Anthony Rizzo

[davell]

Colvin and Simpson both reaked of "I'm smarter than you" type picks by Wilken. They had both moved up the boards, but both were considered risky obviously. Colvin wasn't rushed, in my opinion. The only thing we should have done was play him everyday once we traded Fukudome and Quade failed miserably with that. I think he'll wind up as a solid 4th OFer, but nothing more.

[Guest]

Harold Reynolds has a serious man-crush on Tyler Colvin and got on the Cubs last year for not playing him enough. that pretty much confirms he sucks.

I have no idea why he was rushed to the bigs. If he was given more time and if he was in the right organization he might have been decent.

 

He was rushed? He had well over 1000 PA in AA over the course of 3 seasons, and that was with 3 seasons worth of major college baseball. He was 24 when he got his first call-up and he tore the cover off the ball the following spring. I hardly think he was rushed. Half his value was in the fact that he was fairly polished and a guy who was likely to make the majors (as opposed to a guy with upside to do well in the majors). I agree he may have had a better chance in a better organization, but better organizations wouldn't have drafted him where the Cubs did.

He had big flaws that needed correcting before he got to Chicago. That's what I mean.

[Abe Frohman]

Colvin has never drawn many walks, and according to his patterns - never will. His .315 OB% in over 2,000 minor league PA's attests to that. I'm glad the Cubs are surely going to be gravitating to players who are tougher outs.

[Rob]

I'm going to need you to stay after class and write Darwin Barney has no trade value on the board 100 times.

 

Maybe Marmol and Junior Lake for Rizzo could be taken seriously, but even then you can forget about the Padres throwing in any extra players.

 

That's absurd. I may be the single biggest Lake supporter on this board, but I'd flip him in a heartbeat to acquire Darwin Barney. (if we didn't already have him, obviously)

 

Barney is a proven league-average 2B who makes absolutely nothing and is under control for 5 more years. If that description sounds kinda familiar, it's pretty close to the one people are using to describe why Theo wanted Travis Wood so badly. There are plenty of GMs that would love to have him.

 

One season is not exactly proven. He has no power and he doesn't walk and while hes great defensively he's not at the Vizquel or Ozzie Smith level that it could carry his career, although in offensively focused day and age I have to wonder if even Ozzie would be as appreciated as he was 20 some years ago.

 

Look, Barney is a guy with a pretty good chance to have a long average career probably back and forth between starting and backup depending where he lands. Lake on the other hand has the potential to be much better, but could also be junk. Seems like that's Theos type of thing. Remember, we traded Colvin and LeMahieu, 2 guys with a pretty good chance at being average for 2 guys that could be far better but could be junk. In fact this entire thread is about acquiring a guy who could be out 1st baseman of the future but could be junk.

 

Average Runs per Game:

 

1990 - 4.26

1991 - 4.31

1992 - 4.12

1993 - 4.60

1994 - 4.92

1995 - 4.85

1996 - 5.04

1997 - 4.77

1998 - 4.79

1999 - 5.08

2000 - 5.14

2001 - 4.78

2002 - 4.62

2003 - 4.73

2004 - 4.81

2005 - 4.59

2006 - 4.86

2007 - 4.80

2008 - 4.65

2009 - 4.61

2010 - 4.38

2011 - 4.28

 

Offense has been trending down for an entire decade, with last season being the lowest scoring since 1992. The benchmarks for having an acceptable bat have shifted along with that, especially in the middle infield.

 

Darwin Barney isn't a great baseball player. But he can play SS or 2B at a league average clip while making the league minimum. You think a smart GM with a hole in those spots wouldn't be all over him? Or even a dumb GM under a budget crunch? He's got value.

 

Truffle, ideally I'd love to have a superstar at every position. But if we're making a list of priorities, upgrading 2B should come after the rotation, 1B, 3B, LF, CF, and maybe even C (depending on how comfortable you feel signing a 30 year old Soto to an extension).

 

I think everybody else handled the Colvin madness well enough, so I wont get into that.

[TruffleShuffle]

i just don't like comparing him to the league-average 2b from last year. 2b in the NL was atrocious last year - the AL was 20 points better in OPS and the average NL 2b OPS was down almost 50 points from 2010. it was an anomalously bad year for NL 2b.

 

aside from a strong april, his numbers were very anemic, so i'd be concerned that his true mlb numbers are not quite as good as what he put up last year. i'd really prefer to upgrade 2b and make barney the super sub who can spell 3b, ss, 2b and come in as a defensive replacement when the cubs are leading in the late innings.