Soriano's defense in CF

[UBlink]

Me either. In my perfect world Jones is doing well and Pie is mashing the ball at Iowa. The Cubs trade Jones for a SS prospect and pull up Pie, switch Murton to right and Floyd is healthy and hitting well in left.

 

I'm curious where Lou would hit Pie in this scenerio.

 

Where's Soriano?

[CuseCubFan69]

Floyd is healthy

 

You really had me until you made that statement.

 

It's a dream world Bob!

 

Out of curiousity, does anyone know what kind of shape Floyd came into Spring Training with? I would hope he lost a few pounds to help keep the pressure off of his achillies.

[CuseCubFan69]

Me either. In my perfect world Jones is doing well and Pie is mashing the ball at Iowa. The Cubs trade Jones for a SS prospect and pull up Pie, switch Murton to right and Floyd is healthy and hitting well in left.

 

I'm curious where Lou would hit Pie in this scenerio.

 

Where's Soriano?

 

Whoops...you're right! Let's put him at SS!

 

Do you realize how nice it is that what wrote you means that the Cubs actually have decent depth? This OF has a lot of options and if somebody steps up to play CF it's golden.

[mul21]

You also can't see where those balls are being hit from. The guy could be in the infield and Soriano isn't getting the normal amount of time or angle to read a ball that he might be used to.

[Pushfrog98]

I'm going to get flamed for this, but what if Pie isn't ready for the bigs yet and he sucks and we run him off (ala corey)?

 

Looking at his AAA numbers and his winter numbers, he doesn't appear to be MLB ready to me. There is no need to rush the kid when we have people who can aptly do the job required. Jones was not a slouch offensively last year. He hit .303 with 21HR, .358OBP and .528SLG against righties last year... those are numbers most teams would love to have on their roster.

[goonys evil twin]

I'm going to get flamed for this, but what if Pie isn't ready for the bigs yet and he sucks and we run him off (ala corey)?

 

Looking at his AAA numbers and his winter numbers, he doesn't appear to be MLB ready to me. There is no need to rush the kid when we have people who can aptly do the job required. Jones was not a slouch offensively last year. He hit .303 with 21HR, .358OBP and .528SLG against righties last year... those are numbers most teams would love to have on their roster.

 

I don't see why you'd get flamed for that. The consensus seems to be that Pie is not ready. People are talking about best case scenarios when they talk about Pie being ready to start in CF this April.

[RichHillIsABeast]

You also can't see where those balls are being hit from. The guy could be in the infield and Soriano isn't getting the normal amount of time or angle to read a ball that he might be used to.

 

I'm absolutely sure the balls are being hit from home plate. It wouldn't be much good having fielding practice hitting the ball from 3B, would it? lol

 

Anyway, Soriano's first moves were wrong 90% of the time. He's not reading the ball well off the bat.

 

That can definitely be taught, but right now it looks like he has a long way to go.

[Laura]

Bruce mentions CF as one of the secondary issues Lou is considering this spring training (after the lineup & roster issues).

 

Bruce Miles / The Daily Herald[/url]"] Center field. The Cubs will open with Soriano there, but they’ll also take a look at right fielder Jacque Jones in center. All the while, they’ll give rookie phenom Felix Pie time in center to see how ready he is.

 

It is nice to see Soriano & Pie hanging out in many of the ST photos.

[Holy Cow]

Regardless of the awful routes Soriano takes, that video brightened my day. Just seeing guys in blue uniforms throwing the ball around - and Lee at first base! It's a shame I won't be back in Chicago until May.

[A New Era]

Regardless of the awful routes Soriano takes, that video brightened my day. Just seeing guys in blue uniforms throwing the ball around - and Lee at first base! It's a shame I won't be back in Chicago until May.

 

Yeah me too. I really liked seeing Izzy practice in that video. But I've said that before.

[Amazing_Grace]

I've got a feeling that Jacque Jones may end up our CFer.

 

Why the Cubs organization all the way down didn't come to this conclusion a long time ago I have no clue. Jones came up as a CFer in Minnesota, and played the position in MLB. He's arguably a natural CFer. Why the Cubs were so reluctant to play him here is beyond me. I have high hopes that Lou isn't as stupid as Hendry and will correct this mistake.

[Amazing_Grace]

Bruce mentions CF as one of the secondary issues Lou is considering this spring training (after the lineup & roster issues).

 

Bruce Miles / The Daily Herald[/url]"] Center field. The Cubs will open with Soriano there, but they’ll also take a look at right fielder Jacque Jones in center. All the while, they’ll give rookie phenom Felix Pie time in center to see how ready he is.

 

It is nice to see Soriano & Pie hanging out in many of the ST photos.

 

Rookie phenom Felix Pie? I think that's a bit of wishful thinking at this point. He's a good prospect but as I recall he's not even top 50 in the league.

[CoolHandLuke]

Bruce mentions CF as one of the secondary issues Lou is considering this spring training (after the lineup & roster issues).

 

Bruce Miles / The Daily Herald[/url]"] Center field. The Cubs will open with Soriano there, but they’ll also take a look at right fielder Jacque Jones in center. All the while, they’ll give rookie phenom Felix Pie time in center to see how ready he is.

 

It is nice to see Soriano & Pie hanging out in many of the ST photos.

 

Rookie phenom Felix Pie? I think that's a bit of wishful thinking at this point. He's a good prospect but as I recall he's not even top 50 in the league.

 

Baseball America rankings:

 

49. Felix Pie

 

in 06: 27

in 05: 31

in 04: 85

in 03: 72

[Amazing_Grace]

Bruce mentions CF as one of the secondary issues Lou is considering this spring training (after the lineup & roster issues).

 

Bruce Miles / The Daily Herald[/url]"] Center field. The Cubs will open with Soriano there, but they’ll also take a look at right fielder Jacque Jones in center. All the while, they’ll give rookie phenom Felix Pie time in center to see how ready he is.

 

It is nice to see Soriano & Pie hanging out in many of the ST photos.

 

Rookie phenom Felix Pie? I think that's a bit of wishful thinking at this point. He's a good prospect but as I recall he's not even top 50 in the league.

 

Baseball America rankings:

 

49. Felix Pie

 

in 06: 27

in 05: 31

in 04: 85

in 03: 72

 

Apparently my recollection was wrong :oops:

[vern17]

I think Soriano will be alright in center. It will take some getting used to for him, but I think he'll be fine.

[CuseCubFan69]

I think Soriano will be alright in center. It will take some getting used to for him, but I think he'll be fine.

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

I do too. It took him awhile to get used to left last spring and he has the natural ability to handle it.

[vern17]

Thanks for the welcome. I agree. I think Soriano is our best option for CF, plus he can easily move to left or right if and when Pie is ready.

 

By the way, has anyone here checked out http://www.fogpog.com? Pretty nice forum over there as well. Just wondered what you guys thought about it.

[Garwilly]

Interesting.

[Coach C]

What I'm a bit more concerned is how Soriano is going to handle the CF position in Wrigley.

[CubinNY]

What I'm a bit more concerned is how Soriano is going to handle the CF position in Wrigley.

 

I'm not too worried. CF in Wrigley is pretty easy all things considered. Probably much easier then RF or LF with the wells.

[MikeyLikesCubbies]

Well at least he won't have to deal with the wind once they get to Chicago. :D

 

I'm not sweating it yet, and drills only say so much. I remember going to Spring Training as a kid and watching Ryno boot a couple of grounders during drills. I though it had to be a mistake, that some minor leaguer was wearing #23.

[BigbadB]

Well, we know that Soriano has a bit of an ego, and I would be a bit concerned about him in CF this year and then be asked to move when a better option came along later. But, the better option (Pie) and Soriano seem to be getting along pretty well in ST, which could be the one guy who Soriano may not mind moving for.

 

With Soriano getting probably a full year in CF this year, the Cubs could be looking at a very good defensive outfield starting in 2008.