Series Thread: The Ballpark In Arlington's Final Homestand Begins As The Rangers Host The Red Sox Sept. 24-26

[Kelleyman]

Technically Mazara has inched forward every season, unfortunately he has not leapt forward at any point either

To me if we were in the switching positions mode, Maz looks more like a 1B to me

 

[saddles]

Of course I want him to play regularly I just think as a utility guy or CF suits him better. But not talking just that position-1B and 3B he looked awkward and I would guess stats would bear it out. His speed and arm play out better at other positions.

Main point is we need good bats and defense. FWIW I think despite Gallo versatility, RF is his natural position

3B was Gallo's natural position.

Guys usually look awkward when first trying out a new position. That is not to be unexpected at all and it shouldn't be an ender.

I don't care which position he plays, I just think it is silly to give up on him at any position after such a minuscule sample size.

 

[saddles]

To me if we were in the switching positions mode, Maz looks more like a 1B to me

Lol, if they ever try him out at 1B he will probably look awkward there for a week or two, and that means the move would be a failure.

 

[saddles]

We don't have enough hitters to move Maz out of the lineup at this time. If he doesn't improve that may not always be the case.

 

[scotsman1948]

how about on the field? he looked awkward at 1B and 3B. I still want to know why you are in a rush to make him an everyday player when he has shown himself to be the ultimate utility player. that's what he showed me this year by playing 43 games at 1B, 15 at 2B, 8 at 3B, 7 at SS, 10 in LF, 25 in CF and 12 in RF. he 's what we need as a utility instead of tying him down like you want at 1 position. who serves that option if we do use him at 3B?

 

[scotsman1948]

Lol, if they ever try him out at 1B he will probably look awkward there for a week or two, and that means the move would be a failure.

come on guy get real. you are determined to put Santana at 3b no matter what. okay so who plays 1B in your scenario? IKF

 

[scotsman1948]

We don't have enough hitters to move Maz out of the lineup at this time. If he doesn't improve that may not always be the case.

so what's your solution? our infield defense sucked. our catching was mediocre. who do you put at catcher, 1B and CF?

 

[saddles]

how about on the field? he looked awkward at 1B and 3B. I still want to know why you are in a rush to make him an everyday player when he has shown himself to be the ultimate utility player. that's what he showed me this year by playing 43 games at 1B, 15 at 2B, 8 at 3B, 7 at SS, 10 in LF, 25 in CF and 12 in RF. he 's what we need as a utility instead of tying him down like you want at 1 position. who serves that option if we do use him at 3B?

Of course he looked awkward. That is to be expected.

The goal is to build a great team. Great teams have such good position players that they don't need a utility player to play a lot. Who was our super utility guy in 2011?

When we have a great lineup, a great rotation, and a great pen, then we can concern ourselves with bench players. IKF would be a great bench player for a WS team.

 

[saddles]

come on guy get real. you are determined to put Santana at 3b no matter what. okay so who plays 1B in your scenario? IKF

I don't care where he plays, but he should be an every day player for us somewhere.

It is silly to think he cannot play somewhere simply because he loomed awkward there for a handful of games.

Guzman is our 1B until we get someone better.

 

[scotsman1948]

Of course he looked awkward. That is to be expected.

The goal is to build a great team. Great teams have such good position players that they don't need a utility player to play a lot. Who was our super utility guy in 2011?

When we have a great lineup, a great rotation, and a great one then we can concern ourselves with bench players. IKF would be a great bench player for a WS team.

so wait until we have a great team

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Changing positions has worked really well for Gallo, Desmond, Young, Teixeira, Odubel Herrera, Napoli, and many many others.

He is too valuable to not start almost every day. We have very few really good hitters at this level. We are not in position to underutilize any hitter.

Santana, Calhoun, Solak, Gallo and Elvis look to be our only good and dependable hitters besides Choo and there is no future for Choo. I know Elvis has struggled over the second half, but he has proven to be dependable before. Mazara may or may not ever move forward. Those five guys I mentioned above have to play every day somewhere for us.

Well, sort of. MY was a good hitter but 2b was his best position. The year he won a Gold Glove was a joke. His range on the left side of the IF was limited. Two of those went to 1b the rest to the OF which is where I think Santana is better defensively. I am not a fan of him in the IF.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

3B was Gallo's natural position.

Guys usually look awkward when first trying out a new position. That is not to be unexpected at all and it shouldn't be an ender.

I don't care which position he plays, I just think it is silly to give up on him at any position after such a minuscule sample size.

Gallo was an average 3b. I think he has looked really good. That is probably where he should have been to begin with.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

I don't care where he plays, but he should be an every day player for us somewhere.

It is silly to think he cannot play somewhere simply because he loomed awkward there for a handful of games.
Guzman is our 1B until we get someone better.

Agree. And I am hoping he builds on his last month.

 

[scotsman1948]

I don't care where he plays, but he should be an every day player for us somewhere.

It is silly to think he cannot play somewhere simply because he loomed awkward there for a handful of games.

Guzman is our 1B until we get someone better.

when we only have 1 quality infielder in Elvis and the others are questionable it pays to have someone who can step in like Santana whose versatility makes him an asset not to be wasted. I am overjoyed that we stumbled on Santana like we did and I can see him contributing all over the field at 1B,2B, 3B, SS and OF and getting major playing time but unlike you I am not in favor of locking him down in one position. what happens if he fails? what is your fallback plan?

 

[saddles]

so wait until we have a great team

I am saying that who the utility player is is the least of our concerns. When we have a great team we won't need a so called super utility player anyway. Until then we have bigger problems to fix.

 

[saddles]

when we only have 1 quality infielder in Elvis and the others are questionable it pays to have someone who can step in like Santana whose versatility makes him an asset not to be wasted. I am overjoyed that we stumbled on Santana like we did and I can see him contributing all over the field at 1B,2B, 3B, SS and OF and getting major playing time but unlike you I am not in favor of locking him down in one position. what happens if he fails? what is your fallback plan?

I think you over concern yourself with fallback plans. What was the fallback plan this year at several positions? It was do whatever you can. We have a hard enough time filling out a quality lineup.

Usually the fallback plan is your best player at that position in your upper levels of your farm system. You may not like those options, but that is because we are weak organizationally.

 

[Kelleyman]

3B was Gallo's natural position.

Guys usually look awkward when first trying out a new position. That is not to be unexpected at all and it shouldn't be an ender.

I don't care which position he plays, I just think it is silly to give up on him at any position after such a minuscule sample size.

Disagree. Big guy with cannon and good speed smells like RF to me.

Same with Santana. Looks like good arm and better speed. 3B is more about quick instinctual decisive moves. He was terrible defensively there. So give him an offseason and ST and the best we get is average. Beltre gave us elite. Let's do better than average

 

[DT LUNA]

It will all fall back on the FO this off season. Will JD correct the OF glut? Will he make trades to bolster our weak positions? Will he finally admit Odor is not a starter and give Solak a shot at 2B? Will he push Guzman to play winter ball and become a hitter? And will he go after an ace pitcher? A catcher will be hard to find but we need one. After all this, Elvis is the only 1st class infielder that we have for SURE. So what's all the fuss about ? lol Good luck JD. You may be looking at waivers in the near future.

 

[DT LUNA]

Disagree. Big guy with cannon and good speed smells like RF to me.

Same with Santana. Looks like good arm and better speed. 3B is more about quick instinctual decisive moves. He was terrible defensively there. So give him an offseason and ST and the best we get is average. Beltre gave us elite. Let's do better than average

In a perfect world, RF is the place to be regarding Joey.

 

[Kelleyman]

It will all fall back on the FO this off season. Will JD correct the OF glut? Will he make trades to bolster our weak positions? Will he finally admit Odor is not a starter and give Solak a shot at 2B? Will he push Guzman to play winter ball and become a hitter? And will he go after an ace pitcher? A catcher will be hard to find but we need one. After all this, Elvis is the only 1st class infielder that we have for SURE. So what's all the fuss about ? lol Good luck JD. You may be looking at waivers in the near future.

Agree with most but doubt if we move Odor but do agree that a Solak best position is 2B. But defensively think Odor is fine. Elvis made a great jump throw out of the hole but so did Odor.

How he handles the glut will be extremely interesting.