8/21/2003 Phillies (Padilla) @ Brewers (Davis)

[Al the Thinking Man]

Check out Ramblings, So Cal. Conti had a career .360ish OBP in AAA coming into '03. I would tend to write off 2003 as a wasted season for him, but I still like the guy.

 

No doubt, 5th OF's are plentiful, but Conti or Clark would be fine with me in '04.

 

FYI, you need a guy with a bit more "punch" as your 4th OF. Clark is the 4th OF this year, and I'd like to see an improvement for '04. But, VW was supposed to be the 4th guy, and he's a dandy one.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'm with Al on this one. I don't mind Clark or Conti, but together on the bench.......ehhh... I can't remember who, but someone said your 4th OF should be a guy who you wouldn't mind if he got 350 AB's, and that's right on. Let's say, for example, best case scenario, your 3 starters each only miss 20 games, which is realistic, that's 240 + at bats right there, providing the 4th OF plays all 3 spots. It needs to be a guy who you can plug in and not lose too much production from your starters. Clark and Conti ain't that guy. They're both more 5th OF/PH type guys, and they fill that role ok.

[pogokat]

I can't remember who, but someone said your 4th OF should be a guy who you wouldn't mind if he got 350 AB's, and that's right on.

 

hehe...its only 4 posts above yours!

[DuWayne Steurer]

See, Pogo, I'm just plain lazy and once I start typing, that's it. At least I didn't give credit of your quote to someone else! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[SoCalBrewfan]

Yeah, I have seen Conti's minor league stats...this year is pretty badly out of character. But here's the thing...most of the previous AAA at bats were in Tucson and the PCL...the league average OBP right now is .340, and Tucson is a great hitter's park (a pro-hitter park factor of 1051 according to BP...link is below), so when you look at, say, his 2001 numbers (.290 /&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp .358 /&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp .417), you have to let a lot of air out to see what they really mean. Had he done that in New Orleans, I'd be more impressed.

 

www.baseballprospectus.co...erer.shtml

(Note that Tucson's park factor is nearly as high as Colorado Springs with its 1088...Las Vegas is the only other higher number in the PCL...admittedly, the former American Association parks mean that the PCL as a whole is less a hitter's league than it used to be. FWIW, the number I see for High Desert park factor is 1139...that is supposedly the highest anywhere...someone who has a copy of the Baseball Prospectus book might be able to post other numbers.)

[Highroller720]

for those wondering why Clark wasn't in there.

 

Yost said he thought about giving Brady Clark another start in right field after Clark hit a three-run home run in Wednesday's win. But Clark was kneed in the hip while trying to break up a double play, so Yost went with Conti, who recorded each of the first two outs in Thursday's game.

 

Here's the link

scroll to the bottom.

[mls4]

Their first sweep of the year! Amazing.

[GenoSeligPrieb]

"If he and Brady Clark are the reserves next year, I won't complain too much.

 

I will!~

 

ive got no problem with one of the reserve outfeilders being a light hitting good d with speed guy..but i think its importnat to have a 4th outfeilder who can get 350 ab's without being a mile below average"

 

I'm with my overlooked friend pogokat, here, Harold.

 

Re-reading this thread, I could see the entire gamut of the human emotional range here. Anger, joy, frustration, you name it. And when one of these AAAA rummies like a Mark Smith, Brady Clark or Jason Conti comes through in a late August game in a lost season, there shouldn't be such rejoicing.

 

It's one thing to see a "battler" like a Mark Smith come up and hit a dramatic homer, and be happy about that for a day or so. If he put us into first place with such a clout, a la Good Ol' Ned with that key hit in '82 that he stills clings to, that's one thing. But it's quite another to see nobodies like Jason Conti and Brady Clark come through in limited, non-pressure situations, and start planning around them for the future.

 

In limited game situations like these, you could unplug Jason Conti, Mark Smith and Brady Clark, and replace them with other aging, sub-.700 career OPS flotsam like Wendell Magee, George Lombard and Hiram Bocachica, and not miss a beat.

 

The time for granting too much playing time to screwballs like Clark and Osik has got to end.

 

Who'll be catching 50-100 games for us NEXT year? Mike DeFelice? Will Trenidad Hubbard take over LF when Jenkins gets hurt? How about handing the ball to Calvin Maduro 10 times next year as our 5th starter? And when one of these clowns wins a game for us when we're 20 games out next August, will we be looking to bring them back for more?

 

I can't speak for him, but I'm sure pogokat and I wouldn't complain too much if our 4th outfielder is someone like Brian Buchanan, Bubba Trammell, or even sausage-assaulter Randall Simon. Not a bunch of league-minimum, 1-HR-every-150 at bats weaklings.

 

 

This post is sponsored by Randall Simon's Sausage Patties. You can't beat 'em!

 

http://images.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/_photos/2003-07-09-sausage-inside.jpg

[batman]

I can't speak for him, but I'm sure pogokat and I wouldn't complain too much if our 4th outfielder is someone like Brian Buchanan, Bubba Trammell, or even sausage-assaulter Randall Simon. Not a bunch of league-minimum, 1-HR-every-150 at bats weaklings.

 

I gotta disagree, Geno, at least to some extent.

 2003 EqA EqR RARP OBP SLG ------------------------------------------------- Brian Buchanan .288 27.9 8.0 .344 .473 Brady Clark .267 24.7 3.9 .332 .405 Randall Simon .246 33.5 -2.2 .310 .431 Bubba Trammell .207 4.3 -2.7 .279 .291 -------------------------------------------------

Yes, Bubba Trammell has good career numbers but are any of these guys really better than Brady Clark? Maybe just a little... but honestly, Geno, why do you consider Clark a "AAAA rummie" but yet find Buchanan, Simon, and Trammell desirable? Because they've been in the majors for longer? Because they have better name recognition? Check out their respective ages and salaries:

 Age Salary ---------------------------------- Brian Buchanan 30 $ 325,000 Brady Clark 30 $ 312,500 Randall Simon 28 $1,475,000 Bubba Trammell 31 $2,500,000 ----------------------------------

Buchanan is arguably a better value (4 runs for 13k) but Clark is certainly a close second.

 

Personally, I don't mind having "no name" players who can produce at similar levels to the "big names". Just because Brady Clark wasn't a high draft pick or a Yankee doesn't mean he's not a good player. I'd prefer a player with more power off the bench but a combo of Mark Smith and Jason Conti or Brady Clark and Jason Conti or Brady Clark and Mark Smith isn't that bad. I'd rather they didn't start, but that's a different issue.

 

$.02,

~Bill