[CaliforniaRaisin]

I want Pie in CF IF an upgrade at SS is brought in. Or swinging a deal for Manny in which we keep Murton and Pie. Then move Soriano to 2B, and I wouldn't care if Larry Bowa was at SS.

 

Yeah. I'm not a fan of an offense with 3 major weak spots (Izturis, Pie, pitcher).

[ChiCubsFan]

I want Pie in CF IF an upgrade at SS is brought in. Or swinging a deal for Manny in which we keep Murton and Pie. Then move Soriano to 2B, and I wouldn't care if Larry Bowa was at SS.

 

Yeah. I'm not a fan of an offense with 3 major weak spots (Izturis, Pie, pitcher).

 

Agree. Upgrade SS majorly and then I'd consider it.

[10man]

Doesn't Pie project to be similar to Alfonso Soriano with less power (for now) but with better defense?

[cbbryan]

I want Pie in CF IF an upgrade at SS is brought in. Or swinging a deal for Manny in which we keep Murton and Pie. Then move Soriano to 2B, and I wouldn't care if Larry Bowa was at SS.

 

ManRam would be SWEET!

 

And I agee, Pie should ONLY be up on Opening Day if the Cubs don't need anything from his spot in the line-up. Anything he would provide offensively would be a bonus.

[wastra]

Doesn't Pie project to be similar to Alfonso Soriano with less power (for now) but with better defense?

 

Yeah- he probably projects to be the same type of player Soriano projected to be early in his career. I think Soriano's power has far exceeded most expectations. neither will ever be a .400 OBP guy, and their success will be tied largely to BABIP since neither is patient at all. Both are freakish athletes with good arms. Pie is already a better defender, though maybe Soriano would have been better had he played outfield his whole career, too.

 

Pie is the Jim hendry wet-dream- a tools-lovers ideal, but very raw when signed, and progressing as rapidly as possible (that's not a knock on Pie).

 

I don't think Pie is projected to be a 30-40 homer guy, but he's got a very athletic body and he was so young and skinny when he started out that there's simply no telling. He could wind up with Kenny Lofton-esque power, or he could probably easily balloon into a 20-30 guy. he's only now starting to add some muscle to his frame, and he's go a long way to go on that still, but he's developed some power in the minors faster than many expected.

[cybercub]

From July 4th through the end of the season, Felix Pie hit .331/.378/.532 in 269 plate appearances at Triple-A. He was, of course, still only 21, in his first season at Iowa no less. In those 269 plate appearances he hit 20 doubles, 3 triples and 8 home runs, walked 19 times, struck out 48 times, stole 11 bases and was caught stealing 3 times.

 

Pie's overall numbers then of .282/.341/.451, supremely respectable in themselves for someone of his youth and inexperience, don't actually tell the full story of his season. He even actually started out hot, cooled to just about frozen for the two months or so up until July 3rd, dragging his numbers all the way down to .244/.312/.429, and only then went on the rampage the rest of the year to bring his numbers back up.

 

The very hot prolonged finish to the year could be an indication that Pie's closer than might be expected based his overall numbers to being done with minor league ball and being ready for the step up the majors. I fully expect he'll struggle horribly at first in the majors, and that it'll take him longer to turn things around than a month or two, but his induction has to come at some point, and it'd be better to get it over and done with at a point where the rest of the lineup is strong enough to carry a dead weight. Put Lugo at shortstop, Soriano at second perhaps with Jones and DeRosa platooning in right field, Lee, Ramirez, Barrett and Murton obviously rounding things out, and that'd probably be the case. In other words, assuming Pie is just about too good for Triple-A, bringing him up sooner rather than later might potentially be a good idea.

 

I agree 100% on Felix Pie. He could continue to develop as a hitter in the #7 or 8 spots without a problem. Apparently his CF defense is not a question. IMO, Pie would exceed the 06' offensive production of Cedeno or Izturis and would be protected by a MUCH stronger lineup.

 

I do not, however, think we can count on Julio Lugo signing with the Cubs. IMO a trade is more likely to repair the offensive void at shortstop .

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Any hope that Pie could develop into an Andre-Dawson type player?

[CoolHandLuke]

Any hope that Pie could develop into an Andre-Dawson type player?

 

http://www.ocularvision.com/OV-Blue%20Syringe.jpg

 

:lol:

[YearofDaCubs]

Normally I would say let's give Pie a shot but if we improve our pitching this off season and want to make a run, having Jacque Jones in CF with a platoon partner makes the most sense. Jock's numbers against righties are very solid but we definitely need to platoon him against lefties.

[craig]

Pie has a lot of assets, his speed and arm being among them.

 

I think a good projection for what Pie could become, if his power grows as is not uncommon, is Jacque Jones offensively. A Jacque Jones who played high-level CF would make a lot of money.

 

But some of these Sosa, Vlad type analogies, I think those are unrealistically and unfairly high.

[TruffleShuffle]

Pie has a lot of assets, his speed and arm being among them.

 

I think a good projection for what Pie could become, if his power grows as is not uncommon, is Jacque Jones offensively. A Jacque Jones who played high-level CF would make a lot of money.

 

But some of these Sosa, Vlad type analogies, I think those are unrealistically and unfairly high.

 

Any player with good raw tools can be compared to Sosa and Vlad, but the problem is that few players reach that level. I don't think anyone is good enough to know which guys free-swinging, toolsy outfielders will be the few who reach that plateau.

[goonys evil twin]

Pie has a lot of assets, his speed and arm being among them.

 

I think a good projection for what Pie could become, if his power grows as is not uncommon, is Jacque Jones offensively. A Jacque Jones who played high-level CF would make a lot of money.

 

But some of these Sosa, Vlad type analogies, I think those are unrealistically and unfairly high.

 

Any player with good raw tools can be compared to Sosa and Vlad, but the problem is that few players reach that level. I don't think anyone is good enough to know which guys free-swinging, toolsy outfielders will be the few who reach that plateau.

 

Yeah, but Vladdy was a 1000+ OPS guy in the minors. By age 21 he was already a very good major league. Pie has no chance of being like Vlad.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

If Pie ever grew into the player Mike Cameron is I'd be estatic.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think he will. His plate discipline is trerrible, and everything about his game (besides his defense) needs to be refined quite a bit.

 

He's not ready, and I don't even think the Cubs are the orginization I'd want him in to reach his potential.

[TruffleShuffle]

If Pie ever grew into the player Mike Cameron is I'd be estatic.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think he will. His plate discipline is trerrible, and everything about his game (besides his defense) needs to be refined quite a bit.

 

He's not ready, and I don't even think the Cubs are the orginization I'd want him in to reach his potential.

 

He does strike out too much and needs to walk more, but he's not ALLERGIC to a walk, which gives me some hope for him. Now Ryan Harvey on the other hand... yikes.

[Vinestal]

If Pie ever grew into the player Mike Cameron is I'd be estatic.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think he will. His plate discipline is trerrible, and everything about his game (besides his defense) needs to be refined quite a bit.

 

He's not ready, and I don't even think the Cubs are the orginization I'd want him in to reach his potential.

 

You'd rather him reach his potential with someone else? I like Pie, we have a good hitting coach in Iowa and I think he'll come along nicely. Maybe the new major league hitting coach can help him with plate discipline in spring training. That said I think he needs at least 1 more season at AAA before he's ready.

btw someone mentioned that they never moved him to RF, thats true, he did play some RF in spring training last year though and looked really good there defensively, he has a great arm.

[goonys evil twin]

If Pie ever grew into the player Mike Cameron is I'd be estatic.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think he will. His plate discipline is trerrible, and everything about his game (besides his defense) needs to be refined quite a bit.

 

He's not ready, and I don't even think the Cubs are the orginization I'd want him in to reach his potential.

 

You'd rather him reach his potential with someone else?

 

I think he's saying the Cubs aren't a good organization for a toolsy undisciplined hitter to be in if he wants to reach his potential. I'm sure he'd love to have him do it with the Cubs, but the odds aren't great, given their track record.