Kenny Lofton

[monty57]

Why the Brewers were moving Hall to the OF to make room for Ryan Braun's eventual placement at 3B.

I think we can say with almost 100% certainty - that moving Hall to CF and putting Braun at 3B was a mistake. (Seeing as how this year we are toying with the idea of putting Braun in LF and Hall back at 3B)

 

Who ultimately made the decision to switch Hall? Was that Ned? Melvin? Both?

I believe that decision was made by Melvin, and in hindsight it does look like the wrong move. However, the decision was made immediately following the 2006 season, so I'd have to believe he felt that Koskie would be healthy. I think the original plan was to have Koskie play at least until trade deadline last year, if not all season. That would let Braun learn 3B in the minors, where he wouldn't be under a microscope and wouldn't have to be replaced late in games. We'd now be seeing Koskie leave as a free agent and licking our lips at the thought of Ryan Braun coming up as our new third baseman.

 

As it now stands, I don't really understand Melvin's stubbornness. He apparently has listened to trade offers from teams asking about Hall. All of these teams seem to want to play him in the infield. He has played 3B at the major league level in the recent past, and seemed to play at least average defense at the position. We're likely not going to find a better 3B out there, so I'm all for moving Hall back to 3B, and making that his permanent position. Braun can play corner OF, and then we can look for either a CF or corner OF, with Hart playing the other position. Even a Gross / Dillon platoon won't be the end of the world, although I'd prefer Lofton, Ethier, Kemp or possibly even Crisp if it truly was an injury hampering him the last two seasons.

 

Simply put:

 

Hall is better defensively at 3B than at CF

Braun is probably less harmful defensively at LF than at 3B, and is more likely to become "league average" there after some practice.

Hart has become a good RF, and even a passable CF, which is amazing considering he was drafted as a first baseman.

Even at 40 and without a strong arm, Lofton is better defensively at CF than Hall, and gets on base very well. He is terrible against LHP.

Ethier & Kemp are natural corner OFs, and a field of Braun, Hart, Ethier/Kemp would make me very happy

We'd have a strong bench with Gross and Dillon as solid bats, and Gwynn as defensive replacement.

[derflotr]

I'm surprised there are still people that want Either or Kemp, or any kind of action with the Dodgers. Their rotation is set, they don't need any of our excess starters - as far as I'm concerned the Dodgers are off the radar.

 

No matter what way the Brewers futz with the position switches they're going to need a corner outfielder, unless they just move Braun and trade for a 3B.

 

Right now, I think signing Lofton is the best case scenario, and hang on to Vargas/Bush/Cappy until you get an offer you can't refuse...but who knows, maybe something entirely different is about to go down

[colbyjack]

I don't think this has been brought up yet, but Lofton is poised to reach some fairly big milestone numbers this year (thanks to his baseball-reference sponsor for pointing this out):

 

 

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/loftoke01.shtml

 

 

 

Hopefully the World Series ring rings true as well (if the Brewers bring him aboard of course).

[yoshii8]

Could Kenny Lofton still be a possiblity for the Brewers? I think he would be a perfect fit in CF and batting 2nd for the 1st 25 games, after that the 4th OF, pinch hitter/runner, LF at AL parks, and play against tough righties for Mike Cameron.

 

Do you think Lofton would accept a role like this, where he would only get around 300 AB's on a good team, or would he just retire?

 

I personally think that he would make a huge difference for the Brewers, and be great insurance in case someone goes down.

 

Anybody else think this would be a possibility and/or a good idea?

[Gopher74]

Could Kenny Lofton still be a possiblity for the Brewers? I think he would be a perfect fit in CF and batting 2nd for the 1st 25 games, after that the 4th OF,

pinch hitter/runner, LF at AL parks, and play against tough righties for Mike Cameron.

 

Anybody else think this would be a possibility and/or a good idea?

I think this would be a fantastic idea, if we were able to get him for about 3-4 million dollars a season, and we were able to find takers for 2 of Cappy/Bush/Vargas, thus not only not adding payroll, but still overall, cutting it.

 

I think in this scenario you could really maximize the value of Lofton. I guess this would be an even better idea if we had an OF'er that you could reasonably platoon, or at least sit on a semi regular basis vs right handers(maybe half the time), but you simply can't sit Braun or Hart that often vs righties. It's just not something you want to do with a 23 year old ROY and a 25 year old 30/30 threat. They're too good(yes, I know, captain obvious).

 

But still, it'd be a great move. It'd be the type of move the Sox or Yanks would make.

 

In the end though, it's my guess that he wants 6 or so million dollars, and will get at least 5 likely. Then again, maybe I'm way off because he hasn't signed still, and while this is a good idea, it's very unlikely to happen.

 

[Big Reed]

I would welcome Lofton as a 4th outfielder playing both left and center. he could start the season in center and be a defensive replacement for Braun during the season. However, if the brewers did pick him up. I would expect either gross or gwynn to be traded as that would be one too many otfielders. I would expect the brewers to carry 5 outfielders. if you include kapler, currently the brewers have 6.

[aracko]

I believe in defensive replacements but we cannot remove Braun late in the game to improve defense. His bat is too necessary. That would be equivelant to removing Princes bat. Once you pull that player they obviously cannot come back.

 

Braun is a great athlete - he will be able to make the transition and will be in the game all 9 innings.

 

Lofton just doesnt fit on this team anymore with the Cameron signing. We already have Gwynn and Counsell for soft hitting left handed speed guys off the bench. We have Gross as our left handed slugger off the bench. I see no dropoff in defense from Lofton to Gwynn in fact I think Gwynn is the better defender at this stage in his career. Honestly - I wish we had a Right Handed power bat off the bench - someone like Mench or Pedro Feliz or Mike Piazza.

 

To me one of these guys would be an ideal addition to the team and would cost us nothing as far as players. Piazza is at the top of my list.

[RobertR]

It's probably relevant to mention that within the division, Braun's counterparts in LF include Carlos Lee, Adam Dunn, and Chris Duncan. If nothing else, he'll be able to run down balls hit to the walls faster. He probably has better defensive tools than Jenkins and most leftfielders, although turning those tools into skills may take some time.

 

Robert

[dadofandrew]

Well, if Braun is awful in LF, he'll have to be subbed for. As Robert points out though, the bar is mighty low in LF.

[Gopher74]

I believe in defensive replacements but we cannot remove Braun late in the game to improve defense. His bat is too necessary.

 

Lofton just doesnt fit on this team anymore with the Cameron signing. We already have Gwynn and Counsell for soft hitting left handed speed guys off the bench. We have Gross as our left handed slugger off the bench. I see no dropoff in defense from Lofton to Gwynn in fact I think Gwynn is the better defender at this stage in his career. Honestly - I wish we had a Right Handed power bat off the bench - someone like Mench or Pedro Feliz or Mike Piazza.

 

To me one of these guys would be an ideal addition to the team and would cost us nothing as far as players. Piazza is at the top of my list.

Very good post. I agree that you can't take Braun's bat out of the lineup, and that was kinda the point of moving him to left field, so you're not forced to.

Rather, I think Lofton could really be a valuable bench player to be a pinch hitter, to give guys the occasional day off and still have a viable option to get a start in their stead, and for double switches. How great would it be to be able to double switch and not lose that much in going from Cameron/Hart or Braun to Lofton. Obviously you're going to lose SOME, especially with the latter two, but the loss is going to be far less than it would be with Gwynn.

 

I also agree that Gwynn's probably a better defender at this point in his career than Lofton as a result of his strong throwing arm.

 

What I don't agree with is the comment about needing a RH'ed bat off the bench. We've got an abundance of Right Handers on this team as is stands, and while we may not have a comparable power bat off the bench to compliment Gross, we do have Kapler, Rivera, Dillon, Rottino, and then 7 of our 8 starters. I really don't see that as being a problem. Where we do have issues is with so very few LH'ers on this team. Prince, and Gabe Gross. Those are really the only viable left handed options. I do believe that as the season progresses, the one thing that we'll look to add at the deadline would be a good left handed bat off the bench, and since that's at least possibly going to be Lofton, why not add him now so you don't have to give up anything.

 

To me, it's akin to that team on the verge of winning a Super Bowl adding that top notch kick returner and or punt returner. It's a luxury, and it's likely not something you'd look to add unless you felt as though you were just a small move away from being an elite team.

 

[Gopher74]

Well, if Braun is awful in LF, he'll have to be subbed for. As Robert points out though, the bar is mighty low in LF.

Yes, he would have to be, but I believe that Braun's going to be a very good defensive LF'er by the ASB. He's such a fantastic athlete that I believe the move will be a relatively easy one for him.

 

Heck, I think that Hall would have done just fine if he could have just slowed himself down a little bit last year and not tried to make so many bare handed pickup's, so many flips from glove hand to bare hand, whatever the case may be in the first half last year.

 

I do question whether Braun would have a easier transition from 3rd base to Center Field, not that that would have been a realistic option, but I think, and no doubt I'm in the minority, but I think that CF is an easier position for a player to learn, provided that player has the physical attributes required,, simply because in Center Field you get a better read off the bat. There aren't as many slices or hooks and you don't have to deal with the corners. You simply get a truer read off the bat and you go out and run the ball down. I recall an interview that Yount gave several years back in which he said that when he was first moved to the OF that he didn't think he was going to be able to turn into a good defender out there because he was having so much trouble reading the ball off that bat in Left Field. This was until he was moved to CF when he said he could read the ball much easier, and then it was simply a matter of allowing his physical ability take over and just go get it.

 

Of course it's not that simple because you can deal with having a LF'er who's below average far easier than a CF'er in terms of overall negative impact.

 

I guess I think that everyone has just assumed that Corey Hart will be the one who moves to Center Field next year, or possibly the following year when Matt LaPorta proves himself ready for big league action, butI think it's entirely possible that Ryan Braun is the one who ends up manning Center Field rather than Corey Hart.

 

Again, I already accept that I'm in the minority, and we're getting(rather I'm getting) way ahead of myself by even entertaining this idea given that Braun has yet to field his first fly ball in LF, but I think it makes for an interesting idea. LaPorta-LF/Braun-CF/Hart-RF? By the way, that just makes me drool.