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Blanco overall: .231/.286/.282/.568 Baker overall: .257/.313/.458/ .771 Blanco v lefties: .263/.300/.316/.616 Baker v lefties: .279/.343/.559/.902 I'd say yes. Where are those stats from? ESPN seems to think Baker is hitting .130 this year. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=5371 Those are career stats for Baker. Sorry, I should have clarified. He's been injured and didn't get many ABs this year (23), so I used his career stats instead. Blanco's stats are from this year since the rest of his ML career was at ages 20-22.

Bruce posted this in the comments section of his blog.

Blanco overall: .231/.286/.282/.568 Baker overall: .257/.313/.458/ .771 Blanco v lefties: .263/.300/.316/.616 Baker v lefties: .279/.343/.559/.902 I'd say yes.

DeRosa out 3-4 games with a wrist injury.

As bad as Fontenot's numbers are, he's OPSd .710 against righties this year. That's bad, but if he could face nothing but righties from here on out he may get some confidence back. Plus, he'll be more comfortable if the can play nothing but second from here on out. A Baker/Fontenot platoon could end up being very productive through October.

I suspect Baker has been acquired to platoon at second with Fontenot, which the timing would make sense. Aramis is returning so Fontenot becomes the everyday second baseman again and Baker enters to platoon with him.

Why would the Rockies want Freel? I have no idea of what the Rockies need but if they needed a guy like Freel why not just keep Baker? I do believe Freel will be DFA as soon as Miles comes back. I think he means Freel will be cut to make room on the roster for Baker. It sounds like Al Albuquerque is going to Colorado in the trade.

Like I said, I'd be fine with waiting a bit. I don't think we should be desperate at this point. But, it's highly unlikely Ricketts will be able to get the sale completed, give Hendry the ok and then Hendry work out a good deal all in the span of a month. I'd love it if that happened, but that would be a complete change from the pace the sale has taken the past 2 years.

I think you're assuming a lot there. His shoulder is sore, but he's been taking BP without any real issues. Getting ABs in 4-5 games before the ASB may also get him closer to game shape and, thus, performing at the best he'll perform the rest of the season. If you hold him out just for the sake of holding him out, it'll likely take him longer after the break to start hitting.

Fukudome is a first name too? Awesome.

The quotes were regarding him taking BP during the Detroit series that has already happened. It sounds like they were considering rushing him back then - but didn't. I haven't heard him say anything about Monday's date. Ah, I hadn't seen that quote before. Thanks. But still, that quote doesn't say any more than he's very sore. From all the reports I've heard, no matter when he comes back that shoulder is going to bother him. It's a lingering injury, nothing like a broken bone that once it's healed it's fine.

The question is, what good offensive bat can we get this year? Especially if the Baker trade confirms that Hendry is committed to Fontenot at second base? There have been several names mentioned in threads/posts, some that realistically might be had in a trade that involved Wells. The Pirates have always been a good trade partner w/the Cubs and are already selling off pieces. F. Sanchez would be a good/smart target. The problem with acquiring a second baseman, though, is that Hendry appears to be committed to Fontenot at second base. Just because Hendry is committed to something doesn't mean it's the right decision. Regardless, they have a month before the trading deadline, maybe he's committed to it until then. There's no reason to sell off what limited resources you have for another reliever when in a month you may regret not having those resources for something that will actually have a significant impact. Significant offensive upgrades almost certainly cost money - something the Cubs don't have much, if any of at their disposal. It's likely not a matter of Hendry changing his mind, it's more a matter of Hendry finding a few million somewhere to be able to spend. I'm fine with waiting a month and seeing what happens, but if a Wells for Bell trade happened today it would be an upgrade - and likely the best upgrade the Cubs can afford.

The question is, what good offensive bat can we get this year? Especially if the Baker trade confirms that Hendry is committed to Fontenot at second base? There have been several names mentioned in threads/posts, some that realistically might be had in a trade that involved Wells. The Pirates have always been a good trade partner w/the Cubs and are already selling off pieces. F. Sanchez would be a good/smart target. The problem with acquiring a second baseman, though, is that Hendry appears to be committed to Fontenot at second base.

Thanks. I haven't seen him play at all, so that's helpful.

The question is, what good offensive bat can we get this year? Especially if the Baker trade confirms that Hendry is committed to Fontenot at second base?

Out of curiosity, what is Fontenot's UZR? It doesn't seem like he's really that great of a defender, but I think I recall someone stating that he had better defensive metrics than Derosa at 2B. (Also, is there a place I can find that kind of info for free?) UZR has Fontenot as a much better defensive second baseman than DeRosa. Fontenot's career UZR/150 at 2B is 14.6 and this year it's 21.1. DeRosa's career UZR/150 at second is -7.5. You can find all this info at Fangraphs.com. And it's completely free.

Picturing a scene something like this goony?

The quotes were regarding him taking BP during the Detroit series that has already happened. It sounds like they were considering rushing him back then - but didn't. I haven't heard him say anything about Monday's date.

Baker has played 52 games at second base in his career, with all of them coming in 2008 and this year. UZR has him as a career -3.5 UZR/150 player there. Not that big a defensive liability.

Teahen was likely to cost quite a bit in prospects since the Royals have little incentive to trade him. Baker should cost much less in terms of prospects. Plus, Teahen has played a total of 3 games at 2B in his career. Baker could be a viable platoon option at second with Fontenot. I wouldn't mind Teahen at the right price, but Baker makes a bit more sense.

Yeah, the offense has been bad this year. RBI totals are more a reflection of that than individual performance. Eh not really. the Cubs have been lacking top end RBI guys for quite some time. Two big run producers they don't have this year are Edmonds and DeRosa. And with Ramirez out, forget it. The Cubs' team OBP this year is .321. Last year it was .354. This year, Lee has been a better hitter than last year and yet is on pace for right around the same number of RBIs as last year. Soto has slugged .600 the past month and only has 12 RBIs in that period - while Soriano has slugged .400 points worse yet has 6 RBIs in that period. Soriano has been one of the worst offensive players on the team this year, yet has the second most RBIs behind only Lee. If RBIs can be used to evaluate individual success, why does the guy with the second worst OPS in the starting lineup have the second most RBIs?

Yeah, the offense has been bad this year. RBI totals are more a reflection of that than individual performance. sarcasm, i thought you guys would get it Ah, sorry. It's late and I'm tired.

I don't get why the Clippers wanted Richardson. How does that help? Randolph is a weirdo and all, but he's still a 20-10 guy, and you got back...Q-Rich? Okay... Maybe he fits well in their up-tempo system? I'm not sure. I was happy enough with the Darko for Richardson deal, but Randolph is the best of the three. He'll do well playing alongside Thabeet and Marc Gasol.

Yeah, the offense has been bad this year. RBI totals are more a reflection of that than individual performance.

Grizzlies traded Quentin Richardson for Zach Randolph. Interesting trade, basically Darko for Randolph.