Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
LV changed his mind like a hundred times but I'm pretty sure he's going with:
DJ LeMahieu, BP
The Tax Man is up.
Haha, sorry for making you privy to my wracking internal conflicts about 1-WAR players.
I realized that my team
really needs a good utility infielder. My third baseman is old, my shortstop needs a platoon partner, and my second baseman shows early warning signs of Jed Lowrie syndrome, where your bones spontaneously fall out and turn into powder. So I needed someone who:
1) Is good enough to fill in for the whole season at second base and not be terrible at offense or defense.
2) Can play some passable SS in addition to 2B and 3B.
3) Is right-handed to platoon with Drew (and doesn't have a weird reverse split).
4) Has a chance to be a long-term answer at 2B (once Ortiz retires, Ramirez shifts to DH, and Rendon moves to 3B).
The extant options are... bad to nonexistent, depending on your definition of "terrible." I had been hoping one of Walters or Tejada would slip. I straight forgot about Espinosa, who I would have taken. I was looking at the possibility of a Tigers-esque black hole in middle infield.
So I'm psyched to grab DJ LeMahieu here. He's a real starting major league player. He's best known for his exceptional defense (being the "defense guy" to Rutledge's "offense guy"), and he's a solid slap hitter who makes good contact and hits lots of line drives. Sure, he's not on board with things like "power" or "plate discipline," but he's a good bet to put up a higher batting average than the OBP of most available backup infielders.
There's probably some question about counting on LeMahieu to start 40 games or so at SS, given that he's tall and has only played a couple of games there in the majors. In fact, I had originally not been considering him for that reason. But Baseball Prospectus is projecting him get some at bats at shortstop with league-average defense, and scouting backs that he's got the combination of range and arm to pull it off.
I feel a lot better about this team having a solid-to-luxury utility infielder! Now I've got a good bench and some versatility, so I can concentrate on finding which interchangeable relief pitchers will give this team an extra half-win.