OnlyBucs

3A222027273021263B3A2C490 wrote: I suspect Shelton has been doing just what is expected of him. Bobster alluded to this a while back and I suspect he’s right. As fans, we look at each game as game seven of the World Series and get frustrated when we see obvious things that could be done to enhance the chances to win. But it appears management was serious when they said they wanted to see what they had. You can’t tell that in Spring Training or in one or two games. If you assume they are treating this silly season as an extended test, then the decisions make sense. Shelton is placing players in situations to see how they respond. One of the announcers yesterday said Rodriquez would definitely be a starter, given his excellent defense, if he could hit ML pitching. He said the team wanted to see how he did over a season with regular at bats. So in he goes, anywhere. Tucker they already know can play short. Can he hit? Can he play anywhere else? If you look at the season as spring training it’s a lot more palatable.

I agree, Mouse, that BC is using this shortened season to assess his top 40 players, but there are some guys who really should never see the field, or play in certain positions.  Here's what I would do:

1.  Bell would almost exclusively DH.  He's not going to be here maybe as soon as this offseason.  There's no reason to have him bring his glove to games anymore.
2.  Move Moran over to 1B and start him in every game.  If he can better handle first than he can third, and if his good start at the plate is for real, he's a guy who can be here for a while.
3.  Move Newman to 2nd.  He's a below average SS.
4.  Start Tucker at SS for the rest of the season.  It's his natural position and he's a defensive upgrade over Newman.  If he doesn't hit, he at least helps in the field.
5.  Bring Hayes up to start at 3B.  He'll take his lumps at the plate but he'll get a head start on 2021.  He's wasting this year in Altoona.  Evans is there in reserve just in case.
6.  Reynolds would remain in LF.
7.  I would see if I could trade Bell (or Frazier, Polanco, and/or Taillon) for the best center fielder who is blocked in another organization.  The Yankees are loaded in the outfield.  They may have someone available in their system, and they may be intrigued enough with Taillon to take Frazier and/or Polanco.  Or a third team might be included in the trade that would take those two.  If Bell is traded, Evans can DH.  Dyson, because of his defense and the importance of the position, can play CF until a new guy is acquired.
8.  I honestly don't know what to do about RF, except that Polanco wouldn't be out there anymore.  Enough already.
9.  Stallings would remain behind the plate because he's fine defensively.  But it would be a priority to acquire someone who is an upgrade.

BC has to jump heavily into the international market.  There are treasures to be found there.
Agree with most everything, I would try and trade Bell now, and I would keep Polanco in right field for now.  Don't have a problem with Tucker playing CF, he's going to make a mistakes but he got to learn.

Nothing against Tucker. I'd say this about any player:

I don't want players who need to learn.

I want players who play.

If a guy needs to learn, let him learn somewhere else. That's why there are minor leagues. That's why there are other teams.

We can't use center field, of all places, to be our kindergarten. We need graduate students. Of course, we know why we don't have any, but still. That's what we need.

I've never seen grade school kids win the world series.

If Tucker can't hit well enough to play SS he can't hit well enough to play CF. Theoretically, he's their best defensive SS. Maybe some day they'll let him play there. It makes zero sense to try to break him in as a CFer where he might not hit or field well if they aren't going to see if he can hit well enough to take over SS.

436E63727564733330010 wrote: If Tucker can't hit well enough to play SS he can't hit well enough to play CF. Theoretically, he's their best defensive SS. Maybe some day they'll let him play there. It makes zero sense to try to break him in as a CFer where he might not hit or field well if they aren't going to see if he can hit well enough to take over SS.


We see it every year, if our eyes are open. Pedro Alvarez. The guy couldn't cut it at third, so what do we do? We move him to first, and he couldn't cut it there. You can move the guy to the popcorn stand it it won't make him hit any better.

784D5A5A51685A5A51565A3F0 wrote: If Tucker can't hit well enough to play SS he can't hit well enough to play CF. Theoretically, he's their best defensive SS. Maybe some day they'll let him play there. It makes zero sense to try to break him in as a CFer where he might not hit or field well if they aren't going to see if he can hit well enough to take over SS.


We see it every year, if our eyes are open.  Pedro Alvarez.  The guy couldn't cut it at third, so what do we do?  We move him to first, and he couldn't cut it there.  You can move the guy to the popcorn stand it it won't make him hit any better.
Pedro was not moved to 1B because of his hitting. He became an abomination at 3B. He had the yips and was throwing more balls from 3B into the stands than to the 1Bman. He was benched in late July 2014 simply because he could not play 3B anymore. It was hoped hoped he would not be a liability at 1B but he then developed an inability to catch the ball. None of that had anything to do with his hitting, which was well established as low average, high Ks, good power. Alvarez could hit pitchers' mistakes down the middle of the plate over the fence. He wasn't good for much else. But the position change was strictly due to his inability to throw from 3B.

Probably right. I said the same thing, though. Moving a guy across the diamond won't make him hit or field any better, and it didn't.

Changing from infielder to outfielder makes little sense to me, but these guys know better. I don't see it, but stranger things have happened. I get an uneasy feeling about it.

724750505B6250505B5C50350 wrote: Probably right.  I said the same thing, though.  Moving a guy across the diamond won't make him hit or field any better, and it didn't.

Changing from infielder to outfielder makes little sense to me, but these guys know better.  I don't see it, but stranger things have happened.  I get an uneasy feeling about it.
We don't see what they work on in practice but it would appear they seriously want Tucker to play CF. Considering he's their best SS, they must be comfortable with Newman at SS unless Gonzalez takes the spot from him, which he is being given every opportunity to do. The problem with that plan would be that Tucker has not even shown he can hit, much less play CF. They already have a good field/no hit CFer in Dyson. So unless Tucker can at least hit, there is no use in making him into a competent CFer.

527F72636475622221100 wrote: Probably right.  I said the same thing, though.  Moving a guy across the diamond won't make him hit or field any better, and it didn't.

Changing from infielder to outfielder makes little sense to me, but these guys know better.  I don't see it, but stranger things have happened.  I get an uneasy feeling about it.
We don't see what they work on in practice but it would appear they seriously want Tucker to play CF. Considering he's their best SS, they must be comfortable with Newman at SS unless Gonzalez takes the spot from him, which he is being given every opportunity to do. The problem with that plan would be that Tucker has not even shown he can hit, much less play CF. They already have a good field/no hit CFer in Dyson. So unless Tucker can at least hit, there is no use in making him into a competent CFer. 


could be they only hope he can hit better than Dyson and field a little worse. Seems very strange to me at this point in his career. Yet in the spring there was no hint of moving O'Neil Cruz off short.

446263746272010 wrote: Probably right.  I said the same thing, though.  Moving a guy across the diamond won't make him hit or field any better, and it didn't.

Changing from infielder to outfielder makes little sense to me, but these guys know better.  I don't see it, but stranger things have happened.  I get an uneasy feeling about it.
We don't see what they work on in practice but it would appear they seriously want Tucker to play CF. Considering he's their best SS, they must be comfortable with Newman at SS unless Gonzalez takes the spot from him, which he is being given every opportunity to do. The problem with that plan would be that Tucker has not even shown he can hit, much less play CF. They already have a good field/no hit CFer in Dyson. So unless Tucker can at least hit, there is no use in making him into a competent CFer. 


could be they only hope he can hit better than Dyson and field a little worse.  Seems very strange to me at this point in his career.  Yet in the spring there was no hint of moving O'Neil Cruz off short.

When one adds this to Cherrington disappearing and BOB doing business as unusual. I can't think of any reason to have higher expectations today than I've had in past seasons. 

So, they bought some fancy video camera.  Big deal.

Different guys who do the same things, AFAIAC.

6A5F4848437A48484344482D0 wrote: Probably right.  I said the same thing, though.  Moving a guy across the diamond won't make him hit or field any better, and it didn't.

Changing from infielder to outfielder makes little sense to me, but these guys know better.  I don't see it, but stranger things have happened.  I get an uneasy feeling about it.
We don't see what they work on in practice but it would appear they seriously want Tucker to play CF. Considering he's their best SS, they must be comfortable with Newman at SS unless Gonzalez takes the spot from him, which he is being given every opportunity to do. The problem with that plan would be that Tucker has not even shown he can hit, much less play CF. They already have a good field/no hit CFer in Dyson. So unless Tucker can at least hit, there is no use in making him into a competent CFer. 


could be they only hope he can hit better than Dyson and field a little worse.  Seems very strange to me at this point in his career.  Yet in the spring there was no hint of moving O'Neil Cruz off short.

We have enough good field/no hit guys already. And, that's why we lose. Guys who hit win games and earn the big bucks. People argue the opposite all day long, though. If you're adequate in the field, but move teammates around the bases, your team will win more games in the long run. By 'adequate,' I mean "acceptable." That's neither "lousy" nor "perfect." I have no idea what they're doing with Tucker or the reason for it, other than- he's a LMG.

When one adds this to Cherrington disappearing and BOB doing business as unusual. I can't think of any reason to have higher expectations today than I've had in past seasons. 

Different guys who do the same things, AFAIAC.

6154434348714343484F43260 wrote: Probably right.  I said the same thing, though.  Moving a guy across the diamond won't make him hit or field any better, and it didn't.

Changing from infielder to outfielder makes little sense to me, but these guys know better.  I don't see it, but stranger things have happened.  I get an uneasy feeling about it.
We don't see what they work on in practice but it would appear they seriously want Tucker to play CF. Considering he's their best SS, they must be comfortable with Newman at SS unless Gonzalez takes the spot from him, which he is being given every opportunity to do. The problem with that plan would be that Tucker has not even shown he can hit, much less play CF. They already have a good field/no hit CFer in Dyson. So unless Tucker can at least hit, there is no use in making him into a competent CFer. 


could be they only hope he can hit better than Dyson and field a little worse.  Seems very strange to me at this point in his career.  Yet in the spring there was no hint of moving O'Neil Cruz off short.

We have enough good field/no hit guys already.  And, that's why we lose.  Guys who hit win games and earn the big bucks.  People argue the opposite all day long, though.  If you're adequate in the field, but move teammates around the bases, your team will win more games in the long run.  By 'adequate,' I mean "acceptable."  That's neither "lousy" nor "perfect."  I have no idea what they're doing with Tucker or the reason for it, other than- he's a LMG.

When one adds this to Cherrington disappearing and BOB doing business as unusual. I can't think of any reason to have higher expectations today than I've had in past seasons. 

Different guys who do the same things, AFAIAC.


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Tucker is a minor league ball player masquerading in a major league uniform. There is no way he should be playing over Gonzalez.