I mean, maybe Conforto can play center field passably well. He was out there a bit last year and he wasn’t good but he wasn’t a disaster. I sure wouldn’t want to force the issue, but I guess you never know.
It just seems to me that pushing Conforto defensively is an added cost involved in signing Jay Bruce, and an unnecessary pressure on Conforto.
I forgot to post this before, but am I the only person who missed Oakland’s Matt Olson? Last year in 189 at bats, Olson had:
24 home runs
2 doubles
Isn’t that wonderful? He’s the ultimate pure home run hitter.
Now the Blue Jays are said to be kicking the tired on an Andrew McCutchen trade.
I’ve always liked McCutchen but something happened to him in 2016 and he hasn’t been the same, although he improved in 2017. As he would have to move to right field in Toronto - there is no way in hell he plays center over Kevin Pillar - maybe taking a few plays off his to do list would help him get back a little closer to where he used to be.
First Longoria, now McCutchen. Definitely looks like a win-now strategy for SF, but they each seem like guys on the decline. Be interesting to see how much of their top value these two guys have left.
I think the Giants got the better end of that trade. Yeah, McCutchen isn’t the player he used to be, but he’s still a solid fielder and hitter. He was also the “face” of the Pirates, who didn’t even apparently negotiate with him, just let him go. I realize it’s hard for small market teams, but it sucks to see Cutch leave like this. I expect a backlash from fans (ticket sales and TV ratings).
I know nothing will ever get done, but it’s painful watching the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox have payrolls that are twice as much as the lowest six teams.
Taken strategically, I honestly think the Giants are crazy. Absolutely batshit. It’s not that I mind Cutch, but what the hell are they doing? They’ve added salary in Longoria and McCutchen to a team that finished 64-98. If those two do well that makes them what, 71-91? They’re in a tough division - I just don’t see them finishing third, much less making the playoffs. Is it worth all this money plus some prospects to have a bad record instead of a very bad record?
For whatever reason, McCutchen has played poorly in the first two to three months of the season. Then he usually starts heating up before the all-star break and oscillating between hot streaks and mediocrity until season’s end. I’m not sure whether it’s the manner in which Hurdle has put his lineup together or what, but Cutch has been a different player since 2015. He still has power, though.
Yeah, that’s been McCutchen’s pattern year after year. After the first two months, it’s all “maybe he’s lost it” and “maybe he’s getting old”, and then by August it’s “he’s back!”. It makes it kind of hard to analyze him until a full season is over. He’s been a good guy, good with fans, and I wish him well. He started with the Pirates as a minor league player, and I just wished he could have remained a Pirate his whole career.
I hope the same for Manny Machado with the Orioles, but I’m betting that’s not going to happen, either. One one hand, I understand going for the money. But I think that’s short-sighted. If you look at players that stay with one team their whole career, they have a lifetime of being appreciated and making money with that identity. As an Orioles fan, I’m thinking of guys like Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell (he did leave at the very end of his career), Cal Ripken, etc. I guess those days are largely over.
Those moves aren’t crazy. If the Giants are out of it at the break, Longoria and McCutchen (and others) will make great trade bait in what is always a seller’s market. The team can get the prospects then that they can’t get now, and will be in better shape for future years.
One projection I read has the moves they’ve made and the return of their pitching be enough to move them up to 2nd Wild Card, I don’t buy it but it is out there.
Hell, if they decide to add Ellsbury, they would probably be a sure thing for a wildcard. Think they’ll buy this theory?
“Really, oh boy, such good news, woot, Ellsbury is gone! Yay!”, Jim says with a note of desperate joy.
Ellsbury is probably the single worst signing that Cashman decided to make. Some of the other bad Yankee deals were directed down on him by others, mainly the Boss. He was one of the few voices against extending A-Rod, Sheffield was purely George, the Boss even did the negotiations. I think Pavano was Cashman’s mistake though too, so coin toss which deal was worse. Giambi was at the direction of the new TV Network YES and it still wasn’t really that bad.
So yes, Yankee fans are a little desperate to move Ellsbury along and make room for others. It is true. Our beat writers are nearly as bad. One local writer for the NY Post suggested Ellsbury to the Rockies for Ian Desmond and other localsare reporting this as a rumor rather than just speculation.
Reminds me of the Astros in the 2006-2007 off-season - they were only one season away from the world series! They were not terrible the season before! But the writing was clearly on the wall and they decided to ignore it and try to string things out just a bit longer, which made the total crash and burn necessary a few years later.