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Baez

sontensei

By sontensei,
in Chicago Cubs Talk

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mul21 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

mul21

Old-Timey Member
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have people really seen a ton in the majors to indicate russell would be better than castro at shortstop?

 

i like those two where they are.

 

Yeah, UZR has liked Russell in a limited sample and part of his troubles are certainly due to lack of familiarity with 2B, but at the same time we've seen Russell straight kick several balls and I haven't seen any huge displays of range that scream "SS playing 2B" either.

 

The biggest problem with finding a place for Baez to play, is that it's a little difficult to go back if you move Bryant to the OF for any extended stretch. He needs 3B reps if he's going to stick there, and while I'm not entirely opposed to having Bryant meet his future today, it's also sacrificing his value if he can be passable there. It can be a worthy sacrifice if Baez hits, but it's a tricky balancing act to actually execute.

 

Why do we give a crap about Bryant's value? If moving him to LF gets all the best bats in the lineup and at the same time suppresses his value, that seems like a win-win because they'll end up paying less in arbitration. It's not like they're going to be trying to trade him or something.

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have people really seen a ton in the majors to indicate russell would be better than castro at shortstop?

 

i like those two where they are.

 

Yeah, UZR has liked Russell in a limited sample and part of his troubles are certainly due to lack of familiarity with 2B, but at the same time we've seen Russell straight kick several balls and I haven't seen any huge displays of range that scream "SS playing 2B" either.

 

The biggest problem with finding a place for Baez to play, is that it's a little difficult to go back if you move Bryant to the OF for any extended stretch. He needs 3B reps if he's going to stick there, and while I'm not entirely opposed to having Bryant meet his future today, it's also sacrificing his value if he can be passable there. It can be a worthy sacrifice if Baez hits, but it's a tricky balancing act to actually execute.

 

Why do we give a crap about Bryant's value? If moving him to LF gets all the best bats in the lineup and at the same time suppresses his value, that seems like a win-win because they'll end up paying less in arbitration. It's not like they're going to be trying to trade him or something.

 

Most simply, Bryant being able to play 3B acceptably means the offense can be a good bit better, because Bryant at 3B and a MLB LF playing LF is probably better than a MLB 3B playing 3B and Bryant playing LF. Baez's insane offensive potential blurs this line a bit, but he's also so high a bust risk that the more important point is about how practical it is to yo-yo Bryant between 3B and LF.

 

Like I said before, if they want to wait for Baez to hit for a while longer than use a poor defensive game from Bryant to banish him to the OF forever, I'm not entirely opposed to it. Even though Baez is high risk there's some buffer there with Alcantara and to a small extent LaStella. Of course, if you're trying to best optimize the current talent on the roster then you could just as easily start asking the question of why not put Schwarber straight to LF, though that has its own unique context.

 

I'm rambling at this point, but I think it's pretty similar to what I said this offseason, what happens next largely hinges on what position the front office feels Bryant can play in the short term. If they feel he's a 3B, then it seems likely that unless Russell collapses or there's an injury, Baez will build his value back up in AAA until there's a trade made to better distribute the infield talent. If they feel that he's more on the Ryan Braun track but weren't as confident about Russell/Baez/Alcantara's ability to hold down a MLB job, then you could see Bryant as an LF as soon as that confidence is raised enough by Russell and Baez's development.

treebird All-Star

treebird

Old-Timey Member
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im looking for thor to be in blue. if javy keeps up this its easier to part ways with one of our middle infielders.

 

he's already in blue

sontensei First Round Pick

sontensei

Old-Timey Member
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im looking for thor to be in blue. if javy keeps up this its easier to part ways with one of our middle infielders.

 

he's already in blue

 

na man cubbie blue

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It's highlighting how much closer to the plate he is in the 2nd pic, which is what Rizzo did.
MWV First Round Pick

MWV

Old-Timey Member
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Javy taking the Rizzo approach?

A slightly clearer illustration:

4/14:

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2014/08/javier-baez-mlb-milwaukee-brewers-chicago-cubs.jpg

5/15:

http://img.youtube.com/vi/IJjUt2sXo5o/0.jpg

treebird All-Star

treebird

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Javy taking the Rizzo approach?

A slightly clearer illustration:

4/14:

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2014/08/javier-baez-mlb-milwaukee-brewers-chicago-cubs.jpg

5/15:

http://img.youtube.com/vi/IJjUt2sXo5o/0.jpg

 

i liked this a lot

Banedon GOAT

Banedon

Community Moderator
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Next time I steal someone else's content from twitter, I'll make sure to run a CSI-style enhancement on it first.
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Here's a couple clearer and more recent ones that show where he's standing.

 

Looks a little closed too.

 

http://i.imgur.com/WCWV2XA.png

http://i.imgur.com/sidt8CQ.png

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doesn't account for the discrepancy you're seeing in the pics but he did lose a lot of weight over the offseason. said it was because of some dental work or something.

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