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Just to make it clear, I also want to see Zobrist as a starter. I just worry Ned is going to emphasize the team chemistry and utilize Zobrist as a fill-in when Gordon gets back.
DM isn't going to let Ned waste Zobrist on the bench. Omar will be riding pine once everyone is healthy.
Quote from: roidhead on July 28, 2015, 03:29:17 PMDM isn't going to let Ned waste Zobrist on the bench. Omar will be riding pine once everyone is healthy.https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/status/626127088781692928I doubt Ned would do that even if DM let him. Zobrist will play 5 or 6 games per week, but he may do it at 2 or 3 positions.
Quote from: TownieCat on July 28, 2015, 03:34:31 PMQuote from: roidhead on July 28, 2015, 03:29:17 PMDM isn't going to let Ned waste Zobrist on the bench. Omar will be riding pine once everyone is healthy.https://twitter.com/McCulloughStar/status/626127088781692928I doubt Ned would do that even if DM let him. Zobrist will play 5 or 6 games per week, but he may do it at 2 or 3 positions.This seems likely. He can play for anyone except Salvy. It's crazy really.
Cuthbert gets optioned.Zobrist takes a rest day from LF while Dyson or Paulo play. Then Zobrist comes back to give Moose a day off. I imagine that's how it will work for every IF position he covers for until Gordo comes back. Please Odin, smile upon our guys and bless them with good health.
Quote from: roidhead on July 28, 2015, 03:45:40 PMCuthbert gets optioned.Zobrist takes a rest day from LF while Dyson or Paulo play. Then Zobrist comes back to give Moose a day off. I imagine that's how it will work for every IF position he covers for until Gordo comes back. Please Odin, smile upon our guys and bless them with good health.Zobrist hasn't played 3rd since 2010. I'd be shocked if Ned ever puts him there.
WE HAVE TOO MANY GOOD PLAYERS
Ned says Zo will likely bat 6th.
The Kansas City Royals' offense has been good this year, but they've gotten less from second base than any AL team this season, something they addressed with their acquisition of Ben Zobrist. Oakland probably wasn't going to make Zobrist the qualifying offer to get a draft pick, so landing one of the Royals' top five prospects (albeit one with a couple of major red flags) plus a second arm is a reasonable return.Zobrist has been one of the most productive position players in baseball for several years now, since a swing change after he was traded from Houston to Tampa Bay turned him from a near-zero-power guy into someone who averaged 14 homers a year with the Rays, along with patience and above-average defense at multiple positions. He hasn't been that player this year, now 34 years old and playing four months in a strong pitchers' park, although the plate discipline remains superb. But even this reduced version of Zobrist is a mammoth improvement over the black hole the Royals have had at second base this year, as the Omar Infante contract has been every bit as bad as expected -- he's been barely above replacement-level over the year-plus since the Royals signed him. Zobrist is at least a win better for the rest of this season, possibly more if his defense at second base bounces back with the move to K.C., where he'll be playing between an excellent defensive shortstop and an excellent defensive first baseman too and thus may have less ground to cover.Whether this is a good return for Oakland or a great one depends on exactly what version of Sean Manaea they're getting. While Eric Longenhagen saw great velocity when Manaea made a rehab start in Arizona, I saw Manaea just two weeks ago, and he couldn't hold that velocity at all, pitching at 89-91 mph in the fifth inning before he was pulled. He hides the ball well and his slider is consistently above-average, but the changeup is too firm and he's now missed time in pro ball with hip labrum surgery (dating back to college), a strained abdominal muscle, and a groin injury, limiting him to 153 innings over the 24 months since he signed (all coming since the start of 2014). The deception and the slider are probably enough for him to be a starter even with a fastball that's just average, assuming he can handle the workload, but more towards the back of a typical rotation than the front of one.The A's also get Aaron Brooks, who entered 2015 with a 43.88 ERA in the majors but cut it in half with two not-great relief appearances for the Royals. He's a strike-thrower with fringy stuff and a flyball tendency, the kind of guy the A's love to acquire because the formula can work in their ballpark (e.g., Tommy Milone, Kendall Graveman), but in most organizations he'd be a swingman or reliever.
in the end, EMAW will always win.
