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So far he is 8 for 14 this spring. The guy can hit, and will be a nice option off the bench this year. The D-Backs seem to come up with one of these veteran guys every year that make major contributions. With Counsell's uncertain health and the fact that Overbay is a rookie, and the way Brenly likes to shuffle people in and out, I can see Baerga getting alot of at bats this year. I think Brenly likes Carlos in the two hole.
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I've been impressed with him from what I have heard also. He sounds like a real aggressive player. Although, he has been compared to Brian Anderson as far as weird incidents go. I think he has a good chance at making this team.
I liked this signing when they made it. A smart move by the D-Backs, who seem to have an excellent eye for veteran bench-type talent, mananging to cull the fungibles for some productive players like McCracken, Batista.
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Erstwhile, Long Suffering Phillies Phan
Originally posted by schillingfan I liked this signing when they made it. A smart move by the D-Backs, who seem to have an excellent eye for veteran bench-type talent, mananging to cull the fungibles for some productive players like McCracken, Batista.
Now if they'd just learn not to pay them so much after a year.
Originally posted by schillingfan I liked this signing when they made it. A smart move by the D-Backs, who seem to have an excellent eye for veteran bench-type talent, mananging to cull the fungibles for some productive players like McCracken, Batista.
LOL, Schillingfan...I knew that question was coming. Fortunately for me I read about it on the Az Dacks message board when you posted it there. I will happily let you reply to it.
Actually the full credit for that word belongs to Peter Gammons - believe it or not. It's truly a great word which Websters essentially defines as "being of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity". In other words those major league baseball players that are cheaply and readily replaceable wth other similar appearing players.
The trick, of course, is to sift through the fungible players and find the real gems. I think the D-Backs have done that well in some cases. Hopefully the same is true of Baerga.
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Erstwhile, Long Suffering Phillies Phan
Originally posted by schillingfan Actually the full credit for that word belongs to Peter Gammons - believe it or not. It's truly a great word which Websters essentially defines as "being of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity". In other words those major league baseball players that are cheaply and readily replaceable wth other similar appearing players.
The trick, of course, is to sift through the fungible players and find the real gems. I think the D-Backs have done that well in some cases. Hopefully the same is true of Baerga.
For even more eye rolling, Peter seemed to have stolen the word (and the application of it in regards to relief pitchers) from Baseball Prospectus and Joe Sheehan, whose been using it since at least 2000 that I recall.
Originally posted by DWKB Now if they'd just learn not to pay them so much after a year.
Did anybody notice what the Angels paid their "Craig Counsell" David Eckstein?
Quote:
David Eckstein, the sparkplug shortstop, agreed to a one-year contract with the team March 2. Eckstein will make $425,000 this season, a raise of $145,000 from last year, when he helped the Angels win the World Series. Eckstein has not yet played three years in the majors, so the Angels could have paid him the $300,000 minimum. Eckstein, 28, earned a raise by hitting .293 and scoring 107 runs as the leadoff batter. He finished 11th in AL MVP balloting.
This was after paying Brad Fulmer around $1 million.
I'd rather have anonymous kids as my "fungible" players, but even players like Carlos Baerga have some potential value.
I'll preemptively stipulate a guilty plea to being emotionally prejudiced against Mark Grace.
What's galling is that Baerga & Chris Donnels both have more versatility and the same expectation of offensive contribution as Mark Grace. Yet Baerga, Donnels, and a couple of others are competing for the one infield spot, while everyone is joking about Grace not knowing that he's not a coach yet as he's injured.
If Grace's $1.5M contract is "peanuts", then the club should entertain cutting him to freeing up the roster spot. They could give him the choice of becoming a coach with the option of going to AAA to do some "mentoring" in Tucson, or stretching his playing days elsewhere.
Originally posted by unc84steve I'll preemptively stipulate a guilty plea to being emotionally prejudiced against Mark Grace.
What's galling is that Baerga & Chris Donnels both have more versatility and the same expectation of offensive contribution as Mark Grace. Yet Baerga, Donnels, and a couple of others are competing for the one infield spot, while everyone is joking about Grace not knowing that he's not a coach yet as he's injured.
If Grace's $1.5M contract is "peanuts", then the club should entertain cutting him to freeing up the roster spot. They could give him the choice of becoming a coach with the option of going to AAA to do some "mentoring" in Tucson, or stretching his playing days elsewhere.
Couldn't agree more.
I'm not sure that Donnels has more flexibility than Grace, but one could argue that he is a better pinch hitter, which should supersede defensive concerns, especially since defense is not the top priority of a 1st baseman, and this is an area that Lyle Overbay is supposedly very strong in.
And it would have nice to add those "peanuts" ($1.5 million) to Greg Colbrunn’s contract proposal, so that we’d still have the best right handed pinch hitter on a bench (and lineup) that is lacking right handed power.
Oh, but Matt Williams will provide that. As if that isn’t a stupid enough idea to begin with, I’d like to ask the organization, furthermore, why they think a man who’s trademark is swinging at a first pitch, is in any way cut out for Colbrunn’s primary pinch hitting role.
Sadly, the latter is exactly why Williams will start ahead of Craig Counsell. Not because he’s a better player or asset to the lineup, but because like Jay Bell last year, Williams will be a non factor on a team that is paying a hefty price for his unwarranted and unneeded presence on the active roster.
I'm not sure that Donnels has more flexibility than Grace, but one could argue that he is a better pinch hitter, which should supersede defensive concerns, especially since defense is not the top priority of a 1st baseman, and this is an area that Lyle Overbay is supposedly very strong in.
As much as I agree with you about defense at 1B being less of a concern, Overbay is not a defensive wiz like he seems to be getting billed as. This seems to be a logical leap that certain 1B who hit for a high avg. with little power must have a good glove with them ( Miinkiewicz, Olerud, Grace, etc..).
Originally posted by DWKB As much as I agree with you about defense at 1B being less of a concern, Overbay is not a defensive wiz like he seems to be getting billed as. This seems to be a logical leap that certain 1B who hit for a high avg. with little power must have a good glove with them ( Miinkiewicz, Olerud, Grace, etc..).
That's great.
So somebody tell me why this organization is so high on this kid then?
After all, if wanted someone w/ a high batting average, average defense and little power, wouldn't Chris Donnels be the Diamondbacks starting third baseman.
Doesn't RLakin have another doctoral thesis to write on how bad Matt Williams is? I guess that's why he can't find the time to learn about Overbay's defensive capabilities. Hey Lakin, Overbay's only been in the organization now for 3 years or so, and it's not like he came out of nowhere. He's been getting pub ever since he became the first player in the history of baseball to have over 100 RBI in short season rookie ball.
I know, why don't we trade RLakin off for another DBacks basher. I'm sure there's some fungible talent out there....like someone who'll complian about how old the team is or how ugly those purple uniforms are. They'd be just about as useful as this "local area media pundit on the DBacks".
Originally posted by Derek in Tucson I know, why don't we trade RLakin off for another DBacks basher. I'm sure there's some fungible talent out there....like someone who'll complian about how old the team is or how ugly those purple uniforms are. They'd be just about as useful as this "local area media pundit on the DBacks".
Is he a pundit on the D-Backs? I don't think I've ever seen him post on anything about the D-Backs other than Matt Williams. I've decided that he bears a strong resemblance to Captain Ahab in his constant pursuit of bashing Matty. And granted I'm a Matty basher myself, but that's not my primary interest in the D-Backs, I have others. (Yeah, yeah, no wisecracks about what my primary interest in the D-Backs is.
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Erstwhile, Long Suffering Phillies Phan
Although, he has been compared to Brian Anderson as far as weird incidents go. I think he has a good chance at making this team.
It's truly a great word which Websters essentially defines as "being of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity". In other words those major league baseball players that are cheaply and readily replaceable wth other similar appearing players.
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