Who should go when Hafner returns?

Matt Y. — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:53:12 -0000

Hi everybody. This is my first Fanpost after about two years of lurking and occasionally commenting here.

As the title indicates, I'm wondering who will lose his spot on the roster when Hafner comes off the DL. I've seen some of you speculate that LaPorta will be shown la porta, and that may be correct. But my current inclination is to disagree with such a move. (If I've missed detailed analysis of this, I apologize).

There are a couple of options that I would be OK with.

(A) Option Valbuena.

Sending LaPorta down might make sense if you think along the lines of replacing one not-so-great defensive player with another, but there needs to be a better reason than that. The Indians might decide that his bat's not ready, but I doubt it. And comparing LaPorta and Valbuena, I think the former will help us more than the latter, offensively.

So why not send Valbuena down? Sure, this will give us five outfielders, putting Francisco and Dellucci on the bench. But that's not a bad thing if you've got the other spots filled. We would have DeRosa at third, Peralta at short, ~~Superman~~ Cabrera at second, and Martinez, Garko and Shoppach sharing catcher/first base duties. Jamie Caroll would be the backup infielder. Francisco can serve as pinch runner.

That's one possibility. Here's another:

(B) DFA Dellucci.

This is my preferred option. If Valbuena's bat is ready (is it?), why not send Dellucci packing? We can't realistically expect any more from Dellucci than his usual suckitude at the plate, and he doesn't run particularly fast nor play particularly great defense. IMO, it's time to cut him loose.

This would give Valbuena an extended chance to prove himself as a regular (provided that he doesn't become Dominoes Champion II - ughh). Cabrera would move to short and Jhonny to third. DeRosa can be a super-sub, between first, second, third, and the corner outfield.

Poll

What should we do when Hafner returns?

Send Valbuena down.

16 votes

DFA Dellucci.

96 votes

Send LaPorta down.

25 votes

Hafner won't be back this season.

19 votes

Something else.

8 votes

164 votes | Poll has closed