Cubs interested in Lofton for Center Field

[killthegoat06]

Roger's trib article:

 

Kenny Lofton, who has been with eight teams the last six seasons, could be coming back for a second stint with the Cubs. A major-league source indicated Saturday the Cubs are working to sign him. Lofton is 39 but helped the Dodgers reach the playoffs last year, hitting .301 and stealing 32 bases. . . .

[RynoRules]

OF: Murt - Lofton - Soriano

 

Trade Jones for more pitching (Westbrook? Jennings?)

 

Sign Schmidt

 

Lineup:

 

Lofton

Soriano

Lee

ARam

Barrett

Murton

DeRosa

Izturis

 

That's a weak lineup.

 

Rotation:

 

Z

Schmidt

Jennings

Hill

Prior/Miller

 

That's a good rotation.

[killthegoat06]

OF: Murt - Lofton - Soriano

 

Trade Jones for more pitching (Westbrook? Jennings?)

 

Sign Schmidt

 

Lineup:

 

Lofton

Soriano

Lee

ARam

Barrett

Murton

DeRosa

Izturis

 

That's a weak lineup.

 

Rotation:

 

Z

Schmidt

Jennings

Hill

Prior/Miller

 

That's a good rotation.

 

If Hendry became smart:

 

Lofton

Lugo

Lee

Ramirez

Soriano

Barrett

Murton

DeRosa

 

That's not too shabby...

[rawaction]

Lofton is interesting. I think the best thing would be to bring him in and bat him leadoff, moving Soriano to the middle of the order.....but I don't think that would happen. I think he would bat 2, behind Alfonso. Really would be a great option as a #2 hitter. Problem is, you still have a middle of the order bat batting leadoff, and Lofton is hitting 2nd, replacing a middle of the order bat in Jones.

 

For Lofton to make sense, the Cubs have to upgrade at SS.

[Mizzou]

This is outstanding news. Pie can fill in for Lofton when he's hurt. That way he gets his feet wet in the big leagues, yet isn't relied upon. I've wanted Lofton back for the past couple years now. Please, please, please let this work out.

[RynoRules]

Lofton is interesting. I think the best thing would be to bring him in and bat him leadoff, moving Soriano to the middle of the order.....but I don't think that would happen. I think he would bat 2, behind Alfonso. Really would be a great option as a #2 hitter. Problem is, you still have a middle of the order bat batting leadoff, and Lofton is hitting 2nd, replacing a middle of the order bat in Jones.

 

For Lofton to make sense, the Cubs have to upgrade at SS.

 

Agree - I'd love to have Kenny back, but we need middle of the order production at another position to make it work.

[UMFan83]

One thing I don't like about this is the fact that his arm might rival Pierre's for worst in baseball from CF

[jjgman21]

sign Lofton, move Soriano back to second, platoon DeRosa and Jones in right.

[questionmarkgrace]

I think lofton's arm is a little better than pierre's. He seems a lot more accurate and also hits the cut off man on a fly.

 

Ilove that lofton walks and just flat out gets on base. He knows his role well and is a much better base stealer than Pierre.

[cubs121]

i would love to have Lofton back for a second stint. :D

[Mark Priors Calves]

sign Lofton, move Soriano back to second, platoon DeRosa and Jones in right.

 

this is a fantastic idea but makes too much sense for the Cubs to do it.

[jjgman21]

sign Lofton, move Soriano back to second, platoon DeRosa and Jones in right.

 

this is a fantastic idea but makes too much sense for the Cubs to do it.

 

cap it off with signing Lugo, and it's pretty much the best offense in the NL. I proposed this in a thread in Baseball Discussions just yesterday.

[BigbadB]

I wanted Lofton last year. Lofton would have been dirt cheap in comparison to Pierre, and he's a better player than Pierre. Lofton would not have cost any prospects, either.

[AAApittsburgh]

Wouldn't it be so Cubs-like for Lofton to begin his decline after the Cubs sign him?

[E.J.]

Wouldn't it be so Cubs-like for Lofton to begin his decline after the Cubs sign him?

 

I don't think it would be that big of a stretch, considering he's 39.

[Outshined_One]

Wouldn't it be so Cubs-like for Lofton to begin his decline after the Cubs sign him?

 

It would be, but Felix Pie is waiting in the wings if Lofton's production goes south.

[jjgman21]

Wouldn't it be so Cubs-like for Lofton to begin his decline after the Cubs sign him?

 

I don't think it would be that big of a stretch, considering he's 39.

 

he'll probably decline in terms of average, but old legs won't prevent him from drawing a walk every 9 times he steps to the plate like he's done forever.

[Kingmanarama]

Wouldn't it be so Cubs-like for Lofton to begin his decline after the Cubs sign him?

 

I don't think it would be that big of a stretch, considering he's 39.

 

...and he'll be 40 in May. And his range has already slipped.

 

I'll say this for Lofton: he outslugged Trot Nixon last year (.403 to .394).

[jyoung55]

Now I know everyone has their own thoughts on how the lineup should be ordered given potential moves... but it is a complete waste of time to have a lineup that doesn't have Soriano's name in big black sharpie marker in the lead off position. If you pay a guy 136 mill and promise him he's going to be your lead off guy... there's a pretty good shot that that's the case.

 

That being said... I think Lofton would be a decent 8 hole hitter. Too bad we already have that in Izturis. A lineup with both of those guys wouldn't be all that great.

[BigbadB]

What's the story with Pagan? Did he play winter ball? Would he be a fairly decent platoon for Lofton against LHP? Assuming the Cubs land at least 1 more decent bat anyway?

 

I'm assuming Pagan is being looked at as the 5th outfielder going into the 2007 season, with someone like Trot Nixon or Cliff Floyd as the 4th and DeRosa as another option occasionally. Assuming also that Jones is included in a deal for a SP.

[jjgman21]

Now I know everyone has their own thoughts on how the lineup should be ordered given potential moves... but it is a complete waste of time to have a lineup that doesn't have Soriano's name in big black sharpie marker in the lead off position. If you pay a guy 136 mill and promise him he's going to be your lead off guy... there's a pretty good shot that that's the case.

 

That being said... I think Lofton would be a decent 8 hole hitter. Too bad we already have that in Izturis. A lineup with both of those guys wouldn't be all that great.

 

for Soriano's contract he should clean out urinals and not complain if asked to and IMO it's a complete waste to have him leading off.

[jyoung55]

Now I know everyone has their own thoughts on how the lineup should be ordered given potential moves... but it is a complete waste of time to have a lineup that doesn't have Soriano's name in big black sharpie marker in the lead off position. If you pay a guy 136 mill and promise him he's going to be your lead off guy... there's a pretty good shot that that's the case.

 

That being said... I think Lofton would be a decent 8 hole hitter. Too bad we already have that in Izturis. A lineup with both of those guys wouldn't be all that great.

 

for Soriano's contract he should clean out urinals and not complain if asked to and IMO it's a complete waste to have him leading off.

 

Well you aren't in charge. This isn't MLB: The Show 06. It is how it is and it should be thought of arround those terms.

[BigbadB]

Now I know everyone has their own thoughts on how the lineup should be ordered given potential moves... but it is a complete waste of time to have a lineup that doesn't have Soriano's name in big black sharpie marker in the lead off position. If you pay a guy 136 mill and promise him he's going to be your lead off guy... there's a pretty good shot that that's the case.

 

That being said... I think Lofton would be a decent 8 hole hitter. Too bad we already have that in Izturis. A lineup with both of those guys wouldn't be all that great.

 

Beg to differ on Lofton. While I agree that Soriano will be leading off, simply because it's basically been promised, Lofton makes for a pretty respectable #2. He doesn't K much, gets on base at a very respectable level and is tough to double up. Being a lefty bat, he can get the ball to the right side of the infield much easier also to advance a runner. If he gets on, he can steal bases at will, even at his age. If Soriano can produce the same numbers as last year, the Cubs could go from worst to first in regards to OBP at the top of the order, which would be a rather good deal for Lee, Ramirez and whoever the other big bat might be.

[Mizzou]

Now I know everyone has their own thoughts on how the lineup should be ordered given potential moves... but it is a complete waste of time to have a lineup that doesn't have Soriano's name in big black sharpie marker in the lead off position. If you pay a guy 136 mill and promise him he's going to be your lead off guy... there's a pretty good shot that that's the case.

 

That being said... I think Lofton would be a decent 8 hole hitter. Too bad we already have that in Izturis. A lineup with both of those guys wouldn't be all that great.

He hit second in 110 of the 116 games he started last year, and it worked out pretty well for him and the Dodgers.

[AFCubsFan]

If Hendry became smart:

 

Lofton

Lugo

Lee

Ramirez

Soriano

Barrett

Murton

DeRosa

 

That's not too shabby...

 

 

If some of the rumored signings come through and Hendry became really smart they would make Derosa a bench player and move Soriano to 2B. No disrespect to DeRosa intended and I think the contract they gave him shows they value him. Part of his strength is that he can play pretty much any position so he should take on the super-sub role. He would still get plenty of playing time because he plays so many positions. I just went over his stats again and he did play 60 games in RF last year compared to 26 at 2B. Oh, and his splits show that he was really tough on LHP last year....his OPS against lefties was .983 compared to his OPS of .746 against righties. His 3 year splits also show that his OPS is roughly 200 points higher against lefties (.876 vs .686.) Hey...we don't have any outfielders who are tougher on righties than lefties do we?

 

The position player deals they would still need to make include:

Sign Lofton

Trade Itz

Sign Lugo

Sign Cliff Floyd or Trot Nixon

 

If they keep Jones, he can fill in at CF when Lofton needs a rest. Otherwise, promote Pie or get someone else to back up Kenny.

 

If all of those deals can come through, then I think the lineup is fairly tough. I don't know what order Lou would choose and I'm not sure how set they are on Soriano being the leadoff guy. I know they introduced him as the new leadoff hitter. Maybe Lofton would be the new new leadoff hitter.

 

There are several good lineups you can produce with those players though. There are also possible platoons in both corner OF spots. If Jones stays and Lofton comes on board, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have Jones start in CF against lefty pitching. As drastic as Jones' split is, Lofton struggles more against lefties.