Geovany Soto: PCL MVP

[KingCubsFan]

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t451

Congrats to Soto. Hopefully this will solidify his starting spot next year

[Brian]

awesome that he got 8 ab or whatever at the major league level

[Balsa]

G to the Soto!

[CyHawk_Cub]

awesome that he got 8 ab or whatever at the major league level

 

JH simply wants to give Geo a shot at the minor league career HR record.... I'm guessing Kendall will be re-signed this off-season.

[Post Count Padder]

Congrats Geo. I would have rather seen him starting on the big league club though.

[ChiCubsFan]

I really hope Soto is our 2008 Opening Day starting catcher.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Jason Kendall, World Series MVP

[JimSorgi]

I wonder if Jim Hendry realizes what this means.

[Illini Iceman]

Congrats Geo. I would have rather seen him starting on the big league club though.

 

Soto had a great season, but I seriously doubt he would be putting up numbers at the big league level that would match what Kendall has done since joining the Cubs.

[VVMattVV]

Congrats Geo. I would have rather seen him starting on the big league club though.

 

Soto had a great season, but I seriously doubt he would be putting up numbers at the big league level that would match what Kendall has done since joining the Cubs.

 

I agree, I doubt Soto would approach Kendall's current OBP as a Cub.

 

That being said, what are the chances Kendall could repeat his numbers?

[Guest]

I'm pretty sure that Soto would throw out more than 5% of baserunners, though.

[CubColtPacer]

I'm pretty sure that Soto would throw out more than 5% of baserunners, though.

 

True, but if the Cubs starting staff remains the same, I'm not sure how much more. Soto wouldn't have as many throwing errors, but even when Kendall has a quick release and a good throw it's still not in time because most of the Cubs starters cannot hold anybody on.

 

I do hope Soto is the Cubs starting C next season. Kendall has been a great acquisition, and as I posted in the other thread I'm worried about the Iowa inflation this year, but even with those concerns I still think you have to throw Soto out there instead of signing Kendall and hoping these last 2 months haven't just been one great last stretch of a ballplayer with a change of scenery.

[Brian]

Congratulations to Soto, who was named 2007 Most Valuable Player in the Pacific Coast League. He's the first catcher to win the honor since Sandy Alomar Jr. did so in back-to-back years in 1988 and '89. The Iowa catcher leads the league with 106 RBIs and a .650 slugging percentage and is second with a .353 batting average. He has 31 doubles in 108 games.

 

"He's had a real nice year," Piniella said. "He's a good-looking young catcher. He's somebody who can grow in this organization. He's hit the ball well and hit left-handed pitching especially well. He's hit the ball with some power, driven in runs. He doesn't get all that many cheap hits. I liked what I saw this spring. He handled our pitching staff well."

[TruffleShuffle]

geovany soto

[fromthestretch]

Congratulations to Soto, who was named 2007 Most Valuable Player in the Pacific Coast League. He's the first catcher to win the honor since Sandy Alomar Jr. did so in back-to-back years in 1988 and '89. The Iowa catcher leads the league with 106 RBIs and a .650 slugging percentage and is second with a .353 batting average. He has 31 doubles in 108 games.

 

"He's had a real nice year," Piniella said. "He's a good-looking young catcher. He's somebody who can grow in this organization. He's hit the ball well and hit left-handed pitching especially well. He's hit the ball with some power, driven in runs. He doesn't get all that many cheap hits. I liked what I saw this spring. He handled our pitching staff well."

 

He did hit lefties well (.311/.392/.557), but he was even better against right-handers (.368/.437/.686).

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Congrats!

[sethuel1]

geovany soto

[TruffleShuffle]

this will make it nearly impossible for the cobs to keep him in iowa next year... a lot of fans and beat writers might be unknowledgeable about minor league happenings, but an MVP at the level just below the bigs can't be ignored

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

In what strange universe is the PCL MVP blocked by Koyie freakin Hill.

[UBlink]

this will make it nearly impossible for the cobs to keep him in iowa next year... a lot of fans and beat writers might be unknowledgeable about minor league happenings, but an MVP at the level just below the bigs can't be ignored

 

He's the first catcher to win the honor since Sandy Alomar Jr. did so in back-to-back years in 1988 and '89.

 

Now we're going to have to keep him at Iowa so he can tie Alomar's record. :D

[CubColtPacer]

The Cubs cannot keep Soto in the minors. He is out of options, so he will either be traded or in the majors.

[KingCubsFan]

I'm pretty sure that Soto would throw out more than 5% of baserunners, though.

Not to pick on you, Tim, but this gets brought up a lot when talking about Kendall. Nobody seemed to care when Barrett was on the team and couldn't throw anyone out or call a good game. Back then, the majority of the board seemed to think, "Who cares about the defense, his offense is well above-average." Now, with Kendall exceeding expectations with the bat, his defense gets brought up as a reason to bench him. Don't really understand it

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

I'm pretty sure that Soto would throw out more than 5% of baserunners, though.

Not to pick on you, Tim, but this gets brought up a lot when talking about Kendall. Nobody seemed to care when Barrett was on the team and couldn't throw anyone out or call a good game. Back then, the majority of the board seemed to think, "Who cares about the defense, his offense is well above-average." Now, with Kendall exceeding expectations with the bat, his defense gets brought up as a reason to bench him. Don't really understand it

 

There were plenty of people who expressed disssatisfaction with Barretts defense and this is the primary reseason why he was shipped out of Chicago.

[VVMattVV]

I'm pretty sure that Soto would throw out more than 5% of baserunners, though.

Not to pick on you, Tim, but this gets brought up a lot when talking about Kendall. Nobody seemed to care when Barrett was on the team and couldn't throw anyone out or call a good game. Back then, the majority of the board seemed to think, "Who cares about the defense, his offense is well above-average." Now, with Kendall exceeding expectations with the bat, his defense gets brought up as a reason to bench him. Don't really understand it

 

There wasn't a good defensive catcher winning the AAA MVP with a dominate offensive season when Barrett played here. There was no alternative, starting Blanco everyday wasn't an option.

[CubinNY]

. Nobody seemed to care when Barrett was on the team and couldn't throw anyone out or call a good game. Back then, the majority of the board seemed to think, "Who cares about the defense, his offense is well above-average." Now, with Kendall exceeding expectations with the bat, his defense gets brought up as a reason to bench him. Don't really understand it

 

You cannot be serious. I railed on Barrett's suck-i-ness behind the plate for years, others have too. However, everything is relative. IMO, he hit well enough that he wasn't a liabilty overall all.