Is Bryan LaHair legit?

[Cubswin11]

Seriously, can't we hire a coach to just improve LaHair's D in LF?

 

Is he doing NFL combine-type drills to improve his speed/quickness or are we stuck doing 1980s baseball "conditioning" drills?

 

I think anyone, assuming they're reasonably athletic should be able to play a serviceable LF with the right training.

 

Tracking flyballs/linedrives isn't all that athletic of an activity. It's largely instinctual after years of following balls coming off bats from that distance/angle.

This^

 

and just for shits and giggles

 

http://gif.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/NYJER-MORGAN.gif

[flyseye]

Seriously, can't we hire a coach to just improve LaHair's D in LF?

 

Is he doing NFL combine-type drills to improve his speed/quickness or are we stuck doing 1980s baseball "conditioning" drills?

 

I think anyone, assuming they're reasonably athletic should be able to play a serviceable LF with the right training.

 

Tracking flyballs/linedrives isn't all that athletic of an activity. It's largely instinctual after years of following balls coming off bats from that distance/angle.

 

Lots of players have moved to LF after not having played it much before, Pete Rose and Alphonso Soriano leap to mind.

 

I have watched the likes of Dave Kingman,Mike Lum,Keith Moreland,and Glenallen Hill play LF for the Cubs, LaHair should be adequate. Its not like he would be replacing anyone who is particularly good out there as it is.

[SouthSideRyan]

Soriano and Rose's athleticism helped mask their deficiencies. Those other guys you listed(except Lum who I've never heard of) are some of the worst defensive OFers to put on the uniform. You don't want to give back everything you gain on offense.

[XZero771679666304]

As long as he produces at a good level (.800-.900 OPS), I think it would be worth it.

 

He's not going to be great (or even good), but give him as many practice reps out there as possible and he should be passable. If guys like Dunn can play out there, LaHair should be able to hack it.

 

That said, I'd want to see the other two OF spots manned by capable defenders in such a scenario. An OF of LaHair, BJax and DeJesus could be adequate, but I don't know where that would leave Soriano.

[jersey cubs fan]

Lots of players have moved to LF after not having played it much before, Pete Rose and Alphonso Soriano leap to mind.

 

I have watched the likes of Dave Kingman,Mike Lum,Keith Moreland,and Glenallen Hill play LF for the Cubs, LaHair should be adequate. Its not like he would be replacing anyone who is particularly good out there as it is.

 

Lots of those guys moved off of positions like 3B or 2B, not 1B. 1B is where fielders go when they can't play anywhere else.

 

Listing a bunch of names that played the position does not do anything to support the notion that Bryan LaHair can do it.

 

Plus, going back to the athleticism and tracking flyball discussions, somebody like Soriano is pretty bad at tracking flyballs. But he's a great athlete with a tremendous arm, so he was able to make up for his weaknesses. LaHair is not a good athlete and he has no history of tracking flyballs as an OF. You can assume he will be bad at it, and he doesn't have the athleticism to make up for it. He will be bad. He will need to be really good on offense to make up for it.

Edited May 8, 2012 by jersey cubs fan

[ConstableRabbit]

Seriously, can't we hire a coach to just improve LaHair's D in LF?

 

Is he doing NFL combine-type drills to improve his speed/quickness or are we stuck doing 1980s baseball "conditioning" drills?

 

I think anyone, assuming they're reasonably athletic should be able to play a serviceable LF with the right training.

 

Tracking flyballs/linedrives isn't all that athletic of an activity. It's largely instinctual after years of following balls coming off bats from that distance/angle.

This^

 

and just for [expletive] and giggles

 

http://gif.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/NYJER-MORGAN.gif

Haha when is this from?

[Irrelevant Dude]

That said, I'd want to see the other two OF spots manned by capable defenders in such a scenario.

Just get Michael Bourn to play center and you don't even need a left fielder. He was covering a ridiculous amount of ground last night.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

http://gif.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/NYJER-MORGAN.gif

Haha when is this from?

 

Second series of this season, iirc.

[XZero771679666304]

Lots of players have moved to LF after not having played it much before, Pete Rose and Alphonso Soriano leap to mind.

 

I have watched the likes of Dave Kingman,Mike Lum,Keith Moreland,and Glenallen Hill play LF for the Cubs, LaHair should be adequate. Its not like he would be replacing anyone who is particularly good out there as it is.

 

Lots of those guys moved off of positions like 3B or 2B, not 1B. 1B is where fielders go when they can't play anywhere else.

 

Listing a bunch of names that played the position does not do anything to support the notion that Bryan LaHair can do it.

 

 

Then the question becomes one of whether Rizzo can play the OF, and whether he can do it at a level far enough beyond what LaHair can to offset the gap between their abilities at 1B.

 

By all accounts Rizzo is a stellar defender at 1B.

 

If they would be similar defenders in the OF, the choice is pretty clear.

[Fro]

Seriously, can't we hire a coach to just improve LaHair's D in LF?

 

Is he doing NFL combine-type drills to improve his speed/quickness or are we stuck doing 1980s baseball "conditioning" drills?

 

I think anyone, assuming they're reasonably athletic should be able to play a serviceable LF with the right training.

 

Tracking flyballs/linedrives isn't all that athletic of an activity. It's largely instinctual after years of following balls coming off bats from that distance/angle.

 

Well, then spend some money to make an app where players can "see" thousands of fly balls coming off a bat (based off real plays in games) one after the other and watch it on their IPad from different positions on the field... the player has to decide quickly which way to break. You could even use the accelerometer/GPS and camera to do an agumented reality thing. You could even have it support different wind conditions at the different parks, etc, so you could see how a ball reacts with the wind blowing in or out.

 

It's not going to be as good as real practice reps, but I have to believe something like that would accelerate the learning process.

[jersey cubs fan]

Seriously, can't we hire a coach to just improve LaHair's D in LF?

 

Is he doing NFL combine-type drills to improve his speed/quickness or are we stuck doing 1980s baseball "conditioning" drills?

 

I think anyone, assuming they're reasonably athletic should be able to play a serviceable LF with the right training.

 

Tracking flyballs/linedrives isn't all that athletic of an activity. It's largely instinctual after years of following balls coming off bats from that distance/angle.

 

Well, then spend some money to make an app where players can "see" thousands of fly balls coming off a bat (based off real plays in games) one after the other and watch it on their IPad from different positions on the field... the player has to decide quickly which way to break. You could even use the accelerometer/GPS and camera to do an agumented reality thing. You could even have it support different wind conditions at the different parks, etc, so you could see how a ball reacts with the wind blowing in or out.

 

It's not going to be as good as real practice reps, but I have to believe something like that would accelerate the learning process.

 

All kidding aside, this is the sort of thing you do in the offseason, not the middle of a season. You'd have to give LaHair all of next winter/spring to try and learn the position. The all star break wouldn't be enough time, especially since he will be playing in that game.

[CubColtPacer]

Seriously, can't we hire a coach to just improve LaHair's D in LF?

 

Is he doing NFL combine-type drills to improve his speed/quickness or are we stuck doing 1980s baseball "conditioning" drills?

 

I think anyone, assuming they're reasonably athletic should be able to play a serviceable LF with the right training.

 

Tracking flyballs/linedrives isn't all that athletic of an activity. It's largely instinctual after years of following balls coming off bats from that distance/angle.

 

Well, then spend some money to make an app where players can "see" thousands of fly balls coming off a bat (based off real plays in games) one after the other and watch it on their IPad from different positions on the field... the player has to decide quickly which way to break. You could even use the accelerometer/GPS and camera to do an agumented reality thing. You could even have it support different wind conditions at the different parks, etc, so you could see how a ball reacts with the wind blowing in or out.

 

It's not going to be as good as real practice reps, but I have to believe something like that would accelerate the learning process.

 

All kidding aside, this is the sort of thing you do in the offseason, not the middle of a season. You'd have to give LaHair all of next winter/spring to try and learn the position. The all star break wouldn't be enough time, especially since he will be playing in that game.

 

If this were his first time playing the outfield, I'd agree. But LaHair has 157 minor league games out there. He even had 107 major league innings of playing the outfield just last year. He's familiar with what needs to be done out there, even if he isn't very good at it.

[mookie]

Thank you for the logic CubColtPacer. You don't move Rizzo off of first because LaHair the early 2012 masher is presently camped there. Now if Rizzo sucked pretty hard at first, then I could understand trying him in the outfield.

[Guest]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/05/trade-candidate-bryan-lahair.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MlbTradeRumors+%28MLB+Trade+Rumors%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

[Sammy Sofa]

As long as he produces at a good level (.800-.900 OPS), I think it would be worth it.

 

He's not going to be great (or even good), but give him as many practice reps out there as possible and he should be passable. If guys like Dunn can play out there, LaHair should be able to hack it.

 

Dunn couldn't play OF. His defense in the OF killed his WAR while with the Reds.

[dew1679666265]

My view on this subject is this: We should try to trade LaHair at the deadline, but be very specific about our demands. Don't just dump him for anything, but now would be the perfect time to deal him because his value will never be higher.

 

However, if you don't get what you want, then feel free to keep him. If you do keep him, it really wouldn't hurt anything to work with him in the offseason on playing the OF and see if there's any hope there. I expect not, but having him take reps out there isn't going to hurt anything and there's a non-zero chance that it works.

 

More likely than not we're still going to be be in this rebuilding phase next year so if the experiment carries into the season and he costs us some runs, it's not going to matter. Blocking Rizzo is a bad option and it's not like LaHair is going to retain much, if any, value if he heads to the bench when Rizzo comes up.

Edited May 9, 2012 by dew

[Sammy Sofa]

My view on this subject is this: We should try to trade LaHair at the deadline, but be very specific about our demands. Don't just dump him for anything, but now would be the perfect time to deal him because his value will never be higher.

 

However, if you don't get what you want, then feel free to keep him. If you do keep him, it really wouldn't hurt anything to work with him in the offseason on playing the OF and see if there's any hope there. I expect not, but having him take reps out there isn't going to hurt anything and there's a non-zero chance that it works.

 

I don't think anyone is saying the Cubs can't play him out there; just that expecting him to amount to much defense-wise isn't very realistic.

 

Someday the NL will wise up and have the DH.

[dew1679666265]

I don't think anyone is saying the Cubs can't play him out there; just that expecting him to amount to much defense-wise isn't very realistic.

 

Someday the NL will wise up and have the DH.

 

Some of the mocking tones have made me wonder whether people just think it won't work or whether people think it's dumb to even try. I think it's a good idea to try, but I wouldn't put off shopping him around this deadline in order to do it.

[Sammy Sofa]

I don't think anyone is saying the Cubs can't play him out there; just that expecting him to amount to much defense-wise isn't very realistic.

 

Someday the NL will wise up and have the DH.

 

Some of the mocking tones have made me wonder whether people just think it won't work or whether people think it's dumb to even try. I think it's a good idea to try, but I wouldn't put off shopping him around this deadline in order to do it.

 

I don't think it's dumb to try; it's not like he'd be blocking anyone who needs to be playing or is coming up through the minors. I just think it's silly to expect him to be serviceable out there when he's not even a good 1B and he has almost 300 innings of terrible OF play to look back on. He simply doesn't have the athleticism or the arm to make up for his deficiencies.

Edited May 9, 2012 by Sammy Sofa

[dew1679666265]

Dunn couldn't play OF. His defense in the OF killed his WAR while with the Reds.

 

Yeah, the "Player X was/is awful out there so we should try LaHair because he might be very slightly less awful" argument isn't a very good one.

[dew1679666265]

I don't think it's dumb to try; it's not like he'd be blocking anyone who needs to be playing or is coming up through the minors. I just think it's silly to expect him to be serviceable out there when he's not even a good 1B. He simply doesn't have the athleticism or the arm to make up for his deficiencies.

 

I agree that it's incredibly unlikely that it would actually work, but if he's not dealt at the deadline, then there's really no reason not to try him out there. As unlikely as it is, there's still a non-zero chance that it works and when the other options are to bench him, delay Rizzo, or move Rizzo to another position, the only logical choice is to see if he can do it.

[Sammy Sofa]

I don't think it's dumb to try; it's not like he'd be blocking anyone who needs to be playing or is coming up through the minors. I just think it's silly to expect him to be serviceable out there when he's not even a good 1B. He simply doesn't have the athleticism or the arm to make up for his deficiencies.

 

I agree that it's incredibly unlikely that it would actually work, but if he's not dealt at the deadline, then there's really no reason not to try him out there. As unlikely as it is, there's still a non-zero chance that it works and when the other options are to bench him, delay Rizzo, or move Rizzo to another position, the only logical choice is to see if he can do it.

 

Well, I think the difference is some see it as moving him there to make room for Rizzo, not "we have to find room for LaHair!"

[A New Era]

Could we just keep Rizzo in Iowa the whole year, then bribe MLB to add the DH to the NL next year? Problems solved.

[dew1679666265]

Well, I think the difference is some see it as moving him there to make room for Rizzo, not "we have to find room for LaHair!"

 

I think there should be an element of both there, though. Especially when you're in a rebuilding phase like we are, you shouldn't block a key building block of the future for a 29 year old rookie. But at the same time, LaHair's production, approach, and peripherals shouldn't be ignored. If the only thought was to not block Rizzo, then you'd simply stick LaHair on the bench and be done with it - that's the easiest, simplest option and is likely where he'll ultimately end up anyway.

 

However, since he's producing the way he is with the encouraging approach and peripherals that he has, there should be some level of effort to find him a place to play. If you can't then you should just accept that you can't and move on, but there still should be some effort to find some room for him as long as the peripherals remain encouraging.

[Sammy Sofa]

Well, to be blunt, people thinking they can "look for a place for him play" are just in denial. He's not any kind of a solution in any OF spot barring a miracle, so the best bet is that he keeps looking decent at the plate and teams with a need at 1B or DH come looking.