Dewayne Wise Named Full-time Starting CF/Leadoff hitter

[Disco72]

I'm still hoping KW comes out today and says that this is all a long-drawn out April Fools' Day joke.

 

Unfortunately, some of the April Fools Day threads are more believable than Wise as an everyday leadoff hitter.

 

I'm usually a pretty big KW defender, but... Wise starting in CF and leading off? Seriously? Come on.

 

Fortunately, I'm guessing that Getz leads off by late May, and Anderson overtakes Wise in playing time by June, hitting 9th. I just hope it happens much sooner than that.

 

I think we're all hoping that.

[Dick Allen]

What a difference a few months make. Rosenbloom reminds us of Ozzie's quotes last season regarding the leadoff spot:

 

Yeah, Wise and Anderson. Or, as manager Ozzie Guillen said sarcastically and mockingly last year when asked about his center-field-slash-leadoff options: “Wise? Hello? Brian?’’

[Princess Dye]

How's Wise gonna be stealing bases? He got 9 last year in all his chances. And obviously it was not his focus as he wasnt leadoff hitter the whole year so it wasnt his main focus.

[Balta1701]

How's Wise gonna be stealing bases? He got 9 last year in all his chances. And obviously it was not his focus as he wasnt leadoff hitter the whole year so it wasnt his main focus.

Quite frankly, we don't have a clue. We're pretty much just stuck hoping for the best.

[bschmaranz]

Rockies are releasing Scotty Pods. Eh? eh? eh?

[witesoxfan]

Rockies are releasing Scotty Pods. Eh? eh? eh?

 

You shall be banished to the depths of hell for the mere suggestion.

[Dick Allen]

Rockies are releasing Scotty Pods. Eh? eh? eh?

I loathed Pods, but he definitely is a better player than Wise, even as a CF. I think the Sox should go for it and give him a short leash. As soon as his first sports hernia injury occurs put him on the DL and then waive him when he comes off.

[Balta1701]

I loathed Pods, but he definitely is a better player than Wise, even as a CF. I think the Sox should go for it and give him a short leash. As soon as his first sports hernia injury occurs put him on the DL and then waive him when he comes off.

In limited action last year he hit .253 with a .322 OBP and was 12/16 on steals.

 

You know...I'm really not sure...

[lostfan]

In limited action last year he hit .253 with a .322 OBP and was 12/16 on steals.

 

You know...I'm really not sure...

Better than Wise.

[Balta1701]

Better than Wise.

Wise significantly outslugged Pods though and was 9/9 on steals. Those extra 3 outs I think make up the difference in OBP's completely.

[Princess Dye]

Pitted against the current Pods, I'd rather have a leadoff hitter like Wise who, yes, is gonna get on base less often - but when he does it's going to have some punch to it, as he'll either be standing on 2b because of a double, or taking it with a steal.

 

Or he's circling all bases at once. Even though he's going to be making contact perhaps less often than Pods, I'd like it to be going somewhere good when contact is made.

 

 

 

 

 

That is unless Pods the slap hitter is going to steal bases again at his old pace.

Edited April 1, 2009 by Princess Dye

[bschmaranz]

But we'll get to see his wife!

[lostfan]

Wise significantly outslugged Pods though and was 9/9 on steals. Those extra 3 outs I think make up the difference in OBP's completely.

Point taken on the SB%, but do you really think he's gonna steal at a 100% rate? Yes he was 9 for 9 in the majors, but at Charlotte in the same year, he was 8 for 15. His career percentage in the minors is 71%. In the majors he's 21/22 which is 95% but obviously that's a much smaller sample size, I'd have to think there would be a regression to the mean eventually.

 

That said, no I am not necessarily saying I want Pods back, for obvious reasons.

Edited April 1, 2009 by lostfan

[SoxFan562004]

I loathed Pods, but he definitely is a better player than Wise, even as a CF. I think the Sox should go for it and give him a short leash. As soon as his first sports hernia injury occurs put him on the DL and then waive him when he comes off.

I'm with you on this. It's not a great option, but compared to Wise I would take it everyday and twice on Sunday

[caulfield12]

Well, if it is Wise/Anderson/Ramirez at the top of the order (or AJ), we're going to be 3rd from the bottom in the majors in OBP from those two spots, not 3rd from last in AL).

 

The only reason I can think of going with Wise is 1) Owens is arguably worse, 2) Ozzie is more comfortable with Wise than BA, for whatever reasons (his perseverance over a long minor league career, his "big" hits last year or the playoffs against TB), 3) Ozzie feels that Wise gets more out of his ability and hustles more than BA. It's hard to make the case from a baseball-only perspective, as BA would win that argument hands-down in terms of pure logic.

 

The hard part is we're going to have a lot of "MEHHHHH" days if Wise is adequate but around .300-.325 OBP but not horrible enough that Ozzie or KW make another move (giving BA more ab's, Getz to leadoff, trade or adding a player off the waiver wire)...it's the "limbo" thing that has us scared, and even though it will cost us games, I'm sure a significant number will be ready to sacrifice them (providing MIN and CLE don't run away) if they knew a better long-term solution would be in the offing by the end of May, either BA playing everyday until the trading deadline or an acquisition from outside the organization, even Jim Edmonds worth be worth thinking about despite his sitting out all the spring).

 

 

[NorthSideSox72]

I'd take Pods over Wise, no doubt in my mind.

 

[FranktheTank35]

I'd take Pods over Wise, no doubt in my mind.

Seconded.

[Melissa1334]

I'd take Pods over Wise, no doubt in my mind.

me too. with everyone we have thrown out there since rowand left, he cant do much worse

[RockRaines]

I loathed Pods, but he definitely is a better player than Wise, even as a CF. I think the Sox should go for it and give him a short leash. As soon as his first sports hernia injury occurs put him on the DL and then waive him when he comes off.

Him and BA as a platoon is alot better than Wise and BA IMO.

[TheBigHurt]

You know our leadoff situation is f***ed up when we're sounding happy about the idea of having Pods back.

[soxfan3530]

You know our leadoff situation is f***ed up when we're sounding happy about the idea of having Pods back.

The way this leadoff situation went down still leaves me totally flabbergasted that we made no attempt to sign Orlando Hudson. Especially at what he ended up getting.

[caulfield12]

Because Hudson as a CFer is far from a sure thing defensively, and extensive playing time there at his age was/is likely to end up in a trip to the disabled list and reduced effectiveness.

 

Point 2, Hudson's primary position, 2B, is/was manned by Getz and we also have Ramirez, Betemit, Beckham, Nix and Lillibrdidge that could all man the position much more cheaply. Beckham, certainly, or possibly Getz, would be seen as the long-term answer there.

 

You can make an argument they should have signed Hudson for one year to play second and kept Getz in the minors, but I don't think Hudson would have signed for the money he did to play CF...not to mention that going to a tougher league and it seems he wanted to stay on the West Coast, too.

 

 

[Kalapse]

#1 reason Orlando Hudson was not a realistic option: if he stays healthy he'll earn $8M.

[SouthsideDon48]

Pitted against the current Pods, I'd rather have a leadoff hitter like Wise who, yes, is gonna get on base less often - but when he does it's going to have some punch to it, as he'll either be standing on 2b because of a double, or taking it with a steal.

 

Or he's circling all bases at once. Even though he's going to be making contact perhaps less often than Pods, I'd like it to be going somewhere good when contact is made.

 

 

 

 

 

That is unless Pods the slap hitter is going to steal bases again at his old pace.

 

^^^^^^ Exactly, you took the words right out of my mouth.

[SouthsideDon48]

I think Pods is losing his touch, so much that I think both BA and Wise would outperform him.

 

2005 Pods is better than BA and Wise, but 2009 Pods would have difficulty even coming close.

 

I'd much rather stick with Wise and BA as a platoon, plus Wise has more pop to his bat and Pods only hit, I think, 1 home run in his entire stay with the Sox.

 

Wise is the guy that I think people will end up being pleased about, give him a chance. But something tells me that no matter how good Wise performs, there will still be stubborn people rooting against him. Sometimes you got to throw all the stats out the window and give him a clean slate. Wise has done more in his short stay with the Sox than BA did, and I'm prety much talking about the big hits/runs and not overall numbers.

Edited April 1, 2009 by SouthsideDon48