Thome to be moved to 5-spot?

[TomBradley72]

Originally Posted by munchman33

I'd rather see Thome blind-folded one handed swinging against lefties with a tennis racket

That pretty much sums up what we're getting when Thome's in there against lefties (Opening Day being the exception). BA in CF also upgrades your defense (assuming Dye moves to DH when you do this), and gives you a little more speed in the line up. I think he's shown enough this year between spring training and the few ABs he's had that he's improved. It's a better option than Fields losing the ability to work on his major weakness (defense) by sitting on the bench most of the time.

[EndemicSox]

Originally Posted by munchman33

I'd rather see Thome blind-folded one handed swinging against lefties with a tennis racket than Brian Anderson against anyone in a slow pitch softball league. If we're sitting Thome, our best pure power hitter, it isn't going to be to get some hack with the stick like BA more at bats. At least the Fields thing was realistic.

Are we watching the same Thome? The guy who is lucky to break the mendoza line versus lefties?

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by EndemicSox

Are we watching the same Thome? The guy who is lucky to break the mendoza line versus lefties?

Even for his struggles against lefties, since he joined the Sox, his OBP vs. left-handed pitching: .354 in 2006, .314 in 2007, .389 in 2008.

So yeah, some of us do prefer seeing his bat in the lineup, rather than a guy like Brian Anderson, a guy who's career BA (against everybody) is just barely above the Mendoza line.

[munchman33]

Originally Posted by EndemicSox

Are we watching the same Thome? The guy who is lucky to break the mendoza line versus lefties?

He's actually hitting .313 against lefties this year. And his OBP against lefties from 2005-2007 is .325. Not stellar (or good for that matter), but when exactly did Brian Anderson show he can even do that consistently?

And please don't feed me spring training statistics.

[hawkjt]

Flipping JD and Thome is worth a try. JD would get up in the first with Swisher and Orlando on base,hopefully, and he is hitting well right now.

Everyone else stays in place and we see how Jimbo responds. I doubt he would have any problems with it ....Jim Thome...team player.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by munchman33

He's actually hitting .313 against lefties this year. And his OBP against lefties from 2005-2007 is .325. Not stellar (or good for that matter), but when exactly did Brian Anderson show he can even do that consistently?

And please don't feed me spring training statistics.

We agree? I feel so... dirty.

[It's Dankerific]

Originally Posted by munchman33

He's actually hitting .313 against lefties this year. And his OBP against lefties from 2005-2007 is .325. Not stellar (or good for that matter), but when exactly did Brian Anderson show he can even do that consistently?

And please don't feed me spring training statistics.

This wasnt about BA. It was about ANY of the RH on the bench instead. But to answer your question, BA hasn't had a CHANCE to anything but ride the bench consistently (and he does a damn fine job at it too! )

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by It's Dankerific

This wasnt about BA. It was about ANY of the RH on the bench instead. But to answer your question, BA hasn't had a CHANCE to anything but ride the bench consistently (and he does a damn fine job at it too! )

Except for that one season he played 134 (started 108 of them), and hit a robust .225? Except for when he was given the starting CF job and blew it, he hasn't had a chance, right?

[kobo]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Except for that one season he played 134 (started 108 of them), and hit a robust .225? Except for when he was given the starting CF job and blew it, he hasn't had a chance, right?

Does this road need to be travelled every time someone mentions playing BA?

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by kobo

Does this road need to be travelled every time someone mentions playing BA?

Yes, because the BA lovers always like to tell the "unfair" tale of Brian Anderson and how he has to ride the pine, never allowed to show what caliber player he is, except that he had a full season to prove it. The Sox traded away a popular, productive center fielder just to open a spot in the Starting 9 for him and he stunk up the joint. Toss in his immature and childish behavior and attitude since then and yes, everytime someone cries for Brian Anderson, it should be mentioned that he probably would still have a starting job if he could have preformed like a below average MLB player.

[It's Dankerific]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Except for that one season he played 134 (started 108 of them), and hit a robust .225? Except for when he was given the starting CF job and blew it, he hasn't had a chance, right?

Originally Posted by kobo

Does this road need to be travelled every time someone mentions playing BA?

Apparently. Even though these posters want to make it a BA fest, its not.

Maybe I should start digging through other stats from 2006 to see who I should play in 2008. I mean, that Longoria kid didn't even get a single hit in the Major leagues in 2006. Literally, if a rookie isn't HOF bound in 134 games he needs to be shipped out of town.

btw, good job agreeing with mr. DLS = HOF guy

[bigsoxfan420]

If BA is such a good option to replace Thome, then trade his ass for some starting pitching. Which of course should be in teal, since no pitcher worth his weight would be gotten.

Brian Anderson = Joe Borchard

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by It's Dankerific

Maybe I should start digging through other stats from 2006 to see who I should play in 2008. I mean, that Longoria kid didn't even get a single hit in the Major leagues in 2006. Literally, if a rookie isn't HOF bound in 134 games he needs to be shipped out of town.

All right, so if you want to give BA another 400 PAs this year, exactly whom are you going to take them from? Swisher? Dye? Quentin? Thome? The Sox are organizationally still in "win-now" mode (and they've actually looked pretty decent these first two weeks), so I'm sorry if I'd rather ride proven high quality hitters and the one guy who was a question mark who's started the season pretty hot. If by the middle of the summer, the wheels have fallen off the 2008 season and the Sox need to start evaluating talent for 2009 and beyond, then we can talk about letting Brian Anderson play everyday to see if he's actually got his head screwed on straight. Until then, he can ride the ****ing bench where he belongs.

[Frater Perdurabo]

Why does a thread on Thome have to turn into yet another stupid argument about BA?

FWIW, I think swapping Dye and Thome would be a good idea.

[It's Dankerific]

Originally Posted by doublem23

All right, so if you want to give BA another 400 PAs this year, exactly whom are you going to take them from? Swisher? Dye? Quentin? Thome? The Sox are organizationally still in "win-now" mode (and they've actually looked pretty decent these first two weeks), so I'm sorry if I'd rather ride proven high quality hitters and the one guy who was a question mark who's started the season pretty hot. If by the middle of the summer, the wheels have fallen off the 2008 season and the Sox need to start evaluating talent for 2009 and beyond, then we can talk about letting Brian Anderson play everyday to see if he's actually got his head screwed on straight. Until then, he can ride the ****ing bench where he belongs.

*** did I say 400 PAs? I said it'd be nice to give Thome a break against Lefties, especially in close and late situations where they bring out the leftie specialists JUST to get Thome out. Then i said BA could be one of 3 freaking options to do that. How is that 400 PAs? Sounds more like 20-50 among 3 players!

Thanks for taking this train off the tracks.