How about those that say that if we're this dependent on a single hitter we aren't contenders anyway?
If Kevin Youkilis hypothetically going down for an extended period single handedly screws us over then we're done anyway.
I for one am not going to lay these losses at Youkilis' feet alone. It'd have been better if he'd been in the lineup sure, but there are a lot of other hypotheticals that could have resulted in a win as well so I have no desire to watch him become a scapegoat for a teamwide suckfest.
Oh no, I should have made it clearer -- I'm talking more about the offseason. There's NWIH Izturis clears waivers. Above average defensive SS with a .340 career OBP and a good burst of speed? Without any contract encumberment? No way.
But I would trade Lowrie for Izturis straight up even in the offseason. Even if we also get a second SS Since he also has extensive experience at third where we have an aging incumbent and NO prospects, Izturis makes a ton of sense for us.
They do have a couple of other people who could play that role though. We might have to overpay for him, whuch for a guy like Izturis is enough to nix the deal, but I'd like to hope we're at least talking to the Angels about a couple different infielders.
I would have been willing to put up with Guzman, but my ideal SS is a speedy guy with a strong glove and a .340+ OBP, an Erick Aybar type basically not Captain Empty Batting Average and his albatross deal.
I wonder if there's any way we could acquire Maicer Izturis. Not exactly a world beater but he'd be a huge improvement from what we're serving currently at the shortstop position. UZR/150 likes his defense at short, and I like his speed and OBP. If you believe in such things he has a reputation as a clutch hitter as well.
Actually Paradisecity has a point. If you're averaging fewer than 4 runs a game, and I think we're at that point since the break, you run into diminishing returns trying to improve by run prevention alone. The best shortstop in the world is only so many runs better than an average one. At some point you really do have to pay attention to the other side of the ball. And I think we're at the point where a small offensive upgrade can make a big difference.
Going for high school and long range talents is the thing to do when you have a stable big league team and a good cadre of upper level talent. College players are historically for teams with big holes who want a quick fix.
Daniel Nava.
What? He's in Portland, he's producing. He's sure as heck never going to be a starter but he's got a bit of skill and talent so why not find out what he can do off the bench? It's not like we're overburdened with other, better options.
And the guy we got as a throw in salary dump wasn't too bad either. Solidified a real problem position for us for a few years, even if he is wearing out now.
Indeed. For the same reason that we, smarting as we are for a shortstop, don't really condemn the Hanley trade. It brought us two of the biggest contributors to that World Series win.
worth mentioning of course, that stumbling from one injury to another is how a lot of players show their decline in earnest, especially the big bodied players like Frank Thomas who was very good while he could play but was quite frequently injured.
Jacobson has good numbers. As for overall talent, I'm not the best judge but he seems to be pretty good. As a 22 year old in A+ he's ever so slightly on the old side though.
There's some speculation that Buchholz and VMart might have hit it off and developed a bit of chemistry. Certainly seems to bear out in the field so far. I'd love to see that happen. The kid needs someone who can anchor him and keep his head where it belongs and VMart is as good at that as anyone else.
EDIT: BS alert -- it seems to tie back to one of those ESPN fluff piece articles. Some intersting stuff here, but it sounds just like the lines players say.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4398775