Left Field?

[RickieDROPSbombs]

Who knows how good Joe Dillion is? I know he tore it up in AAA last year and also when he came up to the bigs (who knows he could have been on a hot streak), but who says he will be any better at defense than Braun. This decision could make or break our season on what we are going to do with third base and left field. I am all for keeping Braun at third and letting him get a full offseason of training and either giving left field to a platoon of Dillon and Gross or bringing up Laporta if he absolutly tears it up in spring training.

[TooLiveBrew]

Matt LaPorta is not a realistic option for the 2008 Brewers. The earliest I could possibly see him up is 2009, unless due to his unbelievably stellar play, coupled with a serious injury, he could get up by mid-2008 (but only in an extremely extreme scenario). Keep in mind that very, very few hitters burn through a system like Ryan Braun.

[twobrewers]

I am all for keeping Braun at third and letting him get a full offseason of training and either giving left field to a platoon of Dillon and Gross or bringing up Laporta if he absolutly tears it up in spring training.

I am 100% in favor of moving Braun to the OF - almost regardless of who plays 3B. (Assuming they wear a glove)

 

However, I can't even fathom why anyone would accept having Gross/Dillon as a platoon in LF - and leaving Braun at 3B. If you are even thinking about Dillon playing a significant role on your team...it should be at his natural position - 3B!

 

I've seen lots of arguements that Braun would have to adjust to a new position. But everyone throws Dillon's name out there as though he is an experienced OF.

 

If Dillon is even starting half of the time for the Brewers - it should be at 3B. Otherwise he should just play super-sub.

[Tbadder]

How about Gross at 3B. (Blau)

[Ennder]

There are still options out there for 3B that don't require a trade like Feliz, Ensberg etc.

[sbrylski]

Considering the market, I'm thinking the best option is the one right in front of our nose. Joe Dillon is likely going to put up an OBP better than Crede and almost surely better than Feliz, and likely play better than average defense. Just pencil him into an everyday role, ship Vargas out for a prospect, and if Dillon bombs we can make a move near the deadline.

 

I know we have to temper expectations for Dillon, but an 1.060 AAA OPS over 3 years is almost surely going to translate into something at the ML level.

[TerraceReserved]

I side with sbrylski. If we can get average O and plus D at 3b from Dillon, and way above average offense and average to slightly below average D in left from Braun, without having to make a trade or sign a FA, that'd be awesome. But then the question arises of what to do with our 3 surplus SP. 1 or 2 to the pen, 1 has to go. Does Doug trade it for whatever minor leauge talent is available? Does he go ahead and trade for a 3b? It will be interesting to see what happens.

[jazzytrav]

I agree, and the more I think about this the more I hate the idea of a platoon. Just put Braun in LF and put Dillon at 3B. Counsell can then be more of a utility guy...the only role I would like to see him in.

 

Who knows how good Joe Dillion is? I know he tore it up in AAA last year and also when he came up to the bigs (who knows he could have been on a hot streak), but who says he will be any better at defense than Braun.

I realize his bat may not be as good as we've seen so far, I don't see any reason to think his defense wouldn't be better than Braun's. 3B is his natural position. I don't have his minor league defensive stats, but if he showed average to above average defense in AAA, there's no reason to think that won't translate into the majors.

[RobDeer 45]

How do we all know that Braun will even be good in the OF? Having him and Hall out there scares me a little bit. I'm guessing the argument is he can't be much worse than at 3rd? However outfield mistakes can be a lot more costly.

 

Your thoughts.......

[lukevan]

As evidenced by my avatar, I could get behind Joe Dillon at 3B. Play Counsell once in awhile against RHP, though we'd be pretty hosed if Dillon went down. We'd almost be forced to move Braun back in to 3B unless we picked up another reserve 3B/OF this offseason.

[logan82]

Hall looks like he will be above average next year in CF. I doubt we currently have a reaplacement for Braun at 3B on our roster. Not saying that there aren't better options on our roster, just that I doubt we have anybody who Melvin or Yost would move Braun for.

[DrWood]

Considering the market, I'm thinking the best option is the one right in front of our nose. Joe Dillon is likely going to put up an OBP better than Crede and almost surely better than Feliz, and likely play better than average defense. Just pencil him into an everyday role, ship Vargas out for a prospect, and if Dillon bombs we can make a move near the deadline.

 

I know we have to temper expectations for Dillon, but an 1.060 AAA OPS over 3 years is almost surely going to translate into something at the ML level.

 

based on that logic, why don't we just get scott seabol back to play 3b; he's torn up the PCL for a few years, he has to be able to do SOMETHING in the majors, right? For every Jack Cust, who seems to have produced well after lingering in the minors---well, at least he's done well for one season---there are plenty of guys who can't do a thing in the show.

[twobrewers]

I could get behind Joe Dillon at 3B. Play Counsell once in awhile against RHP, though we'd be pretty hosed if Dillon went down. We'd almost be forced to move Braun back in to 3B unless we picked up another reserve 3B/OF this offseason.

That is why I support signing Pedro Feliz. Starting Dillon is taking a pretty big risk - and it also severly limits our bench. We would need someone dependable as a back-up.

 

And whether you like Feliz or not (and I assume most don't) - he is at least a known commodity. Plus his power as a pinch hitter might be useful late in games.

[Ennder]

Feliz is one of the best defensive 3B in baseball so that is why you sign him. I dunno if it is worth it since his OBP makes Counsell's look high.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think of it in this manner - if Estrada had provided the caliber of defense last year that Feliz brings every season, I'd have been able to handle Johnny's lack of OBP. Yes, I know defense is more valuable at C, I'm just sayin'... And at this point Feliz probably has more pop anyway, making a low OBP even more tolerable. Can he be had for 1/$8 mil.?

[twobrewers]

The Brewers would only move Braun to LF if they had an established third baseman to force the issue. Otherwise, he is their third baseman. If they did move him to left, however, he could later move over to rightfield (Geoff Jenkins did it when Carlos Lee was acquired), because he has the arm for it and LaPorta does not. And, let's face it, as others have pointed out, LaPorta might be the first baseman in three or four years if Fielder can't be retained.

 

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