4 more cuts made after Sunday's Game

Jmodene · Post by **Jmodene** » March 26 07, 8:53 am

Yes; his coming down with a bad shoulder after catching 2 or 3 full games last week was bad timing. He will definitely have to go down to Memphis, prove he's healthy, and earn his way back up.

JL21 · Post by **JL21** » March 26 07, 9:30 am

Jmodene wrote:Yes; his coming down with a bad shoulder after catching 2 or 3 full games last week was bad timing. He will definitely have to go down to Memphis, prove he's healthy, and earn his way back up.

It reminds me a lot of the 2004 situation when John Mabry didn't make the club in the spring, went down and obliterated AAA, and then came up and did exactly what they needed at the MLB level.

Post by **Bo Hart** » March 26 07, 10:13 am

Popeye_Card wrote:Yeah, I said it a lot at the time, but Eli's only real value was being an average bat who could catch. In a corner OF position, he's a tick below average defensively, and his bat isn't good enough then to make him a starter. He's in J-Rod territory there.

But as a super-utility man now, he could have some value to a team. Too bad his bat has slipped a bit and he's constantly battling injuries.

--P--

I agree that he needs to catch to make the club, but in his defense he does have a .958 OPS against lefties the last three years; granted, that's only in a little over 200-some-odd at-bats, but it could be very useful in a platoon with Duncan.

Now granted, I don't really expect him to continue that lefty mashing, but if...

I also hope that Edgar Gonzalez gets a shot at some point this year (maybe like an injury to Miles or something). I'm really interested in seeing what he would do.

Even if, defensively, he was Chris Duncan-caliber at second base, his bat still makes him more valuable than Miles, in my opinion.

Phyrkrakr · Post by **Phyrkrakr** » March 26 07, 10:32 am

Kyle wrote:
Popeye_Card wrote:Yeah, I said it a lot at the time, but Eli's only real value was being an average bat who could catch. In a corner OF position, he's a tick below average defensively, and his bat isn't good enough then to make him a starter. He's in J-Rod territory there.

But as a super-utility man now, he could have some value to a team. Too bad his bat has slipped a bit and he's constantly battling injuries.

--P--
I agree that he needs to catch to make the club, but in his defense he does have a .958 OPS against lefties the last three years; granted, that's only in a little over 200-some-odd at-bats, but it could be very useful in a platoon with Duncan.

Now granted, I don't really expect him to continue that lefty mashing, but if...

I also hope that Edgar Gonzalez gets a shot at some point this year (maybe like an injury to Miles or something). I'm really interested in seeing what he would do.

Even if, defensively, he was Chris Duncan-caliber at second base, his bat still makes him more valuable than Miles, in my opinion.

Generally speaking, Tony prefers his backups to have good defensive skills. He wants to put up the runs with the starters and then hold the lead with the replacements. That puts EVG at a disadvantage since apparently his defense has been epically bad in the minors. We're talking Dr. Stonefingers McStrangeGlove, apparently. Yeah, he can rake, but that's how he made it to AAA. Maybe he'll get a call if Miles gets hurt and Oquendo can work some Secret Weapon magic, but I'm not holding my breath.

As far as Eli, I'm really hoping the only reason he's cut is because his elbow is ailing. If that gets healthy, and he keeps smacking the ball around, I'd hope he shows up in St. Louis at some point.

MDCardsFan · Post by **MDCardsFan** » March 26 07, 12:26 pm

Kyle wrote:

Even if, defensively, he was Chris Duncan-caliber at second base, his bat still makes him more valuable than Miles, in my opinion.

Problem is, Miles is the backup at short as well.

jim · Post by **jim** » March 26 07, 12:28 pm

MDCardsFan wrote:
Kyle wrote:

Even if, defensively, he was Chris Duncan-caliber at second base, his bat still makes him more valuable than Miles, in my opinion.
Problem is, Miles is the backup at short as well.

I'm not so sure Kennedy and/or Spiezio could be as adequate a backup at SS as Miles.

Popeye_Card · Post by **Popeye_Card** » March 26 07, 12:46 pm

jim wrote:
I'm not so sure Kennedy and/or Spiezio could be as adequate a backup at SS as Miles.

I am.

--P--

phins · Post by **phins** » March 26 07, 10:01 pm

Popeye_Card wrote:
jim wrote:
I'm not so sure Kennedy and/or Spiezio could be as adequate a backup at SS as Miles.
I am.

--P--

Yeah, that's a tick on the absurd side to say Kennedy, or GASP, Spiezio could be good at SS.

picasso · Post by **picasso** » March 26 07, 11:47 pm

So the roster competition breaks down as this?

Starting 7 position players (vacant RF- Encar DL)

Starting 5

Izzy Closer

That's 13 of the 25.

Assuming a 12 man pitching staff, we have 6 relievers to pare from this list of 9: Thompson, Franklin, Springer, Flores, Rincon, Hancock, T Johnson, Dove, Jimenez.

For a 6 man bench, assuming Bennett, Spiezio, and Miles, we have 3 spots for the following 5: Taguchi, P-Dub, Skip, J-Rod, and Cabrera

Have I left anybody out?

Without a trade I'm guessing Johnson, Dove and Jimenez get sent down. And probably J-Rod and Cabrera.

I really hope Rodriguez gets an opportunity in RF, don't see it happening.

Jmodene · Post by **Jmodene** » March 27 07, 4:02 am

FWIW, Oquendo has been working *really* hard with Gonzalez, trying to get him to think defense over offense. Goold had something about it on his blog very recently, I think, where when Oquendo would ask Gonzales how it was going, Edgar would start talking about his batting average or something - and Oquendo would stop him right there and emphasize that he wants him to think defense first.

An interesting use of psychology by Oquendo, and it makes sense - if Edgar can indeed change his mindset.

Of course, if he does, then he'll probably wind up hitting .240.