Jerry Crasnick's NL Central comments

[mikechamp]

From an ESPN chat.

I had to leave about 15 minutes early, but I'll be back for Jayson Stark's comments this afternoon.

Mandatory Linkage: http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=15525
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Jerry, please settle this debate. Who would you rather have, Rolen or Polanco? My buddy says Polanco, I say Rolen due to his superior defense and more power and better baserunning. He says Polanco has better ab's and always makes play...Help please

JERRY CRASNICK
Hey, Placido Polanco is a nice player, but I don't know many people who would take him over Scott Rolen. I'm with you on that one.
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I think the time has come for the Reds to deal Dunn. Is a Dunn for Billingsley/Ethier deal possible?

JERRY CRASNICK
Dunn is such a unique guy, with that awesome power, high OBP and strikeout rate, as well as his lack of mobility in the field. I just don't think he has much trade value -- certainly not enough for the Dodgers to part with Chad Billingsley and Andre Ethier. The Dodgers have Matt Kemp on the way, as well, so they wouldn't have much use for Dunn.
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Jerry: please rank - Theriot, Giles, or B. Roberts. Thanks.

JERRY CRASNICK
If you're doing it for fantasy purposes (and I'm not huge on fantasy questions), I'd take Giles, Roberts and Theriot. Giles is a pretty good offensive player, and he seems invigorated by the move to San Diego.
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What are the Braves going to do about their Left Field situation? They are getting no production out there. Diaz hasn't hit (aside from the HR the other night) and Langerhans is a strikeout machine.

JERRY CRASNICK
Ryan Langerhans shouldn't even be in the big leagues at this point. I would suggest trying Craig Wilson out there, but he's hitting .122. If Diaz plays every day, I think he'll hit .270-.280, albeit without much power. If the Braves were willing to spend a little money, Jacque Jones could help them (although he's off to a slow start as well).
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Jerry, at the end of the season, where does Cole Hamels finish in the Cy Young voting? Do you find it remarkable that he is basically a two pitch pitcher, and doing his damage without a breaking ball? To generate so many swings and misses with a changeup has to bode well for his long term health, right? Assuming no more bar fights, and his back not completely falling apart, he has all the makings of one of the elite pitchers in baseball over the next decade, right?

JERRY CRASNICK
I think Hamels is terrific, but at this point, you'd have to put him behind Tim Hudson, Matt Cain, Jake Peavy, Roy Oswalt and Brandon Webb in the Cy Young sweepstakes. But he's a really mature kid, and the feel on the changeup is amazing considering he's so young.
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[Leroy]

Jerry, please settle this debate. Who would you rather have, Rolen or Polanco? My buddy says Polanco, I say Rolen due to his superior defense and more power and better baserunning. He says Polanco has better ab's and always makes play...Help please

[Izzyman]

Jerry, please settle this debate. Who would you rather have, Rolen or Polanco? My buddy says Polanco, I say Rolen due to his superior defense and more power and better baserunning. He says Polanco has better ab's and always makes play...Help please

Seriously what kind of a question is that!

[fulldeck]

Jerry, please settle this debate. Who would you rather have, Rolen or Polanco? My buddy says Polanco, I say Rolen due to his superior defense and more power and better baserunning. He says Polanco has better ab's and always makes play...Help please

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Crasnick should be ashamed for even answering that question in the chat.

[AJ]

He says Polanco has better ab's

Come on, you guys seriously think Rolen has better ab's than Polanco?

[heyzeus]

Well, Polanco's had so many gold gloves and 30 HR seasons that it really is a tough question.

Wait...he hasn't?

[ToughGuy_BlueShirt]

But, Polanco did really good in the ALCS last year, shouldn't that cover the 10 year career of Rolen?

[GatewaySnayke]

Someone tell me right now what this means:

I just don't think he has much trade value.

I think only about two teams in baseball wouldn't have room for Adam Dunn.

[Dillagii]

Jerry, please settle this debate. Who would you rather have, Rolen or Polanco? My buddy says Polanco, I say Rolen due to his superior defense and more power and better baserunning. He says Polanco has better ab's and always makes play...Help please

This is like asking if Eckstein is better than David Wright.