Morning Rumor Roundup
- The White Sox are interested in bringing in former Cub, Henry Blanco, and are reportedly not the only team interested in his services. (Chicago Breaking Sports)
- The Cubs are not one of the teams that have inquired about Mark DeRosa. (LA Times)
If you’ve missed the first few editions of the series, here are some links as well as the schedule for the week:
C / 1B / 2B / SS / 3B / CF / LF / RF (Fri) / Righty SP (Mon) / Lefty SP (Tuesday)
Contract Info for 2010
Alfonso Soriano – signed through 2014 at a rate of $18 mil annually. That includes a full no-trade clause and the following perks: suite on road trips, 6 premium tickets for each home game (spring training – post-season) and All Star Game (if Soriano is selected)
John Ford-Griffin – Minor League FA
Positional Summary
Today we take a look at the left field position, as much as it pains me to do so. It means we need to talk about a topic that I would rather not discuss, bad contracts.
| Age | PA | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soriano, Alfonso | 33 | MAJ | 522 | 64 | 25 | 1 | 20 | 55 | 9 | 2 | 40 | 118 | .241 | .303 | .423 | .726 |
| *Griffin, John-Ford | 29 | AAA | 386 | 39 | 29 | 3 | 5 | 40 | 5 | 2 | 36 | 87 | .268 | .342 | .415 | .757 |
| Wright, Ty | 24 | AA | 497 | 66 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 58 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 60 | .290 | .349 | .412 | .761 |
| *Wyatt, Jonathan | 24 | H-A | 435 | 44 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 9 | 5 | 35 | 67 | .232 | .295 | .278 | .572 |
| *Rundle, Drew | 21 | L-A,H-A | 280 | 29 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 82 | .214 | .328 | .325 | .653 |
| *Andersen, Cliff | 21 | L-A,SS | 139 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 45 | .235 | .273 | .303 | .576 |
| Davis, Burundi | 20 | SS,ROK | 209 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 11 | 1 | 17 | 66 | .246 | .325 | .361 | .686 |
| Figueroa, Darlyn | 19 | ROK | 183 | 26 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 44 | .216 | .344 | .281 | .625 |
| *Cook, Glenn | 24 | ROK | 103 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 32 | .167 | .311 | .238 | .549 |
| Valdez, Rander | 17 | ROK | 60 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 24 | .052 | .067 | .052 | .118 |
| Damian, Alejandro | 19 | ROK | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | .158 | .370 | .211 | .581 |
| *Williams, Sean | 18 | ROK | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .364 | .364 | .364 | .727 |
Looking at the table above, I see a reason why Jim Hendry felt like it would be a good idea to sign Soriano for a multi-year deal. There simply isn’t much talent at the LF position in the system. The only top prospect from the Baseball America top 30 from last year was Ty Wright, but he’s basically a decent contact hitter with minimal home run power and average speed. He’s been a decent hitter in his three years in the system, but he really isn’t someone I could see being an impact bat in the lineup from a starter standpoint even if Soriano wasn’t around. His minor league breakdown is as follows:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lev | PA | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 22 | 2 Teams | A_ss-A | 303 | 45 | 13 | 2 | 10 | 49 | 11 | 3 | 28 | 37 | .308 | .387 | .487 | .874 |
| 2008 | 23 | Daytona | A_adv | 480 | 60 | 21 | 1 | 8 | 72 | 7 | 2 | 41 | 71 | .300 | .370 | .411 | .781 |
| 2009 | 24 | Tennessee | AA | 497 | 66 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 58 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 60 | .290 | .349 | .412 | .761 |
| 3 Seasons | 1280 | 171 | 57 | 5 | 27 | 179 | 23 | 8 | 104 | 168 | .298 | .366 | .429 | .795 | |||
Other than Wright, what is there? Honestly stop and thing about this for a second. If Soriano doesn’t come back and come back in a big way in 2010, what other options do we have in LF? We could try Jake Fox out there. He can’t be worse from a fielding standpoint that Soriano. Other than that, what else is there? This is a position that is sorely lacking in talent and needs to be improved. You can look at the free agent crop and see a few options. I think Marlon Byrd and Reed Johnson are potential targets that could be plugged in as that guy who can be versatile in their role in the OF. Other than that, you have guys that are either too pricey, too good for a backup / platoon role, or just plain bad. Say some prayers that Soriano comes back big.
2010 Free Agents at LF
Scott Boras clients in Bold
Garret Anderson (38) – Type B
Marlon Anderson (36)
Jason Bay (31) – Type A
Emil Brown (35)
Marlon Byrd (32) – Type B
Johnny Damon (36) – Type A
David Dellucci (36)
Cliff Floyd (37)
Joey Gathright (28)
Matt Holliday (30) – Type A
Reed Johnson (33)
Greg Norton (37)
Wily Mo Pena (28)
Dave Roberts (38)
Gary Sheffield (41)
Fernando Tatis (35) – Type B
Marcus Thames (33)
Randy Winn (36) – Type B
