BCsMightyJoeYoung said:
Betts as a 5th OF??? I think the OF is going to be Betts/Castillo/Cespedes. .. Positions to be determined later. I don't see Victorino, Craig and Nava all on the 25 man roster. Can't have 6 OFs and 12 pitchers.
As a 5th OF when of the other four you have:
Craig - dubious to return to former offensive production.
Vic - dubious health.
Nava - runs hot and cold, saw a big ISO drop this year from 2013 and lived off BABIP and plate discipline. He won't get to spent an entire month as cold as he started 2014.
Cespedes - Only one year left on his contract, can't offer a QO, good power but poor discipline and hot and cold defense bring down the total package. I could see him being flipped this off-season if he won't take a reasonable extension.
Castillo - nice first sample but a lot of question marks still abound.
It is entirely possible that we only find three worthwhile OFs from that entire group. Hell, it's quite possible we don't find that many.
Also, I don't see how they get too many of them off the 25 man roster.
Craig and Vic would basically have to be salary dumps. Nava has little value and as the only LHB in the group, good plate discipline, and improving OF defense of particular value to the Sox versus other teams. Castillo just signed a big deal and isn't getting traded.
So that leaves Cespedes and Betts. The later's long term value is too much to give up in a trade for anyone short of Stanton, the former has power which is becoming increasingly rare to find, plus the Sox only just traded for him last July. There is one hell of a log jam to solve and Betts riding the shuttle is the easiest way to solve it.
Unless of course the FO goes way outside the box and tries Betts or Cespedes at 3B.
Rasputin said:
I agree with both of you and that's a bit of a problem. The only way I see a spot for Craig in the everyday lineup is if he somehow magically becomes able to play third, or if Cespedes goes bye bye. Of course there is a lot of time for injuries and/or trades, but we'd kinda like to have a bit more confidence in Craig than we do now before we make any trade.
I think if you view Nava/Craig as a platoon where the resurgence of Craig's bat has the potential to eat up all the LF playing time you would have enough backup to roll with it. Here's the possible scenarios you'd be dealing with and the options for each:
1: Craig rakes - Nava is the 4th OF subbing for a bunch of RHH across the OF.
2: Nava hits, Craig is mediocre - if this is the case Craig would likely exhibit a platoon split, making him an acceptable platoon partner. Status quo maintained.
3: Nava Hits, Craig doesn't - Craig is optioned to AAA, Brentz steps up as Nava's new platoon partner with the upside of Brentz out-hitting Nava and taking the job. After Brentz they'd have Hassan for the platoon role as well, and maybe Middlebrooks if they start getting him OF time like they mentioned last year.
4: Both Nava and Craig fail to hit - the loser of Betts/Vic have a clear shot at taking over LF, if they can't JBJ, Brentz, and Hassan all factor in as potential pieces to find one good player or a JBJ/Brentz platoon, etc..
There are enough pieces to mix and match the club into a solution for the 3rd starting OF job if the club is confident in Castillo and one of Betts/Victorino holding down CF and RF respectively. The real question is long term power in the lineup. I don't think Cespedes was added simply to fill a 2015 hole but rather to provide a long term answer to where power comes from post-Ortiz/Napoli.