Bryan LaHair to the Bigs

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Per Bruce Miles on Twitter.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Can't say he didn't earn it. Hopefully he he gets some decent PT before inevitably heading off to the land of the rising sun, but it could be difficult when our starting 1B is a lefty. LaHair has played a bit of outfield as well though, hopefully in less of a comical fashion than Jake Fox.

 

Im going to assume that Rebel Ridling ends up in Iowa as a corresponding move.

[Guest]

ugh

[KingCubsFan]

ugh

Why does it matter? He's certainly earned it, and he'll be able to earn a big league paycheck for a few weeks as a reward. He certainly won't be taking playing time away from anyone important.

[Guest]

Lahair doesn't ever belong on a future Cubs roster, and considering there are many in Chicago and Iowa that do/could, I'd rather all/any of them get playing time instead.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Lahair doesn't ever belong on a future Cubs roster, and considering there are many in Chicago and Iowa that do/could, I'd rather all/any of them get playing time instead.

 

The only position players in Iowa who I think really have a future are Jackson, Flaherty, and LeMahieu. Castillo too, but he's on the DL. Maybe Marwin Gonzalez. Jackson is the only one who I think could get sufficient PT while the others sit on the bench. LaHair plays 1B and a touch of corner OF, so he's not really taking a spot away from any of those guys and he'll likely be nothing more than a bat off the bench, and next year, he'll probably be either on someones AAA team or in Japan and you won't have to worry about him anymore.

[KingCubsFan]

Lahair doesn't ever belong on a future Cubs roster, and considering there are many in Chicago and Iowa that do/could, I'd rather all/any of them get playing time instead.

How many play first base?

[jersey cubs fan]

Lahair doesn't ever belong on a future Cubs roster, and considering there are many in Chicago and Iowa that do/could, I'd rather all/any of them get playing time instead.

 

Given that for most of them the playing time will be extremely limited and meaningless, I really don't have an issue. Reward the guy for playing well, just as long as they don't get stupid about thinkng he has a future.

[Tryptamine]

God help us if he has a big first game. The meathead contingency will want us to lock him up for the next 5 years.

[dew1679666265]

Lahair doesn't ever belong on a future Cubs roster, and considering there are many in Chicago and Iowa that do/could, I'd rather all/any of them get playing time instead.

 

Given that for most of them the playing time will be extremely limited and meaningless, I really don't have an issue. Reward the guy for playing well, just as long as they don't get stupid about thinkng he has a future.

 

Yeah, my concern with calling up LeMaheieu, Jackson, Flaherty, etc, is that they'd be stuck on the bench behind Barney, Pena, Reed, etc. I'd rather see any of them get PAs in the bigs over LaHair, but if one of them is being brought up to sit on the bench and get the occassional spot start/PH appearance, I'd much rather that be LaHair.

 

Add in that it'll be a neat experience for him and I see no problem with bringing him up.

[E.J.]

God help us if he has a big first game. The meathead contingency will want us to lock him up for the next 5 years.

 

Jason Dubois is the future.

[pitchcs]

Lahair doesn't ever belong on a future Cubs roster, and considering there are many in Chicago and Iowa that do/could, I'd rather all/any of them get playing time instead.

 

Given that for most of them the playing time will be extremely limited and meaningless, I really don't have an issue. Reward the guy for playing well, just as long as they don't get stupid about thinkng he has a future.

 

Yeah, I mean this is the year to do these sorta things. Who cares if he gets 30 AB's? Seen Pena, know the story.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Look out Brewers, here we come!

[Little Slide Rooter]

Because the point of this move was to catch the Brewers while we have an E number of 3.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I dont know quite what to make of LaHairs OF defense, but if he can finish the season well and have a good ST, he could be a good option for a 4th OF and lefty platoon mate for Soriano and Byrd. He could be another Jake Fox, but then again, he could be another Ryan Ludwick, who was 27 or 28 when he had his breakout season, although he'd had a lot more coffee before that. I'm really not worried about him having a hot month deterring them from going after Fielder or Pujols, because if they decide against those 2, I doubt LaHair or whoever ends up manning 1B next year would be a factor in that decision as much as not wanting to pay them the big bucks.

[Guest]

He is 28 and on his 6th go round in the PCL. He has no place on a MLB roster next year.

[Little Slide Rooter]

He does have a place on the MLB roster if he can be a cheap LH power bat. What's the worst that can happen? If he sucks, then send him away and replace him with someone else. The only guy he'd probably take a roster spot from would be Colvin, and I suspect that the 2 will be battling it out for the same job in ST, with the loser going to Iowa. If the Cubs are going to spend big on guys like Wilson and Fielder, LaHair would be a great way to save money as a bench bat. If they don't plan on spending in the offseason, they'll suck anyway, so who the hell cares who the 4th OF is?

[Guest]

He does have a place on the MLB roster if he can be a cheap LH power bat.

 

He can't.

[TruffleShuffle]

NL Teams don't generally don't carry an extra guy whose only defensive possibilities are the two least demanding positions on the diamond.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Most NL benches consist of 2 infielders, usually a light hitting defensive specialist MI type(ours happens to be our starting 2B), and one who can play 3rd, 1 backup C, and 2 OF, one who can play CF, and one corner guy with a decent bat, who can also spell at 1st.

 

Besides, I really think that either Soriano or Byrd, probably Byrd will be traded in the of season, leaving a corner OF spot open, and I think it will go to either Colvin or LaHair, probably with a RH platoon mate/backup plan.

[bukie]

No, Colvin nor LaHair should be looked at as a platoon anything. If they're there as a potential lefty pinch hitter (and the Cubs can somehow afford that luxury for a 25th man) then fine, but there should be no effort to try to make either of them even a part time starter.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Again, IF the plan is to sign Fielder or Pujols, they'll need to save money somewhere. There's no way they can sign one of them, Wilson, and an OF.

[bukie]

Again, IF the plan is to sign Fielder or Pujols, they'll need to save money somewhere. There's no way they can sign one of them, Wilson, and an OF.

Again, that's a ridiculous notion that they can't afford anything better than a LaHair/Colvin platoon in a starting corner OF position. They're not giving Pujols 70 mil a year.

[Little Slide Rooter]

outfield upgrades will have to wait. Even if they plan on spending big, it will be over a few years. I'd prefer to wait until Kemp or Ethier might be available instead of next years weak crop. Remember, between '06 and '08, there was '07, which was just good enough to take an awful division. That's probably the best we can expect from next years team.

[dew1679666265]

Besides, I really think that either Soriano or Byrd, probably Byrd will be traded in the of season, leaving a corner OF spot open, and I think it will go to either Colvin or LaHair, probably with a RH platoon mate/backup plan.

 

Trading Byrd would be a really bad idea and really shouldn't be necessary. If you need to free up a little money somewhere to get both Fielder/Pujols and Wilson, there are other ways to do it than to trade one of the best values on the team - I'd trade Marmol and promote Carpenter before I dealt Byrd.

 

I wouldn't be terribly opposed to LaHair as the 25th man next year, but I think Colvin is a better bet to produce as the 4th OF/backup 1B so I wouldn't make any special effort to get LaHair on the roster.