Iribarren?

[TheEndless7]

When did they move him to the outfield? I remember reading a few years ago that he was a second baseman and only a second baseman, then kinda stopped paying attention to the minors for a bit and notice that on the 40-man he's listed as an Outfielder and that he's getting most of his starts in Left and Center?

 

When did this happen and why?

 

Edit: Title spelling. - Toby

[RickieDROPSbombs]

I think they moved him there before last season since the Brewers front office envisions Rickie Weeks as a franchise second baseman. Also when he got called up he played center in the game he got in, in the Cardinals series.

[TheCrew07]

This offseason, because he wasn't going to make it just as a 2B, the ability to play more than 1 position increases his value.

[twobrewers]

He probably isn't good enough to play any position as a full-time starter. So the more positions he can play - the move valuable he is off the bench.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I would love Iribarren to fill the Super Sub role that Bill Hall did a few years back by playing 3-4 times a week at different positions. He just seems like that kind of player because of his bat. You gotta get a bat like that in the lineup whenever you can.

[piccione88]

I dont think Iribarren will ever be a super-sub. From everything I have heard, he cannot play short, so he is basically an outfielder, and second baseman. He could get a shot as a stop gap next year in center field , if the Brewers decide to wait with LaPorta like they did with Braun.

[dadofandrew]

I see Hernan as a reserve OF, maybe as early as '09.

 

He'll be a nice guy to have on the bench.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

If Iribarren comes up next year and is a utility OF, that could be the end of Tony Gwynn in Milwaukee.

[BrewCrewForever]

Don't know much about "The Hurricane" but he looked pretty good during his cup of coffee earlier this season. Could be a valuable bench player next season.

[uwisfan]

The Hurricane looked good in his callup, but has been pretty weak in AAA so far this year. A .650 OPS won't have the bigs knocking on the door.

[LouisEly]

If they don't pick up Counsell's option next year, chances are that Iribarren becomes the backup 2B, with either Hall becoming the backup SS and a Hall/Branyan platoon at 3B or Brad Nelson spelling Hall occasionally at 3B. That being said, I fully anticipate Melvin picking up the option, or bringing in a veteran backup SS to fill Counsell's role. It's also possible that Counsell is brought back next year, with Iribarren and Nelson filling two spots on the bench, especially if neither Branyan or Dillon are brought back.

[piccione88]

How is Nelson's defense at third?

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Gosh I hope we don't bring Counsell a chance. It's time to give someone like Hurricane or Crabbe a chance as a utility IF.

[dadofandrew]

Utility IF's tend to be able to play defense well and play all 3 spots...Crabbe cannot, and Hernan is now a CF.

[battlekow]

Iribarren has not stopped playing 2B; in fact, he played it today.

[dadofandrew]

His move to CF does not keep him from occasionally playing 2B, however, it would seem to preclude him from being a SS/3B reserve in the majors.

[battlekow]

I think his inability to play SS/3B precludes him from doing so in the majors; I don't see why being able to play CF would prevent him from playing other positions if he was in fact able to do so.

[dadofandrew]

If he was a plus fielding 2B, you might think he could develop the ability to handle other spots, being a CF would seem to make that a non-issue.

 

The talk about him being a utility INF seems silly, because he can only play 1 spot of 3. Right now he's an OF who can play 2B, but folks continue to call for him to be a 2B/SS/3B, which would seem pie in the sky.

[battlekow]

Yeah, I don't think Iribarren is going to be a utility player, at least not in the sense that Counsell is; he isn't going to replace Counsell next year. Nevertheless, being able to play two (or four, counting the corner OF spots) positions instead of one can't possibly hurt.

[TheCrew07]

Utility to me means that he can play more than one spot. I don't recall anyone ever saying he could play 3B... I see many people saying that he increases his value the more positions he can play, which I honestly don't see any argument against. The versatility, the more value... 1 person mentioned a utility IF, after he mentioned a utility OF in his previous post. If you can play CF, you can play passable D at the corner spots. Counsell isn't worth much as a 3B either, so utility IF is a fairly loose term. Typically you have guys that play the middle and guys that play the corners on the bench. Rarely is there a guy who's servicable up the middle and at the corners...

 

Just because Graffy and Counsell played 3B last year, doesn't mean they should have played there, it was a numbers game. I understand where you are coming from, but there are plenty of options available between AAA and AA to get enough versatility to field a pretty good bench. I'm not big on defined roles to start with, because every guy has a different skill set. Maximize what they do best and the rest will take care of itself... why try to fix square pegs in round holes. Being a utility player doesn't mean you have to play all 4 IF positions (if you can play 3B you can certaintly play 1B), to me it means you can play passable defense at multiple positions, and I don't really care what positions they are.