Shake up the lineup?

[Lukin]

What new arm angle? Theriot played SS in the minors, it wouldn't be a new position for him. You are entitled to your opinion but what I've seen of Izturis is not a top defenseman. You add his sub-par offense and you have an overpaid mediocre player if that.

 

Every infielder has played SS before, whats your point. Im talking about constantly changing his position during the season. They wont stick with him at SS. There is no way he has the range to play everyday there. If you put him at SS then you essentially have an 3 utility infielders. Rotating angles increases chance of injury.

 

Did you watch any Dodgers games, or are you basing the sub par D on 25 games he has started in Cub colors? He has made a career showing good range and turning the DP. If he gathers form he is in the top 3 NL SSs with Everett and A Gon.

 

Last time Izturis was truly healthy, was the front side of the 2005 season. If he can get anywhere close to that form we are in great shape. You cant pull the plug after 40 ABs. Especially considering you have zero real options at SS other then the former All Star gold glover.

[CubinNY]

What new arm angle? Theriot played SS in the minors, it wouldn't be a new position for him. You are entitled to your opinion but what I've seen of Izturis is not a top defenseman. You add his sub-par offense and you have an overpaid mediocre player if that.

 

Every infielder has played SS before, whats your point. Im talking about constantly changing his position during the season. They wont stick with him at SS. There is no way he has the range to play everyday there. If you put him at SS then you essentially have an 3 utility infielders. Rotating angles increases chance of injury.

 

Did you watch any Dodgers games, or are you basing the sub par D on 25 games he has started in Cub colors? He has made a career showing good range and turning the DP. If he gathers form he is in the top 3 NL SSs with Everett and A Gon.

 

Last time Izturis was truly healthy, was the front side of the 2005 season. If he can get anywhere close to that form we are in great shape. You cant pull the plug after 40 ABs. Especially considering you have zero real options at SS other then the former All Star gold glover.

 

I'm not cathing the angles thing? What are you saying?

 

Edit: Vilkomen!

Edited April 19, 2007 by CubinNY

[YearofDaCubs]

What new arm angle? Theriot played SS in the minors, it wouldn't be a new position for him. You are entitled to your opinion but what I've seen of Izturis is not a top defenseman. You add his sub-par offense and you have an overpaid mediocre player if that.

 

Every infielder has played SS before, whats your point. Im talking about constantly changing his position during the season. They wont stick with him at SS. There is no way he has the range to play everyday there. If you put him at SS then you essentially have an 3 utility infielders. Rotating angles increases chance of injury.

 

Did you watch any Dodgers games, or are you basing the sub par D on 25 games he has started in Cub colors? He has made a career showing good range and turning the DP. If he gathers form he is in the top 3 NL SSs with Everett and A Gon.

 

Last time Izturis was truly healthy, was the front side of the 2005 season. If he can get anywhere close to that form we are in great shape. You cant pull the plug after 40 ABs. Especially considering you have zero real options at SS other then the former All Star gold glover.

Theriot is a better option than Izturis IMO. I don't need to see what he was in the past considering he's had tommy john surgery on his arm. You can clearly tell his arm isn't that strong. If anything, that one good year he had with the Dodgers was a mirage.

[ToupeeOnFire]

It's worth a shot starting Theriot at SS. He has experience there in the minors. Izturis hasn't been exactly great at his position. He has a weak arm and it's showing.

 

Introducing another arm angle to Theriot at this point in absolutely the wrong thing to do. Theriot will never be a long term answer at SS. He could be at 2nd. He should starting every day at 2nd.

 

Izturis is the best defensive infielder on this team. He is twice the infielder that AGon or Neifi were. He has also had some nice at bats. He wasnt crisp on a play and you all freak out? His arm looks fine to me, and he has made some great plays. He doesnt strike out, and he has shown he can move runners. Izzy's O is more then passable in the 8th slot of a powerful lineup.

I disagree with a number of your contentions. For example, I disagree that Izturis is the best defensive infielder on the team. I would give that honor to Ronny Cedeno.

 

Secondly, to describe Izturis twice the infielder that Neifi and AGon were is absurd. If you go back to the last season that Neifi and Cesar played everyday at the same time (2005), Neifi was superior in just about every advanced fielding metric. Granted, fielding stats can be dicey and that was the year Izturis went on the shelf to have his elbow surgically repaired, but I think we can agree that the Izturis of today isn't the same fielder he was in 2004 when he won the gold glove.

 

You can assert that Cesar Izturis is a super-terrific fielding SS, just as much as I can assert he is not, but I think any objective measure when all is said and done will disagree with you.

 

Dero is the guy that should be relegated to spot duty or flat out moved. I have no idea why we picked him up in the first place. I had a feeling we were getting Blausered. We have seen 10% of his career HRs in 2% of his career ABs. I doubt that trend continues. He has had some terrible ABs, and booted an easy play at the duece.

I'm not crazy about DeRosa, but it's not as if he is using up his available allotment of home runs for the year. Last year, he hit 45% of his career home runs in his first full season of at-bats. He's not going to continue to hit a home run every 10 at-bats, but I don't know how you can spin his early power numbers as a bad thing, unless you are talking about his alarmingly high strikeout rate which will eventually settle down just as his power numbers will plateau.

 

He's a better hitter than Izturis besides, and has actually played more career games at short than he has at second. So if Lou really wants to get Theriot in the line-up, moving DeRosa to short is certainly an option. It's far too early to declare that the Cubs have been Blausered (although the parallels between the two are a bit too uncomfortable for my liking, DeRosa doesn't have the injury history that Blauser did when he came to the Cubs).

 

Izzy isnt going to bring much in the batters box, other then hopefully hit patiently, not K, and move runners. In this lineup, he shouldnt have to do anything more. We have a lot of bats.

 

If we move Theriot to SS, everything he does offensively is marginalized by weak defense and him not learning a position. Im hoping for a lot more out of RT then Freel Redux. Moving him around is not helping his development. Im looking for him to grow into an Utley type and be a big part of this franchise's success.

As Lefty has already mentioned, for a 27 year old guy who hit 5 home runs in 6 minor league seasons, there is not a chance that Theriot turns into Chase Utley. If he can become Freel Redux, I'd be tickled pink.

 

Welcome to the board, BTW.

[The Ghost of Dave Rosello]

Izturis isn't going anywhere. Hendry's not going to dump the guy he traded Maddux for.

 

What about DeRosa in LF or RF, Pie in CF and Soriano at 2B?

 

Pie CF

DeRosa LF/RF

Lee 1B

ARam 3B

Soriano 2B

Jones RF/LF

Barrett C

Izturis SS

 

Bench

Blanco

Floyd

Ward

Cedeno

Murton

Theriot

 

If you want an extra pitcher send Cedeno to Iowa.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

What about DeRosa in LF or RF, Pie in CF and Soriano at 2B?

 

Soriano proved for years he's not good at 2B, but proved as the season progressed last year that he can be quite good in LF. There's little sense in moving him back to the infield and moving DeRosa to the outfield.