Brett Jackson - Not bench worthy?

[kente777]

Brett Jackson hit another home run Tuesday, his third in five days, including a pair of intrasquad games.

 

But as much as the Cubs would like to promote Jackson, his chances of making the team without an opening in the outfield are slim.

 

Manager Dale Sveum pointed to what he believes is one of the best benches around in Jeff Baker, Reed Johnson and Blake DeWitt.

 

"I don't think you're ever going to have a kid like that not play," Sveum said of Jackson. "He hasn't played a full year in Triple A. He's either going to make the team and play every day, or he's going to be in Triple A.

 

I find it hard to believe that the 3 bench players mentioned by Sveum would be better than adding Jackson as a third. Is he hinting that he wants Jackson to get more time in Triple A?

[bcl412]

It would be hard for him to develop on the bench is pretty much what he's saying. Playing him everyday somewhere is the right move. In the past the Cubs have seemed to enjoy calling up players and having them sit on the bench and they never really developed at the pro level.

[Guest]

Brett Jackson hit another home run Tuesday, his third in five days, including a pair of intrasquad games.

 

But as much as the Cubs would like to promote Jackson, his chances of making the team without an opening in the outfield are slim.

 

Manager Dale Sveum pointed to what he believes is one of the best benches around in Jeff Baker, Reed Johnson and Blake DeWitt.

 

"I don't think you're ever going to have a kid like that not play," Sveum said of Jackson. "He hasn't played a full year in Triple A. He's either going to make the team and play every day, or he's going to be in Triple A.

 

I find it hard to believe that the 3 bench players mentioned by Sveum would be better than adding Jackson as a third. Is he hinting that he wants Jackson to get more time in Triple A?

 

He's explicitly saying that Brett Jackson is better off playing in AAA than riding a bench in the major leagues.

[Have a seat, Neifi]

At this point, there is no reason to start Jackson anywhere but in AAA.

[Guest]

Does Sveum really not know DeWitt got removed from the 40 man roster?

[SouthSideRyan]

Does Sveum really not know DeWitt got removed from the 40 man roster?

 

That doesn't stop him from being put back on it.

 

Mateo should really start on the 60 day DL, Lendy Castillo could be returned and there are still some DFA candidates.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If we can manage get a decent return before opening day for Byrd or Soriano, then by all means have Jackson start the season in the bigs. If not, assuming all is going well in Iowa just get what we can in July for Byrd and call up Jackson then. There's no excuse or your top prospect to be anything short of a full time player at whichever level he starts the season.

[kente777]

If we can manage get a decent return before opening day for Byrd or Soriano, then by all means have Jackson start the season in the bigs. If not, assuming all is going well in Iowa just get what we can in July for Byrd and call up Jackson then. There's no excuse or your top prospect to be anything short of a full time player at whichever level he starts the season.

 

Agree. It's nice to see him hitting so well.

[treebird]

If we can manage get a decent return before opening day for Byrd or Soriano, then by all means have Jackson start the season in the bigs. If not, assuming all is going well in Iowa just get what we can in July for Byrd and call up Jackson then. There's no excuse or your top prospect to be anything short of a full time player at whichever level he starts the season.

 

even if you trade byrd/soriano, i'd rather start campana in cf on opening day than jackson. there are lots and lots of reasons to start him at aaa, and basically none to start him in chicago.

[Guest]

If we can manage get a decent return before opening day for Byrd or Soriano, then by all means have Jackson start the season in the bigs. If not, assuming all is going well in Iowa just get what we can in July for Byrd and call up Jackson then. There's no excuse or your top prospect to be anything short of a full time player at whichever level he starts the season.

 

 

No. By no means should he be starting this year in the majors. None.

[bcl412]

If we can manage get a decent return before opening day for Byrd or Soriano, then by all means have Jackson start the season in the bigs. If not, assuming all is going well in Iowa just get what we can in July for Byrd and call up Jackson then. There's no excuse or your top prospect to be anything short of a full time player at whichever level he starts the season.

 

 

No. By no means should he be starting this year in the majors. None.

 

Couldn't there be benefits of utilizing a wasted season to develop a young player against big league pitching? Not that I'd do it but I think there could be positives to it.

[Guest]

Not in early April. Come May/June when he's no longer burning a service year, then go nuts. Play him every day in CF. Hit him 1st and 3rd in the lineup at the same time. Have him coach 1st base for the other team. Just don't put him on the MLB roster to start the year.

[bcl412]

Not in early April. Come May/June when he's no longer burning a service year, then go nuts. Play him every day in CF. Hit him 1st and 3rd in the lineup at the same time. Have him coach 1st base for the other team. Just don't put him on the MLB roster to start the year.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I thought the implication was no Jackson in the majors this year period.

[pitchcs]

We are the freaking Cubs, not the Pirates....does a service year really matter?

 

I agree that until Byrd is gone he will need to be in AAA but if Byrd wad dealt then you 100% start him in Chicago IMO. I agree we don't have much of a chance this year, but anything is possible and you gotta try to put your best team on the field.

[XZero771679666304]

We are the freaking Cubs, not the Pirates....does a service year really matter?

 

 

 

If we're not going to compete, what does it matter? What would the team be losing by waiting a month or two to bring him up? Is it worth a year of team control to have him on the roster in April/May in a rebuilding year?

 

Just because you have more money than the Pirates doesn't mean you should be stupid.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If we can manage get a decent return before opening day for Byrd or Soriano, then by all means have Jackson start the season in the bigs. If not, assuming all is going well in Iowa just get what we can in July for Byrd and call up Jackson then. There's no excuse or your top prospect to be anything short of a full time player at whichever level he starts the season.

 

even if you trade byrd/soriano, i'd rather start campana in cf on opening day than jackson. there are lots and lots of reasons to start him at aaa, and basically none to start him in chicago.

 

If it were to come down to that, I'd go with Sappelt. There's at least the chance that he can be something resembling a big league regular. Tony Campana is a set of legs.

[pitchcs]

We are the freaking Cubs, not the Pirates....does a service year really matter?

 

 

 

If we're not going to compete, what does it matter? What would the team be losing by waiting a month or two to bring him up? Is it worth a year of team control to have him on the roster in April/May in a rebuilding year?

 

Just because you have more money than the Pirates doesn't mean you should be stupid.

 

 

How do you know they're not going to compete?

[Tracer Bullet]

We are the freaking Cubs, not the Pirates....does a service year really matter?

 

I agree that until Byrd is gone he will need to be in AAA but if Byrd wad dealt then you 100% start him in Chicago IMO. I agree we don't have much of a chance this year, but anything is possible and you gotta try to put your best team on the field.

 

I know someone here can provide an estimate of what a wasted service year would cost us and its going to be significant and well within the range of making it stupid to start Jackson in the majors.

[SouthSideRyan]

We are the freaking Cubs, not the Pirates....does a service year really matter?

 

I agree that until Byrd is gone he will need to be in AAA but if Byrd wad dealt then you 100% start him in Chicago IMO. I agree we don't have much of a chance this year, but anything is possible and you gotta try to put your best team on the field.

 

An extra year of team control matters no matter who you are.

 

ETA: And I really like Brett Jackson, but he has 220 PAs at AAA. He's far from a guaranteed producer at the big league level in a month. No sense in rushing him because there's an opening.

Edited March 7, 2012 by SouthSideRyan

[bcl412]

We are the freaking Cubs, not the Pirates....does a service year really matter?

 

I agree that until Byrd is gone he will need to be in AAA but if Byrd wad dealt then you 100% start him in Chicago IMO. I agree we don't have much of a chance this year, but anything is possible and you gotta try to put your best team on the field.

 

I know someone here can provide an estimate of what a wasted service year would cost us and its going to be significant and well within the range of making it stupid to start Jackson in the majors.

 

It's basically making the choice of a few months of Jackson hoping that he is good pretty much right away and also hoping that the team is good enough for it to matter (both of which are less than likely one would imagine) versus millions of dollars lost if Jackson does pan out to be a good major league starter. I see no reasoning behind wasting that arbitration year.

[Exile on Waveland]

We are the freaking Cubs, not the Pirates....does a service year really matter?

 

 

 

If we're not going to compete, what does it matter? What would the team be losing by waiting a month or two to bring him up? Is it worth a year of team control to have him on the roster in April/May in a rebuilding year?

 

Just because you have more money than the Pirates doesn't mean you should be stupid.

 

 

How do you know they're not going to compete?

 

He probably looked at the roster.

[XZero771679666304]

We are the freaking Cubs, not the Pirates....does a service year really matter?

 

 

 

If we're not going to compete, what does it matter? What would the team be losing by waiting a month or two to bring him up? Is it worth a year of team control to have him on the roster in April/May in a rebuilding year?

 

Just because you have more money than the Pirates doesn't mean you should be stupid.

 

 

How do you know they're not going to compete?

 

He probably looked at the roster.

 

I'm not ruling contention out, but like you said, you look at the roster and also see that there are three teams in the division clearly outclassing the Cubs from a talent standpoint and you realize the odds aren't good. At all. And rolling the dice every time you have even a glimmer of hope isn't going to serve your best interests in the long term.

 

Even if we were likely to contend, the question becomes does BJax give you enough more than Marlon Byrd in April and May to justify sacrificing a year of his eligibility (one of his prime years)? Not unless he absolutely lit the league on fire for two months.

 

Other than simply to satiate people impatient to see our top prospects in action, there's not a single explicable reason for Brett to break camp with the big club.

[haubrich91]

Keep him in AAA, call him up mid-season after Byrd or Soriano is gone.

[17 Seconds]

brett jackson would probably strike out like 180 times if he started with the major league team this season

[Lefty]

brett jackson would probably strike out like 180 times if he started with the major league team this season

 

It'll happen whenever he gets here.