Brewers interested in Willy Taveras?

[1992casey]

There are a couple articles somewhere where this was mentioned tenuously as somebody's speculation. In other words, the information was about as thin and sketchy as it gets. The rumor may have started in that not-very-dependable paper in Denver.

 

At the very least, the thread title should have ended in a question mark.

 

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EDIT 1: Voila! There's a "?" in the thread title now. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

EDIT 2: It appears that I gave the "rumor" too much credibility above. The only thing I'm finding connecting Milwaukee to Willy Taveras is a "proposal" on the team's mlb.com forum. A link posted in response to the original message erroneously connects what's said about Taveras near the top of the article to what's said about the Brewers at the bottom.

[ECThirdWard]

I'm going to throw this out here even though I know it adds nothing but fantasy and novelty to the conversation. I had a dream last night that the Brewers traded Clark and Hendrickson to the Rockies for Taveras. True story. I woke up thinking we had a new center-fielder. And though the trade seems possibly far-fetched (would the Rockies be willing to take so little?), it somehow just felt right. Think about it.

[TooLiveBrew]

One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned in the thread so far is Taveras's defensive prowess. He is obviously blindingly fast, yet, unlike many 'speed guys', he actually has a good arm (IIRC). I know offense tends to be more valuable, but his defense is about as good as it gets in CF. I wish BF.net payed a little more attention to D, as it's easy to forget that, as good as a player can be at the plate, he can totally cancel that out by playing poorly in the field.

 

That said, two more things - 1. I doubt the Rox wil trade him now. He's young, cheap, and fast as *BEEEEEP* http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif -- CF in Coors is massive, and he will bring them all the range of Juan Pierre, with a nice arm.

2. I don't want the Crew to go after him, unless it's for Clark/Mench/Jenks (guys with whom we want to part), nor do I think the Rox would deal Taveras for any of those guys

 

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Edit 2: fixed broken code in this footnote --1992casey

[1992casey]

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One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned in the thread so far is Taveras's defensive prowess. He is obviously blindingly fast, yet, unlike many 'speed guys', he actually has a good arm (IIRC). I know offense tends to be more valuable, but his defense is about as good as it gets in CF. I wish BF.net payed a little more attention to D, as it's easy to forget that, as good as a player can be at the plate, he can totally cancel that out by playing poorly in the field.

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You're probably right that many people here tend to blow off defense a bit. They probably have a decent excuse, however, in that defense is so hard to quantify.

 

I have no problem with the idea that a player can 'make up' for some offense by being a good defender. "How much?" is always the question, though.

[cancer47]

I suppose the argument regarding defense is very valid. One could look at Carlos Lee, and wonder whether 35/100 is enough to make the team that much closer to a winning team, despite his lackluster defensive play. However, being a LF, how many runs does he cost,?

[TooLiveBrew]

Well, one slant to consider there is that the ChiSox traded away a power hitter in a deal that nearly every baseball observer said we fleeced them, and the next season they won the WS.

 

Scotty Po will never be confused with a player of Lee's caliber, but as a LF replacement, coupled with his speed on the bases (& the field), he clearly was the better fit on the 2005 White Sox.

 

With Konerko & Dye the only two ChiSox hitters with 30 HRs that year, the casual glance at their lineup says they needed another slugger to be world-beaters, but obviously their lineup was fine. I think Lee's lackluster D is the major reason those guys on the South Side sent him packing. We all know how Guillen & Williams love their D & pitching

[Never Outhustled]

Well, one slant to consider there is that the ChiSox traded away a power hitter in a deal that nearly every baseball observer said we fleeced them, and the next season they won the WS.

 

Podsednik was a poor defender in LF, so I doubt he had much to do with the White Sox getting 1 of the best pitched season from there staff in this era. There pitching was absolutly off the charts that year, there running offense simply was along for the ride, IMO.

 

The Brewers have a chance to have a good team ERA, but I doubt it will be dominant. They'll need an offense that ranks in the upper half of the league to compete for the playoffs. They finished just 14th in Runs Scored last year, despite having Carlos Lee for 2/3s of the season.

[foamboy1]

What is with our sudden obsession with overvalued, no-hit center fielders?

 

We apparently finally overcame our obsession with over-the-hill mediocre middle-infielders.

[brewmann04]

who are the Brewers looking to move is this a real rumour?

can"t see any talk about that,seems like the people are just making things up

[Ennder]

Quote:

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Scotty Po will never be confused with a player of Lee's caliber, but as a LF replacement, coupled with his speed on the bases (& the field), he clearly was the better fit on the 2005 White Sox.

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The white sox went to the world series because of their pitching, they offense was average to below average and that was partially because of pods. The fact he did so well in the post season partially vindcated them though.

[sbrylski]

With Konerko & Dye the only two ChiSox hitters with 30 HRs that year, the casual glance at their lineup says they needed another slugger to be world-beaters

 

They were 5th in the majors in HR. They didn't need more power.

 

Only 9th in the AL in runs scored though, so they needed something. OBP would be that something. Team OBP of .322 was good for 11th of the 14 AL teams.

[TooLiveBrew]

Quote:

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They were 5th in the majors in HR. They didn't need more power.

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Well, I did say "the casual glance".....

 

Nice homework sbryl

[brewtank34]

Rumor from FoxSports.net.....

"The Rockies continue to look to improve. Willy Taveras, who brings speed but not power, was not the answer the Rockies had in mind in center, so they're looking to deal him."

 

How about a Jenkins for Taveras trade coming our way soon. I could see it happen.

[Brian the Automator]

[ How about a Jenkins for Taveras trade coming our way soon. I could see it happen. ]

 

I'd rather take my chances with Jenkins, salary and all. Taveras has a completely empty batting average, ala Lenny Harris.

 

I could see him being a nice 5th outfielder who can pinch hit when a single is what the doctor ordered, but that's about it.

[sbrylski]

I started to come around on Taveras after I viewed his minor league stats. Remember, he skipped AAA. His OBP went up his second year in the bigs despite a drop in BA. I think he will eventually be a .750 OPS leadoff hitter with 40+ SB. He just may break out next year, especially if he plays in Colorado. Whether I want to take the chance on him becoming that player is the question.