RUMOR: Cubs interested in Willits

[frostwyrm]

What use would Willits be except as the short end of a CF platoon and pinch runner? He has no power whatsoever, so his usefulness as a PH is very limited, and we no longer need a defensive sub for the OF. Willits seems a pretty poor use of a roster spot. He'd be a better fit for a team that has some defensive liabilities in the OF like Adam Dunn.

[dew1679666265]

Ugh. This topic has officially raised my blood pressure.

 

A few months I made a topic, back when bashing Fuld mercilessly was in high style, about how Fuld and Willits basically had the same minor league career, except Willits hit in more hitter-friendly parks in the minors, Willits struck out more and hit for less power than Fuld, and Willits had a better base stealing record, including the caveat that Fuld has improved his basestealing in recent years.

 

The response? "Nobody cares about Reggie Willits anyway."

 

Unfortunately now I can't seem to dig up that topic.

 

And now the same people who were crapping on Fuld are going wild for Willits? Make it stop. My ticker can't take this.

 

Some points need to be made:

 

- Willits strikes out too much for a guy with so little power.

 

- Look at Willits' post ASB numbers. We'd probably be getting that with fewer walks I imagine.PASS

 

- Willits is a foolish choice to buy high on. It'd be like trading a bunch to get Brady Clark after his 2005 season.

 

- To whoever said the Marlins moving Willingham was a bad idea: It isn't. He's the worst defensive outfielder in baseball by an enormous margin, he's simply awful out there.

 

- The fact that Willits had a high BABIP while hitting in Salt Lake should not impress anyone.

 

- Cody Ross, to me, falls in the Ryan Spilbourghs category. They're both guys who look attractive because they have "center field" stamped on their resume but, Spilbourghs in particular, is not much better in CF than I would expect Murton to be. I like Ross better as a CF than Spilbourghs but neither is ideal.

 

Who's been going wild about acquiring Willits? I've seen a few "I see no use for him, why make the move?" and a few more "I guess I'd be ok with him, but I'm not crazy." but nothing indicating anybody's particularly excited about the potential move.

 

I think Willits would be an ok move. I like his OBP, but I wouldn't give up anybody worth much of anything to get him. Is that going wild about him?

[TheDude]

Willits is a supercharged version of Fuld. He's likely to be a little less valuable than Pie, but on the off chance that Pie completely tanks, I wouldn't mind having him around.

 

The problem would be Lou wanting to play him too much, I would think.

 

Why? Is this blanket pessimism, or do you actually have a reason for believing this?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I'm not a very big fan of Willits. His age in his minor league time plus his BABIP in the major leagues don't fill me with optimism. Marquis is worth more than a buy high on a slap hitter like Willits.

 

his babip in his last two minor league seasons was .359 and .375. maybe it's that he's been ridiculously lucky for 3 straight years now, but it's more likely that he's like an ichiro and can put up a consistently high babip due to his speed and hitting lefthanded.

 

He's got less than a full season's worth of playing time in his MLB career, spreading it out over September 2006 and in most of last season doesn't prove to me that he's got the rare ability to sustain an insanely high BABIP.

 

so you are ignoring the fact that his babip in the minors was just as good as it has been in the majors?

 

Yes, because he was 2+ years old for just about every level of his minor league career.

[OleMissCub]

Can someone tell me the advantage of having Willitis over Pie?

 

Looks like Willitis has a higher OBP than Pie and more speed, but Pie has more power and is much younger.

[CubColtPacer]

Can someone tell me the advantage of having Willitis over Pie?

 

Looks like Willitis has a higher OBP than Pie and more speed, but Pie has more power and is much younger.

 

I don't think anyone believes he is an upgrade over Pie. He could be a pretty good addition along with Pie or allow Pie to be traded, but if they both ended up on the team this year Pie should get most of the playing time. That's why most people aren't willing to give up much for him.

[Post Count Padder]

Can someone tell me the advantage of having Willitis over Pie?

 

Looks like Willitis has a higher OBP than Pie and more speed, but Pie has more power and is much younger.

There really is none. Willits would just be either a platoon or a backup plan if Pie falters/is traded.

[OleMissCub]

I see.

[mdwilla]

I would rather have shannon stewart , but if the Angels take all of Marquis's contract at least Willtis is cheap.

[frostwyrm]

If we're getting an RH platoon partner for Pie the guy should at least have enough power to be a useful pinch hitter, since he'll obviously start most games on the bench. Slap-hitting Willits is only a good PH option with bases empty and an LHP on the mound. That's too limited.

[mul21]

If we're getting an RH platoon partner for Pie the guy should at least have enough power to be a useful pinch hitter, since he'll obviously start most games on the bench. Slap-hitting Willits is only a good PH option with bases empty and an LHP on the mound. That's too limited.

 

I'm pretty sure he's a switch hitter. He'd be a good guy have as a 4th OF assuming Murton isn't around and he can be had for very little in trade. Outside of that, meh.

 

And to the post above the one I quoted, isn't Stewart LH also?

[CubColtPacer]

If we're getting an RH platoon partner for Pie the guy should at least have enough power to be a useful pinch hitter, since he'll obviously start most games on the bench. Slap-hitting Willits is only a good PH option with bases empty and an LHP on the mound. That's too limited.

 

I'm pretty sure he's a switch hitter. He'd be a good guy have as a 4th OF assuming Murton isn't around and he can be had for very little in trade. Outside of that, meh.

 

And to the post above the one I quoted, isn't Stewart LH also?

 

Stewart is a right handed hitter, but he has had reverse splits the last few years. Plus he hasn't played much CF. He would be a terrible option.

[TruffleShuffle]

I'm not a very big fan of Willits. His age in his minor league time plus his BABIP in the major leagues don't fill me with optimism. Marquis is worth more than a buy high on a slap hitter like Willits.

 

his babip in his last two minor league seasons was .359 and .375. maybe it's that he's been ridiculously lucky for 3 straight years now, but it's more likely that he's like an ichiro and can put up a consistently high babip due to his speed and hitting lefthanded.

 

He's got less than a full season's worth of playing time in his MLB career, spreading it out over September 2006 and in most of last season doesn't prove to me that he's got the rare ability to sustain an insanely high BABIP.

 

so you are ignoring the fact that his babip in the minors was just as good as it has been in the majors?

 

Yes, because he was 2+ years old for just about every level of his minor league career.

 

that could explain why he performed at a level better than expected. you're talking about how many of his balls in play ended up as hits. that's something that should not be affected by one's age relative to the other players in that league, unless you're 25 and playing in a league of 4 year olds. In which case your babip might be artificially high since 4 year olds have rather limited range.

[seanimal]

Do you really think that Willits possesses the ability to sustain high babip's year in and year out?

[TruffleShuffle]

Do you really think that Willits possesses the ability to sustain high babip's year in and year out?

 

do you really think that certain players don't have certain skills that allow them to sustain high babip's year in and year out?

 

exhibit a

 

exhibit b

 

exhibit c

 

exhibit d - note the consistently strong LD%, which is correlated with a high babip. add in a little bump for his speed and being quick out of the batter's box, and voila... high babip year in and year out.

[seanimal]

Do you really think that Willits possesses the ability to sustain high babip's year in and year out?

 

do you really think that certain players don't have certain skills that allow them to sustain high babip's year in and year out?

 

Did I say that?

 

I'm inclined to believe that Willits might possess a skill set that would lend itself to higher babip's than average, but I really don't think the evidence is all that conclusive either way.

[SABR Gamer]

I kind of wish we just had gotten Josh Hamilton....then we could have used Pie to trade for a top pitcher.

 

The middle of the lineup could have been deadly. Who would it have taken? Gallagher? Marshall? Marshall is only one year older than Volquez with much more impressive numbers in the minors, plus more proven in the majors, where he has a season of 100+ innings with a sub-4 ERA and good control (above average BB/9 in 2007) and averaged 8.774 K/9 in the minor leagues.

 

I know this is meaningless now, but looking back on it, I wish it is what we had done.

 

Dream Lineup

 

1. Roberts S (2B)

2. Fukudome L (RF)

3. Lee R (1B)

4. Ramirez R (3B)

5. Soriano R (LF)

6. Hamilton L (CF)

7. Soto R ©

8. Cedeno R (SS)

 

A full lineup of above average to excellent hitters, no weak spots, all play above average defense.

 

Whatever, too late now.

[inari]

I know we like Cedeno around here, but it's a stretch to even call him an average hitter right now.

[TruffleShuffle]

Do you really think that Willits possesses the ability to sustain high babip's year in and year out?

 

do you really think that certain players don't have certain skills that allow them to sustain high babip's year in and year out?

 

Did I say that?

 

I'm inclined to believe that Willits might possess a skill set that would lend itself to higher babip's than average, but I really don't think the evidence is all that conclusive either way.

 

maybe it's not conclusive, but he's consistently had a high LD% since becoming a professional, he's fast, and many of his ABs have been from the left side. now maybe his 2000 ABs have just been a fluke, but i'd say it's very likely that he is the type of player who can have a consistently high babip.

[nilodnayr]

If we're getting an RH platoon partner for Pie the guy should at least have enough power to be a useful pinch hitter, since he'll obviously start most games on the bench. Slap-hitting Willits is only a good PH option with bases empty and an LHP on the mound. That's too limited.

 

coughRonnyCedenocough

[RammyFanny]

He's got his faults, but the bottom line is that a player who's at bat results in him standing on 1st base 40% of the time can be valuable if used correctly.

[Vanilla Ice]

I kind of wish we just had gotten Josh Hamilton....then we could have used Pie to trade for a top pitcher.

 

The middle of the lineup could have been deadly. Who would it have taken? Gallagher? Marshall? Marshall is only one year older than Volquez with much more impressive numbers in the minors, plus more proven in the majors, where he has a season of 100+ innings with a sub-4 ERA and good control (above average BB/9 in 2007) and averaged 8.774 K/9 in the minor leagues.

 

I know this is meaningless now, but looking back on it, I wish it is what we had done.

 

Dream Lineup

 

1. Roberts S (2B)

2. Fukudome L (RF)

3. Lee R (1B)

4. Ramirez R (3B)

5. Soriano R (LF)

6. Hamilton L (CF)

7. Soto R ©

8. Cedeno R (SS)

 

A full lineup of above average to excellent hitters, no weak spots, all play above average defense.

 

Whatever, too late now.

 

My dream lineup

 

Soriano (2B)

Murton (LF)

Fukudome (RF)

Ramirez (3B)

Greene (SS)

Lee (1B)

Soto ©

Lofton/Fuld/Willits (CF)

 

Z, Hill, Burnett, Lilly, Lieber

[Derwood]

lee batting that low? he's an OBP machine

[David]

Yea, I don't understand why Greene is hitting ahead of Lee. Not that batting order matters much, anyway, but it's just odd.

[David]

If we're having Soriano out of position (and staying reasonably realistic within the concept of "dream"), I think I'd rather go with ..

 

2B Roberts

1B Lee

RF Fukudome

3B Ramirez

CF Soriano

SS Greene

C Soto

LF Murton

 

Might be better defensively than Lofton(/Fuld/Willits) in CF and Soriano at 2B, too.