As stated yesterday, MAT is not and should not be the regular center fielder. He simply does not hit enough. I contend that they shouldn't have signed him to two year contract. All he does is block a good young player. Love your post this morning.
Good post, Craig. While reading it, I was taken back years ago to spring training lineup speculation. I'm talking about the days of RF or 2B or whatever being essentially manned by default. Nobody "won" the job, it just fell to whoever we had to play it. It is so refreshing to contemplate the fact that we have more outfielders and infielders than there are positions, more players than roster spots (so some will be Omaha-bound), and more pitchers than rotation and bullpen spots. Will everyone turn out to be major league-ready? No, but that's the beauty of having the numbers for a next-man-up situation (also helpful due to the inevitable injuries). Nice problem to have!
All good stuff on Isbel and I love and appreciate the work on the breakdown. To the naked eye, watching the games, you certainly can't pick that up so I generally chalk it up to confidence, experience, etc. but clearly there's tangible evidence as to what happened and why. Great work!
I do think he makes the roster somehow. With Mondesi being a platooner of sorts, Whit isn't going anywhere, but I still feel there is a deal out there working with two position players and a young arm for a legit bat for the outfield or a frontline starter... If I were the GM there would be.
Great post. Isbel is a nice player, and the key -- as you alluded to -- will be how much leash they give MAT offensively. He's just not an everyday guy, GG defense aside. Isbel has the potential to be Alex Gordon offensively, or AB at his best.
As stated yesterday, MAT is not and should not be the regular center fielder. He simply does not hit enough. I contend that they shouldn't have signed him to two year contract. All he does is block a good young player. Love your post this morning.
Good post, Craig. While reading it, I was taken back years ago to spring training lineup speculation. I'm talking about the days of RF or 2B or whatever being essentially manned by default. Nobody "won" the job, it just fell to whoever we had to play it. It is so refreshing to contemplate the fact that we have more outfielders and infielders than there are positions, more players than roster spots (so some will be Omaha-bound), and more pitchers than rotation and bullpen spots. Will everyone turn out to be major league-ready? No, but that's the beauty of having the numbers for a next-man-up situation (also helpful due to the inevitable injuries). Nice problem to have!
All good stuff on Isbel and I love and appreciate the work on the breakdown. To the naked eye, watching the games, you certainly can't pick that up so I generally chalk it up to confidence, experience, etc. but clearly there's tangible evidence as to what happened and why. Great work!
I do think he makes the roster somehow. With Mondesi being a platooner of sorts, Whit isn't going anywhere, but I still feel there is a deal out there working with two position players and a young arm for a legit bat for the outfield or a frontline starter... If I were the GM there would be.
Great post. Isbel is a nice player, and the key -- as you alluded to -- will be how much leash they give MAT offensively. He's just not an everyday guy, GG defense aside. Isbel has the potential to be Alex Gordon offensively, or AB at his best.
I think the best way for Isbel to get regular playing time is for Santana to get traded. Otherwise I think he starts the year in AAA. And I HATE that.