Car Jumping Joey Gathright a Cub?

[Jehrico]

Yeah, they could do worse, but it would be pretty difficult.

 

Really? Because of the four offseason RF targets the Cubs had going into the winter meetings, Gathright is better than 2-3 of them (depending on how many games you think Bradley will last in the outfield). And that's BEFORE you take contract value into account.

 

If we're considering those targets to be Ibanez, Hermida, Abreu, and Bradley, than there's no argument to be made that Gathright is even close to as good as any of them.

Why is this comparison even being made? There's zero rumors floating out there even remotely linking us to Hermida. Ibanez is a Philly. Abreu and Bradley are being looked at as replacements to Kosuke in RF so he can platoon in LF. No one ever advocated Gathright as a substitute to Abreu and Bradley. He signed a minor league contract for crying out loud. If Pie gets traded, then Gathright basically replaces him as "organizational depth."

 

did you even read the series of posts you're replying to? doesn't sound like it.

 

This is the big IF. If Pie gets traded, for something of value than I wouldnt mind Gathright as a replacement. However, I just hope it would be for something of value, not just to get him off the team. Still, when you have Pie for league minimum, I dont understand throwing Gathright 1-2 mil when by all accounts, were trying to shed some pay roll.

It's not that big of an if. If we don't get another lefty bat, then Gathright basically assumes Edmonds spot on the bench and spells Johnson when he needs it, and that's only when Kosuke is in RF and DeRo is in the infield. If DeRo is in the outfield, then both Kosuke shifts over, so he and Johnson would be ahead of him on the depth chart in CF. So, he'd be somewhere in between 2nd and 3rd option in CF.

[Jehrico]

Yeah, they could do worse, but it would be pretty difficult.

 

Really? Because of the four offseason RF targets the Cubs had going into the winter meetings, Gathright is better than 2-3 of them (depending on how many games you think Bradley will last in the outfield). And that's BEFORE you take contract value into account.

 

If we're considering those targets to be Ibanez, Hermida, Abreu, and Bradley, than there's no argument to be made that Gathright is even close to as good as any of them.

Why is this comparison even being made? There's zero rumors floating out there even remotely linking us to Hermida. Ibanez is a Philly. Abreu and Bradley are being looked at as replacements to Kosuke in RF so he can platoon in LF. No one ever advocated Gathright as a substitute to Abreu and Bradley. He signed a minor league contract for crying out loud. If Pie gets traded, then Gathright basically replaces him as "organizational depth."

 

Uh, that guy made the comparison? I was just responding to exactly what he said. And we have definitely been linked to Hermida.

Badly written post on my part after going back and rereading it. My intent was to reinforce your said, not counter your post.

 

As far as the Hermida link, I've seen it nothing outside of posters here saying they'd love him and one or two local writers suggesting we should go after him. I haven't seen anything saying Hendry contacted them about Hermida.

 

They've definitely been linked to him

Then quit being lazy and provide a link.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

This is the big IF. If Pie gets traded, for something of value than I wouldnt mind Gathright as a replacement. However, I just hope it would be for something of value, not just to get him off the team. Still, when you have Pie for league minimum, I dont understand throwing Gathright 1-2 mil when by all accounts, were trying to shed some pay roll.

 

The wording from various sources is unclear if Gathright would even get a major league contract, I really doubt he's getting 1-2 million.

 

 

And I'm pretty sure the 3 players Colin is referring to are Ibanez, Abreu, and Bradley. Ibanez and Abreu(throw Dunn the RF in here too if you like) are the inverse of Gathright, giving away their offensive value with wretched defense. Bradley isn't much better than anyone if he can't stay healthy. Personally, I'm skeptical of Gathright's offensive projection like I mentioned earlier, but it's not like he's never hit at that level(below average instead of replacement level), and he's 28 so if he were to step up offensively now would be the time(especially going to an easier league like Colin mentioned).

 

Also of note is that Gathright has no platoon split. .631 career OPS against both RHP and LHP.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Who knows, maybe there is a deal near for Bradley and Gathright would be an insurance policy if he goes down.

[17 Seconds]

Then quit being lazy and provide a link.

 

All you have to do is google "cubs hermida" dude

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8793068/ChiSox-GM-is-up-to-something-...-but-what??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/11/08/2008-11-08_with_superfan_barack_obama_leading_cheer.html?page=2

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081203&content_id=3700331&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3754869&type=blogEntry

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1319247,CST-SPT-cub08.article

[Jehrico]

Then quit being lazy and provide a link.

 

All you have to do is google "cubs hermida" dude

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8793068/ChiSox-GM-is-up-to-something-...-but-what??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/11/08/2008-11-08_with_superfan_barack_obama_leading_cheer.html?page=2

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081203&content_id=3700331&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3754869&type=blogEntry

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1319247,CST-SPT-cub08.article

Like I said earlier, I haven't seen anything saying Hendry has contacted them about Hermida. It was widely reported that he was on their radar earlier in the month, but Florida wanted waaay too much from another team that asked and scared most of the others off. I hadn't seen the ESPN link you posted, that's the only link of those five that says they actually did contact them. There's a difference between having someone on a list, and actually pursuing that guy. Just googling "Hermida Cubs" isn't going to find that dude.

[17 Seconds]

Then quit being lazy and provide a link.

 

All you have to do is google "cubs hermida" dude

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8793068/ChiSox-GM-is-up-to-something-...-but-what??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/11/08/2008-11-08_with_superfan_barack_obama_leading_cheer.html?page=2

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081203&content_id=3700331&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3754869&type=blogEntry

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1319247,CST-SPT-cub08.article

Like I said earlier, I haven't seen anything saying Hendry has contacted them about Hermida. It was widely reported that he was on their radar earlier in the month, but Florida wanted waaay too much from another team that asked and scared most of the others off. I hadn't seen the ESPN link you posted, that's the only link of those five that says they actually did contact them. There's a difference between having someone on a list, and actually pursuing that guy. Just googling "Hermida Cubs" isn't going to find that dude.

 

haha, seriously? if multiple places are reporting that they've expressed interest, then it's pretty obvious that hendry has probably contacted them. plus like you said, that espn link said it. what more do you want? admit you were wrong and move on.

[Old Style]

Yeah, they could do worse, but it would be pretty difficult.

 

Really? Because of the four offseason RF targets the Cubs had going into the winter meetings, Gathright is better than 2-3 of them (depending on how many games you think Bradley will last in the outfield). And that's BEFORE you take contract value into account.

 

If we're considering those targets to be Ibanez, Hermida, Abreu, and Bradley, than there's no argument to be made that Gathright is even close to as good as any of them.

Why is this comparison even being made? There's zero rumors floating out there even remotely linking us to Hermida. Ibanez is a Philly. Abreu and Bradley are being looked at as replacements to Kosuke in RF so he can platoon in LF. No one ever advocated Gathright as a substitute to Abreu and Bradley. He signed a minor league contract for crying out loud. If Pie gets traded, then Gathright basically replaces him as "organizational depth."

Is Soriano only going to play against lefties now? I think I'd be OK with that.

[Jehrico]

Then quit being lazy and provide a link.

 

All you have to do is google "cubs hermida" dude

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8793068/ChiSox-GM-is-up-to-something-...-but-what??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/11/08/2008-11-08_with_superfan_barack_obama_leading_cheer.html?page=2

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081203&content_id=3700331&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3754869&type=blogEntry

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1319247,CST-SPT-cub08.article

Like I said earlier, I haven't seen anything saying Hendry has contacted them about Hermida. It was widely reported that he was on their radar earlier in the month, but Florida wanted waaay too much from another team that asked and scared most of the others off. I hadn't seen the ESPN link you posted, that's the only link of those five that says they actually did contact them. There's a difference between having someone on a list, and actually pursuing that guy. Just googling "Hermida Cubs" isn't going to find that dude.

 

haha, seriously? if multiple places are reporting that they've expressed interest, then it's pretty obvious that hendry has probably contacted them. plus like you said, that espn link said it. what more do you want? admit you were wrong and move on.

I said I hadn't seen the link on ESPN before, what more do you want? It was well reported they were interested in him, but Florida asked for a royal haul from another team that did formally inquire, so I assumed that Hendry had no intentions of following through on that interest as a result. Coincidentally, reports of their interest dropped off after that as well. Other than that one obscure blog link within ESPN, it hadn't been reported anywhere else that they actually had talks about him. That one obscure ESPN page could be mistaken since it's not corroborated. Or if it is corroborated, sorry for not taking the time to read a thousand pages throughout the net with the earlier reported interest. Are you one of those guys that actually gets a stiffy from saying "told you so," and are you getting pissed because I'm depriving you of that? Because that's what you're acting like.

[davearm2]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Lou is familiar with Gathright from their days together in Tampa. That probably played a part in this.

[Old Style]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Lou is familiar with Gathright from their days together in Tampa. That probably played a part in this.

Is he familiar with any players that DON'T suck?

[17 Seconds]

Then quit being lazy and provide a link.

 

All you have to do is google "cubs hermida" dude

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8793068/ChiSox-GM-is-up-to-something-...-but-what??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/11/08/2008-11-08_with_superfan_barack_obama_leading_cheer.html?page=2

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081203&content_id=3700331&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3754869&type=blogEntry

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1319247,CST-SPT-cub08.article

Like I said earlier, I haven't seen anything saying Hendry has contacted them about Hermida. It was widely reported that he was on their radar earlier in the month, but Florida wanted waaay too much from another team that asked and scared most of the others off. I hadn't seen the ESPN link you posted, that's the only link of those five that says they actually did contact them. There's a difference between having someone on a list, and actually pursuing that guy. Just googling "Hermida Cubs" isn't going to find that dude.

 

haha, seriously? if multiple places are reporting that they've expressed interest, then it's pretty obvious that hendry has probably contacted them. plus like you said, that espn link said it. what more do you want? admit you were wrong and move on.

I said I hadn't seen the link on ESPN before, what more do you want? It was well reported they were interested in him, but Florida asked for a royal haul from another team that did formally inquire, so I assumed that Hendry had no intentions of following through on that interest as a result. Coincidentally, reports of their interest dropped off after that as well. Other than that one obscure blog link within ESPN, it hadn't been reported anywhere else that they actually had talks about him. That one obscure ESPN page could be mistaken since it's not corroborated. Or if it is corroborated, sorry for not taking the time to read a thousand pages throughout the net with the earlier reported interest. Are you one of those guys that actually gets a stiffy from saying "told you so," and are you getting pissed because I'm depriving you of that? Because that's what you're acting like.

 

you say that the cubs haven't been rumored to be interested in hermida and the only people who have mentioned him are people on this board, then when i give you multiple examples it's "oh, well that doesn't mean hendry has talked to the marlins about him. that's what i meant." come on. so what you're saying it's that multiple places confirm that the cubs are/were interested, but hendry never even called them to ask about him? him. i guess hendry just had a crush on him but was too afraid to call and ask.

[Jehrico]

Then quit being lazy and provide a link.

 

All you have to do is google "cubs hermida" dude

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8793068/ChiSox-GM-is-up-to-something-...-but-what??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/11/08/2008-11-08_with_superfan_barack_obama_leading_cheer.html?page=2

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081203&content_id=3700331&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3754869&type=blogEntry

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1319247,CST-SPT-cub08.article

Like I said earlier, I haven't seen anything saying Hendry has contacted them about Hermida. It was widely reported that he was on their radar earlier in the month, but Florida wanted waaay too much from another team that asked and scared most of the others off. I hadn't seen the ESPN link you posted, that's the only link of those five that says they actually did contact them. There's a difference between having someone on a list, and actually pursuing that guy. Just googling "Hermida Cubs" isn't going to find that dude.

 

haha, seriously? if multiple places are reporting that they've expressed interest, then it's pretty obvious that hendry has probably contacted them. plus like you said, that espn link said it. what more do you want? admit you were wrong and move on.

I said I hadn't seen the link on ESPN before, what more do you want? It was well reported they were interested in him, but Florida asked for a royal haul from another team that did formally inquire, so I assumed that Hendry had no intentions of following through on that interest as a result. Coincidentally, reports of their interest dropped off after that as well. Other than that one obscure blog link within ESPN, it hadn't been reported anywhere else that they actually had talks about him. That one obscure ESPN page could be mistaken since it's not corroborated. Or if it is corroborated, sorry for not taking the time to read a thousand pages throughout the net with the earlier reported interest. Are you one of those guys that actually gets a stiffy from saying "told you so," and are you getting pissed because I'm depriving you of that? Because that's what you're acting like.

 

you say that the cubs haven't been rumored to be interested in hermida and the only people who have mentioned him are people on this board, then when i give you multiple examples it's "oh, well that doesn't mean hendry has talked to the marlins about him. that's what i meant." come on. so what you're saying it's that multiple places confirm that the cubs are/were interested, but hendry never even called them to ask about him? him. i guess hendry just had a crush on him but was too afraid to call and ask.

I never said they hadn't been rumored to be interested in him. I said they hadn't been directly linked to him. If you need me to spell it out, they hadn't been linked to any trade talks with the Marlins. Second, no, it's reasonable to think Hendry never did call and ask. And it has nothing to do with him being "too afraid to call and ask." Hendry wasn't working on anything else while the Peavy deal was pending, since he didn't know what he might be left to work with. It would have been a waste of time to even go down that road. Did you totally miss all of the stories that were flying around about Peavy and what Hendry was doing during the meetings? Florida's demands were exposed as uber-extreme before the Peavy deal was shelved, so no, I would have expected that he never did talk to them. Is it really worth starting a pissing match and dragging down the thread because you couldn't figure that out for yourself? Why don't you try to figure out what it is that people mean before blowing up over something that was an ancillary point at best in an earlier post? Criminey man, just stop already.

[umpunk]

Anybody who is excited or upset by this move is way out of whack. Anybody excited by it needs to hope we also sign Usain Bolt, and anybody worried/upset/angry over it needs to realize he will be our 5th OF at best. This signing was nothing more than taking a shot on a kid with speed/defense potential to help us in the late innings. Nothing more, nothing less. Zero risk here.

 

Bingo - I rarely post on here, but do enjoy reading the board. However, one of the biggest issues on this board (and most message boards) is everything has to be black or white - either it's the greatest move in the world or Gathright s*cks beyond belief. Neither one is really accurate though. I have no problem whatsoever with signing a speedy, good glove centerfielder cheaply and giving him a shot in spring training, and that's all this is (if it actually happens).

[El Rojito]

You guys do know that Colin knows more about sabermetrics (and particularly defensive metrics and the true value of defense) than anyone else on the board, right?

[erik316wttn]

Anybody who is excited or upset by this move is way out of whack. Anybody excited by it needs to hope we also sign Usain Bolt, and anybody worried/upset/angry over it needs to realize he will be our 5th OF at best. This signing was nothing more than taking a shot on a kid with speed/defense potential to help us in the late innings. Nothing more, nothing less. Zero risk here.

 

Bingo - I rarely post on here, but do enjoy reading the board. However, one of the biggest issues on this board (and most message boards) is everything has to be black or white - either it's the greatest move in the world or Gathright s*cks beyond belief. Neither one is really accurate though. I have no problem whatsoever with signing a speedy, good glove centerfielder cheaply and giving him a shot in spring training, and that's all this is (if it actually happens).

 

I just don't see the need for the move, personally. So he's fast, and he can't do much else. There's plenty of fast guys out there who can't do anything else. Why not one of them?

[17 Seconds]

Then quit being lazy and provide a link.

 

All you have to do is google "cubs hermida" dude

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8793068/ChiSox-GM-is-up-to-something-...-but-what??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/11/08/2008-11-08_with_superfan_barack_obama_leading_cheer.html?page=2

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081203&content_id=3700331&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3754869&type=blogEntry

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1319247,CST-SPT-cub08.article

Like I said earlier, I haven't seen anything saying Hendry has contacted them about Hermida. It was widely reported that he was on their radar earlier in the month, but Florida wanted waaay too much from another team that asked and scared most of the others off. I hadn't seen the ESPN link you posted, that's the only link of those five that says they actually did contact them. There's a difference between having someone on a list, and actually pursuing that guy. Just googling "Hermida Cubs" isn't going to find that dude.

 

haha, seriously? if multiple places are reporting that they've expressed interest, then it's pretty obvious that hendry has probably contacted them. plus like you said, that espn link said it. what more do you want? admit you were wrong and move on.

I said I hadn't seen the link on ESPN before, what more do you want? It was well reported they were interested in him, but Florida asked for a royal haul from another team that did formally inquire, so I assumed that Hendry had no intentions of following through on that interest as a result. Coincidentally, reports of their interest dropped off after that as well. Other than that one obscure blog link within ESPN, it hadn't been reported anywhere else that they actually had talks about him. That one obscure ESPN page could be mistaken since it's not corroborated. Or if it is corroborated, sorry for not taking the time to read a thousand pages throughout the net with the earlier reported interest. Are you one of those guys that actually gets a stiffy from saying "told you so," and are you getting pissed because I'm depriving you of that? Because that's what you're acting like.

 

you say that the cubs haven't been rumored to be interested in hermida and the only people who have mentioned him are people on this board, then when i give you multiple examples it's "oh, well that doesn't mean hendry has talked to the marlins about him. that's what i meant." come on. so what you're saying it's that multiple places confirm that the cubs are/were interested, but hendry never even called them to ask about him? him. i guess hendry just had a crush on him but was too afraid to call and ask.

I never said they hadn't been rumored to be interested in him. I said they hadn't been directly linked to him. If you need me to spell it out, they hadn't been linked to any trade talks with the Marlins. Second, no, it's reasonable to think Hendry never did call and ask. And it has nothing to do with him being "too afraid to call and ask." Hendry wasn't working on anything else while the Peavy deal was pending, since he didn't know what he might be left to work with. It would have been a waste of time to even go down that road. Did you totally miss all of the stories that were flying around about Peavy and what Hendry was doing during the meetings? Florida's demands were exposed as uber-extreme before the Peavy deal was shelved, so no, I would have expected that he never did talk to them. Is it really worth starting a pissing match and dragging down the thread because you couldn't figure that out for yourself? Why don't you try to figure out what it is that people mean before blowing up over something that was an ancillary point at best in an earlier post? Criminey man, just stop already.

 

Here are the posts that prompted your orginial Hermida comment

 

Because of the four offseason RF targets the Cubs had going into the winter meetings, Gathright is better than 2-3 of them

 

then

 

If we're considering those targets to be Ibanez, Hermida, Abreu, and Bradley

 

and you replied

 

There's zero rumors floating out there even remotely linking us to Hermida.

 

The guy was talking about players who the Cubs have rumored to be interested in this offseason and you said that. I just gave you 5 articles that linked the Cubs to Hermida.

[Jehrico]

You guys do know that Colin knows more about sabermetrics (and particularly defensive metrics and the true value of defense) than anyone else on the board, right?

Number one, that's opinion, not fact. Number two, if that were the case, then what's the point of even having a conversation on a message board? He could post front page articles and they'd be gospel. No point in having discussion.

[17 Seconds]

You guys do know that Colin knows more about sabermetrics (and particularly defensive metrics and the true value of defense) than anyone else on the board, right?

 

Arguing that Gathright is better than those guys mentioned is a pretty perfect example of how flawed defensive metrics are

 

seriously, it's joey gathright. good lord

[Jehrico]

Here are the posts that prompted your orginial Hermida comment

 

Because of the four offseason RF targets the Cubs had going into the winter meetings, Gathright is better than 2-3 of them

 

then

 

If we're considering those targets to be Ibanez, Hermida, Abreu, and Bradley

 

and you replied

 

There's zero rumors floating out there even remotely linking us to Hermida.

 

The guy was talking about players who the Cubs have rumored to be interested in this offseason and you said that. I just gave you 5 articles that linked the Cubs to Hermida.

You're acting like a 12 year old kid.

 

First, those 5 articles you linked DID NOT link the Cubs to Hermida. Only one of them did, and it was an obscure blog link. Second, re the "zero rumors" comment, it is NOT a rumor that Hendry was interested in Hermida. As widely reported as that was, that's probably a fact. Like I mentioned earlier though, there were no rumors that Hendry ever actively looked into Hermida. No offers were made or solicited by either side. When you're talking trade rumors, which is pretty much the whole point of this forum, normally trade rumors involve one team offering another team something for something else. As I explained earlier, but you insist on ignoring, is Hendry wasn't working any other deals while he was working on Peavy, and Floridas demands for Hermida were exposed as unreasonable before the Peavy deal was shelved. His name made an early list and was quickly taken off without being pursued is what it sounds like to me. Interest in a player who fits a need doesn't mean we were ever linked to pursuing him. Also once again, why are you insisting on engaging in a pissing match over this? You're acting incredibly petty.

 

 

edit...nm...you're right. You win. You're the superior poster. Just drop it already.

[17 Seconds]

lol, so being intereted in hermida is not a link to him? okay dude. the fact that you said "not even remotely" makes you look even worse

 

anyways, if that's what you're going with, then why did you comment to that guy in the first place? he was talking about guys the cubs have been rumored to be interested in. he never said "guys that the cus called and tried to work something out for"

 

no im not acting petty, you're just being ridiculous and backtracking all over the place.

 

whatever. you're right dude. i'm sure by "linked to hermida" you meant "hendry actually called and tried to work something out for him" and that in reality hendry never even called. good job.

[nilodnayr]

This is the big IF. If Pie gets traded, for something of value than I wouldnt mind Gathright as a replacement. However, I just hope it would be for something of value, not just to get him off the team. Still, when you have Pie for league minimum, I dont understand throwing Gathright 1-2 mil when by all accounts, were trying to shed some pay roll.

 

The wording from various sources is unclear if Gathright would even get a major league contract, I really doubt he's getting 1-2 million.

 

 

And I'm pretty sure the 3 players Colin is referring to are Ibanez, Abreu, and Bradley. Ibanez and Abreu(throw Dunn the RF in here too if you like) are the inverse of Gathright, giving away their offensive value with wretched defense. Bradley isn't much better than anyone if he can't stay healthy. Personally, I'm skeptical of Gathright's offensive projection like I mentioned earlier, but it's not like he's never hit at that level(below average instead of replacement level), and he's 28 so if he were to step up offensively now would be the time(especially going to an easier league like Colin mentioned).

 

Also of note is that Gathright has no platoon split. .631 career OPS against both RHP and LHP.

 

Ibanez is plus 1 win on offense and negative 1.5 win on defense with I'm guessing negative a half a win or so on the bases. So a roughly negative 1 LF'er.

 

Abreu is plus 1.5 win on offense and negative 1.5 win on defense with I'm guessing neutral value or so on the bases. So a roughly 0 RF'er.

 

Dunn is plus 3 win on offense and negative 1.5 win on defense with I'm guessing negative a half a win or so on the bases. So a roughly plus 1 LF'er.

 

Bradley is plus on both offense and defense, but as TT said, you have to scale that down for playing time, which is anyones guess, so I'm not even going to provide #s (but even in limited playing time is probably better than all the above)

 

Gathright is negative 1 win on offense and positive 2 win on corner OF defense (1 win in CF) with I'm guessing positive 1 win or so on the bases. So a roughly plus 2 corner OF, plus 1 CF.

 

All of the above #s are rough.

 

If hes used solely as a double switch pinch runner defensive replacement, then Lou can utilize his postivite attributes (speed on the bases and defense) without having to have him bat. As mentioned before, he takes over for Pie when Pie gets traded. Thats a good use of resources.

[nilodnayr]

You guys do know that Colin knows more about sabermetrics (and particularly defensive metrics and the true value of defense) than anyone else on the board, right?

 

Arguing that Gathright is better than those guys mentioned is a pretty perfect example of how flawed defensive metrics are

 

seriously, it's joey gathright. good lord

 

thats a pretty convincing argument

[BigbadB]

I'm a bit confused by this move. Already on the roster are:

 

Soriano

Johnson

Fukudome

Pie

Hoffpauir

 

And they are trying to get Bradley. Assuming Pie will be traded, that still leaves 5 guys for the outfield, and that still doesn't include DeRosa.

 

I would value Hoffpauir's PH abilities way above anything Gathright can provide. If Gathright is just AAA filler, then whatever.

[umpunk]

Anybody who is excited or upset by this move is way out of whack. Anybody excited by it needs to hope we also sign Usain Bolt, and anybody worried/upset/angry over it needs to realize he will be our 5th OF at best. This signing was nothing more than taking a shot on a kid with speed/defense potential to help us in the late innings. Nothing more, nothing less. Zero risk here.

 

Bingo - I rarely post on here, but do enjoy reading the board. However, one of the biggest issues on this board (and most message boards) is everything has to be black or white - either it's the greatest move in the world or Gathright s*cks beyond belief. Neither one is really accurate though. I have no problem whatsoever with signing a speedy, good glove centerfielder cheaply and giving him a shot in spring training, and that's all this is (if it actually happens).

 

I just don't see the need for the move, personally. So he's fast, and he can't do much else. There's plenty of fast guys out there who can't do anything else. Why not one of them?

 

Unless you can identify a downside (e.g., his signing prevents us from signing a quality RF, makes us move Pie for next to nothing, etc...), and you really can't at this point, there is no downside here. Granted, there isn't much of an upside either - he simply can't hit and good fielding (while becoming shiek) is only going to mask so much of that. Which is my whole point, the move is simply a "who cares" deal.