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Luis Cruz: better option than Betancourt?

rcon14

By rcon14,
in Milwaukee Brewers Talk

sveumrules Carolina Mudcats

sveumrules

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Posted
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We already have a utility middle infielder though with Counsell. Add in Kotsay, Dickerson and Backup C and you have one bench spot left and Cruz just seems like a redundancy with that group. I'd like a RH corner guy with power to round out the bench but I'm not sure we have that guy in camp. Whither Brendan Katin?
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TheRealMattKain College Ball

TheRealMattKain

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"If you looked at Ozzie Smith, and he was the best shortstop I've ever seen, part of that was because Ozzie was so smart. He positioned himself so well. Alex Rodriguez was the same thing (as a shortstop). His footwork is the best I've seen. He never threw a ball away at short.

"How do you judge that on a computer? They say (Betancourt's) range isn't good but maybe he was smart enough and positioned himself well.

I think there is a huge misunderstanding in how defensive metrics work here. If he positioned himself well his range would look really good.

 

 

Orlando Cabrera grades out really bad. He plays on a winning team every year."

Fantastic. Braun has played on mostly mediocre or bad teams. He must not be a good player. In fact the Brewers had a losing record after his call-up in 2007. Must be his fault they missed the playoffs that year.

Thanks for saying exactly what I wanted to say. Roenicke's comments are just plain depressing. Does he really not understand how defensive stats work? Or is he just ad libbing in a desperate attempt to defend one of his players? And his comments on Cabrera... Player A is on Team A. Team A is good. Therefore Player A is good. Really?! Great. On the other hand, at least we'll be running the basepaths this year! Hopefully Roenicke will pull out some A+ management and bench basecloggers like Fielder. Ugh.
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topper09er ACL Brewers

topper09er

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What would you say if you were Roenicke, the guy who pretty much has to be my opening day starting SS really sucks. I mean looking at his past defensive metrics really shows me he is horrible at defense. He must have terrible range and have a bad arm because these stats really show he sucks. This is one of the reasons why managers are important even though it cannot be shown on a graph, he needs to instill confidence in his players. He needs to make up whatever he can to prove to YB that he thinks he can get that job done.

 

Now Im still not sure if Ron and Doug actually believe the stuff they say like about Orlando Cabrera, I tend to think they actually do but part of me hopes they know better and are just telling the average fan what they want to hear.

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RobDeer 45 ACL Brewers

RobDeer 45

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There is no way Ron is going to throw a guy under the bus. He can't. And yes, he probably know's he's not very good but there's nothing he can do about it right now. He's got to defend him and the team right now so all of you who'd like to hear otherwise will have to chill out of a bit.
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Funketown ACL Brewers

Funketown

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How about:

 

"Yuniesky has struggled a bit over the past couple years, but he has gotten himself into great shape and he's been working on his footwork. He has a lot of natural talent and I'm expecting him to be a strong defender this season."

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logan82 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

logan82

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How about:

 

"Yuniesky has struggled a bit over the past couple years, but he has gotten himself into great shape and he's been working on his footwork. He has a lot of natural talent and I'm expecting him to be a strong defender this season."

He came into camp in good shape a few years back as well. Yup, he still sucked.

Fan is short for fanatic.

I blame Wang.

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TooLiveBrew Milwaukee Brewers

TooLiveBrew

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Like people have been saying, it ultimately doesn't matter what Roenicke says. He's got to stick up for his player. One thing I'm ready to believe that's been instilled in him from his time with the Angels is that he can recognize what good defense looks like. Complete hunch on my part, but if Betancourt is as bad as many are fearing he will be, I don't think RRR will put up with him for very long in terms of regular playing time.
Stearns Brewing Co.: Sustainability from farm to plate
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logan82 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

logan82

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Like people have been saying, it ultimately doesn't matter what Roenicke says. He's got to stick up for his player. One thing I'm ready to believe that's been instilled in him from his time with the Angels is that he can recognize what good defense looks like. Complete hunch on my part, but if Betancourt is as bad as many are fearing he will be, I don't think RRR will put up with him for very long in terms of regular playing time.
Unless he has no other choice. Luis Cruz and Craig Counsel really don't represent good alternatives. If Counsel was about 7 years younger we would probably get a decent platoon at SS.

Fan is short for fanatic.

I blame Wang.

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monty57 ACL Brewers

monty57

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Just a guess, but I doubt that Cruz will win the starting SS job. More likely, a good spring would mean that he'd win the backup job, and if Yuni plays poorly to start the season or gets injured, Cruz would move into the starting role.

 

I believe that we'd lose Cruz if he doesn't make the opening day roster. The reasons I'd like to see him make the squad are that (A) Yuni's not a great option & (B) if we lose Cruz, then we have no other backup SS options should Yuni get injured or fail. Counsell is fine for a short-term fix, but I doubt he could play every day if Yuni got hurt for an extended period. Cruz may not be a world-beater, but at least his body would hold up to everyday SS duties, and he shouldn't be that big of a downgrade (and may be an upgrade) from Yuni.

"The most successful (people) know that performance over the long haul is what counts. If you can seize the day, great. But never forget that there are days yet to come."

 

~Bill Walsh

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monty57 ACL Brewers

monty57

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I'm not at all convinced that Cruz is better than Betancourt

 

Me either, but if George is the next in line after Cruz, we need to hold onto Cruz. George had two errors in an inning yesterday, and had 40 in 78 games last year. I certainly don't want him as the everyday SS if Yuni goes down. Again, I don't think Counsell will hold up to everyday play long-term

"The most successful (people) know that performance over the long haul is what counts. If you can seize the day, great. But never forget that there are days yet to come."

 

~Bill Walsh

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CheezWizHed Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

CheezWizHed

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Playing Cruz in LF certainly looks like they are planning on having him play Inglett's role from last year. I'd put money on him landing a 25-man roster spot. Not saying that I think he should (I'm in wait-and-see mode), but that the Brewers are setting him up for it.
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