Dayton Ohio's Tony Campana

[dew1679666265]

He's been a very pleasant surprise in a dismal season. He wasn't even mentioned as a possibility as a starter in spring training, but he completely eliminated DeWitt and DeWitt/Baker platoon as topics of discussion. There might be better options for the long-range future of the Cubs, but as of right this minute Barney is very close to being the least of the Cubs' problems.

 

And I'm not clamoring to find anybody at all to replace Barney at second base. I wouldn't be in favor of spending resources to go find another second baseman with the other holes in need of filling on this team. If one fell in our laps, fine, but we don't need to spend time seeking one out.

 

However, Hendry just called up one of the Cubs' best prospects - a guy with the potential to be a very good offensive second baseman. Barney's a nice player and has quite a bit of value as a short term starter and role player. However, there's simply not a lot of upside to him and outside of his March/April numbers this season, he's been dreadful offensively in the majors. He posted a .241/.294/.291/.585 line last year in 30 games and in May his numbers are .303/.324/.323/.647.

 

Coupled with his defense, Barney's still a nice player to have around even if his May line is what we can expect from him (I'd expect better than that though). However, if LeMahieu can produce anything like his potential indicates, he'll blow away Barney's ML career .680 OPS.

[Guest]

I'm not saying at all that Barney hasn't been valuable for us this season (he has). I'm not saying that we should trade him at all costs.

 

What I am saying is that Hendry should be talking to other teams and saying that he's got a backlog of quality guys at second base. He's got a guy hitting a quality .370 at AA and a guy who is hitting .310 in the majors. Only one of them can play, so trade from your strengths.

 

If someone out there will overrate Barney because of the start he's had to this season and give us something good in return for him, then make the move. If nobody out there will give us enough in return...so be it.

[imb]

the bigger issue than "lemahieu vs. barney" is WHY IS LEMAHIEU UP IN THE FIRST PLACE

[davearm2]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

[Guest]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

1) by and large different people

2) nobody is saying that

[Guest]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

 

DJ LeMahieu has 1 MLB at-bat wiseguy

[dew1679666265]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

 

Barney has had 286 career ML plate appearances and has posted a .680 OPS in that time. This isn't a grizzled veteran who we know is going to give us good production consistently.

 

We may not know how good LeMahieu will be in the majors, but we wouldn't be benching a guy with an extensive major league track record either.

[imb]

i think in the end we're going to find out that we overrated lemahieu because his AA hot streak lasted a little longer than Barney's major league hot streak.

[Sammy Sofa]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

And now you're saying that these people have soured on him? Who exactly are you talking about?

[davell]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

 

Yeah, because this is EXACTLY what everyone is saying. For someone who accuses people of not comprehending things on a routine basis, I think you better look in the mirror. The point here is that LeMahieu has more longterm potential than Barney. And it's not a knock on Barney either, who holds value to us as a cheap guy for a few years as a utility player. Not every youngster you have has to become A-Rod in order for him to have value to your club.

[dew1679666265]

i think in the end we're going to find out that we overrated lemahieu because his AA hot streak lasted a little longer than Barney's major league hot streak.

 

Very possible. Though I'm not necessarily expecting a mid-.800s OPS out of LeMahieu on a regular basis. LeMahieu is three years younger than Barney and is 6'4 vs Barney's 5'10. There's a ton more room for growth for LeMahieu than there is for Barney even if his performance in AA this year were simply a hot streak.

 

That said, I believe there were reports that LeMahieu bulked up over the offseason, coinciding with his SLG spiking.

[davearm2]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

 

Yeah, because this is EXACTLY what everyone is saying. For someone who accuses people of not comprehending things on a routine basis, I think you better look in the mirror. The point here is that LeMahieu has more longterm potential than Barney. And it's not a knock on Barney either, who holds value to us as a cheap guy for a few years as a utility player. Not every youngster you have has to become A-Rod in order for him to have value to your club.

Relax. All I'm saying is that in a thread a week ago discussing the Cubs' good young players, Barney was mentioned by several folks.

 

Now this thread has several folks (albeit, not the same folks) pushing for him to be bypassed in favor of a guy that's literally 100% unproven at the ML level -- 1 AB.

 

It's just amusing, is all.

 

The truth is, both guys are probably in the replacement level / utility IF tier.

[Sammy Sofa]

How would DJL become "proven" if Barney isn't "pushed aside?"

 

I'm honestly asking. Isn't 2B his ideal projected position?

Edited May 31, 2011 by Sammy Sofa

[davearm2]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

 

Barney has had 286 career ML plate appearances and has posted a .680 OPS in that time. This isn't a grizzled veteran who we know is going to give us good production consistently.

 

We may not know how good LeMahieu will be in the majors, but we wouldn't be benching a guy with an extensive major league track record either.

I agree.

[Guest]

DJ is likely to be better than replacement level simply based on his contact skills and developing power.

 

Barney is better than replacement level due to his contact skills and (hypothetically) plus defense.

 

I simply prefer DJ based on the complete track records of both guys. But like I said, I'm only for trading Barney if we're able to get something good in return.

[davearm2]

How would DJL become "proven" if Barney isn't "pushed aside?"

 

I'm honestly asking. Isn't 2B his ideal projected position?

Bench Castro and play Barney at SS. Problem solved.

[Sammy Sofa]

Shhhhlllllllllllurrrrrrrrrrp

[davell]

I think DJ has the ability to wind up being a .300 hitting, 10 homerish type with lots of doubles to go with it. His OBP will never be high, since he doesn't walk much at all, but that's solid production at 2B. I figure Barney will be more of a .280ish hitter with probably 60% of the extra base pop DJ has the ability to provide and along the same walk rate as what we'd get from DJ.

[Guest]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

 

Yeah, because this is EXACTLY what everyone is saying. For someone who accuses people of not comprehending things on a routine basis, I think you better look in the mirror. The point here is that LeMahieu has more longterm potential than Barney. And it's not a knock on Barney either, who holds value to us as a cheap guy for a few years as a utility player. Not every youngster you have has to become A-Rod in order for him to have value to your club.

Relax. All I'm saying is that in a thread a week ago discussing the Cubs' good young players, Barney was mentioned by several folks.

 

Now this thread has several folks (albeit, not the same folks) pushing for him to be bypassed in favor of a guy that's literally 100% unproven at the ML level -- 1 AB.

 

It's just amusing, is all.

 

The truth is, both guys are probably in the replacement level / utility IF tier.

 

Wait, so some people have differing opinions on a player?

 

STOP THE PRESSES!! THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF NSBB!!

[jersey cubs fan]

It's just amusing.

[Exile on Waveland]

Hehe a week ago Barney was a prominent member on some folks' lists of good young Cub players.

 

Now he can't hold DJ LeMaheiu's (and his zero career bigleague at-bats) jock.

 

Yeah, because this is EXACTLY what everyone is saying. For someone who accuses people of not comprehending things on a routine basis, I think you better look in the mirror. The point here is that LeMahieu has more longterm potential than Barney. And it's not a knock on Barney either, who holds value to us as a cheap guy for a few years as a utility player. Not every youngster you have has to become A-Rod in order for him to have value to your club.

Relax. All I'm saying is that in a thread a week ago discussing the Cubs' good young players, Barney was mentioned by several folks.

 

Now this thread has several folks (albeit, not the same folks) pushing for him to be bypassed in favor of a guy that's literally 100% unproven at the ML level -- 1 AB.

 

It's just amusing, is all.

 

The truth is, both guys are probably in the replacement level / utility IF tier.

 

Wait, so some people have differing opinions on a player?

 

STOP THE PRESSES!! THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF NSBB!!

 

I disagree.

[Northside Blues]

Is it just me or does DJL look like a weird nickname when typed out?

[Banghart]

Is it just me or does DJL look like a weird nickname when typed out?

It is a little too close to DL for my liking...

[scarey]

Honestly, given how far above expectations Barney has performed, I'd like to see if anyone would be interested in buying high on him. I'm more comfortable with LeMahieu if the cubs feel his defense is adequate.

 

don't you think other teams would find it a bit odd that the cubs are looking to trade a productive young rookie when their season is in the toilet? even if the other teams in mlb have complete morons as GMs, the cubs shopping the type of guy they would theoretically be keeping would look pretty strange.

 

I don't think anyone believes another MLB team will be hoodwinked by Hendry on a Barney trade. If I'm another team and I have a hole at SS, I'd be very happy to have Barney. I'm just having a hard time estimating how much I'd be willing to give up for him since we have that hole filled pretty well. Sometimes it's a curse having a 21 year old shortstop with an OPS approaching .800.