Rapada called up, Murton sent down

[XZero771679666304]

I hope you're right, but there's no guarantee. Floyd could run off 2/3 good weeks himself and then Hendry going to think his long sought-after love is producing just as he thought and he'll do anything to keep him in the lineup (including keeping Murton in AAA).

 

I know that's probably worst case scenario, but w/ Hendry, I've come to expect that kind of thing. I've known this was the likely result of Hendry's mess all season and it still pisses me off.

 

I wouldn't call that worst case scenario. Worst case is Murton doesn't regain his stroke, Floyd scuffles but racks up just enough service time to guarantee his option, and Jones stays.

 

Even if Floyd is great for 2-3 weeks, his chances of reaching those goals are not great.

 

Right, but that's not really the point. The point is this move hasn't solved anything for us, long term. And, in my opinion, makes us worse.

 

I don't know that it made us worse. Murton was not good as a PH, not good without consistent AB's. Jones and Floyd were going to get most of the PT anyway. I don't think the move made the team better (though it is better for Matt), but I don't think it made the team appreciably worse, either.

[Rob]

While at this point it was probably necessary to move Murton to AAA to help build his confidence back up, I am absolutely appalled at the way Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella created this situation. Their firing is far past due.

[jersey cubs fan]

I hope you're right, but there's no guarantee. Floyd could run off 2/3 good weeks himself and then Hendry going to think his long sought-after love is producing just as he thought and he'll do anything to keep him in the lineup (including keeping Murton in AAA).

 

I know that's probably worst case scenario, but w/ Hendry, I've come to expect that kind of thing. I've known this was the likely result of Hendry's mess all season and it still pisses me off.

 

I wouldn't call that worst case scenario. Worst case is Murton doesn't regain his stroke, Floyd scuffles but racks up just enough service time to guarantee his option, and Jones stays.

 

Even if Floyd is great for 2-3 weeks, his chances of reaching those goals are not great.

 

Right, but that's not really the point. The point is this move hasn't solved anything for us, long term. And, in my opinion, makes us worse.

 

No it hasn't solved anything longterm. But it sets the table to figure out the RF problem. They weren't going to give Murton more time until he showed something, and he's not going to show something until he plays a lot. The only spot for that to happen is AAA.

 

I don't see how it makes them worse. They sent down their 6th OF who wasn't getting any playing time but was pretty bad whenever he did play.

[YearofDaCubs]

This is the right move. I am a Murton fan, but he looks completely lost at the plate, not to mention his keystone cops routine in RF.

 

Soriano should have been put in RF and Murton in LF. Soriano has the skill set for RF much more than Murton or Floyd does.

Agreed. And signing Floyd was a terrible idea from the get-go.

[Rob]

This is the right move. I am a Murton fan, but he looks completely lost at the plate, not to mention his keystone cops routine in RF.

 

Soriano should have been put in RF and Murton in LF. Soriano has the skill set for RF much more than Murton or Floyd does.

Agreed. And signing Floyd was a terrible idea from the get-go.

 

In theory, there was nothing wrong with signing Floyd. He could spell Murton against the really tough righties, be a top pinch hitter, and DH in interleague play.

 

The problem was trusting Lou to be able to maximize the utility of his players.

[HoopsCubs]

Check out these Murton splits for the year-to-date:

 

In about 60 plate appearances at Wrigley: .145/.203/.200/.403

In about 75 plate appearances away from Wrigley: .344/.432/.453/.885

 

(AVE/OBP/SLG/OPS)

 

Has anyone seen a gap like that before this far into a season?

It's unbelievable.

[RichHillIsABeast]

This is the right move. I am a Murton fan, but he looks completely lost at the plate, not to mention his keystone cops routine in RF.

 

Soriano should have been put in RF and Murton in LF. Soriano has the skill set for RF much more than Murton or Floyd does.

 

That still doesn't excuse Murton from misplaying routine popups and taking poor routes.

 

Murton's arm is the only reason he shouldn't be able to play RF, and that really hasn't hurt us that badly considering the crap Jones hurls in the general direction of the infield or nearest gopher.

[Derwood]

Why now? Why not 5 weeks ago?

[E.J.]

Why now? Why not 5 weeks ago?

 

Um...

 

because Jim Hendry runs this team?

[RichHillIsABeast]

Check out these Murton splits for the year-to-date:

 

In about 60 plate appearances at Wrigley: .145/.203/.200/.403

In about 75 plate appearances away from Wrigley: .344/.432/.453/.885

 

(AVE/OBP/SLG/OPS)

 

Has anyone seen a gap like that before this far into a season?

It's unbelievable.

 

From a platoon/bench player? I don't think it's too uncommon. It's not like we're dealing with a large number of plate appearances here.

 

Barrett so far:

 

Home: .293/.340/.543/.883 (92 AB)

Road: .210/.274/.324/.598 (105 AB)

 

And that's with more AB. A hot series or two can really swing your numbers in ~100 AB.

[RynoRules]

gotta love it... cubs take a guy who put up a .365 OBP and an OPS over 800 in essentially his rookie year and make him a platoon player, tearing down his confidence. This Floyd signing was and will continue to be a complete disaster.

 

This is a very good point. I think the Floyd signing has had a sort of domino effect. Its like Jim decided he would put one stud in the OF and then hope quantity would make up for quality. Either that or he thought he could deal away Jones during the offseason.

[Guest]

Murton should have been getting PT over Jones a long time ago. Murton should be in LF and Soriano in RF a long time ago. And why bring up Rapada the LOOGY?

[soccer10k]

Thank goodness the Cubs finally sent Murton down. Now he'll actually get regular playing time.

[Tracer Bullet]

I hope you're right, but there's no guarantee. Floyd could run off 2/3 good weeks himself and then Hendry going to think his long sought-after love is producing just as he thought and he'll do anything to keep him in the lineup (including keeping Murton in AAA).

 

I know that's probably worst case scenario, but w/ Hendry, I've come to expect that kind of thing. I've known this was the likely result of Hendry's mess all season and it still pisses me off.

 

I wouldn't call that worst case scenario. Worst case is Murton doesn't regain his stroke, Floyd scuffles but racks up just enough service time to guarantee his option, and Jones stays.

 

Even if Floyd is great for 2-3 weeks, his chances of reaching those goals are not great.

 

Right, but that's not really the point. The point is this move hasn't solved anything for us, long term. And, in my opinion, makes us worse.

 

No it hasn't solved anything longterm. But it sets the table to figure out the RF problem. They weren't going to give Murton more time until he showed something, and he's not going to show something until he plays a lot. The only spot for that to happen is AAA.

 

I don't see how it makes them worse. They sent down their 6th OF who wasn't getting any playing time but was pretty bad whenever he did play.

 

Figure out the RF problem? What do you think they're going to do? They're going to play JJ until someone, anyone, takes him in a trade, and then they're going to play Floyd. That doesn't really solve the problem. Neither of them should be starting.

 

And by worse, I mean you take away a 25-year-old with the ability to put up a .365 OBP and .800 OPS and replace him with a has been and a terrible player. In the short term, it might be fine. But Murton, if given regular ABs and just put in LF (Soriano in RF is the obvious step here, at least give it a try) could easily have improved. He's 25 frickin years old. Was last year a fluke? Maybe. But that's the kind of year that most teams would love to have from a guy that's basically a rookie and it's the kind of year that would earn you the right to lose your spot the next year.

 

So instead of letting Murton face ML hitters and see if he couldn't improve as he hits his peak, we beat down his confidence, shake him around, make him a platoon player, move him to RF so the fans can boo him whenever he misplays a ball, and then send him to triple A so that Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd can get more ABs.

 

That's making a team worse.

[Tracer Bullet]

Murton should have been getting PT over Jones a long time ago. Murton should be in LF and Soriano in RF a long time ago. And why bring up Rapada the LOOGY?

 

Yes, this.

 

I don't understand everyone saying "thankfully - finally he can go to AAA and get ABs." What? The guy earned the right to start over hacks like Floyd and Jones last year. He's 25 and just hitting his peak. He shouldn't have to go to AAA to get ABs. He should have been in LF from day 1, put him in the 2-hole, and go to work.

[TruffleShuffle]

Murton should have been getting PT over Jones a long time ago. Murton should be in LF and Soriano in RF a long time ago. And why bring up Rapada the LOOGY?

 

Yes, this.

 

I don't understand everyone saying "thankfully - finally he can go to AAA and get ABs." What? The guy earned the right to start over hacks like Floyd and Jones last year. He's 25 and just hitting his peak. He shouldn't have to go to AAA to get ABs. He should have been in LF from day 1, put him in the 2-hole, and go to work.

 

right but the cubs have proven that they won't do that, so the next best thing is for him to go down to iowa and actually play. In a perfect world, the Cubs would have competent management and this wouldn't be an issue, but given that Hendry/Piniella are morons, Murton to Iowa is the best-case scenario.

[dalgreen]

Figure out the RF problem? What do you think they're going to do? They're going to play JJ until someone, anyone, takes him in a trade, and then they're going to play Floyd. That doesn't really solve the problem. Neither of them should be starting.

 

And by worse, I mean you take away a 25-year-old with the ability to put up a .365 OBP and .800 OPS and replace him with a has been and a terrible player. In the short term, it might be fine. But Murton, if given regular ABs and just put in LF (Soriano in RF is the obvious step here, at least give it a try) could easily have improved. He's 25 frickin years old. Was last year a fluke? Maybe. But that's the kind of year that most teams would love to have from a guy that's basically a rookie and it's the kind of year that would earn you the right to lose your spot the next year.

 

So instead of letting Murton face ML hitters and see if he couldn't improve as he hits his peak, we beat down his confidence, shake him around, make him a platoon player, move him to RF so the fans can boo him whenever he misplays a ball, and then send him to triple A so that Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd can get more ABs.

 

That's making a team worse.

 

The RF problem was created last year when for some stupid reason Hendry felt Jones was worth $5 million a year when the market was saying otherwise. I no longer hate Jones simply because he's just doing what many of us thought he'd do when Hendry decided he saw a superstar when the rest of us saw Jones as just mediocre. I would suck at the major league level but I'd sign a $15 million contract too if Hendry offered it to me. So I blame the managers and Hendry more for playing him than Jones for sucking which is what we knew he would do when signed.

 

Murton should be sent down since he seems to be pressing when at Wrigley, and it's not due to lack of playing time because his numbers should be more similar whether on the road or at home if it were due to lack of playing time. He is really not any better this year than last year and I think has regressed in some areas. Hopefully, he'll go to Des Moines and work on what he needs to work on and come back to help the Cubs.

[SouthSideRyan]

When's Ward eligible to come off the DL? I'm guessing once he's available, he'll come off and we'll go back to 12 pitchers. This is a 5 day move or so.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

we don't need 20 pitchers for the next week

[Transmogrified Tiger]

When's Ward eligible to come off the DL? I'm guessing once he's available, he'll come off and we'll go back to 12 pitchers. This is a 5 day move or so.

 

Ward can come back Monday.

[SouthSideRyan]

The real question is what happens when Ramirez comes back if they can't trade Jones by that point.

 

At that point the (likely) options become demoting Fontenot, Pagan, or going down to 11 pitchers.

 

Murton's gonna need an injury to see the bigs again before September which is sad.

[CubColtPacer]

The real question is what happens when Ramirez comes back if they can't trade Jones by that point.

 

At that point the (likely) options become demoting Fontenot, Pagan, or going down to 11 pitchers.

 

Murton's gonna need an injury to see the bigs again before September which is sad.

 

If Murton plays at all well at Triple A, they will find room for him on the major league roster. At the minimum Lou will get fed up with his options against left-handers and want Murton back up, and he'll be back up then.

[oldcubsfan]

Murton's gonna need an injury to see the bigs again before September which is sad.

 

It isn't sad. If he doesn't hit, doesn't knock in runs, then he has no place on the roster. Why would anyone move Soriano out of left to play a Matt Murton?

[YearofDaCubs]

I hope you're right, but there's no guarantee. Floyd could run off 2/3 good weeks himself and then Hendry going to think his long sought-after love is producing just as he thought and he'll do anything to keep him in the lineup (including keeping Murton in AAA).

 

I know that's probably worst case scenario, but w/ Hendry, I've come to expect that kind of thing. I've known this was the likely result of Hendry's mess all season and it still pisses me off.

 

I wouldn't call that worst case scenario. Worst case is Murton doesn't regain his stroke, Floyd scuffles but racks up just enough service time to guarantee his option, and Jones stays.

 

Even if Floyd is great for 2-3 weeks, his chances of reaching those goals are not great.

 

Right, but that's not really the point. The point is this move hasn't solved anything for us, long term. And, in my opinion, makes us worse.

 

I don't know that it made us worse. Murton was not good as a PH, not good without consistent AB's. Jones and Floyd were going to get most of the PT anyway. I don't think the move made the team better (though it is better for Matt), but I don't think it made the team appreciably worse, either.

To make this team better you need to get rid of izturis and jones. I just don't see that happening unfortunately.

[NewUserName]

The real question is what happens when Ramirez comes back if they can't trade Jones by that point.

 

At that point the (likely) options become demoting Fontenot, Pagan, or going down to 11 pitchers.

 

Murton's gonna need an injury to see the bigs again before September which is sad.

 

If Murton plays at all well at Triple A, they will find room for him on the major league roster. At the minimum Lou will get fed up with his options against left-handers and want Murton back up, and he'll be back up then.

 

this is the truth. If everyone was down on Murtons hitting, wait until either Floyd or Jones gets significant time against LH pitching.