I know everyone loves Furcal, but there is no reason that Chin-Lung Hu shouldn't be playing everyday at SS.

I think Furcal might be a better hitter . . .

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/playe...-lung-hu.shtml

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/playe...l-Furcal.shtml

I don't think that is a given. Hu is probably better defensively, despite all the praise Furcal gets (and he does have a rocket attached to his arm). Personally, I really like Furcal as a player, but objectively Hu is prime-time ready to be playing at the MLB level until he proves he can't. Hu made huge strides with the bat last year in the minors, which is the only thing he needed to work on.

Chin-Lung Hu is basically the ching-chong version of Asdrubal Cabrera.

You are probably correct.

Let me preface this by saying that I am a casual fan: Up until a few years ago, I could keep up with the hotstove stuff and each of the teams' hot prospects, but rather than jump into the new era of baseball (PECOTA and such) I moved away from that. ... anyhow

This season and last, I was reading through SI baseball preview, and I was fascinated by the "A modest proposal." I kept thinking over and over "hey! (get that Harry Caray voice outta your head) that would work!" Or, "they really should try that, what do they have to lose?" But, most of those proposals never came to fruition.

Your statement here falls right into the same group. It is probably the correct move. So, I guess this brings up the general question, "Why aren't these moves being made?"

Here, I can guess that:
1) Furcal is a fan favorite;
2) He does have a big contract (and these days, with Pierre and Schmidt, we gotta play at least one of those big contracts, right?);
3) He is a veteran at an important position while the team has a lot of young starters and will be getting rid of its other veterans, soon;
4) Furcal is still productive.

These are all good reasons to play Chin-Lung Hu, actually. Since you have Furcal signed to a contract, they should play Hu until he proves he sucks, at which point you option him to the minors to work on his hitting and reinstate Furcal. If you wait until Hu is the only option at SS, what happens when he sucks at the plate and needs instruction?

Just because Furcal and Pierre cost money doesn't mean you have to play them. They are what economists would call "sunk costs."

I think Hu'll be great, and is probably slated for '09 starter (I doubt they'll re-sign Furcal), but I'm not sure he's a better choice for this year. This is assuming that last year's down numbers were due to the nagging ankle injury.

I do expect him to get a decent bit of playing time this year; he plays 2B as well, iirc, and Kent'll need a fair amount of rest.

wat

Sure, I think that Furcal could be better than Hu this year, and you do want to get value where you can, but Hu should be playing as much as possible like I said to prove that he can compete at this level. If he can't, they should find out this year ASAP so they can option him to AAA to work on hitting while you have a good shortstop at the MLB level.

Who's the back up middle infielder in this scenario?

I can definitely buy this.

Assuming he remains backup for the year w/ a healthy dose of playing time, something like 200 ABs @ .290/.325/.425 for '08 would be nice to see. I wonder if there's a chance they re-sign Furcal and slide Hu to 2B for '09 if Kent retires.

Anyone remember Joe Thurston?

Is Juan Pierre the worst everyday Left Fielder in baseball?

Probably.

It puts me on tilt listening to away-announcers on mlb.tv talking about "how is this guy not an everyday starter? HE HAD ALMOST 200 HITS LAST YEAR" every damn time they show him.

Offense was depressing this weekend.

When the hell is Furcal coming back?

.

Hu's been horribly disappointing so far, his (rare) hits have been pathetic Pierre-style slaps.


I'm sick of most of the veterans on this team. The youth has been as good as can be expected, better in some cases (hi2u DeWitt). Billingsley's looked dirty lately, and Kershaw might be up on Tuesday?