Ranma wrote:Neddy wrote:yeah i get what you are saying, but as the article says, you can't bring up Kyle to be our third string catcher because although he isn't exactly a young buck, he still is a prospect who needs to play everyday, and unlike what the article says, you can't waste 25th roster spot on a third string catcher who has no other abilities to add to the roster's flexibility. Bobby Wilson can't play any other position on the field, and regardless what he is doing at AAA, he has proven he can't hit at the major league level. the auther states Mike Freeman is a classic AAAA player who has proven to be a none major leaguer, but Bobby Wilson is exactly the same guy who's only difference is that he is a catcher. at least Mike is still relatively unproven. Bobby is absolute garbage at the plate with more than 800 major league at bats under his belt. MIke has hit better consistently at the minor level than Bobby and has been given like 60 at bats at the majors.
I totally get not calling up Farmer as a prospect who needs regular playing time, but if Doc is going to sit Barnes because Freeman is on the roster instead of Wilson, then I want Wilson up because Barnes should be getting the playing time over any one in that 25th roster spot regardless of it's Freeman or Wilson. Yes, Freeman is better and more versatile at least as a pinch runner than Wilson, but Barnes is better than either of them.
If we're concerned about not giving enough playing time to someone on the roster, then Wilson should be the one sitting. He's the experienced vet and we don't have to worry about him while having someone who can free bu Barnes to play more. Our offense is good enough to carry a non-offense catcher on the off-chance he would play. It's a danger of being complacent to do what other teams are doing, but we can minimize such exposure by having Farmer and Wilson take turns shuttling back and forth from the minors just like what we do with our pitchers.
Again, it shouldn't be a big deal since movement for this spot should be minimized as we shouldn't need to go to the player that occupies that spot much at all. It just seems like a waste to not utilize Barnes, who would start for at least half the teams in the league just because of an fairly insignificant roster spot on the ballclub.
well, okay. maybe there is some dogmatic tradition still in me when it comes to baseball, as for one, baseball has a ton of tradition and more importantly, I am getting old too. but having 4 men bench with 13 pitchers on 25 men roster and keeping 3 catchers is... unprecedented. but then again, we now carry12 pitchers and 5 men bench since Thompson is back... so I suppose it is much more palatable.
in the scenario of Wilson replacing Freeman, whom I think is only a temporary position holder until one of the pitchers on DL returns to bring the bench back to 4 men crew, and lets just say the bench will remain 5 for this argument, (the the line up of Grandal/Bellinger/Utley/Seager/Turner/Taylor/Joc/Puig) will be
1. Austin C/2B/PH/PR
2. Utley/Forsythe (whichever is sitting @ 2B platoon)
3. **** the ultimate utility player
4. Thompson
5. Wilson - the deep safety, so to speak
with the versatility of **** and Trayce's ability to play all 3 outfield positions, and knowing both Forsythe and Utley can cover all infield minus the SS, this is very doable. in fact this may make it as the best bench in all baseball. we can even move Seager or Grandal to DH when playing AL teams to save their mileage on their bodies, and not lose a step at both defensive positions with all the interchangeable and yet very defensively competent bench. you can even say this is ideal. after thinking out loud as I wrote this, I agree 100% that your assessment is correct.
but let me play the devil's advocate here.
as I have mentioned earlier, I don't think 12 pitcher roster is for very long. one of Chris Hatcher/Scott Kazmir/Adam Liberatore/and especially, Brandon McCarthy is bound to come back and make the active roster. we do have two lefties in the pen now with Dayton joining Avilan, but McCarthy isn't going to be down and out of commission for very long. Kazmir has started his rehab assignments at A ball now, and maybe Adam and/or Chris wont be good enough to make it back, and/or displace one or both of Avilan and Dayton, but my gut feeling is that we will run back 13 men pitching crew out there as soon as we can, in part due to Austin and the rest of the bench's awesome versatility. I do think it is part of the grand scheme of things by our savvy FO to keep this oddly joined 6 men rotation until the trade deadline to bring in a top flight starter to join the rest, and even then we may still keep this thing going to keep every key pitching arms fresh for the playoffs. I really do think we are gonna run, at least in majority of the second half of the season to run 12 men position players. (of course I could be completely wrong in my assumption and we run 12 men pitching crew for the rest of the way and my claim is nothing but a big waste of mental exercise)
so, let's examine these guys.
Grandal/Bellinger/Utley/Seager/Turner/Taylor/Joc/Puig starting, the 4 men bench will consist of
1. **** the multi position wiz kid
2. Forsythe (or Utley, depending on who's pitching against us)
3. Austin
4. Wilson
now we have really a 3 men bench, knowing Wilson can't hit, can't run, can't play any other position but catch. in this particular scenario, I would rather sacrifice Austin's at bats and keep Thompson on the roster, knowing he can actually hit, run, and play all 3 OF positions. and this is without even considering either Gonzo or Ethier could make it back from their herniated disks ( which I think is unlikely anyway, but just saying)
so yeah, if the discussion is about bringing Wilson and let Freeman go free until the next move is made, I think you are absolutely right after having this thought out. but I am going to still be cautious if we are to bring up Wilson for good regardless of the potential scenarios I have hypothesized.
