Bugs and Cranks: Bench Quentin for Owens

[Princess Dye]

Grady Sizemore's career slugging percentage is .486. Curtis Granderson's is .501.

 

No, asking for a .400 SLG% is like asking for Owens to be more like Brian Roberts, who's at .411 career wise. .315 is absolutely unacceptable.

 

these are some good comparisons. I might add that Pods in 2005 was a .349 SLG.... i guess most people here would say i have some lowered expectations, but I think this team could badly use someone who is even a little worse than the '05 Pods; by no means an excellent leadoff hitter, but someone to get bigger things going.

 

It could be JO, but at this rate he'll be 28 before we find out.

Edited May 1, 2008 by Princess Dye

[NorthSideSox72]

these are some good comparisons. I might add that Pods in 2005 was a .349 SLG.... i guess most people here would say i have some lowered expectations, but I think this team could badly use someone who is even a little worse than the '05 Pods; by no means an excellent leadoff hitter, but someone to get bigger things going.

 

It could be JO, but at this rate he'll be 28 before we find out.

If this team was carrying a 5 man bench like they were in previous years, and Owens was around as a backup OF along with Anderson, as well as a PR and a PH against righties, then I think he'd add value.

 

But this is a 4-man bench, and BA just seems more valuable right now in the OF.

 

Actually, if Owens could play an IF position, given his strength hitting RH pitching and his speed, I think that could make him a decent Ramirez replacement. But he doesn't.

 

Or, of the team had traded BA in the spring, then Owens would be a fine 4th OF.

 

These are all "buts". The current scenario just doesn't support Owens.

 

[Rowand44]

This guy isn't very smart.

[TheBigHurt]

What a f***ing stupid article. That is all.

[lostfan]

Grady Sizemore's career slugging percentage is .486. Curtis Granderson's is .501.

 

No, asking for a .400 SLG% is like asking for Owens to be more like Brian Roberts, who's at .411 career wise. .315 is absolutely unacceptable.

And Brian Roberts is still an All-Star. If Owens slugged .400 his offensive numbers would look like Jose Reyes (.425 SLG) with a similar # of SBs and less home runs. Still unrealistic to expect of Owens.

 

And btw I didn't say .315 wasn't unacceptable. If his OBP was higher it would mean he has more total bases to add to that which would mean a higher SLG. And it would also mean by extension that his hits are going to different places which would have him legging out more XBHs but that's really another discussion.

[witesoxfan]

And Brian Roberts is still an All-Star. If Owens slugged .400 his offensive numbers would look like Jose Reyes (.425 SLG) with a similar # of SBs and less home runs. Still unrealistic to expect of Owens.

 

Roberts is an All-Star at 2B. If Owens were right handed and could play the infield, he'd be starting right now. He's instead an outfielder where offensive production is a much bigger concern.

 

Reyes is about one class up on Owens right now, he plays a pretty solid shortstop, and he's gotten on base at a .354 clip the past two years. It's not a huge surprise that he's scored 120 runs the past two years either.

 

Finally, if he can't slug, say, .375, he's not much of an asset, even if he stole 50-60 bases at an 80% clip.

 

And btw I didn't say .315 wasn't unacceptable. If his OBP was higher it would mean he has more total bases to add to that which would mean a higher SLG. And it would also mean by extension that his hits are going to different places which would have him legging out more XBHs but that's really another discussion.

 

The OBP line is not entirely true. Walks are not included in the calculation of SLG%, so if he merely started walking more but still hit at the same .265 with a .315 slugging but is now getting on at a .350-.360 clip, he's still not going to score as many runs as a Nick Swisher will or even a leadoff hitter with a .330 OBP but a .400 SLG%.

 

Regardless of all of that, Owens doesn't have a place on the MLB roster right now unless it's as a 4th outfielder or possibly a bat off the bench, but even I'd be afraid of using his bat late in a game. The Sox just have too many options that are better than him right now.

[StrangeSox]

This guy just continues to try to defend the idea that the Sox won in 2005 because of Scotty Pods' stolen bases and that the same will be true for the 2008 White Sox with Jerry Owens.

[Melissa1334]

Here's his comments under the article defending his ridiculous position:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think this guy understands that baseball isn't a track meet.

its dumb how hes using quentins career stats as an example. we all know he wasnt healthy b4 and that affected his numbers as well. hes just finally playing the way evryone thought hed play. do i think he'll finish the year with an avg over 300 or an obp over 400? no. but his numbers will be pretty solid i think.

[bkmoney]

seriously this guy is an idiot. hes basically saying we haven't won the WS since 05 because Podsednik hasn't been healthy/on our team

 

someone take his internets away

[StrangeSox]

its dumb how hes using quentins career stats as an example. we all know he wasnt healthy b4 and that affected his numbers as well. hes just finally playing the way evryone thought hed play. do i think he'll finish the year with an avg over 300 or an obp over 400? no. but his numbers will be pretty solid i think.

 

Yeah, someone pointed that out in the comments and he just sort of ignored it. For him, speed=win, slugging=loss.

[lostfan]

Carlos isn't a stolen base threat but he isn't a "base-clogger" either and he is fast enough to steal a base if he wants to. He, Fields, and Anderson all seem to be around the same speed.

[southsideirish71]

In 05 our offense took off for 2 months. Those were the two months when Frank Thomas added protection in the middle of the lineup. Including one where he OPS'd over 1.000. Our pitching was the reason the team was winning games in 05. Outside of the playoffs and 2 months in the season, the offense sucked even with Prancer running around the bases.

 

April 11th out of 14 teams in runs scored 106

May 7th out of 14 teams in runs scored 123

June ( when Frank comes back ) 6th in the AL with 143 runs

July 5th in the AL with runs scored with 141 runs.

Then Frank goes down and we are DHing Timo Freakin Perez in New York

August 13th in the AL with only 98 runs scored. Now the pitching slows down a bit, hence the wins come down a bit.

September we are 8th in the AL with 126.

 

The change right before the playoffs ran that turned the offense around was the moving of DH Carl Everett from the 3 hole, and the insertion of Jermaine Dye.

Edited May 2, 2008 by southsideirish71

[harfman77]

I understand the sentiment, what Gomez from Minne was able to do against us demonstrates the value of having that type of player at the top of the lineup. The logic is very flawed in this case though, you cannot take the most productive hitter out of this slumping lineup. The only way that Owens can provide that kind of help is putting up good numbers in AAA and getting packaged in a trade for a high OBP 2B.

[NorthSideSox72]

I know this is something this board does too often, and its not as easy as its sounds, but I feel it should be raised... Given Owens' obvious athleticism, and his speed, his weak arm, and the fact that he was able to adjust to CF pretty well in a short time frame (arm aside)... is it possible he could adapt to playing 2B, at least part time? Maybe if he was on the team's bench, playing OF once or twice a week against tough righties, and then also picked up a game or two a week at 2B in those same scenarios? Is that just out of the question?

 

[Dick Allen]

I know this is something this board does too often, and its not as easy as its sounds, but I feel it should be raised... Given Owens' obvious athleticism, and his speed, his weak arm, and the fact that he was able to adjust to CF pretty well in a short time frame (arm aside)... is it possible he could adapt to playing 2B, at least part time? Maybe if he was on the team's bench, playing OF once or twice a week against tough righties, and then also picked up a game or two a week at 2B in those same scenarios? Is that just out of the question?

Since he is left handed, 2B is out of the question.

[NorthSideSox72]

Since he is left handed, 2B is out of the question.

Yeah, I wasn't sure how out of the question that was. I guess I don't see why it would be a huge hindrance , but, I wouldn't call myself an expert on the subject either. I understand the tough turn to throw, but thinking about being RH at SS and throwing to third on a GB, it doesn't seem so automatically horrible. Just a thought.

 

[StrangeSox]

Yeah, I wasn't sure how out of the question that was. I guess I don't see why it would be a huge hindrance , but, I wouldn't call myself an expert on the subject either. I understand the tough turn to throw, but thinking about being RH at SS and throwing to third on a GB, it doesn't seem so automatically horrible. Just a thought.

 

How often are you throwing to 3rd from SS, though? Throwing to 1st from 2nd is a pretty regular play.

[Dick Allen]

Yeah, I wasn't sure how out of the question that was. I guess I don't see why it would be a huge hindrance , but, I wouldn't call myself an expert on the subject either. I understand the tough turn to throw, but thinking about being RH at SS and throwing to third on a GB, it doesn't seem so automatically horrible. Just a thought.

The DP would be tough to turn, and anything hit to his right, he would have to have some pretty good footwork to get the throws there consistently.

[knightni]

The solution is probably trading Dye, Konerko or Thome for a speedier 2B in the offseason.

[fathom]

The solution is probably trading Dye, Konerko or Thome for a speedier 2B in the offseason.

 

I'd really rather avoid trading another slugger for a speedy offensive player. Don't forget that there's a huge whole at SS next season also.

[NorthSideSox72]

The DP would be tough to turn, and anything hit to his right, he would have to have some pretty good footwork to get the throws there consistently.

Yeah probably. Eh, nevermind.

 

[knightni]

I'd really rather avoid trading another slugger for a speedy offensive player. Don't forget that there's a huge whole at SS next season also.

The problem is that most of our power guys are plodders.

 

They can't get from 1st to 3rd on a single as often as they need to.

 

That's one of the reasons why the run production is down and left on base is up so far.

 

Guys aren't taking advantage of the hits and getting the extra base.