Wise to DL with Separated Shoulder/Anderson to Start in CF

[caulfield12]

He suggested michael bourn also, what else do you really expect? Seems to be a trend of him liking players that make a team worse and not better.

 

 

Maybe we should bring in Belle, Wil Cordero, Toe Nash and Dukes...why not Barry Bonds while we're at it?

 

You can go back to multiple early off-season threads about this problem, I said that we needed to pick up/trade for Crisp and Blake. I was wrong about needing Blake, Josh at 100% health is a better player, and certainly cheaper.

 

We've debated any number of players here, like Willy Taveras.

 

Here's what I would like to see someone do...tell me what CF that's decent BOTH offensively and defensively and that will give you a 350+ OBP and that wouldn't even cost someone in our Top 8 prospects would you have gotten?

 

Also, keep in mind that it would be better if this player also had at least "decent" character...so we can cross Dukes off that list, if he was actually available for a Danks/Allen/Shelby (doubtful).

 

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

.275 BA

.323 OBP

.320 SLG

.643 OPS

 

That's Jerry Owens career-wise against RHP. I'm not sure how that is so different from BA's averages against RHP over his career. Can we be assured that either Lillibridge (doubtful) or Getz (maybe, he's had a couple of 350 OBP's in the minors) will do significantly better than a .330 OBP?

 

Yes, BA is a better defender, but he's not a leadoff hitter. If Getz/Lillibridge fail at this position, who do you want to use, Alexei Ramirez???

Lead-off hitter is not a position on the field. Centerfield is. This is not a complicated issue Caulfield. You're a very intelligent Sox fan and a very good poster, so please don't (as Hawk would say) out-dumb yourself. If we're going to be forced to put a sucky hitter at the top of our lineup then it doesn't matter how much speed this sucky hitter has because he's already a sucky hitter. Ignore the speed, go with the defense, and let Ozzie put out his dumbass lineups if he's going to do that anyway.

 

I'd like to say also that I ragged on D-Wise as a starter and still wouldn't have wanted him out there every day even if he hadn't gotten injured, but I was very impressed with the balls-out Aaron Rowand OMG catch today. It may have easily saved us the game. I hope he recovers quickly and is back as a 4th OF.

[caulfield12]

Jerry Owens should NEVER hit leadoff for the White Sox again regardless of who fails. You start Anderson in CF and hit him leadoff before you stick Owens back in that role. You do something proactive like acquiring a new, more talented player to fill your leadoff role. Owens is out of chances. You do not give the worst hitter on your team the most PA especially when he's giving you close to nothing in the field. He's a bad baseball player.

 

And yes you hit Alexei at the top before Owens.

 

Jerry Owens isn't even fast! He has no business hitting at the top of anyone's lineup.

 

 

Okay, who would you target and what would you be willing to give up?

 

We can all say, gee, it'd be great to have Blanco or Denard Span or Chone Figgins or Vernon Wells or whoever, but are none of those options are realistic ones (well, maybe Blanco if the Braves are 100% confident in Schaffer).

 

It doesn't matter if in Ozzie and KW's mind that BA has already had enough chances/opportunities to prove he's not an everyday player either...we can whine and bellyache and complain until the cows come home about Ozzie's vendetta against BA, but if really didn't want him, he'd be off the team, just like what happened with Vazquez, Swisher and Cabrera. Why would they keep him on the roster? Just to torture him and those who post on message boards?

Edited April 13, 2009 by caulfield12

[Kalapse]

Okay, who would you target and what would you be willing to give up?

 

We can all say, gee, it'd be great to have Blanco or Denard Span or Chone Figgins or Vernon Wells or whoever, but are none of those options are realistic ones (well, maybe Blanco if the Braves are 100% confidence in Schaffer).

 

It doesn't matter if in Ozzie and KW's mind that BA has already had enough chances/opportunities to prove he's not an everyday player either...we can whine and bellyache and complain until the cows come home about Ozzie's vendetta against BA, but if really didn't want him, he'd be off the team, just like what happened with Vazquez, Swisher and Cabrera. Why would they keep him on the roster? Just to torture him and those who post on message boards?

Um, you f***ing stick with Getz? There's your leadoff hitter.

 

As far as CF, you go with Brian full time.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Maybe we should bring in Belle, Wil Cordero, Toe Nash and Dukes...why not Barry Bonds while we're at it?

 

You can go back to multiple early off-season threads about this problem, I said that we needed to pick up/trade for Crisp and Blake. I was wrong about needing Blake, Josh at 100% health is a better player, and certainly cheaper.

 

We've debated any number of players here, like Willy Taveras.

 

Here's what I would like to see someone do...tell me what CF that's decent BOTH offensively and defensively and that will give you a 350+ OBP and that wouldn't even cost someone in our Top 8 prospects would you have gotten?

 

Also, keep in mind that it would be better if this player also had at least "decent" character...so we can cross Dukes off that list, if he was actually available for a Danks/Allen/Shelby (doubtful).

I don't think we're at that point yet. The first thing is defense. Put an actual CF out there. Then, after you have the defense, go ahead and look at upgrading the offense while maintaining the defense. All we have to do is put Brian out there and deal with the offensive shortcomings until someone better is available for a price we're willing to pay. And who knows, maybe the guy in regular playing time will boost his numbers enough to stick as a #8 hitter.

 

f*** Ozzie Guillen and his braindead strategy of constantly attempting to polish a turd at the expense of the pitching staff.

[TheBigHurt]

I would rather have Lilli play SS and have Alexei play CF.

 

Wow, all the constant posts like this really show you what a clusterf*** this team is.

Edited April 13, 2009 by TheBigHurt

[caulfield12]

Lead-off hitter is not a position on the field. Centerfield is. This is not a complicated issue Caulfield. You're a very intelligent Sox fan and a very good poster, so please don't (as Hawk would say) out-dumb yourself. If we're going to be forced to put a sucky hitter at the top of our lineup then it doesn't matter how much speed this sucky hitter has because he's already a sucky hitter. Ignore the speed, go with the defense, and let Ozzie put out his dumbass lineups if he's going to do that anyway.

 

I'd like to say also that I ragged on D-Wise as a starter and still wouldn't have wanted him out there every day even if he hadn't gotten injured, but I was very impressed with the balls-out Aaron Rowand OMG catch today. It may have easily saved us the game. I hope he recovers quickly and is back as a 4th OF.

 

 

Maybe I just enjoying playing Devil's Advocate...because sometimes players here get picked on too much, while others (see BA) with similar records of non-achievement are hoisted on pedestals as if they are the next Torii Hunter, even though they have shown no signs of this happening at age 26 or 27.

 

Personally, I'm all for bringing up Beckham and putting Ramirez in CF. It's better than putting Beckham or Getz in the outfield (although Beckham isn't the equal of Ramirez defensively, nobody can convince me of this). Shelby and Danks obviously aren't ready yet for CF.

 

Screw this arbitration clock stuff...as Hawk noted, as soon as they signed Longoria to a 7 year extension, he was in Tampa within days.

 

We either bring up Beckham or we make a trade for a legitimate, everyday CF if we really want to win this division.

 

It's just frustrating because if we would have signed Kenny Rogers in 2003 for peanuts or traded for CoCo Crisp this season, you'd have two teams that could have gone a long ways....even capable of winning a World Series.

[Princess Dye]

It's not a vendetta against Anderson. There have been plenty of opportunities for him getting at-bats, it just hasnt come around for him.

 

Anderson's 27 and has had 600 at-bats in the majors, in a meaningful year to boot. Owens is 28 and has only had 380 at-bats.

 

 

 

This isnt meant to incite a riot here. But you would think those numbers were flipped based on how people react in pure anger at the thought of JO being the leadoff hitter.

 

Owens got walks and stole bases in his one stretch doing this at the major league level. It's not saying a lot but the organization is weak with regard to this mold of player. I would agree with anyone that he has not earned this, but we're in a place where we dont have leadoff hitters ready in the organization, and there's a dearth of them leaguewide.

 

 

Coco Crisp was out there but he gets you a career .330 OBP. If the organization was honest with us, they'd say they wanted to just get by on CF for a year so they could really set themselves up for a fun offseason when they get money off the books.

 

I'm not the kind of fan that would hate them for that type of comment.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Princess Dye

[santo=dorf]

I know you're not supposed to root for injuries......

 

 

 

but if Owens starts playing I'm going to change my stance on that.

[southsideirish71]

Maybe I just enjoying playing Devil's Advocate...because sometimes players here get picked on too much, while others (see BA) with similar records of non-achievement are hoisted on pedestals as if they are the next Torii Hunter, even though they have shown no signs of this happening at age 26 or 27.

 

Personally, I'm all for bringing up Beckham and putting Ramirez in CF. It's better than putting Beckham or Getz in the outfield (although Beckham isn't the equal of Ramirez defensively, nobody can convince me of this). Shelby and Danks obviously aren't ready yet for CF.

 

Screw this arbitration clock stuff...as Hawk noted, as soon as they signed Longoria to a 7 year extension, he was in Tampa within days.

 

We either bring up Beckham or we make a trade for a legitimate, everyday CF if we really want to win this division.

 

It's just frustrating because if we would have signed Kenny Rogers in 2003 for peanuts or traded for CoCo Crisp this season, you'd have two teams that could have gone a long ways....even capable of winning a World Series.

 

 

How many times have you seen him play with your own two eyes to make a judgement on his defense.

[caulfield12]

Um, you f***ing stick with Getz? There's your leadoff hitter.

 

As far as CF, you go with Brian full time.

 

 

The odds are better than 50% that Getz will fail at leadoff and that BA will be terribly exposed playing against righties.

 

When's the last time a White Sox rookie was able to just enter the line-up and play everyday...by that, I don't mean Ramirez, who was an international player and already 26...but someone we drafted or even traded for?

 

Maybe everyone has fallen in love with Chris Getz because of how well he played in ST...and he did have a good season last year...but you look at players like Rowand and Crede, it took them 2-3-4 years to establish themselves in the White Sox line-up.

 

Just count me skeptical. I will be more than willing to admit that I was wrong whenever you want to revisit this, but I would be glad to "on the record" state that I don't think Getz will do well enough at leadoff to stay there and I don't think Anderson will succeed as an everyday player with that swing of his.

 

As I said, maybe it's because the last middle infielder even having a decent season as a rookie was Mike Caruso, and he was acquired via trade and rushed to the big leagues before he was ready.

 

 

[Wanne]

Hell...why not Pods?!? I'd take Pods and his noodle arm out there over Owens and his noodle arm anyday. At least Pods can hit. He looked pretty damn good this spring at the plate.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Wanne

[Dick Allen]

Let Anderson play. Its time to find out if he can everyday. The White Sox leadoff hitters are hitting .045 on the season and the team is in first place.

 

As far as Owens, call him up if you must, but if you give him Wise's job, to play against right handers, you're making a big mistake IMO. Anyone called up s/b a back-up unless its someone like Beckham, and we know that isn't happening.

 

The fact that no other team wanted Jerry Owens for nothing should tell you something. I guarantee BA wouldn't make it through waivers.

[caulfield12]

How many times have you seen him play with your own two eyes to make a judgement on his defense.

 

 

Simply based on the videos I've seen of him, from watching him play at UGA, College World Series, from watching almost all of the ST games that he played SS and a few at 2B, from listening to the descriptions of the minor league announcers and commentators from multiple organizations, from our beat writers and the impressions they're given by the front office, by BA, by MLB Scouting, by BP, etc.

 

Merely the compilation of all the "anecdotal" or "qualitative" analysis I've seen on him.

[caulfield12]

Hell...why not Pods?!? I'd take Pods and his noodle arm out there over Owens and his noodle arm anyday. At least Pods can hit. He looked pretty damn good this spring at the plate.

 

 

Pods was horrible in 2006/07 and now he's 3 years older...and he really just can't play CF any better than Swisher or Mackowiak.

 

Owens is a much better CFer than Pods, both of them have lousy arms, but we have Alexei at least to take 60% of the cutoffs, he has one of the best infield arms in the game.

 

If KW takes Owens (even though he wasn't even on the 40 man) and skips over Pods, what does that tell you about what KW thinks about the idea of bringing back Mr. Dergan?

[Kalapse]

The odds are better than 50% that Getz will fail at leadoff and that BA will be terribly exposed playing against righties.

 

When's the last time a White Sox rookie was able to just enter the line-up and play everyday...by that, I don't mean Ramirez, who was an international player and already 26...but someone we drafted or even traded for?

 

Maybe everyone has fallen in love with Chris Getz because of how well he played in ST...and he did have a good season last year...but you look at players like Rowand and Crede, it took them 2-3-4 years to establish themselves in the White Sox line-up.

 

Just count me skeptical. I will be more than willing to admit that I was wrong whenever you want to revisit this, but I would be glad to "on the record" state that I don't think Getz will do well enough at leadoff to stay there and I don't think Anderson will succeed as an everyday player with that swing of his.

 

As I said, maybe it's because the last middle infielder even having a decent season as a rookie was Mike Caruso, and he was acquired via trade and rushed to the big leagues before he was ready.

Yeah that has absolutely nothing to do with Chris Getz, the success or failure of past White Sox rookies has no impact on Chris Getz's future.

 

How about we give him a few weeks in the role before we worry about pretending to find a replacement? His minor league track record is solid, he was great in spring training and he looks comfortable at the plate, he's been working counts nicely and seeing an above average number of pitches in his 9 leadoff PA. You can play devil's advocate and post long diatribes all you want but I'm not going to participate for another few weeks.

[Kalapse]

Pods was horrible in 2006/07 and now he's 3 years older...and he really just can't play CF any better than Swisher or Mackowiak.

 

Owens is a much better CFer than Pods, both of them have lousy arms, but we have Alexei at least to take 60% of the cutoffs, he has one of the best infield arms in the game.

 

If KW takes Owens (even though he wasn't even on the 40 man) and skips over Pods, what does that tell you about what KW thinks about the idea of bringing back Mr. Dergan?

But struggles mightily with cutoffs.

[Princess Dye]

The fact that no other team wanted Jerry Owens for nothing should tell you something. I guarantee BA wouldn't make it through waivers.

 

BA would get picked up, but any organization would see him the same way we do. Make him defensive OF and see if his offense ever comes around.

 

Owens would have value to other teams if his career avg and obp went up some 10 points each. "Ifs and buts" obviously, but the Sox want to take a chance that someone can perhaps tweak their swing in some way like Wise did last year.

 

It's all about catching lightning in a bottle all up until the time that our payroll dollars get freed up.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Princess Dye

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Maybe I just enjoying playing Devil's Advocate...because sometimes players here get picked on too much, while others (see BA) with similar records of non-achievement are hoisted on pedestals as if they are the next Torii Hunter, even though they have shown no signs of this happening at age 26 or 27.

 

Personally, I'm all for bringing up Beckham and putting Ramirez in CF. It's better than putting Beckham or Getz in the outfield (although Beckham isn't the equal of Ramirez defensively, nobody can convince me of this). Shelby and Danks obviously aren't ready yet for CF.

 

Screw this arbitration clock stuff...as Hawk noted, as soon as they signed Longoria to a 7 year extension, he was in Tampa within days.

 

We either bring up Beckham or we make a trade for a legitimate, everyday CF if we really want to win this division.

 

It's just frustrating because if we would have signed Kenny Rogers in 2003 for peanuts or traded for CoCo Crisp this season, you'd have two teams that could have gone a long ways....even capable of winning a World Series.

People just like defense, that's all. I think most Sox fans are sick of our play in CF since Rowand left, with the only exception being Anderson, and I think they also recognize that CQ and JD aren't exactly the rangiest of all corner OF combos.

 

I don't think anyone is putting BA on a pedestal. The Sox made a mistake bringing him up through the minors and letting him get by on talent alone, and then not asking him to make any real changes until he was already overmatched in the Majors. Then, the following season, he beats out Erstad but becomes a bench guy and is sent down. The following season he clearly made the team and it was debated whether or not Anderson or CQ should start on opening day, and yet Ozzie went with Alexei in CF and Uribe at 2B unexpectedly. Anderson understandably lost playing time, but he didn't get the everyday gig when Swisher sucked ass. Wise and Griffey did. Then this year he by all means should have won the CF position based on his ST numbers plus his defense, yet once again he's the 4th OF. The Sox f***ed up with Brian at seemingly every step of the way. His failures in 2006 were as much the fault of the Sox player development "philosophies" or lack thereof as they were of Brian himself, and now that he's matured and everything, and he's supposedly a different person altogether and willing to learn and adjust, now he gets shoved to the backburner. It's f***ing ridiculous how they've handled this guy. If there had been better options, fine. But I guarantee that as much as the Sox talk up the Twins and Braves' systems, had BA been drafted by either of those teams he'd have been handled in a much better, much more professional fashion. He wouldn't have been up in 2006, and he would have been forced to change his attitude and make his adjustments in the minors, and by now we'd now what we have, because he'd have either been given a legitimate chance that he was deemed truly ready for or he would have been shipped out and someone else brought in. It's funny how the Sox try to use BA as a scapegoat yet BA, if anything, is the perfect example of a s***ty player development system, a s***ty old regime of coaching in the minor leagues, a lack of direction from the GM, and the density of a manager who supposedly values pitching and defense above all else.

 

As for Beckham, I'd say yes on Beckham only if Buddy Bell says it's a good idea. I like the guy and I see the changes he's presiding over. If Buddy says he's ready, go for it, but if not then don't.

[iamshack]

People just like defense, that's all. I think most Sox fans are sick of our play in CF since Rowand left, with the only exception being Anderson, and I think they also recognize that CQ and JD aren't exactly the rangiest of all corner OF combos.

 

I don't think anyone is putting BA on a pedestal. The Sox made a mistake bringing him up through the minors and letting him get by on talent alone, and then not asking him to make any real changes until he was already overmatched in the Majors. Then, the following season, he beats out Erstad but becomes a bench guy and is sent down. The following season he clearly made the team and it was debated whether or not Anderson or CQ should start on opening day, and yet Ozzie went with Alexei in CF and Uribe at 2B unexpectedly. Anderson understandably lost playing time, but he didn't get the everyday gig when Swisher sucked ass. Wise and Griffey did. Then this year he by all means should have won the CF position based on his ST numbers plus his defense, yet once again he's the 4th OF. The Sox f***ed up with Brian at seemingly every step of the way. His failures in 2006 were as much the fault of the Sox player development "philosophies" or lack thereof as they were of Brian himself, and now that he's matured and everything, and he's supposedly a different person altogether and willing to learn and adjust, now he gets shoved to the backburner. It's f***ing ridiculous how they've handled this guy. If there had been better options, fine. But I guarantee that as much as the Sox talk up the Twins and Braves' systems, had BA been drafted by either of those teams he'd have been handled in a much better, much more professional fashion. He wouldn't have been up in 2006, and he would have been forced to change his attitude and make his adjustments in the minors, and by now we'd now what we have, because he'd have either been given a legitimate chance that he was deemed truly ready for or he would have been shipped out and someone else brought in. It's funny how the Sox try to use BA as a scapegoat yet BA, if anything, is the perfect example of a s***ty player development system, a s***ty old regime of coaching in the minor leagues, a lack of direction from the GM, and the density of a manager who supposedly values pitching and defense above all else.

 

As for Beckham, I'd say yes on Beckham only if Buddy Bell says it's a good idea. I like the guy and I see the changes he's presiding over. If Buddy says he's ready, go for it, but if not then don't.

 

I don't usually agree with you on a whole lot here, but this is one hell of a post.

[Princess Dye]

It's funny how the Sox try to use BA as a scapegoat yet BA, if anything, is the perfect example of a s***ty player development system, a s***ty old regime of coaching in the minor leagues, a lack of direction from the GM, and the density of a manager who supposedly values pitching and defense above all else.

 

Anderson and Ryan Sweeney went through the same development system. Why is Sweeney having success? He's just flat out more talented with the bat.

 

Far more likely than an organizational conspiracy against Brian - the simple possibility that BA spent a long time being unable to shorten his swing.

 

It seems better to the eye now, but we need results at some point. One of these two guys figured out major league pitching, the other hasnt. Opportunities have been there. Brian even showed more promise than Sweeney with the bat when both were a few yrs younger. But ML pitching stops some guys' careers in their tracks.

 

 

 

We call the Sox bad developers of talent, but theyve traded away so much that I dont know how well we can fairly evaluate this.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Princess Dye

[caulfield12]

KHP, there's a corollary to your thoughts on JD.

 

The White Sox picked a player who they felt was athletically talented, yet, like many of our top choices in the past 10-15 years, he was far from a refined baseball player, he was an athlete playing baseball. It worked all the way through the minor leagues.

 

Where BA has gotten in trouble is with his attitude, and that's something that you can't coach or overcome with some players. It's possible BA will blossom in another organization, but how many times has that happened? How many times can you count that KW has gotten rid of a player that went on to have huge success with another organization??? If anything, KW has been great at 2 things...1) finding undervalued/injured players via trade from other organizations, but also FA's like Takatsu, Jenks, Loaiza, Iguchi, AJ, Hermanson, Ramirez, 2) trading overvalued players within our organization (Garcia deal, McCarthy, etc., the list goes on and on)

 

As they mentioned in the broadcast today, the organizational philosophy has evolved into NOT trying to change a player's swing after they draft him. In other words, if what got you drafted works, why try to fix it? The problem with BA came in not being able to make adjustments at the major league level, not being able to make his swing more compact and perhaps not responding well to coaching or isolating himself/pouting when things weren't going well.

 

If you look at Rowand and Crede, for example, they had horrible swings when they came to the majors, especially Crede...but, with time/patience/coaching, they were able to maximize (in my opinion) the ability of those two particular players. Sure, there was a huge "miss" with Joe Borchard, but, if anything, he falls into the athlete/football player who just wasn't meant to be a major league ballplayer, despite having a great character/personality and huge power (when he hit the ball).

 

Back to BA. I think he's been a good teammate the last couple of seasons, but he really was a pain in his first couple of seasons in the organization. He's not one of those guys like Getz or Fields that everyone roots for...he's either hated or beloved. Why is that? If you're going to blame the organization, 50% of the blame is at BA's door.

 

Other examples:

1) Reputation for partying/staying out late/BA's "hunnies"...which has led some to believe he wasn't as serious about the game as he needed to be

2) Skipping winter ball at least one season when he was asked to play...and being very resistant in general to offseason "commitments" to improve his game...look at the "miracle" that has happened with Josh Fields from making a commitment just for a weekend or two to work out with Cora in the offseason down in Miami....has BA ever done anything like that?

3) Showing very limited abilities to change his "lift and pull" stroke and make more solid contact...bunting...hitting to the opposite field...even hitting the cutoff man or just improving his baseball "acumen." Ramirez and Beckham are instinctive players, whereas BA still has a lot of areas to make improvement, especially in terms of baserunning.

 

All that being said, he's a guy with 650 OPS against RHP over 300+ MLB at-bats.

 

He didn't prove himself as a consistent hitter this spring until coming on late...but he was a disaster the first 2 weeks of spring, he looked even worse than Owens, to tell the truth. This is the time of ST that Wise was taking off and landed in "first" in the competition for CF.

 

If anything, as an organization, we've maximized the values of our "Jeremy Reeds/Morses/Olivos" to get first-line major league talent like Freddy Garcia.

 

From 1990-1998, we had the most wins in baseball after the New York Yankees.

 

From 1990-2008, we have the second or third most wins following the Yankees and Braves...how can anyone say that we haven't done a good job as an organization (overall) for the last twenty years?

Edited April 13, 2009 by caulfield12

[Princess Dye]

This is off topic (by being on-topic i guess)..... but so many guys with job security refuse to go all out for a ball like that one today.

 

Even some of the stars on this team. While I dont want top tier talent risking injury, it's great to see a guy trying to save his career still take on some risk physically to his body. For a win in a game that many will credit more to offense than defense.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Princess Dye

[caulfield12]

Anderson and Ryan Sweeney went through the same development system. Why is Sweeney having success? He's just flat out more talented with the bat.

 

Far more likely than an organizational conspiracy against Brian - the simple possibility that BA spent a long time being unable to shorten his swing.

 

It seems better to the eye now, but we need results at some point. One of these two guys figured out major league pitching, the other hasnt. Opportunities have been there. Brian even showed more promise than Sweeney with the bat when both were a few yrs younger. But ML pitching stops some guys' careers in their tracks.

 

 

 

We call the Sox bad developers of talent, but theyve traded away so much that I dont know how well we can fairly evaluate this.

 

 

Sweeney MIGHT develop a little more extra-base/gap power someday, he'll need it in order to play everyday, against both lefties and righties.

 

I would be fine with Ryan, as a platoon player, or on the corners (where he doesn't really fit, just like David DeJesus in KC)...but his lack of power forces him into CF, where he's not an ideal player.

 

I think KW knew that he would never have more than warning track power (even at USCF), so he tried to put together a package that would give him a player that could play everyday in Swisher...of course, that didn't work out as KW planned, or Nick, for that matter.

 

As a CFer, Sweeney is average or slightly below average MLB...and his offensive numbers there are going to be roughly the same...750-775 OPS, good, but not great.

 

I am sure KW would have traded BA instead of Sweeney to get Swisher, but Beane wouldn't have taken it...just as we would have loved to trade BA/Vizcaino for Vazquez instead of Chris B. Young.

 

 

[iamshack]

Sweeney MIGHT develop a little more extra-base/gap power someday, he'll need it in order to play everyday, against both lefties and righties.

 

I would be fine with Ryan, as a platoon player, or on the corners (where he doesn't really fit, just like David DeJesus in KC)...but his lack of power forces him into CF, where he's not an ideal player.

 

I think KW knew that he would never have more than warning track power (even at USCF), so he tried to put together a package that would give him a player that could play everyday in Swisher...of course, that didn't work out as KW planned, or Nick, for that matter.

 

As a CFer, Sweeney is average or slightly below average MLB...and his offensive numbers there are going to be roughly the same...750-775 OPS, good, but not great.

 

I am sure KW would have traded BA instead of Sweeney to get Swisher, but Beane wouldn't have taken it...just as we would have loved to trade BA/Vizcaino for Vazquez instead of Chris B. Young.

 

I'm not really buying this...I know Sweeney is younger, but to be honest, I'm not seeing much difference between Ryan Sweeney and Brian Anderson other than the fact that Anderson does not get the chance to play regularly.

 

For whatever reason that is, I don't know. There has NEVER been a situation in which we have needed Brian in the starting lineup more than this season, even before Dweezy got hurt today. With both of our corner outfielders playing out of position, and no better alternative offensively, Brian was and now more than ever is the obvious choice here. And yet, the organization, or OG in particular acts as if he isn't even sitting in that dugout.

 

Quite frankly, if Brian isn't going to get a chance now, he never will with this organization.