Willy Taveras?

[baseball7897]

It appears the Cubs have shown interest in acquiring Willy Taveras from the Rockies.

 

Colorado acquired center fielder Willy Taveras from Houston on Tuesday, but it might turn around and deal him again in the coming days, with the Marlins and Cubs among the teams interested in the speedy Taveras, who finished second to Ryan Howard of Philadelphia in the 2005 National League Rookie of the Year balloting

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061214&content_id=1761487&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp

[USSoccer]

Oh barf. Taveras is terrible.

[Post Count Padder]

No, please. I'd rather stick with Jones in CF. Taveras is not much better than Pierre.

[inari]

Glad we learned so much from Juan Pierre.

[YearofDaCubs]

Just when you think things can't get any worse...

[UMFan83]

With Pierre and Bynum gone, its obvious the Cubs are under their quota of sub-.700 OPS guys in the lineup.

[UMFan83]

Seriously do the Cubs even look at numbers in their player acquisitions or do they say things like "willy....oh yeah he's the guy that threw out 3 cubs at home in that one series...speedy little dude, he'll be great on this team!"

[rawaction]

Screw the Cubs if they trade anything for Willy Tavares.

[YearofDaCubs]

Seriously do the Cubs even look at numbers in their player acquisitions or do they say things like "willy....oh yeah he's the guy that threw out 3 cubs at home in that one series...speedy little dude, he'll be great on this team!"

I believe there is some truth to what you are saying.

[RynoRules]

Kill me now. :evil:

[goonys evil twin]

It would fit their M.O.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Screw the Cubs if they trade anything for Willy Tavares.

[USSoccer]

Even for a guy like Hendry who's in love with toolsy players, what tool other than speed does Taveras have? He can't hit for power or average, regardless of that Cub series doesn't have a great arm (2 of those 3 players thown out were Aramis and Barrett), and never struck me as an exceptional CF.

 

Is speed really that damn important to the Cubs?

[baseball7897]

Even for a guy like Hendry who's in love with toolsy players, what tool other than speed does Taveras have? He can't hit for power or average, regardless of that Cub series doesn't have a great arm (2 of those 3 players thown out were Aramis and Barrett), and never struck me as an exceptional CF.

 

Is speed really that damn important to the Cubs?

 

Taveras is a career .284 hitter in his first two years in the majors. He did start to show some patients at the plate last year.

[Balsa]

NO NO NO NONONO NO NO NO NON ON ONO ON NO NO NONO ON NO NO :x :x :x :x :x

[goonys evil twin]

No, please. I'd rather stick with Jones in CF. Taveras is not much better than Pierre.

 

Willy isn't better than Pierre, at all. He's worse.

 

How brilliantly Hendryific would it be if the Cubs ended up with a worse CF than Pierre next year. Not to mention, between Willy, Juan and Corey, they'd have gotten rid of the 2 better options in favor of the worst.

 

 

Seriously, if Willy plays CF everyday, the only improvement for next year is Soriano over Jones. And while that is a near lock for improvement, it's not a lock to be immensely better. So, once again, we'd be counting on health to make this team better.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

NO NO NO NONONO NO NO NO NON ON ONO ON NO NO NONO ON NO NO :x :x :x :x :x

 

And NO

[goonys evil twin]

Even for a guy like Hendry who's in love with toolsy players, what tool other than speed does Taveras have? He can't hit for power or average, regardless of that Cub series doesn't have a great arm (2 of those 3 players thown out were Aramis and Barrett), and never struck me as an exceptional CF.

 

Is speed really that damn important to the Cubs?

 

Taveras is a career .284 hitter in his first two years in the majors. He did start to show some patients at the plate last year.

 

He hit .278/.333/.338 last year, for an OPS+ of 72 (well below Pierre).

[Balsa]

With Steve Finley the last remaining center fielder on the free-agent market and the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins desperate for a center fielder, the Rockies are in a strong position. They could dangle Willy Taveras, who has been the No. 1 offseason target of the White Sox and Marlins, or they could see what the market will bring for Cory Sullivan or Ryan Spilborghs.

[BigbadB]

Hahahahaha!

 

Okay, it's become clearly obvious that Hendry doesn't like me, and he's going out of his way to get players that I don't like just to spite me.

 

I may have to resort to reverse psychology.

 

[USSoccer]

Even for a guy like Hendry who's in love with toolsy players, what tool other than speed does Taveras have? He can't hit for power or average, regardless of that Cub series doesn't have a great arm (2 of those 3 players thown out were Aramis and Barrett), and never struck me as an exceptional CF.

 

Is speed really that damn important to the Cubs?

 

Taveras is a career .284 hitter in his first two years in the majors. He did start to show some patients at the plate last year.

 

Doesn't he have a career BABIP of like .340?

[cheapseats]

never struck me as an exceptional CF.

 

Dewan, in the Fielding Bible, said Taveras should have won the gold glove in 2005, and Taveras ranks near the top of most advanced metrics.

 

I'm not saying I want him - far from it - if the Cubs trade for him, I'm selling all my tickets again this year - but defense is the one positive he brings.

[BigbadB]

never struck me as an exceptional CF.

 

Dewan, in the Fielding Bible, said Taveras should have won the gold glove in 2005, and Taveras ranks near the top of most advanced metrics.

 

I'm not saying I want him - far from it - if the Cubs trade for him, I'm selling all my tickets again this year - but defense is the one positive he brings.

 

Which would then make perfect sense for Colorado to keep him, since they have the most spacious CF in the big leagues.

[RichHillIsABeast]

No, please. I'd rather stick with Jones in CF. Taveras is not much better than Pierre.

 

Willy isn't better than Pierre, at all. He's worse.

 

How brilliantly Hendryific would it be if the Cubs ended up with a worse CF than Pierre next year. Not to mention, between Willy, Juan and Corey, they'd have gotten rid of the 2 better options in favor of the worst.

 

 

Seriously, if Willy plays CF everyday, the only improvement for next year is Soriano over Jones. And while that is a near lock for improvement, it's not a lock to be immensely better. So, once again, we'd be counting on health to make this team better.

 

I don't think Willy Taveras is a worse player than Juan Pierre. Willy can steal bases at a reasonable rate, draw a walk (career minor league .294/.368/.376 hitter), plays good/great defense, and doesn't have a noodle arm. His salary is a small fraction of Pierre's.

 

If I had to take one player for 2007 in CF, I'd take Taveras.

 

I don't think Taveras would be a bad option at all next season, provided it was only to keep a place warm for Pie, who could make the team out of ST or any time during the regular season. Taveras would be easily movable, or we could just stick him on the bench and not worry about his paycheck.

 

If the price for Taveras gets anywhere near what the Nats are wanting for Church, we should pursue Church. He is by far the superior player.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

If I had to take one player for 2007 in CF, I'd take Taveras.

 

If my choices were Taveras and Pierre, I'd keep shopping.