LGFT

2 months ago Brick. Comment 41 comments 0 recs |

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Par for the course.

by Ryan on Aug 7, 2008 11:06 AM EDT 0 recs

Chris Coste? I mean … really?

No Jody Gerut or Danny Sandoval. Article fails.

by Toxicadam on Aug 7, 2008 11:08 AM EDT 0 recs

Heh, or Church and Izturis. But anyway, most of the players on the list are having pretty poor seasons.

by FranklinScott on Aug 7, 2008 11:39 AM EDT up 0 recs

“Happy Jack”? When did Jim Thome get this nickname? I’ve never heard that before.

Also, I would be happy to see Thome inducted in to the Hall of Fame wearing an Indians cap. He was a great player here and by all accounts is a great person. Who cares if he left Cleveland for more money? Players do that all the time in every city—fans need to get over that.

The Shin-Soo Choo of LGT.

by Buckeye Brad on Aug 7, 2008 11:35 AM EDT 0 recs

BOOOOOOOOOOO Thome!

by Brick. on Aug 7, 2008 12:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’ll match your “Booo Thome” and rasie you a “My wife is my Rock.”

by PatBordersHelmet on Aug 7, 2008 12:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’ll see your “My wife is my Rock” and raise you a “They’ll have to rip the jersey off my back.”

Free at last! Free at last! Andy Marte is free at last!

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on Aug 7, 2008 1:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

Is there a team in MLB that doesn’t have a comparable list?

Last year we didn’t care about the whole list, maybe an arm here or a bat there, but the whole list isn’t as painful in a winning year.

Also, I’m calling Ludwick’s season a fluke. Besides, he washed out of two systems, ours and Detroit’s, before he started tearing it up this season. I’d rather have held onto crazy Milt or franchise Phillips over Ludwick. He will return to earth next year.

by PatBordersHelmet on Aug 7, 2008 11:48 AM EDT 0 recs

Agreed. The only player on that list I blame the FO for losing is Phillips (and we don’t need to rehash that situation). Possibly Guthrie, although he had his chances in Cleveland and didn’t show that could be a solid major league pitcher. Ludwick is having a good season, but he’s not going to do this again; I don’t lose sleep over him.

The Shin-Soo Choo of LGT.

by Buckeye Brad on Aug 7, 2008 11:55 AM EDT up 0 recs

Ludwick will be some team’s Dellucci in a couple years.

by PatBordersHelmet on Aug 7, 2008 12:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

Obviously he’s having a career year. But his problems have always been injuries, not talent. He’s a better defender than Dellucci ever was, and doesn’t have to be platooned. Plus he’s 3-4 years away from free agency, which means that the Cardinals are getting whatever’s left of his peak.

by Ryan on Aug 7, 2008 12:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

i feel like there are probably a lot of uses for the phrase “whatever’s left of his peak.”

by Brick. on Aug 7, 2008 12:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

Injuries are a probelm with Dellucci as well.

by PatBordersHelmet on Aug 7, 2008 12:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

What is lost in an article like this is the sheer volume of fringe players and minor leaguers that every team goes through. Ludwick wasn’t a product of our system — we weren’t the first to acquire him nor the last to let him go, we were just one of many stops along the way.

The list of former Indians who are under 35 and out of baseball entirely this season would probably be well over 100. It’s like, where’s Corey Smith?

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 12:08 PM EDT up 0 recs

Corey Smith—there’s a guy I had completely forgot about. Wasn’t he supposed to be our third baseman of the future, like, 5 years ago?

The Shin-Soo Choo of LGT.

by Buckeye Brad on Aug 7, 2008 12:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, Casey Blake was supposed to be a stopgap until Corey Smith took over the position.

by Ryan on Aug 7, 2008 12:26 PM EDT up 0 recs

That’s correct – Corey Smith was that “3B of the future,” but never panned out, mostly because his plate discipline was poor (leading to underwhelming offensive numbers) and his 3B defense was equally poor as well (I think he had over 30-40 errors playing 3B at either High-A or AA if I remember correctly).

Just my 2 cents.

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Aug 8, 2008 12:59 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yikes. I didn’t realize his fielding was so bad:
2002 (A+) 34 E, .914 FP
2003 (AA) 44 E, .865 FP
2004 (AA/AAA) 40 E, .885 FP

Overall at 3B, he has 174 errors in 602 games, for an FP of .896. In the minors, Casey had 57 errors in 451 games (.951).

by FredOx on Aug 8, 2008 10:01 AM EDT up 0 recs

Raking AA pitching (at age 26) in Arkansas to the tune of a .786 OPS for the LAA organization. That’s where. All this is an encore to his leading the Newark Bears to a championship in the Atlantic League last year.

4 HR in his last 11 ABs.

Another whiff for Shap.

Free Corey Smith!

by CBusSteve on Aug 7, 2008 1:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

I have nothing against Corey, he simply wasn’t good enough.

But hey, don’t get caught up in his mediocre hitting, he’s also a terrible fielder!

Do you guys realize he had an .875 fielding percentage over two seasons in Akron? That means he was getting charged with an error on one out of every eight plays! That is incredible!

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 7:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

The Nationals?

by odradek on Aug 7, 2008 4:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

Uh they count as the Expos, brother. Nice try!

by PatBordersHelmet on Aug 7, 2008 5:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, I know, but I was thinking only Grady and Cliff were still around. But then, I realized: Vlad, Jamey Carroll, Jose Vidro, Orlando Cabrera, Javier Vazquez, Fernando Tatis, Cliff Floyd, Carl Pavano…

by odradek on Aug 7, 2008 5:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah … it’s a REALLY great year for former Expos … for the tenth year in a row.

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 7:28 PM EDT up 0 recs

Do Taveras and Scott have any value on an AL club? Taveras has acquired more bases by stolen base than by extra base hit.

by fleerdon on Aug 7, 2008 11:59 AM EDT 0 recs

Taveras – no way. The guy is slugging .308 in Colorado

Luke Scott’s a pretty good year for the Orioles – .259/.342/.491 blows any of our corner outfielders out of the water.

by Ryan on Aug 7, 2008 12:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

having a good year

by Ryan on Aug 7, 2008 12:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

Blows out of the water?

Luke Scott – 259 / 342 / 491
Francisco – 270 / 331 / 451

Scott is solidly ahead but not in a whole different league, and Francisco is better in LF.

Not to mention:

Luke Scott – 259 / 342 / 491
our shortstop – 281 / 323 / 511
our backup catcher – 280 / 347 / 532
our backup catcher’s backup catcher – 310 / 382 / 414

My guess is that Shoppach could match Scott’s performance in LF, and I know Jhonny could.

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 7:50 PM EDT up 0 recs

I understand that, but compared to what we’ve run out to the corners this year (Michaels, Gutierrez, Choo, Dellucci, and Francisco), Scott’s better than any of them, and far better than anyone except for Ben Francisco.

You can’t really take advantage of a shortstop or catcher hitting like a corner guy if your corner guys hits like a shortstop or a catcher.

by Ryan on Aug 8, 2008 9:19 AM EDT up 0 recs

Most definitely. And unfortunately, that issue is not confined to the 2008 season for us.

by Jay on Aug 8, 2008 12:29 PM EDT up 0 recs

How sad is it that a .259 average (in part) blows our corner OFs outta the water?

Travis Hafner is overrated. Clarity is underrated. David Dellucci is David Dellucci.

by westbrook on Aug 7, 2008 12:12 PM EDT up 0 recs

Jason Michaels batted fourth for the Pirates yesterday!

by fleerdon on Aug 7, 2008 12:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

Pirates skipper a believer in the theory that batting order doesn’t matter!

by peter m on Aug 7, 2008 12:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

Michaels has a sparkling .301 OPS batting fourth. Although he has scored a run 100% of the time he reached base in those 17 PAs.

by FredOx on Aug 7, 2008 1:04 PM EDT up 0 recs

Not only that he played centerfield.

by Toxicadam on Aug 7, 2008 1:38 PM EDT up 0 recs

Michaels was always a centerfielder. In fact, he was an all-glove centerfielder, which was less than compelling in left field.

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 7:29 PM EDT up 0 recs

What was amazing about that game to me was that Karstens was perfect for 7.2, yet Michaels had 9 PO in CF. Somehow I don’t think that is the typical no-hitter line. Another weird Michaels fact – he has almost as many AB as a PH as he does as a LF.

by FredOx on Aug 8, 2008 10:09 AM EDT up 0 recs

I think there’s a few players in the NL that that’s true for, since there’s going to be at least one or two pinch-hit opportunities during the game because of the pitcher.

by Ryan on Aug 8, 2008 10:11 AM EDT up 0 recs

Speaking of old prospects, was Bruce Aven thought of as a guy with potential? I used to play the hell out of Baseball Mogul about 10 years ago and that guy would always end up being an All-Star as the seasons progressed.

by Toxicadam on Aug 7, 2008 1:44 PM EDT 0 recs