Javier Baez 2014 ROY-MVP-World Series MVP Thread

[Eli]

So many more night Boners

I don't even care about Almora and Soler. Just give me Baez and Bryant panning out and we're good. No, I don't know to whom this is addressed.

[Yeti]

So many more night Boners

I don't even care about Almora and Soler. Just give me Baez and Bryant panning out and we're good. No, I don't know to whom this is addressed.

I can live with that. Soreleg is probably going to be half dead all the time and Almora, I don't know if he's as high ceiling as the B's but I agree. Baez and Bryant, would be monsters and would go a long way to this franchise having long sustained success.

BTW, Bryant killed it yesterday too, but that's pretty much DRLP any day

[Powdered Toast Man]

8==================D

[Quality Start Machine]

So many more night Boners

I don't even care about Almora and Soler. Just give me Baez and Bryant panning out and we're good. No, I don't know to whom this is addressed.

I can live with that. Soreleg is probably going to be half dead all the time and Almora, I don't know if he's as high ceiling as the B's but I agree. Baez and Bryant, would be monsters and would go a long way to this franchise having long sustained success.

BTW, Bryant killed it yesterday too, but that's pretty much DRLP any day

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

[Eli]

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

Almora to me profiles more of an ideal 7 hitter. I don't think he'll get on base often enough to be at the top of the order. But hopefully his singles/doubles approach would play well to drive in the middle-of-the-order types. I know guys like him traditionally get put in the second spot, but I think that's outdated.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

Almora to me profiles more of an ideal 7 hitter. I don't think he'll get on base often enough to be at the top of the order. But hopefully his singles/doubles approach would play well to drive in the middle-of-the-order types. I know guys like him traditionally get put in the second spot, but I think that's outdated.

Everything I've read calls him the Cubs' best lower-ceiling/high-floor prospect. Since I know little else about him, I'll just parrot that.

[Eli]

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

Almora to me profiles more of an ideal 7 hitter. I don't think he'll get on base often enough to be at the top of the order. But hopefully his singles/doubles approach would play well to drive in the middle-of-the-order types. I know guys like him traditionally get put in the second spot, but I think that's outdated.

Everything I've read calls him the Cubs' best lower-ceiling/high-floor prospect. Since I know little else about him, I'll just parrot that.

I heard someone toss out Placido Polanco as a hitter comp. From a quick look at the numbers, that actually makes a lot of sense (maybe with a bit less patience but a bit more power as he fills out). If he hits like that with plus defense in center, it's a pretty ideal outcome even if it's not terribly exciting.

[Slaky]

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

Almora to me profiles more of an ideal 7 hitter. I don't think he'll get on base often enough to be at the top of the order. But hopefully his singles/doubles approach would play well to drive in the middle-of-the-order types. I know guys like him traditionally get put in the second spot, but I think that's outdated.

Everything I've read calls him the Cubs' best lower-ceiling/high-floor prospect. Since I know little else about him, I'll just parrot that.

That's what I've been saying as well. If you have, ideally, Rizzo, Bryant, Baez all slugging the daylights out of the ball - what do you need from your CF? Great defense, speed, high contact. That sounds like Almora to me.

He might just be a very solid pro which would be great because the Cubs don't have many of those.

[R-V]

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

Almora to me profiles more of an ideal 7 hitter. I don't think he'll get on base often enough to be at the top of the order. But hopefully his singles/doubles approach would play well to drive in the middle-of-the-order types. I know guys like him traditionally get put in the second spot, but I think that's outdated.

Everything I've read calls him the Cubs' best lower-ceiling/high-floor prospect. Since I know little else about him, I'll just parrot that.

That's what I've been saying as well. If you have, ideally, Rizzo, Bryant, Baez all slugging the daylights out of the ball - what do you need from your CF? Great defense, speed, high contact. That sounds like Almora to me.

He might just be a very solid pro which would be great because the Cubs don't have many of those.

Has there been any further talk about moving Alcantara to CF? I think he's been playing 2B every day in Iowa, but getting out my Jump to Conclusions mat, if Baez slots in at 2B next year and Alcantara is ready, he could be an option to drop into the currently godawful Cubs OF until/unless Almora gets here.

I'm sure half these guys will be dead by next April but this would be a pretty fun lineup to watch.

Alcantara
Castro
Rizzo
Bryant
Baez
Olt
Lake
Castillo

[Powdered Toast Man]

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

Almora to me profiles more of an ideal 7 hitter. I don't think he'll get on base often enough to be at the top of the order. But hopefully his singles/doubles approach would play well to drive in the middle-of-the-order types. I know guys like him traditionally get put in the second spot, but I think that's outdated.

Everything I've read calls him the Cubs' best lower-ceiling/high-floor prospect. Since I know little else about him, I'll just parrot that.

That's what I've been saying as well. If you have, ideally, Rizzo, Bryant, Baez all slugging the daylights out of the ball - what do you need from your CF? Great defense, speed, high contact. That sounds like Almora to me.

He might just be a very solid pro which would be great because the Cubs don't have many of those.

Has there been any further talk about moving Alcantara to CF? I think he's been playing 2B every day in Iowa, but getting out my Jump to Conclusions mat, if Baez slots in at 2B next year and Alcantara is ready, he could be an option to drop into the currently godawful Cubs OF until/unless Almora gets here.

I'm sure half these guys will be dead by next April but this would be a pretty fun lineup to watch.

Alcantara
Castro
Rizzo
Bryant
Baez
Olt
Lake
Castillo

Since we're experimenting with lineups and position changes, why are Baez and Bryant not playing their future positions? From what I can tell, at the MLB level, Baez would play 2B and Bryant in the OF. But so far this year, Baez has played SS and Bryant 3B. This assumes the Jump to Conclusions mat is a real life crystal ball.

Also, not sure if it's this thread in which I saw something about Javy Baez's age, but the B-R machine tells me he's 5.7 years younger than the weighted average age of AAA players in 2014. He's 21...I forget that because I feel like I've been waiting on him or talking about his stat lines for a while now.

[InternetApex]

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

Almora to me profiles more of an ideal 7 hitter. I don't think he'll get on base often enough to be at the top of the order. But hopefully his singles/doubles approach would play well to drive in the middle-of-the-order types. I know guys like him traditionally get put in the second spot, but I think that's outdated.

Everything I've read calls him the Cubs' best lower-ceiling/high-floor prospect. Since I know little else about him, I'll just parrot that.

That's what I've been saying as well. If you have, ideally, Rizzo, Bryant, Baez all slugging the daylights out of the ball - what do you need from your CF? Great defense, speed, high contact. That sounds like Almora to me.

He might just be a very solid pro which would be great because the Cubs don't have many of those.

Has there been any further talk about moving Alcantara to CF? I think he's been playing 2B every day in Iowa, but getting out my Jump to Conclusions mat, if Baez slots in at 2B next year and Alcantara is ready, he could be an option to drop into the currently godawful Cubs OF until/unless Almora gets here.

I'm sure half these guys will be dead by next April but this would be a pretty fun lineup to watch.

Alcantara
Castro
Rizzo
Bryant
Baez
Olt
Lake
Castillo

Since we're experimenting with lineups and position changes, why are Baez and Bryant not playing their future positions? From what I can tell, at the MLB level, Baez would play 2B and Bryant in the OF. But so far this year, Baez has played SS and Bryant 3B. This assumes the Jump to Conclusions mat is a real life crystal ball.

Also, not sure if it's this thread in which I saw something about Javy Baez's age, but the B-R machine tells me he's 5.7 years younger than the weighted average age of AAA players in 2014. He's 21...I forget that because I feel like I've been waiting on him or talking about his stat lines for a while now.

Probably because the adjustment to 2B and LF is not all that difficult and it's best to find out now whether they're capable of playing the more challenging position. That and the more reps they get there in the minors the better in case they're forced into action there at the ML level.

[Eli]

Probably because the adjustment to 2B and LF is not all that difficult and its best to find out now whether they're capable of playing the more challenging position. That and the more reps they get there in the minors the better in case they're forced into action there at the ML level.

Basically that. You want to keep them at their most valuable position for as long as possible. No reason to switch them in the minors based on MLB depth charts.

[ChuckD]

Probably because the adjustment to 2B and LF is not all that difficult and its best to find out now whether they're capable of playing the more challenging position. That and the more reps they get there in the minors the better in case they're forced into action there at the ML level.

Basically that. You want to keep them at their most valuable position for as long as possible. No reason to switch them in the minors based on MLB depth charts.

Just conjecture, but I assume Baez's struggles at the plate are also part of the reason they haven't at least tried him at second.

[Tonker]

So many more night Boners

I don't even care about Almora and Soler. Just give me Baez and Bryant panning out and we're good. No, I don't know to whom this is addressed.

I can live with that. Soreleg is probably going to be half dead all the time and Almora, I don't know if he's as high ceiling as the B's but I agree. Baez and Bryant, would be monsters and would go a long way to this franchise having long sustained success.

BTW, Bryant killed it yesterday too, but that's pretty much DRLP any day

Almora isn't going to be the beast these two guys are looking to become. But he's going to be one helluva center fielder & top-of-the-order guy. Feel free to be positive.

Areyounewhere'd?

[InternetApex]

Probably because the adjustment to 2B and LF is not all that difficult and its best to find out now whether they're capable of playing the more challenging position. That and the more reps they get there in the minors the better in case they're forced into action there at the ML level.

Basically that. You want to keep them at their most valuable position for as long as possible. No reason to switch them in the minors based on MLB depth charts.

Just conjecture, but I assume Baez's struggles at the plate are also part of the reason they haven't at least tried him at second.

Anybody who can play SS can play 2B. The turn at 2nd is the only difference and that's nothing for a professional ballplayer to pick up on. I can understand "trying" a guy who has played mostly infield in the outfield, as in Bryant's case. But if it's left field? Pffftt *air-hand wank motion*

If they're convinced that Baez is a disaster at short and just can't do it, then I'd say you'd move him off of it and see if he's useful at 2nd or 3rd. But I think that they have hope that he can play shortstop. If he's on the big club next year and something happens to Castro (I hope not. God, I hope not.) he should be ready to take over.