Montero, third baseman of 09?

by damdrs1717 on Sep 27, 2008 2:20 PM EDT Comment 8 comments

I like this idea, but only if they move Reynolds to second and keep him there. They said at times they might play Reynolds at second. If Reynolds was to play at second, then we don't have to spend money on Hudson and next year we won't be paying Randy Johnson 15 million, so all that money plus some more can give us enough to resign Adam Dunn. What are your thoughts on this?

0 recs | Comment 8 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

can't be any worse than Reynolds.

"There are only two seasons: winter and baseball"
-- Bill Veeck

by njjohn on Sep 27, 2008 2:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Defensively, I agree

I’m much more enthusiastic about experimenting with Montero at third than I am with Mark at second, but, unfortunately, from what I gather, these moves sound like a package deal.

Miguel’s 25, has some pop, and I think consistent ABs might help his stroke. His left handedness against a string of RHP would also break up our lineup vulnerabilities some.

The problem in all of this is that Reynolds cant really play a position. It’s not just the errors. His range at third is terrible, and you’re moving him to a spot requiring at least double the range, not to mention surehandedness, fluidity of motion, throwing across your body on the double play – all things I’m doubtful Mark can master. He’s a good athlete, but there’s a reason 220lb guys dont play second base.

by Diamondhacks on Oct 6, 2008 12:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mentioned this somewhat

In the last paragraph of the recap from last night, but it does probably deserve more consideration [I’ll also tidy up the link a bit :-)]. I don’t think it’s quite as simple as “moving Reynolds over to second = signing Adam Dunn”. True, we will save some money if we don’t resign Hudson, but we will likely still be paying something to Johnson to re-sign him [which everyone seems to want to do], though I imagine much less than currently.

However, you also need to remember that a number of existing players under contract will be due significant increases:

Doug Davis:$6.75m to $7.75m

Eric Byrnes: $6m [or $8m including the signing bonus] to $11m

Brandon Webb: $5.5m to $6.5m

Dan Haren: $4m to $7.5m

Chad Tracy: $3.75m to $4.75m

Jon Rauch: $1.2m to $2m

Chris Young: $400K to $1.75m

Even discounting the likely significant pay-rises for those who are arbitration eligible such as Jackson and Snyder, that’s over eleven million additional dollars we will be paying out to the existing roster. I think finding money for Dunn will depend on other moves being made to free up space.

As for the wisdom of putting Montero at third… His OPS this year was .763, which is about 20 pounts below Reynolds, so it doesn’t seem like it would be an offensive boost, even if he is a left-handed batter. I’d be more inclined to see us try D’Antona at third for a season, even as an RHP, with Dunn [or Tracy as a fallback] as a left-hander at first. .

I have never been impressed with Montero’s defense at the best of time – his throws to second have generally been poor [witness the ferocious success-rate of base-stealers against him, currently fractionally below 82% this season] and the prospect of him having to throw from third to first might just be enough to make us yearn for the strong, accurate arm of Reynolds.

by Jim McLennan on Sep 27, 2008 2:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

the prospect of him having to throw from third to first might just be enough to make us yearn for the strong, accurate arm of Reynolds.

Oh my.

"We...probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." — Terry Bisson

by Scrbl on Sep 27, 2008 7:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Montero cannot catch adequately even as a catcher

and you are correct about his abysmal success-rate of of throwing out base-stealers. Why would the powers that be consider this type of banana head move? As some have posted, the position couldn’t be fielded any worse than marK Reynolds. I think we place the proper player that has been groomed to field the position and work on their offense. marK Reynolds needs some incredible work to hit more for average instead of whiffing or looking whenever possible. I would also like to see his attitude be more humble and not so glib about making records of unstellar proportions nor noteriety.

Getting back to Montero, his bat is suspect. I continue to groom him for the bench sitting qualities and pinch-hitting. Spelling Snyder is adequate, however, I feel more comfortable with Hammock performing the secondary duties, than with Montero.

LiveStrong - wear yellow; the truth is out there (X-Files); "Go with throttle up!" (Challenger Space Heroes); "bababooey to you all!" Howard (Sirius) fan.

by icecoldmo on Oct 3, 2008 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You've

apparently missed our discussion on Reynolds’ comments….

"If the government's nuclear football ever were to fall into the wrong hands, Chris Horton would be called upon to intercept it on behalf of the Pentagon." -Kissing Suzy Kolber

by DbacksSkins on Oct 3, 2008 9:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs