Bryan LaHair to the Bigs

[Hairyducked Idiot]

*Throws computer against the wall*

 

Maybe you can repair in time to realise that all I'm suggesting is that we try to get a little something for nothing. It's not like I suggested we trade Starlin Castro for some obscure kid from the Ham Fighters.

 

No such team as the Ham Fighters.

[Little Slide Rooter]

*Throws computer against the wall*

 

Maybe you can repair in time to realise that all I'm suggesting is that we try to get a little something for nothing. It's not like I suggested we trade Starlin Castro for some obscure kid from the Ham Fighters.

 

No such team as the Ham Fighters.

 

Then the Ham has already won. Yeah, yeah, I know, Nippon Ham is the owners, and Fighters are the team name.

[minnesotacubsfan]

lolololol

 

RK	Player	Team	Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG▼	OPS
1	LaHair, B	CHC	1B	9	24	5	11	4	1	1	4	3	4	0	0	.458	.519	.833	1.352

[DivineBovine]

OK. I defy ANYONE to name me ONE player who has EVER all the sudden learned how to play in his late 20's.

 

Jose Bautista? OK. Nevermind then.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

OK. I defy ANYONE to name me ONE player who has EVER all the sudden learned how to play in his late 20's.

 

Jose Bautista? OK. Nevermind then.

 

See the problem with LaHair is that his 20's occurred in the minors rather than the Majors. Hell, the majority of his 20's was spent in the PCL. It'd be a whole different story if he was a former top prospect who spent alot of time in the big leagues, failed, came here, reworked his swing like in real life, and did what he did.

[DivineBovine]

Fine. I'm certainly not excited about LeHair.

 

But why absolutely trash him because he's old. He's put up very respectable numbers, albeit in a very hitter friendly minor league, for 3 years. It's not like he had 1 good year. We've certainly seen a lot of Cubs AAAA players who tore up Iowa and never panned out, but stranger things have happened. Plenty of guys are able to play as well or even better in the majors than in the minors. And this guy had played in all of 45 games in the majors before this year.

 

If he were batting .290 in the minors at age 18 and had some power, people would be drooling, talking about him a future all-star, and saying they wouldn't trade him for Pujols.

 

Let's calm down. Who cares if this guy actually gets some playing time? It's not like the team is going anywhere. And I don't see too many people actually excited about him anyways.

[Little Slide Rooter]

OK. I defy ANYONE to name me ONE player who has EVER all the sudden learned how to play in his late 20's.

 

Jose Bautista? OK. Nevermind then.

 

See the problem with LaHair is that his 20's occurred in the minors rather than the Majors. Hell, the majority of his 20's was spent in the PCL. It'd be a whole different story if he was a former top prospect who spent alot of time in the big leagues, failed, came here, reworked his swing like in real life, and did what he did.

 

Well, either you give him a chance or you don't. If you give him a chance, maybe you get some cheap, productive years like Ryan Ludwick or Garrett Jones gave The Cards and Pirates. Maybe you get Jake Fox or Dallas McPherson. I don't think that you'll find a single Cubs fan who will say who needs Fielder or Pujols, we have Lahair, but if your looking for a cheap bat off the bench, there you go. I suspect he'll have spring training to battle it out with Colvin, and if Colvin wins out, LaHair will end up in Japan.

[Outshined_One]

Well, either you give him a chance or you don't. If you give him a chance, maybe you get some cheap, productive years like Ryan Ludwick or Garrett Jones gave The Cards and Pirates. Maybe you get Jake Fox or Dallas McPherson. I don't think that you'll find a single Cubs fan who will say who needs Fielder or Pujols, we have Lahair, but if your looking for a cheap bat off the bench, there you go. I suspect he'll have spring training to battle it out with Colvin, and if Colvin wins out, LaHair will end up in Japan.

 

About that, we're getting close to that point.

[imb]

LittleLordLaHair

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

Well, either you give him a chance or you don't. If you give him a chance, maybe you get some cheap, productive years like Ryan Ludwick or Garrett Jones gave The Cards and Pirates. Maybe you get Jake Fox or Dallas McPherson. I don't think that you'll find a single Cubs fan who will say who needs Fielder or Pujols, we have Lahair, but if your looking for a cheap bat off the bench, there you go. I suspect he'll have spring training to battle it out with Colvin, and if Colvin wins out, LaHair will end up in Japan.

 

About that, we're getting close to that point.

 

Yeah but that's BCB. It's where most intelligent comments goes to be ridiculed and/or mostly ignored. If anyone posts there someone post a "Gato would just like to point out that Matt Garza's ERA is hovering around the 3.5 he wasn't supposed to get with periphs he wasn't supposed to be able to put up." They'll tell you something about goalposts, and then point to his W-L record or Quade or something.

 

As far as LaHair pulling a Jones or Ludwick WSR...both are better athletes and IIRC were more significant prospects...I know Ludwick was once pretty well thought of as a prospect.

[Irrelevant Dude]

I must say I have been impressed with LaHair's approach at the plate and don't think it is impossible that he could be a productive Major League player. If the Cubs bring Ramirez back and then sign a big bat to play 1B or RF, I wouldn't be opposed to giving LaHair a chance to fill the remaining position. Even if he doesn't start, it would be nice to have some left-handed pop off the bench instead of a roster full of middle infielders.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I must say I have been impressed with LaHair's approach at the plate and don't think it is impossible that he could be a productive Major League player. If the Cubs bring Ramirez back and then sign a big bat to play 1B or RF, I wouldn't be opposed to giving LaHair a chance to fill the remaining position. Even if he doesn't start, it would be nice to have some left-handed pop off the bench instead of a roster full of middle infielders.

 

I don't think there's any way a guy who just hit 40 HRs between AAA and the majors could be a bad option for a bench bat. But that's got to be all he is.

[Fro]

Gotta give him a shot and see if he can keep it up, IMHO.

[jersey cubs fan]

Gotta give him a shot and see if he can keep it up, IMHO.

 

what sort of "shot" are you thinking of?

[illiniguy]

Gotta give him a shot and see if he can keep it up, IMHO.

 

what sort of "shot" are you thinking of?

Steroids, I hope.

[Rob]

Gotta give him a shot and see if he can keep it up, IMHO.

 

People were saying that about Casey Coleman this time last year.

 

If you want to give LaHair a minor reserve role and see if he can't play his way into more, fine. But counting on him in any real capacity would be a mistake.

Edited September 24, 2011 by Rob

[davell]

I'd give him a chance to make the team next year, but can we expect anything more than Hoffpauir? I seriously doubt it. If he proves us wrong, great for us. But all I'm even hoping for is a cheap cost effective lefty pinch hitter out of him that has a little pop. But if Japan comes calling and offers us 500k or so for him, I'd take it if we put it right back into the system.