Jeff Baker

[Little Slide Rooter]

Throughout these dismal 3 weeks or so that have essentially sunk this team, there have been 2 bright spots, being Derrek Lee and Jeff Baker. The question is, can Baker keep it up? Were his 2008 numbers indicitive of what he'll be? Will he be like Mike Fontenot, and thrive as a backup but ultimately prove that he has no business as a full time starter, or maybe like Mark DeRosa, and thirive when hes finally given the opportunity as a full time starter? If he keeps up what hes doing now, or anywhere near, theres really no point in signing a replacement in the offseason who may or may not be an upgrade. Another upside to him is that with Andres Blanco as a backup SS, theres absolutley no reason to keep Aaron Miles on the team.

 

What is his 2010 status? Is he under team control, arb eligible or what?

[JeffH]

Jeff Baker will be eligible for salary arbitration after this season.

[nick23]

If we don't sign or trade for a second baseman in the offseason I think Baker should be the guy. It's safe to say that the Mike Fontenot experiment failed pretty miserably. Hopefully Baker is the everyday 2nd baseman for the rest of this season at least.

[Post Count Padder]

Yeah, Baker's really been on fire the past few weeks. Hopefully he can keep it up.

[Old Style]

Sign him to a 5-year deal for $50 million with a no trade clause. [/Jim Hendry]

[kujay]

Sign him to a 5-year deal for $50 million with a no trade clause. [/Jim Hendry]

 

I'm not laughing.

[JeffH]

Sign him to a 5-year deal for $50 million with a no trade clause. [/Jim Hendry]

 

Now you're just being ridiculous.

 

Hendry would never do this.

 

He would sign him to a three year, $30 million contract with $10 million player options for the fourth and fifth years.

[rynefan]

I know this thread is regarding the greatness that is Jeff Baker, and not saying I disagree, but how sad is the original post here that Baker and Lee have been the bright spots lately? Sums up the season well.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I know this thread is regarding the greatness that is Jeff Baker, and not saying I disagree, but how sad is the original post here that Baker and Lee have been the bright spots lately? Sums up the season well.

 

I dont know about the "greatness" that is Jeff Baker, but certainly the adequacy of Jeff Baker, or the not Mike Fontenot or Aaron Milesness that is Jeff Baker.

[javy knows my name]

I know this thread is regarding the greatness that is Jeff Baker, and not saying I disagree, but how sad is the original post here that Baker and Lee have been the bright spots lately? Sums up the season well.

Not as sad as my suspicion that we are wasting Lee's last truly productive year

[jersey cubs fan]

I know this thread is regarding the greatness that is Jeff Baker, and not saying I disagree, but how sad is the original post here that Baker and Lee have been the bright spots lately? Sums up the season well.

 

How does that sum up the season well? And why is that necessarily sad? Two guys with an OPS over 1000 in August isn't sad to me, and doesn't come close to explaining how a team can't score or win much.

 

Also, Fukudome has been just as bright of a spot, with a 1000+ OPS in August as well.

[soapy]

Hasn't Baker still been doing the bulk of his damage against LHP? That's nothing new for him with a career OPS vs. LHP of .931 and an OPS of .708 vs RHP. The guy has beat up lefties and struggled against righties his whole career. I suppose it's possible he's figured it out at age 28, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Hasn't Baker still been doing the bulk of his damage against LHP? That's nothing new for him with a career OPS vs. LHP of .931 and an OPS of .708 vs RHP. The guy has beat up lefties and struggled against righties his whole career. I suppose it's possible he's figured it out at age 28, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

Remember hes never been a full timer before. last year was the first time he played in over 100 games, and he put up respectable numbers. Considering the options, Id just assume go with him the rest of the way.

[dew1679666265]

Hasn't Baker still been doing the bulk of his damage against LHP? That's nothing new for him with a career OPS vs. LHP of .931 and an OPS of .708 vs RHP. The guy has beat up lefties and struggled against righties his whole career. I suppose it's possible he's figured it out at age 28, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

v RHP: .264/.316/.377/.693

v LHP: .325/.372/.600/.972

overall w/Cubs: .343/.395/.557/.952

 

I'm not sure how his lefty/righty splits break down since his torrid streak began, but those are his splits all year and his overall numbers as a Cub.

 

I'm all for keeping him next year, but having a lefty around in case he struggles with righties wouldn't be a bad idea.

[fromthestretch]

Hasn't Baker still been doing the bulk of his damage against LHP? That's nothing new for him with a career OPS vs. LHP of .931 and an OPS of .708 vs RHP. The guy has beat up lefties and struggled against righties his whole career. I suppose it's possible he's figured it out at age 28, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

It's a very small sample size, but during this little hot streak (since 8/9), he's 8-for-19 with two doubles and a triple against right-handers.

[soapy]

Hasn't Baker still been doing the bulk of his damage against LHP? That's nothing new for him with a career OPS vs. LHP of .931 and an OPS of .708 vs RHP. The guy has beat up lefties and struggled against righties his whole career. I suppose it's possible he's figured it out at age 28, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

Remember hes never been a full timer before. last year was the first time he played in over 100 games, and he put up respectable numbers. Considering the options, Id just assume go with him the rest of the way.

Right, I don't disagree considering what Fontenot/Miles are likely to do. I'm just not ready to think of him as an everyday 2B next year unless he shows that maybe he can hit RHP the rest of the way (at a minimum).

[soapy]

Hasn't Baker still been doing the bulk of his damage against LHP? That's nothing new for him with a career OPS vs. LHP of .931 and an OPS of .708 vs RHP. The guy has beat up lefties and struggled against righties his whole career. I suppose it's possible he's figured it out at age 28, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

It's a very small sample size, but during this little hot streak (since 8/9), he's 8-for-19 with two doubles and a triple against right-handers.

 

thanks. i was trying to find those numbers and couldn't.

[fromthestretch]

Hasn't Baker still been doing the bulk of his damage against LHP? That's nothing new for him with a career OPS vs. LHP of .931 and an OPS of .708 vs RHP. The guy has beat up lefties and struggled against righties his whole career. I suppose it's possible he's figured it out at age 28, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

It's a very small sample size, but during this little hot streak (since 8/9), he's 8-for-19 with two doubles and a triple against right-handers.

 

thanks. i was trying to find those numbers and couldn't.

 

I had to use the baseballmusings.com day-to-day database. Took a couple of tries to get the right number of minimum plate appearances for my search. Their day-to-day database kind of helps fill in some gaps where baseball-reference might fall short.

[Rob]

Just neutralizing Mike Fontenot's bad luck this year:

 

.245/.311/.407

 

Adjusting his line drive percentage back to his career norms:

 

.268/.332/.438

 

He's had bad luck and a prolonged slump. Even if you want to weigh his line this year more heavily than the others, you're still looking at a player with an expected OPS of around .750. Mike Fontenot is being villified far too much on this board.

 

Edit:

 

I also forgot to include park factors... as any good Cubs fan knows, Wrigley has been a pain to hit in this year, with the wind blowing in far more often than it usually does. And surprise surprise, Fontenot's home OPS is nearly 100 points lower than his road.

[jersey cubs fan]

Just neutralizing Mike Fontenot's bad luck this year:

 

.245/.311/.407

 

Adjusting his line drive percentage back to his career norms:

 

.268/.332/.438

 

He's had bad luck and a prolonged slump. Even if you want to weigh his line this year more heavily than the others, you're still looking at a player with an expected OPS of around .750. Mike Fontenot is being villified far too much on this board.

 

You have a point. Prior to Baker, Fontenot was carrying the team's production from the 2B spot with fewer than half the PA. Miles, Blanco and Scales all have sub 600 OPS with 200+ PA of the 460+ total PA from the position. The problem is mostly Miles. And we really shouldn't forget that.

 

Baker/Fontenot is not a horrible idea for a platoon. Although I'm still hoping for a Theriot/Fontenot with some new SS coming in.

[nick23]

Just neutralizing Mike Fontenot's bad luck this year:

 

.245/.311/.407

 

Adjusting his line drive percentage back to his career norms:

 

.268/.332/.438

 

He's had bad luck and a prolonged slump. Even if you want to weigh his line this year more heavily than the others, you're still looking at a player with an expected OPS of around .750. Mike Fontenot is being villified far too much on this board.

 

Edit:

 

I also forgot to include park factors... as any good Cubs fan knows, Wrigley has been a pain to hit in this year, with the wind blowing in far more often than it usually does. And surprise surprise, Fontenot's home OPS is nearly 100 points lower than his road.

I'm calling for more villification. He's OPS'ng .670 and that's against mostly right handed pitching. It would've been nice to hide him in the 8th spot all year, but due to the sucktitude that is Geo and Soriano there is no hiding. He just picked a really bad year to be truly awful.

[Rob]

Just neutralizing Mike Fontenot's bad luck this year:

 

.245/.311/.407

 

Adjusting his line drive percentage back to his career norms:

 

.268/.332/.438

 

He's had bad luck and a prolonged slump. Even if you want to weigh his line this year more heavily than the others, you're still looking at a player with an expected OPS of around .750. Mike Fontenot is being villified far too much on this board.

 

Edit:

 

I also forgot to include park factors... as any good Cubs fan knows, Wrigley has been a pain to hit in this year, with the wind blowing in far more often than it usually does. And surprise surprise, Fontenot's home OPS is nearly 100 points lower than his road.

I'm calling for more villification. He's OPS'ng .670 and that's against mostly right handed pitching. It would've been nice to hide him in the 8th spot all year, but due to the sucktitude that is Geo and Soriano there is no hiding. He just picked a really bad year to be truly awful.

 

He picked the year he'd have bad luck?

[Soul]

I assume its a blip. He's more than 100 points higher than his career OPS with the Cubs, and its only 76 PA's.

 

I'd love for it not to be though. May as well keep playing him as long as he remains productive.

 

Maybe he's catching his wind as a player @ 28.

[nick23]

Just neutralizing Mike Fontenot's bad luck this year:

 

.245/.311/.407

 

Adjusting his line drive percentage back to his career norms:

 

.268/.332/.438

 

He's had bad luck and a prolonged slump. Even if you want to weigh his line this year more heavily than the others, you're still looking at a player with an expected OPS of around .750. Mike Fontenot is being villified far too much on this board.

 

Edit:

 

I also forgot to include park factors... as any good Cubs fan knows, Wrigley has been a pain to hit in this year, with the wind blowing in far more often than it usually does. And surprise surprise, Fontenot's home OPS is nearly 100 points lower than his road.

I'm calling for more villification. He's OPS'ng .670 and that's against mostly right handed pitching. It would've been nice to hide him in the 8th spot all year, but due to the sucktitude that is Geo and Soriano there is no hiding. He just picked a really bad year to be truly awful.

 

He picked the year he'd have bad luck?

.225/.293/.380 in 351 plate appearances is a little more than bad luck. It's in the final stages of a very bad year.

[dew1679666265]

I assume its a blip. He's more than 100 points higher than his career OPS with the Cubs, and its only 76 PA's.

 

I'd love for it not to be though. May as well keep playing him as long as he remains productive.

 

Maybe he's catching his wind as a player @ 28.

 

If the question is whether the .952 OPS with the Cubs is a fluke, then the answer is likely yes. However, I think the evidence is there that he can be a very productive player (for a second baseman).

 

He OPSd .791 last year and overall this year is currently at .813 (.384 Colorado OPS and .952 Cubs OPS). It's not a certainty, but I also don't think it's a stretch to think he could be a low-mid .800s OPS guy.