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Light And Fluffy
2007-12-07 17:21
by Phil Bencomo

Buried in a Tribune article about Brian Roberts (whom I'll talk about later) is this head-scratcher from Lou Piniella:

"Theriot is going to play shortstop," Piniella said. "He earned it. He played really, really well."

Sure, Lou, if by "well" you mean an OPS+ of 72, below-average defense, and ... oh, just see here. Consider: In 511 fewer at-bats, Carlos Zambrano had a higher VORP; even Jacque Jones finished 2007 with a higher VORP, and fans applauded his departure. The Cubs have very few other options at shortstop, so to say Theriot has "earned" the shortstop position is hardly accurate; sadly, it's his by default.

Comments
2007-12-11 08:35:25
1.   hernan
In fairness to Theriot, he changed positions AND went through his first full season as a starter. His OPB skills are solid, is a good baserunner, and will now have the opportunity to prepare for a full season at shortstop. We should see improvement both defensively and in his stamina.

Adding Brian Roberts would be GREAT.

I am getting worried with this Fukudome guy, I just don't see a solid argument suggesting he can be an Ichiro-type. Look at his youtube clips, his swing is way too long, walks a lot but also strikes out a lot, Sam Fuld has more similarity to Ichiro and I'm not even kidding... I am terrified to admit that Fukudome looks more like Iwamura.

And those who compare Fukudome with Hideki Matsui will be very disappointed when comparing their numbers in Japan. Godzilla was just SICK over there, and that has translated into an "above-average" offensive player.

Fukudome looks like a "slightly-above average" MLB player at best not sure the Cubs can't do better giving the job to Matt Murton.

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