Lillibridge's future

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Well, the argument for the Sunday-Special line-ups is always going to be 2005.

 

Because the bench players got regular playing time that season (compared to many teams), players like Ozuna, Blum and Willie Harris were ready and able to make key contributions in the playoffs and World Series.

 

That all kept our regulars fresh and allowed them to get a "second" wind in the final weeks of the season, and carried right over into the playoffs.

 

Sometimes there is a method in Ozzie's madness. It worked last year, even though it's incredible looking back how it all played out and how just about everything possible went right for us the final five days of the season...and wrong for the Twins.

I don't see that as a very good argument because our bench didn't do a whole lot of extraordinary things in the 2005 postseason. Blum hit a low fastball for a homerun off a guy who at that point was a garbage time pitcher meant to fill out the playoff roster; Willie Harris and Pablo Ozuna stole bases. Last year Paulie didn't get hot late because he was fresh, it was because he was healthy. Swisher and Griffey were rested but didn't come up big in the postseason, meanwhile OC started almost every single day and he still got some hits and put together good AB. I don't think anyone got a second wind at all in either '05 or '08. I think what happened was both teams tried to back into the postseason down the stretch, then got a bit of a push, then finally relaxed their minds a bit once they got in. In both cases the pitching stepped up big time (McCarthy and Jose in '05, Danks and Floyd mainly in '08). The difference between the two teams is that all-around the '05 team was ton better and probably would have swept the '08 team in a best of 7 series 9 times out of 10.

 

But back to the point, yes the starters need to keep fresh, but you can give one guy a rest on each day for the first 3-4 days of the week while starting one bench player only (even though I don't think most players are going to need that much rest) instead of throwing out the weakest lineup possible once a week. There's actually a strategy you can use there too, like when we're facing a starter that AJ doesn't hit at all, start Miller that day regardless of the lefty/right match-ups. When we're facing an ace, or when we're playing in the first game of a series in a dome, pick that day to start Lillibridge and put some more speed in the lineup since we're probably not going to get a lot of hits anyway. Ozzie can manage these things differently so that we'll never go out there with a black hole throughout almost half of our lineup.

[SkokieSox]

Lillibridge is supposed to be a plus defender, but he's been brutal this spring defensively as well. Maybe he's taking his poor ABs with him on to the field, but if he makes the team and KW ever talks about a spring training competition for jobs, I hope some reporter calls BS on it to his face. How,if there is some sort of competition for a roster space, can you play like Lillibridge has this spring and make the team?

 

Because no one is competing for the backup SS spot. It's his by default.

[witesoxfan]

What is with the Lillibridge hate? Last year we seemed pretty thankful to be paying $4.5M/year for Uribe's defense as a backup.

 

Juan Uribe was the opening day 2Bman. (BL won't be)

 

Juan Uribe hit for power. (BL doesn't know what power is)

 

Juan Uribe actually had an economically sound contract last season. (BL doesn't know what a contract is)

 

Good enough, or you want me to keep going? (BL still loves you)

 

 

 

Juan Uribe quite honestly saved the White Sox last year, because I hate to think of who would have played 3rd other than him after Crede went down. He was actually pretty solid offensively filling in, and fantastic defensively.

 

God bless Juan Uribe.

[beck72]

Lillibridge being on the team does not concern me in the least. As a utility guy, he's a better defensive option at SS than Betemit, and can give Getz some time off at 2b [which he'll need to keep him fresh]. If Alexei went down, he'd likely be the first option to replace him [then that would be concerning]. Though Beckham would be ready probably mid-year.

 

Brent is also available for pinch running, and backup CF. Those last two factors will allow the sox to say goodbye to Owens.

[Kalapse]

Juan Uribe was the opening day 2Bman. (BL won't be)

 

Juan Uribe hit for power. (BL doesn't know what power is)

 

Juan Uribe actually had an economically sound contract last season. (BL doesn't know what a contract is)

 

Good enough, or you want me to keep going? (BL still loves you)

 

 

 

Juan Uribe quite honestly saved the White Sox last year, because I hate to think of who would have played 3rd other than him after Crede went down. He was actually pretty solid offensively filling in, and fantastic defensively.

 

God bless Juan Uribe.

Crede at 3B in 2008: .248/.314/.460/.773

Uribe at 3B in 2008: .285/.333/.442/.775

[NorthSideSox72]

To think there will be days when both Lillibridge and Corky Miller will be in the lineup with Lillibridge likely leading off, that'll be embarrassing. I don't expect Miller to get a hit this year and I fully expect Brent Lillibridge to strikeout in half his ABs.

If they start off as cold as people seem to think they will, then they'll be replaced by Nix and Lucy by June. At least, I hope so.

 

Though I for one still am not 100% convinced of Lillibridge's complete suckitude. I'd like to see what he can do starting in Charlotte for a while.

 

 

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Juan Uribe was the opening day 2Bman. (BL won't be)

 

Juan Uribe hit for power. (BL doesn't know what power is)

 

Juan Uribe actually had an economically sound contract last season. (BL doesn't know what a contract is)

 

Good enough, or you want me to keep going? (BL still loves you)

 

 

 

Juan Uribe quite honestly saved the White Sox last year, because I hate to think of who would have played 3rd other than him after Crede went down. He was actually pretty solid offensively filling in, and fantastic defensively.

 

God bless Juan Uribe.

I don't understand what your point is supposed to be.

 

Juan was the 2B on opening day because the Sox had nothing else other than Alexei who was the opening day CF. Danny Richar was supposed to be the starting 2B but he got hurt. Juan fell into that role, and the only reason he was on the team at all was because the Sox hadn't traded for Cabrera before they had to decide on offering Uribe arbitration. If you remember, the Sox put Uribe on waivers early but ended up keeping him, most likely because of Richar. Had Richar been healthy the Sox probably would have let him go to whoever it was that claimed him.

 

Uribe's planned role was as a backup MIF if we kept him, just like Lillibridge, and because we didn't have the depth we have now, Juan ended up starting. Lilli can't be the starter now because if Fields, Alexei, or Getz go down then Beckham, Viciedo, and Nix are all ahead of him on the depth chart. All three of those players would be ahead of Uribe as well if he were still here.

 

If a .386 SLG% over 324 AB in '08 is hitting for power then you've got some uncharacteristically low expectations for Major League baseball players. BTW, Lillibridge's career minor league SLG% is .421 compared to Uribe's .428. Oh wow, those extra 7 points are so huge... Since Brent doesn't have enough MLB AB to compare, the only thing you can go with is minor league numbers and actually Lillibridge's numbers in the minors are very comparable to Uribe's: .273/.319/.428 for Juan in 1397 AB, .270/.352/.421 for Brent in 1524 AB.

 

Uribe was overpaid for a bench player, and I don't care what you use to try to refute that. Bench players are not supposed to get paid $4.5M a season unless they are good enough hitters to be starters, and Uribe does not fit into that category. As a starter, I'd say what he did last year was worth his salary, BUT he wasn't supposed to be a starter. Crede's back gave out and the Sox ended up spending about $10M on the 3B position last year and what they got for it was not $10M of production.

 

I'm thankful we had Juan last year, but calling his contract "sound" is ridiculous. The Giants are paying him I believe $1M this year if he makes the club. While he may be a bit undervalued at that price, $1M is much more in line with what a backup IF with Uribe's experience and versatility should make. And as far as Lillibridge, you're talking about the league minimum for defense backing up at 2B, SS, and CF. I'm sure he could backup at 3B too if we ever wanted him to, but we have Betemit for that. So $400K or whatever for an IF backup, CF backup, and a pinch runner? Yeah, that's such a bad deal...

 

You can keep going all you want, but it doesn't make any sense. Lillibridge provides defense and speed as a backup and his contract is as small as it can possibly get. On top of that, much like Uribe when he first came to the Sox as a backup IF, Lillibridge was once a top prospect and he has a chance at being a starter if he can do what Uribe did in '04 and prove himself with the bat. The road will admittedly be much tougher for Brent, because whereas Uribe only had to deal with Valentin, Willie Harris, and Crede blocking him, Lillibridge has Getz, Nix, Fields, Viciedo, Beckham, and Alexei standing in his way. The only shot for him would be CF, but there's Anderson there, and if the Sox look to replace Anderson then there's always the chance that the Sox throw Alexei or even Getz in CF if they're looking for a way to put Beckham's bat in the lineup.

[Princess Dye]

On top of that, much like Uribe when he first came to the Sox as a backup IF, Lillibridge was once a top prospect and he has a chance at being a starter if he can do what Uribe did in '04 and prove himself with the bat.

 

Uribe had an absolutely unreal early 2004 with the bat. And also I wont be the one naive enough around here to avoid saying he couldve had some 'extra help' with speeding that bat up when it was still the era for that sorta thing.

 

All in all, Lillibridge doesnt have a parallel situation with Uribe at this point. Instead of power, he's a toolsy grinder type guy who has to find himself after a lost year last year. I think playing every day, for at least one more year, would be a good idea for him.

 

Nix is a more ideal 25th guy due to age and the experiences he's already had. I think we have enough OFs with the emergency situation allowing Alexei or even Josh to go back there.

Edited March 29, 2009 by Princess Dye

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Uribe had an absolutely unreal early 2004 with the bat. And also I wont be the one naive enough around here to avoid saying he couldve had some 'extra help' with speeding that bat up when it was still the era for that sorta thing.

 

All in all, Lillibridge doesnt have a parallel situation with Uribe at this point. Instead of power, he's a toolsy grinder type guy who has to find himself after a lost year last year. I think playing every day, for at least one more year, would be a good idea for him.

 

Nix is a more ideal 25th guy due to age and the experiences he's already had. I think we have enough OFs with the emergency situation allowing Alexei or even Josh to go back there.

I'm not going to accuse Uribe of using steriods. I'm not dumb enough to believe that every player who has ever had an uncommonly good year is a 'roid suspect. I attribute Juan's '04 season to being in a comfortable situation with a Spanish-speaking manager and coaching staff, being pushed competitively, getting a new start, being in a hitters park facing AL pitching for the first time, and facing an overall weak AL Central pitching-wise.

 

You just exactly described Uribe with your grinder statement. Lillibridge doesn't have the raw power Uribe has, but he's capable of hitting liners into the gap and legging out the XBH to boost his SLG%. Uribe can hit the moonshots, but his power isn't all that valuable most of the time because he takes himself out of his AB early in the count. With a better approach his power would show up in the stats a hell of a lot more than it does. Until then, Lillibridge has the type of talent that makes him capable of matching Uribe in terms of slugging and actually beating him in OPS by walking more. Whether or not he does that at the MLB level is yet to be seen, but to write him off during his Age 25 season after a successful minor league career simply because of one horrible season at Triple A and a bunch of K's in ST is flat out stupid, and I'm not saying you are, but others are. Firstly, he already hit well in Triple A in 2007 (.287/.331/.436) and secondly, the Sox said before camp started that they had to work with Lillibridge on his approach, so I think there's a pretty good chance that part of the reason he looked so awful early on was because he was doing something differently. He got two hits yesterday and ST isn't over yet.

 

I agree on Nix if he can be an acceptable backup at SS. I imagine that if Lillibridge struggles early Nix will replace him on the roster and Lilli will get playing time in Charlotte. I think the Sox will try to hold onto Nix if they can. Lillibridge might be better off getting regular AB in Charlotte, but I don't think he would agree with that personally. It might be best for him if he can show he can do what it takes to stick on an MLB bench, and then take it from there. Actually that probably would be the best thing for him since there are so many better prospects to climb over that if he can't prove he can stick he may never get a shot with the team again.

 

I can't see Alexei in the OF unless the perfect storm occurs where the Sox want more offense in CF, Getz is solid or better at 2B, and Beckham forces his way into the lineup. Josh Fields will never play the OF again for the Sox. On another team, who knows, but it's not going to happen here.