Aaron Rowand......

[Fanatic3332000]

Another move thew Cubs could look for in the offseason is a trade for a guy like Aaron Rowand, who Philadelphia was shopping before the deadline. The guy hasn't hit very well ever since his injury a horrific .257 for the season but career OBP is .334, and plays terrific defense. Anyway it is just a thought, who knows he could have a break out season, but dont thinki that I'm suggesting him as the "big bat" the cubs will be looking for this offseason.

[ConstableRabbit]

I think it's a horrible idea, but it sounds exactly like something JH would try.

[CP_414]

We need more offense than Rowand has. Move Jones to CF. Sign Carlos Lee and Trot Nixon. Sign Jason Schmidt.

 

Z, Schmidt, Marmol, Prior, ?

 

2B? (Not Cedeno/Neifi!)

Trot Nixon

D-Lee

Carlos Lee

Aramis

Barrett

Jones

Ceaser

Pitcher

[ChiCubsFan]

We need more offense than Rowand has. Move Jones to CF. Sign Carlos Lee and Trot Nixon. Sign Jason Schmidt.

 

Z, Schmidt, Marmol, Prior, ?

 

2B? (Not Cedeno/Neifi!)

Trot Nixon

D-Lee

Carlos Lee

Aramis

Barrett

Jones

Ceaser

Pitcher

 

I don't see them putting Jones in CF. It's probably the best option, but it's not going to happen.

[RonnieWooWooSanto]

We need more offense than Rowand has. Move Jones to CF. Sign Carlos Lee and Trot Nixon. Sign Jason Schmidt.

 

Z, Schmidt, Marmol, Prior, ?

 

2B? (Not Cedeno/Neifi!)

Trot Nixon

D-Lee

Carlos Lee

Aramis

Barrett

Jones

Ceaser

Pitcher

 

Trot Nixon coupled with Jacque Jones = every team pitching lefties against the Cubs

[CP_414]

We need more offense than Rowand has. Move Jones to CF. Sign Carlos Lee and Trot Nixon. Sign Jason Schmidt.

 

Z, Schmidt, Marmol, Prior, ?

 

2B? (Not Cedeno/Neifi!)

Trot Nixon

D-Lee

Carlos Lee

Aramis

Barrett

Jones

Ceaser

Pitcher

 

Trot Nixon coupled with Jacque Jones = every team pitching lefties against the Cubs

 

Murton would be there to spell one of them. I guess it would have to be Nixon since Murt can't play center. Nixon's .400 OBP would be nice in the 2 spot, and I bet he doesn't make over $7M in 07.

[baseball7897]

We need more offense than Rowand has. Move Jones to CF. Sign Carlos Lee and Trot Nixon. Sign Jason Schmidt.

 

Z, Schmidt, Marmol, Prior, ?

 

2B? (Not Cedeno/Neifi!)

Trot Nixon

D-Lee

Carlos Lee

Aramis

Barrett

Jones

Ceaser

Pitcher

 

Trot Nixon coupled with Jacque Jones = every team pitching lefties against the Cubs

 

Murton would be there to spell one of them. I guess it would have to be Nixon since Murt can't play center. Nixon's .400 OBP would be nice in the 2 spot, and I bet he doesn't make over $7M in 07.

 

Nixon has a hard time staying healthy. Just what the Cubs need.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

Jones plays poor defense in RF, no way could he handle CF.

 

 

According to John Dewan's "The Fielding Bible" Rowand was the best defensive CFer in baseball last year.

[RynoRules]

Jones plays poor defense in RF, no way could he handle CF.

 

 

According to John Dewan's "The Fielding Bible" Rowand was the best defensive CFer in baseball last year.

 

That's nice, but he doesn't get on base nearly enough. No thanks.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

There aren't a lot of CF options out there so the Cubs may not have a chioce.

[RonnieWooWooSanto]

There aren't a lot of CF options out there so the Cubs may not have a chioce.

 

It's already a given that he plans to bring back Pierre. Hendry reiterated it again on the Score670 this morning.

 

Note: I heard that part replayed on the Score so I'm assuming it was conducted by one of their guys. I'm just not sure who it was.

[Mark Priors Calves]

he hustles, he grinds, he games, he scraps, Hendry would be all over this guy if he could.

[cheapseats]

Jones plays poor defense in RF, no way could he handle CF.

 

 

According to John Dewan's "The Fielding Bible" Rowand was the best defensive CFer in baseball last year.

 

Jones' natural position is CF. He moved to RF because of Hunter. And I don't agree with the assumption that CF is inherently more difficult than RF.

 

Jones has good range but doesn't throw well. CF might emphasize his strengths while minimizing his weaknesses.

[goonys evil twin]

Jones plays poor defense in RF, no way could he handle CF.

 

 

According to John Dewan's "The Fielding Bible" Rowand was the best defensive CFer in baseball last year.

 

Jones' natural position is CF. He moved to RF because of Hunter. And I don't agree with the assumption that CF is inherently more difficult than RF.

 

Jones has good range but doesn't throw well. CF might emphasize his strengths while minimizing his weaknesses.

 

Yes. RFers that can't play CF can't do it because they are slow, not because CF is so difficult. Jones's biggest weakness is his arm, which would probably not be a downgrade to Pierre's.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

Jones plays poor defense in RF, no way could he handle CF.

 

 

According to John Dewan's "The Fielding Bible" Rowand was the best defensive CFer in baseball last year.

 

Jones' natural position is CF. He moved to RF because of Hunter. And I don't agree with the assumption that CF is inherently more difficult than RF.

 

Jones has good range but doesn't throw well. CF might emphasize his strengths while minimizing his weaknesses.

 

I'm not sure what "natural position" means. According to "The fielding bible" Jones rank 24th out 27 RF in the last 3 years(Hah, Juan E was 25th!). Dewan notes Jones gets really bad jumps on the ball.

 

 

I very much believe CF is inherently more difficult than RF. Why is it so much harder to find a good CFer over a RFer? I thought this was interesting from from "Bill James' Primer":

 

 

 

Rightward shifts along the defensive spectrum almost never work. (see note #2)

 

2) The defensive spectrum looks like this:

 

 

[ - - 1B - LF - RF - 3B - CF - 2B - SS - C - - ]

with the basic premise being that positions at the right end of

the spectrum are more difficult than the positions at the left

end of the spectrum. Players can generally move from right

to left along the specturm successfully during their careers.

 

 

Link

[Geech]

Rightward shifts along the defensive spectrum almost never work. (see note #2)

 

2) The defensive spectrum looks like this:

 

 

[ - - 1B - LF - RF - 3B - CF - 2B - SS - C - - ]

with the basic premise being that positions at the right end of

the spectrum are more difficult than the positions at the left

end of the spectrum. Players can generally move from right

to left along the specturm successfully during their careers.

 

BP's research actually concluded that 3B and CF should be switched in the spectrum, and further that the players moving from RF to CF tended to experience only a small decline in defensive performance.

[neely crenshaw]

you know if we keep adding these guys it might be possible to put a whole team in the lineup with sub .300 obp

[cheapseats]

 

2) The defensive spectrum looks like this:

 

 

[ - - 1B - LF - RF - 3B - CF - 2B - SS - C - - ]

with the basic premise being that positions at the right end of

the spectrum are more difficult than the positions at the left

end of the spectrum. Players can generally move from right

to left along the specturm successfully during their careers.

 

And some players are better fits for positions on the right of the spectrum rather than the left. Mike Cameron, for an example, is a below average RF but an above average CF.

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/camermi01.shtml

 

Jacque was a CF and was moved to RF not because he couldn't handle the position, but because Hunter was already in CF.

 

Jacque has played 159 games in CF, and his career fielding rate is better than his rate as a LF or RF:

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/jonesja04.shtml

[CardsFanInChiTown]

Rightward shifts along the defensive spectrum almost never work. (see note #2)

 

2) The defensive spectrum looks like this:

 

 

[ - - 1B - LF - RF - 3B - CF - 2B - SS - C - - ]

with the basic premise being that positions at the right end of

the spectrum are more difficult than the positions at the left

end of the spectrum. Players can generally move from right

to left along the specturm successfully during their careers.

 

BP's research actually concluded that 3B and CF should be switched in the spectrum, and further that the players moving from RF to CF tended to experience only a small decline in defensive performance.

 

Interesting, do you have a link for that?

[CardsFanInChiTown]

 

2) The defensive spectrum looks like this:

 

 

[ - - 1B - LF - RF - 3B - CF - 2B - SS - C - - ]

with the basic premise being that positions at the right end of

the spectrum are more difficult than the positions at the left

end of the spectrum. Players can generally move from right

to left along the specturm successfully during their careers.

 

And some players are better fits for positions on the right of the spectrum rather than the left. Mike Cameron, for an example, is a below average RF but an above average CF.

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/camermi01.shtml

 

Jacque was a CF and was moved to RF not because he couldn't handle the position, but because Hunter was already in CF.

 

Jacque has played 159 games in CF, and his career fielding rate is better than his rate as a LF or RF:

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/jonesja04.shtml

 

I'll trust "The Fielding Bible" methods over 3 years as opposed to one year of BP stats from a long time ago. The guy gets really bad jumps on the ball and I seriously doubt he can handle CF.

[soccer10k]

We need more offense than Rowand has. Move Jones to CF. Sign Carlos Lee and Trot Nixon. Sign Jason Schmidt.

 

Z, Schmidt, Marmol, Prior, ?

 

2B? (Not Cedeno/Neifi!)

Trot Nixon

D-Lee

Carlos Lee

Aramis

Barrett

Jones

Ceaser

Pitcher

 

By offense I assume you mean better OBP because Rowand's SLG is actually higher than Nixon's and he has more HR's than Nixon as well. Rowand's OPS splits are virtually the same (.759 vs Left, .745 vs Right) where as Nixon doesn't show the ability to hit lefties much at all (.865 vs Left, .688 vs Right). I would rather have a guy that we could throw out there every day and not worry if a righty or lefty is pitching than a guy we would have to platoon. We already have Jacque Jones. Personally, I like Jacque but I don't like it when a Jacque bats against a lefty because I have no faith he is going to get a hit. Granted, Jacque's splits are a bit more drastic, but it's the same type of thing.

[cheapseats]

 

I'll trust "The Fielding Bible" methods over 3 years as opposed to one year of BP stats from a long time ago. The guy gets really bad jumps on the ball and I seriously doubt he can handle CF.

 

So getting bad jumps doesn't matter in RF?

 

Anyway, even if he weren't Willie Mays in CF (and the past shows that he's a better CF than RF, but you can ignore that if you like), his bat would more than make up for his glove.

 

Michael Barrett is not a good defensive catcher, but I'm glad we have him instead of Yadier Molina. Molina has been worth almost 2 wins this year solely because of his defense. Barrett has been worth almost 3 wins thus far solely because of his bat.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Anyway, even if he weren't Willie Mays in CF (and the past shows that he's a better CF than RF, but you can ignore that if you like), his bat would more than make up for his glove.

 

More than make up for his glove? He'd be a middle of the road offensive CF, and that's if he keeps his power surge from this year.

[cheapseats]

 

More than make up for his glove? He'd be a middle of the road offensive CF, and that's if he keeps his power surge from this year.

 

But I'm working under the assumption that we're going to keep him. If he's going to be on the team at all, would you rather he take up a corner outfield slot?

 

His offensive production would look better in CF than RF - that's what I mean about the bat making up for the glove, if in fact his defense in CF proved to be a liability, and I'm not so sure it would be.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

 

I'll trust "The Fielding Bible" methods over 3 years as opposed to one year of BP stats from a long time ago. The guy gets really bad jumps on the ball and I seriously doubt he can handle CF.

 

So getting bad jumps doesn't matter in RF?

 

Anyway, even if he weren't Willie Mays in CF (and the past shows that he's a better CF than RF, but you can ignore that if you like), his bat would more than make up for his glove.

 

Michael Barrett is not a good defensive catcher, but I'm glad we have him instead of Yadier Molina. Molina has been worth almost 2 wins this year solely because of his defense. Barrett has been worth almost 3 wins thus far solely because of his bat.

 

Of course getting bad jumps in RF matters. My point is if Jones can hardly handle RF than he’ll be completely overwhelmed in CF. Those CF stats you cited were from years ago and “The Fielding Bible” has a much, much better system in place to determining defensive value. Again, CF is a much more demanding position and it would be a disaster for the Cubs to JJ out there.