This is an idea that's been floating around my head lately. Not sure if it's fully formed enough to be main board worthy, but it's still the offseason and news is slow.
What I'd like to see when David Ortiz retire is for the Sox not to replace him with another full-time DH, but instead make the DH position a way to achieve increased flexibility. It would work like this:
You have on your roster 4 OF who are good enough to start.
You have a starting 3B, SS, 2B, and a super utility guy backing up all three of those positions.
You have a starting 1B, and if your 3B is capable of playing 10 or so games at 1B, he's your backup.
That's nine players for eight spots in the lineup. You have your C and backup C as usual for the other spot. On any given day, one of them gets the day off. Given the usual day to day bumps and bruises and needed days off, there will almost certainly be enough chances for each one of them to get at least 500 AB over the course of the year. The obvious advantage is that you don't have to worry about what to do about the annual NL road trip. Also, it allows you to be deep enough at every position that if any single player gets injured, or in the case of the young players is ineffective or mired in a horrendous slump, you've got a starting-caliber replacement.
If Ortiz retired this offseason, it would work something like this:
The tricky part would be finding a guy capable of playing three infield positions well, and who hits well enough that the offense doesn't suffer when he plays DH. Guys like Ben Zobrist aren't easy to find. But they are out there, and since the Red Sox in this paradigm would be playing their Super Utility guy more than most teams, they'd be able to allocate more of their budget for it, and so if and when a player like that becomes a free agent, they'd value him the most and offer the best deal.
You could fill out your bench with a fifth OF whose primary use would be pinch-running, a backup 1B if your 3B can't play 1B, or use the flexibility to carry one more pitcher.
Have any teams ever tried a setup like this? Whattayathink, sirs?
What I'd like to see when David Ortiz retire is for the Sox not to replace him with another full-time DH, but instead make the DH position a way to achieve increased flexibility. It would work like this:
You have on your roster 4 OF who are good enough to start.
You have a starting 3B, SS, 2B, and a super utility guy backing up all three of those positions.
You have a starting 1B, and if your 3B is capable of playing 10 or so games at 1B, he's your backup.
That's nine players for eight spots in the lineup. You have your C and backup C as usual for the other spot. On any given day, one of them gets the day off. Given the usual day to day bumps and bruises and needed days off, there will almost certainly be enough chances for each one of them to get at least 500 AB over the course of the year. The obvious advantage is that you don't have to worry about what to do about the annual NL road trip. Also, it allows you to be deep enough at every position that if any single player gets injured, or in the case of the young players is ineffective or mired in a horrendous slump, you've got a starting-caliber replacement.
If Ortiz retired this offseason, it would work something like this:
The tricky part would be finding a guy capable of playing three infield positions well, and who hits well enough that the offense doesn't suffer when he plays DH. Guys like Ben Zobrist aren't easy to find. But they are out there, and since the Red Sox in this paradigm would be playing their Super Utility guy more than most teams, they'd be able to allocate more of their budget for it, and so if and when a player like that becomes a free agent, they'd value him the most and offer the best deal.
You could fill out your bench with a fifth OF whose primary use would be pinch-running, a backup 1B if your 3B can't play 1B, or use the flexibility to carry one more pitcher.
Have any teams ever tried a setup like this? Whattayathink, sirs?
