Time for Fans to Step Up

[HooverDam]

Buster Olney is predicting the Diamondbacks will play Tampa in this year's World Series.

I would love that so much.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Not so much the money but the years. $2 mil isn't a ton but to waste a roster spot on him for 2 years is absurd. The second we signed John McDonald (a much better option for this team) we should have hung up the phone on Boras and moved on from Bloomquist.

Willie is further insurance in case Drew isn't ready, and can play anywhere on the field. He's a good clubhouse guy and hit well in the Brewers series. While I would have preferred him on a 1 year deal, I won't lose any sleep on 2.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Willie is further insurance in case Drew isn't ready, and can play anywhere on the field. He's a good clubhouse guy and hit well in the Brewers series. While I would have preferred him on a 1 year deal, I won't lose any sleep on 2.

Much better guys to use the roster space on. He is a bad defender no matter where you play him (and awful at short), not smart on the basepaths, and really isn't that great of a hitter. We are better off using McDonald at short and signing a guy like Jack Wilson to be the other utility infielder.

 

[crisper57]

Not the biggest Roberts fan at 3B, because I just don't see him being successful over the long term. I love the guy and hope he can be productive for years to come, but I think he played over his head last year and will be hard-pressed to make that the norm.

That beings said, the 3B field in FA this year was pitiful. Given what others have said about our prospects at that position, I like Roberts as a stop-gap, rather than tying big money to someone who is on the decline and likely looking for their last payday.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Much better guys to use the roster space on. He is a bad defender no matter where you play him (and awful at short), not smart on the basepaths, and really isn't that great of a hitter. We are better off using McDonald at short and signing a guy like Jack Wilson to be the other utility infielder.

Picking nits much? I'd love a list of guys that would be demonstrably better than Willie. He's definitely not a bad defender, not great, but not bad.

Not a great hitter? Compared to McDonald and Jack Wilson he certainly is. This is just a ridiculous argument, he's great in the clubhouse and superior to any of the options you've listed. For 2 mil per year, he's a negligible impact on the budget. Just seems like an odd player to focus on.

 

[crisper57]

Picking nits much? I'd love a list of guys that would be demonstrably better than Willie. He's definitely not a bad defender, not great, but not bad.

Not a great hitter? Compared to McDonald and Jack Wilson he certainly is. This is just a ridiculous argument, he's great in the clubhouse and superior to any of the options you've listed. For 2 mil per year, he's a negligible impact on the budget. Just seems like an odd player to focus on.

Shhh! Willie ran over his puppy.

 

[BC867]

Not a great hitter? Compared to McDonald and Jack Wilson he certainly is.

John McDonald hit .229 last season. He didn't even reach his lifetime average of .238. Along with Chris Young's .236 last season, which fell short of his lifetime BAVG of .240, and the pitcher's spot, that means that 1/3 of our batting order when McDonald is in the lineup is lacking. We're not going to get to the World Series that way.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Picking nits much? I'd love a list of guys that would be demonstrably better than Willie. He's definitely not a bad defender, not great, but not bad.

Not a great hitter? Compared to McDonald and Jack Wilson he certainly is. This is just a ridiculous argument, he's great in the clubhouse and superior to any of the options you've listed. For 2 mil per year, he's a negligible impact on the budget. Just seems like an odd player to focus on.

I'd sacrifice hitting at SS for defense. When you add a groundball pitcher like Cahill you need to make sure you have a solid defense else you waste his value. Bloomquist is a nice player to have when you don't have other options. The D-Backs had other options.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I'd sacrifice hitting at SS for defense. When you add a groundball pitcher like Cahill you need to make sure you have a solid defense else you waste his value. Bloomquist is a nice player to have when you don't have other options. The D-Backs had other options.

Again, you refuse to come up with any concrete examples. Jack Wilson? Try again. In any event, this debate is ridiculous.

 

[Gaddabout]

I would have been fine with that s well, although our #5 prospect, Matt Davidson is a 3b, and could take over next year.

No way, man. He's more of a 1B than a 3B. Played 20 games at 3B at Visalia last year and 39 at 1B. His fielding pct. at 3B was a frightening .908 with 11 errors in 120 chances. He has some pop, though, so they find a way to put him in the lineup.

The D-Backs have no near-future 3B in the farm system.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

No way, man. He's more of a 1B than a 3B. Played 20 games at 3B at Visalia last year and 39 at 1B. His fielding pct. at 3B was a frightening .908 with 11 errors in 120 chances. He has some pop, though, so they find a way to put him in the lineup.

The D-Backs have no near-future 3B in the farm system.

Well, they're certainly going to try and make it work:

"Davidson solidified at third base: Diamondbacks prospect Matt Davidson, who split his time between first and third base at Class A Visalia in 2011, will be a full-time third baseman at Double-A Mobile in 2012 with Bobby Borchering moving to the outfield. And according to the Arizona Republic, he couldn't be more excited about it. "My defense skyrocketed," he said of his last opportunity to play third base every day in 2010. "I was making plays left and right that I didn’t think I could make because I was seeing the (same) flight of the ball toward me instead of a different angle (at first base) or taking days off DHing. I'm really excited to take that workload every day, and it’s going to be a lot of fun."
(Updated 10/18/2011)

 

[azsportsfan01]

No way, man. He's more of a 1B than a 3B. Played 20 games at 3B at Visalia last year and 39 at 1B. His fielding pct. at 3B was a frightening .908 with 11 errors in 120 chances. He has some pop, though, so they find a way to put him in the lineup.

The D-Backs have no near-future 3B in the farm system.

Davidson has actually improved a ton over at 3rd to the point where most people believe he can actually stick. He has a canon of an arm and is working on his footwork. The reason he played so many games at 1st is because Borchering was on the team as well. With Borchering out in left now Davidson will finally get the chance to play everyday at 3rd. This year will be big for him since he will probably start out in Mobile.

 

[crisper57]

Davidson has actually improved a ton over at 3rd to the point where most people believe he can actually stick. He has a canon of an arm and is working on his footwork. The reason he played so many games at 1st is because Borchering was on the team as well. With Borchering out in left now Davidson will finally get the chance to play everyday at 3rd. This year will be big for him since he will probably start out in Mobile.

This. I didn't realize how little he played at 3B last year, but I expect him to go there full-time from now on.

 

[Gaddabout]

I hope it's real for Davidson, because there is no back up plan.

 

[Dback Jon]

I hope it's real for Davidson, because there is no back up plan.

Or FA next year

 

[azsportsfan01]

I hope it's real for Davidson, because there is no back up plan.

Look out for Ryan Wheeler. He took a big step forward last year and will more than likely start the year out in Reno. Long term he may not be able to stick at 3rd but he could be a good stop gap player should Davidson need an extra year or two in the minors.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Other than they're $15 million over budget and haven't acquired a legitimate 3rd baseman or figured out how to address the top of the order? Not much they've done so far has made a lot of baseball sense. Kubel makes no sense, Cahill is a head scratcher (and I wasn't a huge Parker fan, either). Glad they re-signed Montero, but they're going to end up paying for not giving him a long-term deal. I'm only holding out hope they'll (1) still be in the divisional race by July and (2) they're expecting to address it before the trade deadline.

Felt like this team didn't need a LOT of tweaking, but the tweaks they made don't add up to $15 million over budget, IMO, and they didn't address their most glaring problem.

Kubel makes sense to anyone who understands that a low defense big bat left fielder is MUCH more valuable than a high defense no hitting left fielder.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Buster Olney is predicting the Diamondbacks will play Tampa in this year's World Series.

MLB Talk has Kubel finishing 5th in the league on OPS.

Anyone who actually follows baseball loves the DBacks off season.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

John McDonald hit .229 last season. He didn't even reach his lifetime average of .238. Along with Chris Young's .236 last season, which fell short of his lifetime BAVG of .240, and the pitcher's spot, that means that 1/3 of our batting order when McDonald is in the lineup is lacking. We're not going to get to the World Series that way.

Ah can't have a thread without the Chris Young hateraide.

# 6 in the NL in walks to go along with that BA.

#28 in home runs

#15 in runs scored

#18 in stolen bases

#41 in Slugging

#45 in OBP

#43 in OPS

Yeah how the heck would we ever win with this guy?

Ass from Elbow year 2 BC

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Kubel makes sense to anyone who understands that a low defense big bat left fielder is MUCH more valuable than a high defense no hitting left fielder.

I'm not totally against the signing, but let's not act like this is an open and shut case.

Food for thought:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/19364/jason-kubel-signing-doesnt-make-sense

With pitchers that constantly rely on defense, Parra is more valuable then you give him credit for. I hope for the best with Kubel, and anticipate his numbers will be good at our friendly park, but can also see him being a large defensively liability. I guess we'll see.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

I'm not totally against the signing, but let's not act like this is an open and shut case.

Food for thought:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/19364/jason-kubel-signing-doesnt-make-sense

With pitchers that constantly rely on defense, Parra is more valuable then you give him credit for. I hope for the best with Kubel, and anticipate his numbers will be good at our friendly park, but can also see him being a large defensively liability. I guess we'll see.

Yeah I had read that and all the counters to it when it came out.

Parra is nothing but a part time player and a defensive switchout after the 7th inning. And that is what he will be again this year. You can get by with no power at SS with great defense. LF is where you hide bad defense.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Ah can't have a thread without the Chris Young hateraide.

# 6 in the NL in walks to go along with that BA.

#28 in home runs

#15 in runs scored

#18 in stolen bases

#41 in Slugging

#45 in OBP

#43 in OPS

Yeah how the heck would we ever win with this guy?

Ass from Elbow year 2 BC

It must be baseball season if BC is hating on Chris Young!

 

[BC867]

It must be baseball season if BC is hating on Chris Young!

Why are you and our Super Moderator making this all about Chris Young?

I cited Young and McDonald preceding the pitchers spot in the batting order. Three of our nine batting positions. Back-to-back-to-back.

Here are the details from last season.

Chris Young ................ .236
John McDonald ............ .229
All pitchers ................. .185
__________________________

Our last three spots ...... .215

Do you really think that combination would make us a World Series powerhouse in our home park?
Or through the playoffs home or road?

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Because every pitcher in the NL is going to hit that.

Because you are talking about a part time player who barely played last year and will get even less playing time this year. The dude only had 59 ABs and that is with Drew out.

And then you toss in a slam on the same guy you always slam.

So yes BC, I do think we can go to the world series with:

A) Pitchers needing to hit.

B) A defensive guy who likely will get under 100 ABs

C) An all star center fielder

 

[azsportsfan01]

Why are you and our Super Moderator making this all about Chris Young?

I cited Young and McDonald preceding the pitchers spot in the batting order. Three of our nine batting positions. Back-to-back-to-back.

Here are the details from last season.

Chris Young ................ .236
John McDonald ............ .229
All pitchers ................. .185
__________________________

Our last three spots ...... .215

Do you really think that combination would make us a World Series powerhouse in our home park?
Or through the playoffs home or road?

My last post was just a joke. Sorry if you took it wrong.