Time to move Alexei....

[BearSox]

I love Alexei and he has some of the best natural ability on team, but more and more I am learning that he is no SS. He has the talent to be extremely good there, but really lacks the brains. Today was another example of many. I have long supported keeping him at SS, but I think the time to move him is now, especially if we still feel we can be competitors.

 

Basically, I'd move Alexei to CF (Wise and BA have been basically putrid), Beckham to SS (his natural spot), and Fields/Nix at 3B. Even though Fields and Nix aren't sexy options at 3B, I'd take their bats of BA and Wise.

[nickofypres]

I expect him to move to 2B and have Bacon at SS in 2010

Edited June 26, 2009 by whitesox901

[greg775]

I don't know why he ever moved from second. It's a great spot for him. He can still make the occasional remarkable play at second. He's too erratic to play ss and that was easily predictable. It seems stupid to play Beckham at third if ss is his spot and he's reliable there.

For this year though, since Fields was a bust, I guess we need Beckham at 3B, Lexi at ss and Getz at 2B.

It's better than Fields at third, Beckham at short and Lexi at 2B. Unless Fields is finally coming into his own after the two dinger game.

[beck72]

Alexei has far more value as a SS than a CFer or at 2b. If he can't play SS for the Sox, he'd be a great trade peice going forward.

[RockRaines]

I expect him to move to 2B and have Bacon at SS in 2010

Not a chance, Alexei will be a much better SS than Beckham would be able to. Alexei is a rookie at the position and is still learning, give him time.

[NorthSideSox72]

Short memory?

 

Alexei has been pretty good at SS this year after not playing there for a while. He needs some work on his range to his right, and he makes the occasional dumb mistake, but overall he's been pretty good. Also, those dumb mistakes aren't going to just vaporize if you move him somewhere else. No matter where you put him, he'll always be a player who makes some spectacular plays, but will also botch some simple ones.

 

Moving him makes no sense right now. Next year, depending on how the roster falls out, maybe. But even then, Alexei is probably already a better shortstop than Beckham could be.

 

[beck72]

Not a chance, Alexei will be a much better SS than Beckham would be able to. Alexei is a rookie at the position and is still learning, give him time.

A young player/ rookie is expected to make physical mistakes. The mistakes Alexei's making are mental/ not giving full effort, and may not be correctable by him "learning" anything. It may be low baseball IQ, or IQ in general.

[NorthSideSox72]

A young player/ rookie is expected to make physical mistakes. The mistakes Alexei's making are mental/ not giving full effort, and may not be correctable by him "learning" anything. It may be low baseball IQ, or IQ in general.

If so, then he's going to do the same thing somewhere else anyway, so moving him doesn't help things unless you want to DH him.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

A young player/ rookie is expected to make physical mistakes. The mistakes Alexei's making are mental/ not giving full effort, and may not be correctable by him "learning" anything. It may be low baseball IQ, or IQ in general.

Also, this isn't really true some of the time anyway. One of his two recent errors was on a leap for a line drive that he just plain misjudged. That is something physical, and something that would improve over experience, probably.

 

[thedoctor]

*jerks knee*

[BearSox]

Also, this isn't really true some of the time anyway. One of his two recent errors was on a leap for a line drive that he just plain misjudged. That is something physical, and something that would improve over experience, probably.

I don't even think he had to jump for the ball. That was a severe lack of judgment and/or he tried to be flashy and make a leaping grab.

[DBAHO]

Give him time, I think Ozzie's words are going to show Alexei that he needs complete concentration on every defensive play going forward, otherwise he'll be in trouble.

 

Long - term, Beckham's not going to be a SS anyways (either a 2B/3B), so the Sox would have to go outside the organization to find a replacement.

 

And quality shortstops aren't exactly easy to obtain either.

[Balta1701]

Long - term, Beckham's not going to be a SS anyways (either a 2B/3B), so the Sox would have to go outside the organization to find a replacement.

When was this determined?

[BearSox]

If so, then he's going to do the same thing somewhere else anyway, so moving him doesn't help things unless you want to DH him.

I think he'll be much better off in the OF. First off, there will never really be a reason for him not to fire the ball into the infield. Second, he'll have more time to read and react to the ball.

 

He might make the same mistakes else where on the field, but SS is the most crucial spot on the field, IMO, that I'd prefer to have those mistakes moved to either 2B, LF, or CF.

[BearSox]

Not a chance, Alexei will be a much better SS than Beckham would be able to. Alexei is a rookie at the position and is still learning, give him time.

He's 27 and all those years in Cuba playing SS don't count?

 

I'm starting to realize why Alexei got moved from SS to the OF in Cuba.

[DBAHO]

When was this determined?

Well it hasn't been yet, but I think there's a better chance than not that he's either a 2B or a 3B, and most scouts / experts thought the same when the Sox drafted him.

 

Whether that happens, we'll have to wait and see.

 

I think with Fields' subpar play so far this season, Beckham's our long - term solution at 3B.

[DBAHO]

FWIW this season Ramirez has a RZR of .821 at SS, he was .790 at 2B last season.

 

Last season he had an OOZ of 16, this season it's already at 30. OOZ is Out Of Zone, or the total number of outs made by a fielder on balls hit outside of his zone.

 

For comparisons sake, last season Orlando Cabrera had a RZR of .834 with a OOZ of 57.

 

[WCSox]

I wouldn't even think of moving Alexei from SS until next year. And even then, moving Beckham there would create a hole at 3B. Fields has had some nice at-bats lately, but he doesn't appear to be in the organization's long-term plans at this point. Unless Getz completely flames out, I don't see Alexei moving. Even if he plays the position like Jose Valentin, he's still a pretty solid SS.

 

[RockRaines]

He's 27 and all those years in Cuba playing SS don't count?

 

I'm starting to realize why Alexei got moved from SS to the OF in Cuba.

All those years? IIRC he didnt play SS that much in Cuba.

[RockRaines]

A young player/ rookie is expected to make physical mistakes. The mistakes Alexei's making are mental/ not giving full effort, and may not be correctable by him "learning" anything. It may be low baseball IQ, or IQ in general.

I disagree on this entirely. We even had Beckham come out and say that the hardest part was the mental aspect, knowing where to be, the situation etc. Give the guy a full season and see what happens, Alexei has the ability to be an above avg to great defender at SS.

[lostfan]

All those years? IIRC he didnt play SS that much in Cuba.

Correct, he didn't.

[lostfan]

Short memory?

 

Alexei has been pretty good at SS this year after not playing there for a while. He needs some work on his range to his right, and he makes the occasional dumb mistake, but overall he's been pretty good. Also, those dumb mistakes aren't going to just vaporize if you move him somewhere else. No matter where you put him, he'll always be a player who makes some spectacular plays, but will also botch some simple ones.

 

Moving him makes no sense right now. Next year, depending on how the roster falls out, maybe. But even then, Alexei is probably already a better shortstop than Beckham could be.

How do you figure this? It sounds like you're talking out of your ass a little bit here. Not trying to call you out, it just seems like I've seen people say this a lot. Besides reading scouting reports, I'd bet most people talking about Beckham's defensive ability at SS have never seen him play there.

 

That said, the only way you learn the position is by actually being in the field for an extended amount of time, and Alexei still has the benefit of the doubt, bad plays or not.

[elrockinMT]

We talk about moving everyone around to different positions it seems after every game or every error they make. Think long term here. What do we do with Vicideo when he is ready to play at the big league level and then what do we do with Ramirez, Getz and Beckham? What do we do with Jordan Danks and Allen when they are ready, which might be soon? Same goes for Quentin and BA? You start moving a player around just because they make an error and all of sudden you have a constant game of musical positions as prospects start popping up on the big league level and nobody fits in defensively.

[NorthSideSox72]

How do you figure this? It sounds like you're talking out of your ass a little bit here. Not trying to call you out, it just seems like I've seen people say this a lot. Besides reading scouting reports, I'd bet most people talking about Beckham's defensive ability at SS have never seen him play there.

 

That said, the only way you learn the position is by actually being in the field for an extended amount of time, and Alexei still has the benefit of the doubt, bad plays or not.

Based on what I recall from scouting reports during the draft about Beckham, based on watching the two of them play (and yes, my watching Beckham play is very limited at SS, plus a little at 3B now too). Also note, I was careful to say "probably", because its just a future projection based on what evidence I have. I obviously can't say for sure.

 

[lostfan]

Based on what I recall from scouting reports during the draft about Beckham, based on watching the two of them play (and yes, my watching Beckham play is very limited at SS, plus a little at 3B now too). Also note, I was careful to say "probably", because its just a future projection based on what evidence I have. I obviously can't say for sure.

I dunno, I've never really been on the "Alexei will be a great SS" bandwagon. I figured he would be what he is now, because this is what he was doing at 2B last year. Maybe he'll iron out this inconsistency, I don't really know. I hope so but I'm not holding my breath either. I accept it because his bat is a premium if he can be average there.

Edited June 26, 2009 by lostfan