up the fact that Anderson could be an asset this year offensively too. If he puts up a .250/.320/.405, I'd have to believe that would almost assure him of being better offensively than Jerry Owens, along with twice the defense that Owens would give.

 

If Ozzie starts the year with Anderson in CF, and Anderson responds well, I'm going to be feeling pretty good about this team.

[Allsox]

As far as I'm concerned, BA should, at the very least, be out there after the 7th inning of every single game this yr. Jerry Owens has proved he doesn't have much of an arm and putting Swisher out in CF reminds of the Mackowiak days with balls falling in between SS and CF. With the way this pitching staff is set up, they need all the defensive help they can get.

[iamshack]

As far as I'm concerned, BA should, at the very least, be out there after the 7th inning of every single game this yr. Jerry Owens has proved he doesn't have much of an arm and putting Swisher out in CF reminds of the Mackowiak days with balls falling in between SS and CF. With the way this pitching staff is set up, they need all the defensive help they can get.

 

Agreed, but I just don't like the idea of BA languishing on the bench as some defensive replacement.

 

He either needs to be given a shot, or he needs to be mastering AAA pitching.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I feel bad for Quentin, he is now the buried player. OF is Swisher and Dye no matter what. Ozzie and Kenny love Owens. Ramirez is now getting OF time so he can be our utility man. BA is putting on a clinic, and is really in a make or break season. With those 3 players playing for the final spot really, Quentin is just throw to the curb. I feel bad for the guy really.

[iamshack]

I feel bad for Quentin, he is now the buried player. OF is Swisher and Dye no matter what. Ozzie and Kenny love Owens. Ramirez is now getting OF time so he can be our utility man. BA is putting on a clinic, and is really in a make or break season. With those 3 players playing for the final spot really, Quentin is just throw to the curb. I feel bad for the guy really.

 

Believe me, he will get worked into the equation somehow. Whether it be injuries, or a trade down the road, he will get his chance to play.

 

They didn't go out to specifically acquire him for him not to play.

[shipps]

Iam sorry, but all this Quentin love is exhausting.Its coming from a bunch of people that truly know very little about him.And even if you know every bit about him there is to know there is still too much love for him as if his talent is a sure bet.Stop rushing him into our lineup.The same while you guys are so quick to send any of the other guys to AAA to work on their skill sets.Please spare me.

Edited March 18, 2008 by shipps

[shipps]

NICK SWISHER=JERMEY BURNITZ

I still believe in that.Do I have to add that back to my sig?

[Princess Dye]

Iam sorry, but all this Quentin love is exhausting.Its coming from a bunch of people that truly know very little about him.And even if you know every bit about him there is to know there is still too much love for him as if his talent is a sure bet.Stop rushing him into our lineup.The same while you guys are so quick to send any of the other guys to AAA to work on their skill sets.Please spare me.

There's nothing wrong with looking at Quentin's AAA stats and wanting to see it get a CHANCE at the MLB level. While healthy.

 

Thats the difference between him and BA. BA, while healthy, has gotten his chance, and then some.

Edited March 18, 2008 by Princess Dye

[shipps]

There's nothing wrong with looking at Quentin's AAA stats and wanting to see it get a CHANCE at the MLB level. While healthy.

 

Thats the difference between him and BA. BA, while healthy, has gotten his chance, and then some.

And there is nothing wrong with sending Quentin down to AAA for a while to prove he can be healthy again for an extended period of time and put up those STUD numbers once again.

[Disco72]

There's nothing wrong with looking at Quentin's AAA stats and wanting to see it get a CHANCE at the MLB level. While healthy.

 

Thats the difference between him and BA. BA, while healthy, has gotten his chance, and then some.

 

 

Somebody who knows more than the numbers can correct me, but is it really true that Quentin (395 ABs in 138 games) has had less of a MLB chance than Anderson (416 ABs in 160 games)? It seems they've had relatively equal amount of MLB time to date. For my money, I'll take the players (of Owens, BA, Quentin, etc) that are completely healthy and ready. Anderson has a couple more weeks to keep punching his ticket, but if he continues to perform you have to reward him with a spot on the team. If he really has improved his attitude and his swing, he'd be a major plus to the Sox.

[Princess Dye]

Somebody who knows more than the numbers can correct me, but is it really true that Quentin (395 ABs in 138 games) has had less of a MLB chance than Anderson (416 ABs in 160 games)? It seems they've had relatively equal amount of MLB time to date. For my money, I'll take the players (of Owens, BA, Quentin, etc) that are completely healthy and ready. Anderson has a couple more weeks to keep punching his ticket, but if he continues to perform you have to reward him with a spot on the team. If he really has improved his attitude and his swing, he'd be a major plus to the Sox.

 

Quentin has been hampered with injuries his whole MLB career. That's the difference between his 400 ABs and Anderson's. Anderson has had a 134 game year and hit .225.

 

When healthy, I think Quentin should be up here. Ozzie has said that his current situation is something he'd have played through if it was midseason, so to me that means he's ready to play.

 

 

If he's still bigtime hampered, then yes he should be down there.

 

 

 

Now all that said, we're back to the topic at hand... how much importance does BA's ability to play center factor in? Part of this question, I guess, involves how bad Swish is in CF.

Edited March 18, 2008 by Princess Dye

[daa84]

Iam sorry, but all this Quentin love is exhausting.Its coming from a bunch of people that truly know very little about him.And even if you know every bit about him there is to know there is still too much love for him as if his talent is a sure bet.Stop rushing him into our lineup.The same while you guys are so quick to send any of the other guys to AAA to work on their skill sets.Please spare me.

i know enough about him to make an opinion.. and this is my opinion ....carlos quentin will be the best pro among any of the recent young sox OF candidates, excluding Young. (owens, anderson, sweeney, quentin)....hes actually younger than both owens and anderson has accomplished more at the big league level than either has, and has accomplished FAR more at the minor league level than either has....Im not sure why id give jerry owens and his .360 career slugging percentage an edge over him.... .i dont think he will make the team, but i do think he will be back in AAA and hit his way into the lineup by July

 

 

to get back to the main question of the thread...maybe i just dont like jerry owens very much, but I agree with what was said earlier in this thread, that Brian Anderson will actually be better offensively than Jerry Owens will, so I'm all for Anderson in CF, especially considering his D and the fact that quentin won't be healthy...Defense is actually the #1 reason to keep quentin out of hte lineup. From the scouting reports, Quentin is actually supposed to be an above average corner OFer, probably better than Swisher is. Its just such a huge dropoff in center to go from Anderson to Swisher. Its just a damn shame ozzie and KW have such a hard on for guys with moderate on base ability, no power, and who are fast, cuz Owens will probably be playing 4 out of every 5 days.

Edited March 18, 2008 by daa84

[RockRaines]

Iam sorry, but all this Quentin love is exhausting.Its coming from a bunch of people that truly know very little about him.And even if you know every bit about him there is to know there is still too much love for him as if his talent is a sure bet.Stop rushing him into our lineup.The same while you guys are so quick to send any of the other guys to AAA to work on their skill sets.Please spare me.

Kind of like the Quentin hate coming from a bunch of people who truly know very little about him.

 

 

He has the biggest upside of ANY of the young players on the Sox roster.

[Vance Law]

Quentin has been hampered with injuries his whole MLB career. That's the difference between his 400 ABs and Anderson's. Anderson has had a 134 game year and hit .225.

 

When healthy, I think Quentin should be up here. Ozzie has said that his current situation is something he'd have played through if it was midseason, so to me that means he's ready to play.

If he's still bigtime hampered, then yes he should be down there.

Now all that said, we're back to the topic at hand... how much importance does BA's ability to play center factor in? Part of this question, I guess, involves how bad Swish is in CF.

 

Andruw Jones hit .225 last year. You know who sucked for the first half of their rookie season? Every player ever. That is a slight exaggeration. Look at players from Torii Hunter to Aramis Ramirez to Robin Ventura to Alex Gordon who hit about .185 for the 1st 2 months of last year to the overwhelming majority of the rest of the players in baseball. They all suck ass just like they're supposed to. The difference is that some of them are supposed to eventually be great hitters. Brian is not and does not need to be- he's playing great defense at a premium defensive position. He just needs to be good. Like he has been in the minors. Like he has been in his spring trainings. Like he will be in the majors. Owens will not be a great or a good hitter. He's a one-tool player and a perfect bench guy.

 

The other guys will sort themselves out over this year and next. Quentin will get healthy. He will torch AAA. Someone of Thome, Dye, Konerko, Swisher, Owens will get injured opening up another spot. We suddenly have an abundance of MLB ready middle infielders and outfielders playing for very cheap (Swisher, Quentin, Anderson, Owens, Richar, Ramirez, Bourgeois)that should be playing the majority of those spots next year.

 

[daa84]

Andruw Jones hit .225 last year. You know who sucked for the first half of their rookie season? Every player ever. That is a slight exaggeration. Look at players from Torii Hunter to Aramis Ramirez to Robin Ventura to Alex Gordon who hit about .185 for the 1st 2 months of last year to the overwhelming majority of the rest of the players in baseball. They all suck ass just like they're supposed to. The difference is that some of them are supposed to eventually be great hitters. Brian is not and does not need to be- he's playing great defense at a premium defensive position. He just needs to be good. Like he has been in the minors. Like he has been in his spring trainings. Like he will be in the majors. Owens will not be a great or a good hitter. He's a one-tool player and a perfect bench guy.

 

The other guys will sort themselves out over this year and next. Quentin will get healthy. He will torch AAA. Someone of Thome, Dye, Konerko, Swisher, Owens will get injured opening up another spot. We suddenly have an abundance of MLB ready middle infielders and outfielders playing for very cheap (Swisher, Quentin, Anderson, Owens, Richar, Ramirez, Bourgeois)that should be playing the majority of those spots next year.

good point...considering the fact that over the next 5 years, Quentin or BA could put up better or similar numbers to Hunter, and Owens to Juan Pierre, we have those guys for league minimum, while out in LALA land, those two are making like 25 mil a year combined

 

While I have completely blasted KW for failing to establish a minor league system, we suddenly do have alot of major league ready players who could be at least decent...which is at least a decent way to try to compete without a minor league system and without spending huge

[Middle Buffalo]

It seems as if Anderson has earned the starting job. He should be awarded it, then. It's not like he's a minor league 1B who outhit Konerko in Spring Training. He's been the best of three young players. Start the season with him in center, Swisher in left, and Dye in right. It's the only fair way to handle this. Keep Owens on the roster and play him a few times per week, and in the meantime, see what BA can do. It's not like he has any real trade value now anyway that would be reduced with poor performance.

[BearSox]

I always say offense first, but our other options in CF are so bad right now that Anderson kinda has to be the starting CF.

[YASNY]

I always say offense first, but our other options in CF are so bad right now that Anderson kinda has to be the starting CF.

 

Yet in just about every sport, it's defence that wins championships. In baseball, it's pitching. But pitching is a big part of defence.

[BearSox]

Yet in just about every sport, it's defence that wins championships. In baseball, it's pitching. But pitching is a big part of defence.

Pitching always comes first. However if it comes between an average defender but great hitter or a great defender but average hitter, it'd be stupid to take the defender over the hitter. No matter how good you are defensively, (if you are good offensively) you can always drive in more runs then you can save, by a wide margin.

[sox-r-us]

I continue to be amazed by the people who want to trade Brian Anderson or send him back down to the minors or keep him on the bench after what he has shown this spring.

 

All I hear on this board all the time is people whining and whining and whining and whining and whining and whining about how our farm system stinks and hence we do not have young players who can come through the system and help us win. And now we might have one in BA who is finally making the next step and people want to dump on him. If we start BA, keep Jerry on the bench to start at CF every now and then, and use Swish at LF and Quentin either goes back to minors or subs for Dye when required, what is the problem with that? If Quentin goes back to the minors, doesn't that make our minor system BETTER? How is Quentin not a prospect that when added to our farm, it adds the quality potential we have always wanted....

 

[Harry Chappas]

I honestly think the White Sox will take Jay Payton in a Brian Roberts deal without giving up an OF and send Quintin and Owens to AAA to play every day. Payton would be a perfect 4th OF. Now, what they have to give up....................