SB Nation User Blog: LAcarl519

Revisit the question of Soriano at 2B

LAcarl519 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:40:26 -0000

I know this question was touched on a couple of times when Al wrote his piece on "how to improve the Cubs" but I think it deserves another look. If we can assume two givens (1) the Cubs are going to keep Soriano and (2) Lou will keep him at the top of the order, to me, there are two questions about where he plays in the field: (a) what position has the least burden on his legs (which may help his offense) and (b) which position makes him less of a liability to the defense?

I assume the rest of you have noticed that Soriano continues to get late brakes (or takes a bad angle) on many fly balls and he seems to be missing at least one to two balls a game that even average outfielders would catch. The problems seem to be getting worse, not better as the season progresses. Maybe it is the time of the year and much of the game is played in twilight this time of year, but either way, it just seems that Soriano has much more trouble with the sky or wind than the guy on the other team.

I know that "dtpolitt" did a great job of posting Fonzi's UZR for LF v 2B and quoted that his LF stats are +18.6, but I know what my eyes tell me. Does UZR pick up a stat where Fonzi takes a bad angle and turns a single into a double but it is not called an error? I think not. I think 2Bmen handle almost everything hit at them, so almost every miscue is called an error, versus many miscues in the outfield (late breaks, balls lost in the sun, etc...) are often called hits (think Ryan Braun with no errors as a LF--did he really change in one year?). I think an outfielder gets a UZR positive bias (versus a SS or 2B) when they are a tad slow to the ball...just a hunch.

But I also think Fonzi's offense may improve if his knees have less stress in the infield and he platoons a bit with LBR. Would our LF defense be that much worse with Hoff and Fox alternating? Wouldn't this move also allow us to get rid of Miles and keep Fox on the roster? As Bob Brenly recently said as Soriano once again mis-played a fly ball, "what is all this concern I am hearing about Fox's defense?" Before we laugh off moving Soriano to 2B, I think Lou and Fonzi have to think about what is best for his body, the batting order and the roster. In either defensive position, he is some measure of liability. The question is, where does he give us more roster flexibility? I thik Lou should try him at 2B. It's not like he is batting .320 and we don't want to disturb a good thing that we have going.

Soriano calls out Cubs effort...and DLee disagrees. Surprised?

LAcarl519 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:44:06 -0000

In today's SunTimes, link below:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1549148,CST-SPT-cub29.article

Soriano calls out the Cubs for their lack of effort, basically saying, "you can't just play 9 innings and expect to win, you have to want it." Lou tended to agree while DLee was quoted as saying, "I don't see it." The DLee response does not surprise me.

First, it is nice to finally see SOMEONE step up and take a leadership role on this team. I think this has been lacking for the last three years. No one seemed to speak up, as the team seemed to have a "leadership by example" attitude. This has always troubled me when the team needed to fight through lulls.

I am glad that Fonzi has put his leather jacket on and is ready to kick some butt. Henry Winkler would be proud!

Evil Empire reducing prices on expensive seats...but in evil way.

LAcarl519 — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:24:21 -0000

Though I can not find this story on the Interent (yet), the Yankees have announced a price reduction of over 30% on those $1000-$2500 seats behind home plate. It seems that they are embarrassed by all of the empty seats showing up in game film.

Though this discount will be offered to new ticket pruchases, fans who have already bought packages or season tickets will only be offered additional free tickets to equal the discount that the Yankees are offering on equivalent seats. So if you were supportive of the team and shelled out the $1000-2500/seat for 4 seats UP FRONT, the Yankees will now thank you by not giving you money back, but by sticking you with more tickets that you have to do something with.

Why does this seem like a real hose job by the Yankee brass to those who stepped up early? Why not just give them money back? Can cash really be that tight at the Evil empire? It just seems to me that burdening these people with more tickets is just giving them a bigger headache.