Valbuena, Donald, and lineup balance

[Lando12]

Before I get into this, I want to say that I'm not a big believer in lineup balance. Not that I don't see the value in having some kind of balance between RH and LH, I just don't think it's a terribly big deal.

Anyhow, much has been made of the Indians LH heavy lineup. There is little relief on the horizon, as the two best position prospects in the system, Chisenhall and Weglarz, are both LH. The only RH prospect that has a realistic chance of starting appears to be Donald. Should Valbuena be sacrificed in the name of balance (among other factors)?

I say no for a couple reasons. First, I think Valbuena can be a good player. His improved walk rate, which is hopefully not entirely a mirage, is making him look more like Mark Bellhorn. When he was good (I'm looking primarily at 2004), Bellhorn drew a ton of walks, had decent power, and didn't hit for much average. He also wasn't much of a defender. I'm not willing to sacrifice that in the name of balance. The second reason is that I think Donald can be better deployed. Donald can play SS, while Valbuena really shouldn't. Donald's arm supposedly will work at 3B, too. If both Valbuena and Chisenhall are in the infield, Donald could play every day versus LH without entering into a true platoon with either player. He could also pick up a few AB versus RH for Cabrera. Donald could be a quasi full time player. Valbuena could be shuffled around to accomplish the same thing, but I don't like the defensive implications. I think using Donald in such a fashion solves the balance issue on the infield while ensuring that the Mike Rouses of the world don't get too many AB.

A similar situation could be brewing in the OF. Grady and Choo are locked in place. LF and DH are between Hafner, Weglarz, and Brantley. If Hafner is let go, the solution is easy. If he sticks around, I think there are problems. Weglarz is a better prospect than Brantley, but I think Brantley is better than a 4th OF in terms of value. Brantley would also be the 4th LH OF. That doesn't make him a bad player, but I think there is a lost opportunity a RH bat isn't brought in. Even if platoon splits are on the order of 100 points of OPS, might as well take advantage of those 100 points through the bench.

My solution to that is to trade Brantley. Someone thought Juan Pierre was worth 45 million. Someone else thought Joey Gaithright was worth a decent return. Brantley is more valuable than those two. The only reason I would see to keep Brantley around for 6-7 years is if the organization is really, really concerned about Grady leaving after 2012.

[DavidMcGr]

I agree that Brantley trading Brantley should seriously be considered, but not rushed into until a decent package presents itself. On the note of Donald vs. Valbuena, I would not be surprised one bit of Donald turns out to be a better player than Valbuena. Donald was hurt last season and prior to 2009 he was universally a better prospect than Valbuena. I wouldn't say that Donald is the favorite to win over 2B down the line but I would not be surprised one bit if that happened, plus I think that Valbuena is better suited to act as a utility infielder.

Also I wouldn't be surprised to see some sleeper right-handed prospect emerge onto the scene. While I wouldn't rate Beau Mills, Carlos Rivero or Wes Hodges (among others) as likely candidates individually but as a whole there is a good shot that one finally breaks out. It's possible that some players could break out and be fast-tracked as well - of course the funny part is that while someone like Bellows or Abreu could be that person I find it more likely to be a left-hander like Kipnis or switch hitter like Phelps.

But generally speaking platoon splits aren't a huge deal. If the team is full of good hitting left-handers then play them. We'll crush righties and still hold our own against lefties - plus it isn't that hard to find half-decent right handed bench players.

[FordPrefect]

I suppose that (trading Brantley) is a solution, but I'm content to go forward until they force our hand - that's when they'll have the highest trading value too.

I also think Valbuena still has defensive potential - he made a lot of out of zone plays last year, and just was bad on plays within his zone, perhaps indicating the problem was focus, which can improve. If he doesn't show any improvement - either in defense or offense - then someone will take his spot sooner or later.

[Lando12]

I'm pretty much at least a year early on all of my stuff lately. Waiting is boring, so I'm doing truckloads of speculating. Predicting the future in such a manner is like nailing jello to the wall, but I might as well. I can think of worse things to talk about. Anyone want to discuss BABIP?

Anyhow, Donald's K rate has always scared me a bit. We'll have to see how that progresses, but I almost always prefer K/BB numbers that show an ironclad grip on the strike zone. It's not a big deal, but it does worry me. I wonder how they plan on using Donald. It is possible that the very best defensive lineup has Donald at SS and Cabrera at 2B. I don't see the team moving Cabrera off of SS, so we'll have to see.