Piniella on Colvin: "He's looking to take somebody's position"

"He's not looking for a roster spot," manager Lou Piniella said. "He's looking for somebody's position."

Good read.

about 2 years ago Unique 34 comments 0 recs |

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if this

kid is for real i think left and rightfield could use some improving. do we really have 5 more years of soriano????

by NOMAR on Mar 28, 2010 10:09 AM CDT reply actions

I'll bet........

We’ll see him soon as soon as Soriano gets hurt. I don’t expect Soriano to be very healthy this year, especially given how he appears to be feeling right now.

by jballgame on Mar 28, 2010 10:16 AM CDT reply actions

That is the only way we will get to see Colvin

is if one of the three starting OFs gets hurt.

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.
~Earl Warren

by lookingdeadred on Mar 28, 2010 10:23 AM CDT up reply actions

I always wondered if the Giants would be interested in Fukudome. They need a right fielder and if we paid 60% of Fukudome’s salary, and if Fukudome would accept a trade to them, I’m sure a deal could be worked out.

That’s IF Colvin continues his success and out produces him during the season. I’m not sold on Colvin completely yet.

I would rather trade Soriano, but I highly doubt anybody would take him unless we paid 75% of his contract.

2010 is OUR year.

by Unique on Mar 28, 2010 10:44 AM CDT up reply actions

60% - Thats a lot of dough to eat to get rid of a productive player.

Fukudome is not what Hendry was looking for when he signed him. But he’s not garbage either. He’s our best defensive OF, has good plate discipline, and has had stretches — not enough to be sure — where he’s a very dangerous hitter.

Just fobbing him off on another team to make room for a rookie is not the best plan, IMHO.

by Orval Overall on Mar 28, 2010 3:48 PM CDT up reply actions

I see you point.

I’m not all for giving him up for a rookie either. I want to see alot more from Colvin before I trade anyone.

2010 is OUR year.

by Unique on Mar 28, 2010 4:49 PM CDT up reply actions

YOUR point.

2010 is OUR year.

by Unique on Mar 28, 2010 4:49 PM CDT up reply actions

Fukudome

Don’t get me wrong. I like Fukudome. I root for him. But he has like 28 million left on his deal. Cubs might have to eat more than 60% to deal him. Seems better just to bench him IF IT COMES TO THAT.

"I'd rather hit home runs you don't have to run as hard." -- Dave Kingman

by BucknerKongCardenal on Mar 28, 2010 10:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Competition

With Colvin doing so well, maybe this will light a fire under Soriano and Fukudome to perform better and give 110% knowing they may lose starts (playing time). It seems as if Byrd does not take his starting position for granted and hustles every single game.

by bazfan1234 on Mar 28, 2010 10:52 AM CDT reply actions

I don't question

Fukudome’s hustle. Soriano, I do sometimes. Byrd I believe will be hard to replace because for one, he had a better year last year than either Fukudome or Soriano. And it does seem like Byrd busts his butt day in and day out.

We’ll see.

2010 is OUR year.

by Unique on Mar 28, 2010 11:01 AM CDT up reply actions

I never question Soriano's hustle.

He’s been injured much of the time he’s been a Cub. I know he’s out there trying — last year, he should have been on the DL instead of doing that.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Mar 28, 2010 11:58 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs

Rec.

Hustle isn’t the problem. I do think Soriano’s mind gets in the way of his productivity, but not due to lack of motivation

by Orval Overall on Mar 28, 2010 3:49 PM CDT up reply actions

very true

can only give 100% and if you are only at 50% due to injury, thats what you can give

Unofficial Self Appointed President of the Castro Blocker Fan Club

by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 28, 2010 9:58 PM CDT up reply actions

it's true

he has an insane work ethic, probably to the point of overtraining and maybe aggravating the normal nicks you get during the season. Hustle isn’t the question, general baseball iq might be..

by PrincetonCubs on Mar 29, 2010 1:40 PM CDT up reply actions

Let's see Colvin play a little

before we start trading guys away for him.

This is the same prospect most people around here were proclaiming a colossal bust just last June. Some people a lot later than that.

Colvin still hasn’t drawn a walk all spring.

I never travel far without a little Big Star. R.I.P Alex

by Josh Timmers on Mar 28, 2010 11:59 AM CDT reply actions

That's the thing that really worries me.

I haven’t checked, but I’m guessing that at least half the pitchers he’s faced are not going to be in the major leagues come April.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Mar 28, 2010 12:10 PM CDT up reply actions

Oh no,

I agree. You don’t start trading anyone until he produces more and we get a bigger sample size. My suggestion to trade anyone wouldn’t be until after this current season.

I think Fukudome is a good player, and excellent right fielder but I’m just worried that Fukudome is a shortstop playing right field as far as the bat is concerned. Hopefully the platoon situation makes his situation better.

2010 is OUR year.

by Unique on Mar 28, 2010 1:02 PM CDT up reply actions

Absolutely agree..

I remember a couple of third basemen that lit up the Cactus League, and fell flat in the Championship season. Kevin Orie? Gary Scott? As the white rat always said, the worst time to evaluate talent is in September and spring training.

The journey is the reward!

by wicubfan on Mar 28, 2010 8:40 PM CDT up reply actions

Dave van Dyck brought me down to Earth the other day...

…when he said that in his 40+ years of covering baseball he’s never seen any correlation between ST stats and the regular season.

I want to believe in Colvin as much as anybody but I’m not sold yet.

by bluekoolaide on Mar 29, 2010 12:25 AM CDT up reply actions

Two more words on this topic.

Micah Hoffpauir.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Mar 29, 2010 8:28 AM CDT up reply actions

Or Bobby Hill.

Remember when he went yard all spring a few years back?

Fortunately, we were able to spin him into Aramis Ramirez and (for a while) Kenny Lofton.

I hope Colvin is the man. But we gotta wait on him.

"It's Spring Training. You know how many home runs Barry Bonds hit off me? One - in Spring Training." - Big Z

by Phubbies on Mar 29, 2010 2:26 PM CDT up reply actions

Bobby Hill is a great one but...

…Gary Scott (a.k.a. “the next Ron Santo”) will always be my favorite example of why we can NEVER trust ST stats.

by bluekoolaide on Mar 29, 2010 3:48 PM CDT up reply actions

The Gary Scott thing was just dumb.

At the time he was promoted to the majors, he had played 35 games above A-ball and was 22 years old. He should have been playing at Double-A.

Scott had talent. If he had a normal progression to the major leagues, he should have been ready to be the Cubs 3B around 1993 or 1994, and maybe he’d have had a decent career. Instead, the failure messed him up and probably contributed to his failure.

This is why Starlin Castro is going to the minors this year. He’s just not ready. Yet.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Mar 29, 2010 7:24 PM CDT up reply actions

Translation

“I still don’t like Fukudome.”

"What a lot of people don’t see is the tremendous amount of progress that has been made in the organization over the last few years. We have a lot of very talented guys coming up through the system. Jim has built an incredible scouting organization." - Tom Ricketts

by DGU on Mar 28, 2010 12:42 PM CDT reply actions

Lol.

Some men learn through what they read. Some men learn through what they're told. Some men have to piss on the railroad tracks. And some men keep on pissin'.

by Ryno Runner on Mar 28, 2010 12:56 PM CDT up reply actions

Hopefully, it's Fukudome's position.

by braziliancubsfan on Mar 28, 2010 1:09 PM CDT reply actions

Was he

scrawny last year? I hear about him adding 25Lbs of muscle, yet he still looks fairly thin to me.

DEJESUS!!!

by tomas21 on Mar 28, 2010 2:15 PM CDT reply actions

i like that he is putting pressure on others

and making Lou sit and think about who should be starting, etc

Unofficial Self Appointed President of the Castro Blocker Fan Club

by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 28, 2010 2:23 PM CDT reply actions

It's good that we finally have a prospect who can do that.

Some men learn through what they read. Some men learn through what they're told. Some men have to piss on the railroad tracks. And some men keep on pissin'.

by Ryno Runner on Mar 28, 2010 2:41 PM CDT up reply actions

Aside from Soto (maybe) and Theriot

I can’t remember any lasting talent to come up from the Cubs farm system in the last 20 years, and that’s assuming we’re considering them to be talented for MLB players. It sure would be nice to have a guy come up who hits .300 and 30hrs

Yes'm

by OrangeGore on Mar 29, 2010 12:07 PM CDT up reply actions

Quite a few have but they have been traded (drafted, let go as a FA) and played elsewhere

they might be average joes in MLB but they di count

Unofficial Self Appointed President of the Castro Blocker Fan Club

by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 29, 2010 11:02 PM CDT up reply actions

He would take a job but Soriano or fukudome make too much money. If they all made the same Colvin would be starting on opening day.

by TJ11 on Mar 28, 2010 4:35 PM CDT reply actions

Colvin in CF?

We are always complaining we don’t have a center fielder. Can he play there? I haven’t seen enough of him to know what his limitations are. All I know is that he sure looked good at the plate on Sunday.

I want my Macias!

by wombat on Mar 29, 2010 2:38 PM CDT reply actions