Comments on: Kenny Lofton, anyone?

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:04:46 +0000

Lofton’s had a fine underrated career, but at age 40 his skills could erode precipitously overnight. Leadoff hitter? How about a guy with an OBP v. lefties of nearly .375 over the past two years. Believe it or not, that’s Aaron Miles.

Against RHP’s, well…I dunno. Adam Kennedy has a lifetime OBP of .336 against northpaws, which isn’t good but won’t kill you. Brendan Ryan doesn’t hit righties & Izturis doesn’t hit anybody, of course.

I am 99% convinced Colby Rasmus is ready for the majors right now, with both the leather and the lumber–but hitting 2nd in front of Albert would seem the gentlest way to introduce him to MLB pitching, so leadoff might not be the way to go.

By the way, Colby’s most recent 220 plate appearances:
.350/.460/.720, with 35 walks and 36 strikeouts. Maybe that’s just an extended hot streak that coincidentally came at season’s end–but if it’s mostly real, and I believe it is, then Rasmus is ready to pound major league pitching today.

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:27:28 +0000

“Would anyone take Barry Bonds leading off or batting second?”

Yes — if it meant a trade of Duncan or Ankiel.

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:20:15 +0000

Would anyone take Barry Bonds leading off or batting second?

By: cards13

cards13 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:44:19 +0000

I just don’t see Lofton being enough of an improvement to take at bats away from the young outfielders we have.

By: cardinal70

cardinal70 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:01:10 +0000

After his antics in the 2002 NLCS plus his time with the Cubs, I wouldn’t want him on the team. Statistically, it might be a fairly solid idea, but I can’t believe the fan base would get behind him, even if he came out with a torrid start.

By: easy

easy — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:47:21 +0000

I don’t know. Many of us have been up in arms about some of the moves indicating that Tony’s still calling the shots. This would be proof of that and would be an admission that we think we’ve got a shot this year and we’re not really rebuilding. Fair enough I suppose. Maybe we do have a shot. After ‘06 anything can happen. But I don’t really believe it and, as much as I’ve appreciated Lofton lo these many years, I don’t know if he brings us closer to contention than Barton/Schumaker. For us to contend a lot of things that could possibly happen will HAVE to happen. Lofton or Barton/Schumaker coming through would only be one of them. I’d rather go with something that would be useful to us in ‘09 and beyond and just might be as good or better now. The Glaus trade may have given us hope and I think that’s cool but let’s keep our eyes on the long term prize, contention in ‘09 and beyond.

By: SB12

SB12 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:26:56 +0000

If I’m not mistaken, they lose Barton if he doesn’t make the roster, and Schumaker would be exposed to waivers. Either one of them could come close to maching Lofton for a fraction of the cost.

Would the Lofton prospect return be better than Schumaker or Barton? Probably not.

When Rasmus shows up, that’s three lefty outfielders that should be starting. That would mean they were carrying six outfielders, because Tony won’t roll with one right handed outfielder. Which leaves them with no backup infielder again.

That would be a convenient time for Barton’s knee to begin acting up. A loophole to get him some AAA at bats and buy some time. Or they could try to pass Schu through waivers at that point, since they would no longer have any use for him.

Besides, Hoffpauir might be the best leadoff option by June.

By: Travis

Travis — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:21:23 +0000

I say no. With his attitude, I think he would take Rolen’s place as Tony’s favorite son.

By: red blazer

red blazer — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:53:04 +0000

I was going to say no. I still say no but you almost had me with that argument. As a place holder and potential trade fodder I saw for a moment a reason to sign him. But I would rather see the kids get some swings.

By: George

George — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:21:31 +0000

No it really doesn’t make sense. It’s been mentioned on 1380 several times that LaRussa and him do not get along. Plus at this point in time he’s a platoon player at best. Last year he hit .223 against LH pitching. His other #’s against LH pitching were terrible with a OBP.290 SLG.255 OPS.545.

I wanted to add that over the last 3 years he couldn’t hit LH pitching.

avg. .246, OBP .301, SLG .290, OPS. .591

Those are not good #’s. He hits RH great though. We already have Duncan who can’t hit LH and now we’d add another plus with his attitude, NO.