Schwarber is back!

[SilenceS]

Schwarber in LF, Bryant in Cf, Castro at SS? Better score a shit ton of runs.

The lineup would be much improved

 

[beckdawg]

The lineup would be much improved

Feel like Bryant for 6 weeks in CF would be pretty atrocious defensively. Plus there's very little synergy in that line up. You have almost no speed in the line up. Hell, I'd argue that's a problem now because few of the current line up players aren't stealing bases and taking the extra base on hits. Bryant is about the only one other than Fowler. Rizzo had been stealing but that's fall off dramatically.

 

[SilenceS]

Feel like Bryant for 6 weeks in CF would be pretty atrocious defensively. Plus there's very little synergy in that line up. You have almost no speed in the line up. Hell, I'd argue that's a problem now because few of the current line up players aren't stealing bases and taking the extra base on hits. Bryant is about the only one other than Fowler. Rizzo had been stealing but that's fall off dramatically.

Fowler isn't getting on base enough to steal. Fowler has been really bad man. he only looks good at the plate as a right hander. His defense is so so. Also, Baez probably has as much stolen base potential as any one on this team. Baez has shown he can steal bags at all levels. Something will work itself out.

 

[beckdawg]

Fowler isn't getting on base enough to steal. Fowler has been really bad man. he only looks good at the plate as a right hander. His defense is so so. Also, Baez probably has as much stolen base potential as any one on this team. Baez has shown he can steal bags at all levels. Something will work itself out.

I'll give you Baez at about 15-20 SB a year but in terms of speed you'd just be swapping him and Fowler essentially in that and you're adding Schwarber who's not as bad a runner as some would say but he's clearly not plus. I guess my point I'm trying to make is that the team outlined there would be a singles/walk and wait for home run team and I don't really think that works as well anymore. One of the displeasures of living south of chicago is when they play the cards I have to watch fox sports midwest to see the game. However, I will say one thing their broadcasts brought up about the cardinals that I find compelling is that they excel at taking the extra base. They don't have amazing speed as Heyward and Wong are the only two at 10+ SB but they run the bases well and frankly it's probably why they are able to survive with their pretty crappy offense.

Also, I'm not as convinced as seemingly everyone that Fowler is as bad as he's being portrayed. His bb rate is down about 3% but fangraphs just ran a piece on him being one of the players who's gotten the most iffy strike calls. His BABIP has dropped from .351 to .283 this year. Now .351 is obviously considerably high but his career BABIP is .341. If we hedge here and suggest his BABIP finishes the season at .320 you're talking about adding 37 points to his on base and average over the second half.

Additionally, if you look at Fowler's contact type, he actually has less soft contact than last year(19.8% vs 18.0%). So, it's less likely the BABIP is a mechanical issue. Fowler's medium contact is way up over last year at 57.6% vs 50.9% where most of that is coming out of his hard contact rate(29.3% in 2014 vs 24.4%). I'll let you be the judge as to what that means but my take away personally is that because of his gripes with the strike zone he's getting behind in counts he didn't in 2014 and that's leading to more defensive swings which leads to more of the medium contact. I think that works itself out in the second half and we see what Cogs had happen from June onward.

The other elephant in the room that no one wants to address here is that throwing both Baez and Schwarber into the line up is going to compound the cubs issues with strikeouts. Without them they are already the 2nd worst in the majors at 24.1%(only 0.6% behind the astros). It removes the third best k rate of regulars in Cogs and the 5th best in Fowler and probably replaces both with worse rates. I'm not entirely sure Schwarber kills the cubs but given he's a rookie a 25-27% rate on him wouldn't be shocking and the hope is Baez is in the 25-27% range with a decent chance its more in the 28-30% range.

Ultimately, I feel like the cubs need contact and they need speed. They don't need anymore power. They are right around league average in HR's and that's with Castro and Soler being no where near what you would expect in power and Bryant also being lower than expected. They are above league average in OBP largely due to the increased emphasis on walk rate. However, they are third worst in the NL in batting average. They can homer and walk with the best of them but they can't hit to save their lives.

 

[CSF77]

Schwarber is not bad at SO's. Fowler is at 25% and that would be where you would want Baez at. Schwarber should sit at 20% early career while getting closer to 15%.

He is most likely the best over all hitters in the minors right now and should end up close to Rizzo in his approach.

If Baez made the needed adjustment this year he has a clean slate.

I'll put this out strait. I think Baez could be a strong OF. He is athletic enough for it.

Still knowing Maddon he would move things around as he doesn't keep things static. So getting guys like Almora into bench roles to move the pieces (or deal with spacious out fields) would be the norm.

The thing is Fowler is not this great asset that plays top end D. He is getting paid 9 mil to be a below avg defender that can't hit RH pitching. Not to mention is a F/A. I would not waste resource to retain him.

Coghlan is a 4th OF except yes he takes bad routes. He is a hold over from the "position holder" years. I would much rather not offer him arb in the offseason.

The Cubs need to keep Montero at catcher. Long term. He is one of the best catchers in the business and it would be good for Schwarber to be his understudy for a few years. But then keep Kyle in LF due to his bat being just that good.

This will end putting more stress on the CF to cover more range. So you would want Almora out there eventually. But until that point comes up you have to look at out scoring the other team with late inning D replacement to retain the lead. Thus 2 OF D spec on the bench.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I'll put this out strait. I think Baez could be a strong OF. He is athletic enough for it.

Considering Baez was a CF in HS until late, that isn't really a stretch.

 

[beckdawg]

Schwarber is not bad at SO's. He is most likely the best over all hitters in the minors right now and should end up close to Rizzo in his approach.

Schwarber is a rookie. Rizzo is not bad at SO's and he was 30% as a rookie. In Schwarber's first call up he had 8 k's in 23 PAs for a 34.8% k rate. In his 67 PAs in AAA he had a 34.3% k rate. I'm not worried long term for him but the point here is in 2015 Schwarber is going to strike out. Hell look at Soler. He's not a strike out prone guy either and he's hovering around 30% himself.

Fowler is at 25%

Fowler is at 22.2% which is identical to his career marks.

Coghlan is a 4th OF except yes he takes bad routes.

Despite a bad start Coghlan is the 31st best OF in terms of fWAR. Give him another 3 months playing like he was prior to the break and he's probably top 20. That's hardly a 4th OF. Seriously, people need to get over this Coghlan obsession that he's bad. Over the past 2 seasons with the cubs he's put up 719 PAs which is a little over a full year and in that time he's been a 3.9 fWAR player. There were 25 OF's above 3.5 fWAR last year. I don't get where people are getting these blinders that every team(or at least most) has 3 OFs better than Coghlan. I may have said this in this thread or some other one but since June only Rizzo has hit better than him and that's only because Rizzo slugs for more power which clearly isn't Coghlan's game.

 

[CSF77]

If Coghlan was hitting over .300 I would agree.

I would rather take lumps this year to get the team set up for the long haul.

Long term Schwarber is going to be a better player than Coghlan. If he ended up equal to him it would be a major disappointment.

I expect Schwarber to be putting up Rizzo type numbers after he settles in. And yes I expect some struggles. That is to be expected. The same can be said about Soler. You expect a struggle but deal with it due to his potential

Russell also.

These kids are just too talented to not adjust.

Now guys like Fowler, Coghlan and Castro are what they are. They will always hover around their career norms.

 

[beckdawg]

If Coghlan was hitting over .300 I would agree.

I would rather take lumps this year to get the team set up for the long haul.

Long term Schwarber is going to be a better player than Coghlan. If he ended up equal to him it would be a major disappointment.

I expect Schwarber to be putting up Rizzo type numbers after he settles in. And yes I expect some struggles. That is to be expected. The same can be said about Soler. You expect a struggle but deal with it due to his potential

Russell also.

These kids are just too talented to not adjust.

Now guys like Fowler, Coghlan and Castro are what they are. They will always hover around their career norms.

I feel like you can't have it both ways in that you can't talk about playing for the playoffs and then talk about taking your lumps with a player. We have to choose one path or the other. I don't really see how anyone can objectively say that adding Schwarber and Baez and subtracting Fowler and Coghlan makes the 2015 cubs a better team. I mean ok if you argue that Schwarber and Baez have no issues adjusting like Bryant than fine maybe they are a better team but Bryant is pretty clearly an exception to the norm. But even if they play decent like Soler has Coghlan and Fowler are probably more valuable players given you're given up defense to put their bats in the line up.

On the other hand, if you're talking about playing more for 2016 then fine I can see some logic there. However, I still think that is a batting line up with 0 synergy and that the line up will have to HR it's way to wins plus the OF is going to be god awful defensively especially in the gaps. Coghlan may not be an amazing defender in LF(-2.5 UZR/150 over 6k innings in LF) but he's a far sight better than Schwarber will be hardly having played LF. And actually at 16.4 UZR/150 this year and -0.3 last year Coghlan has been pretty good with the cubs or at least average-above average.

I don't know I guess I'm just getting old and grumpy but I'm really sick and tired of people talking down Coghlan. Even after a .223/.294/.439 from April-May, he's 58th(out of 162 qualified players) among all hitters in the league in OBP. Since the start of June he's hitting .273/.398/.373. In June Coghlan had the 6th best OBP in baseball. And on top of that he happens to be one of the few players on the 40 man roster who would actually be worth while hitting lead off yet people continually want to throw him away or push him to a 4th OFer.

People are placing far too much belief in prospects to have an immediate impact. Soler is probably more advanced a hitter than both Schwarber and Baez(definitely Baez) and he's been a full win in fWAR less valuable than Coghlan in 48 fewer PAs. And as I said above, Soler as a hitter has been roughly league average at .260/.314/.388 vs the .253/.314/.396 league average. And if we're playing the long game here then why on gods green earth are we playing Bryant in CF because he is not a CF. I think you'd try Baez there before Bryant and I don't think Baez is a CF either(least not anymore).

All this just feels like the baseball equivalent of madden roster moves or fantasy baseball if you prefer.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

I feel like you can't have it both ways in that you can't talk about playing for the playoffs and then talk about taking your lumps with a player. We have to choose one path or the other. I don't really see how anyone can objectively say that adding Schwarber and Baez and subtracting Fowler and Coghlan makes the 2015 cubs a better team. I mean ok if you argue that Schwarber and Baez have no issues adjusting like Bryant than fine maybe they are a better team but Bryant is pretty clearly an exception to the norm. But even if they play decent like Soler has Coghlan and Fowler are probably more valuable players given you're given up defense to put their bats in the line up.

On the other hand, if you're talking about playing more for 2016 then fine I can see some logic there. However, I still think that is a batting line up with 0 synergy and that the line up will have to HR it's way to wins plus the OF is going to be god awful defensively especially in the gaps. Coghlan may not be an amazing defender in LF(-2.5 UZR/150 over 6k innings in LF) but he's a far sight better than Schwarber will be hardly having played LF. And actually at 16.4 UZR/150 this year and -0.3 last year Coghlan has been pretty good with the cubs or at least average-above average.

I don't know I guess I'm just getting old and grumpy but I'm really sick and tired of people talking down Coghlan. Even after a .223/.294/.439 from April-May, he's 58th(out of 162 qualified players) among all hitters in the league in OBP. Since the start of June he's hitting .273/.398/.373. In June Coghlan had the 6th best OBP in baseball. And on top of that he happens to be one of the few players on the 40 man roster who would actually be worth while hitting lead off yet people continually want to throw him away or push him to a 4th OFer.

People are placing far too much belief in prospects to have an immediate impact. Soler is probably more advanced a hitter than both Schwarber and Baez(definitely Baez) and he's been a full win in fWAR less valuable than Coghlan in 48 fewer PAs. And as I said above, Soler as a hitter has been roughly league average at .260/.314/.388 vs the .253/.314/.396 league average. And if we're playing the long game here then why on gods green earth are we playing Bryant in CF because he is not a CF. I think you'd try Baez there before Bryant and I don't think Baez is a CF either(least not anymore).

All this just feels like the baseball equivalent of madden roster moves or fantasy baseball if you prefer.

Well Bryant does like playing CF and he is athletic so I don't see it as crazy as you do. I've heard Len Kasper on at least three separate occasions that Bryant is being thought of as a serious option to play CF next year as a stop gap to whoever might be in that position after 2016. If he has to play there this year I don't see that as a huge stretch and Fowler is not performing. It does make some sense especially if Baez can come back by 8/1 or so and play 3B. All that said I agree with you that the more rookies in the lineup makes it less likely that this team does anything in the playoffs, although it very well could solidify their chances of getting there. I haven't been shy about my feelings that this team has close to zero chance at a WS this year no matter what they do so I'm good with letting the kids get some shots and if they do make the playoffs whatever experience they get there will make them even hungrier to win and get valuable experience. Yes, there could be some feast or famine but if the pitching continues as good as it's been, and it's been damned good by most measurables, this is likely to happen. I'm convinced the fun is only beginning.

 

[beckdawg]

Well Bryant does like playing CF and he is athletic so I don't see it as crazy as you do. I've heard Len Kasper on at least three separate occasions that Bryant is being thought of as a serious option to play CF next year as a stop gap to whoever might be in that position after 2016.

You're not stupid so I'm not going to treat you as such. You know as well as I do that if the actual cubs organization had any belief Bryant could even play a Castro questionable level of defense in CF that Bryant would have been there the entire time. I mean this is literally what we're talking about now with Schwarber. He played there this year of course but the cubs were also terribly snake bitten with injuries and were carrying a short bench.

Also, again why fuck with Bryant? He's not playing bad defense at 3B. If you're going to play a questionable person there why not Baez? He runs better than Bryant and has experience playing there. Hell, maybe Baez shows you something you don't expect and suddenly you have another option on what to do with him rather than trading him/Castro/whomever. I wouldn't do that with Baez but again if that's what people are clamoring for he makes more sense there than Bryant.

Either way, I think adding Schwarber and Baez to the line up full time without Schwarber being the C makes for a pretty cumbersome line up. You're arguably going to bat Bryant/Rizzo/Soler together as it's a good R/L/R mix and they are probably the best guys you have hitting right now. Tossing Schwarber behind Soler continues the R/L mix well. You probably follow him with Castro. But then what do you do with the rest of the line up? You batting Russell first? Baez First? The C probably has to bath 8th(7th if you go pitcher there). I think you can see that the line up just doesn't make a lot of sense. I could buy the line up a bit more with Schwarber at C and Baez in CF though I still don't love it. Then you could keep Russell 9th and bat Cogs/Deno first depending on pitching. But that still is taking putting Baez in which adds to the K issue even if he's at 25%

 

[SilenceS]

You're not stupid so I'm not going to treat you as such. You know as well as I do that if the actual cubs organization had any belief Bryant could even play a Castro questionable level of defense in CF that Bryant would have been there the entire time. I mean this is literally what we're talking about now with Schwarber. He played there this year of course but the cubs were also terribly snake bitten with injuries and were carrying a short bench.

Also, again why fuck with Bryant? He's not playing bad defense at 3B. If you're going to play a questionable person there why not Baez? He runs better than Bryant and has experience playing there. Hell, maybe Baez shows you something you don't expect and suddenly you have another option on what to do with him rather than trading him/Castro/whomever. I wouldn't do that with Baez but again if that's what people are clamoring for he makes more sense there than Bryant.

Either way, I think adding Schwarber and Baez to the line up full time without Schwarber being the C makes for a pretty cumbersome line up. You're arguably going to bat Bryant/Rizzo/Soler together as it's a good R/L/R mix and they are probably the best guys you have hitting right now. Tossing Schwarber behind Soler continues the R/L mix well. You probably follow him with Castro. But then what do you do with the rest of the line up? You batting Russell first? Baez First? The C probably has to bath 8th(7th if you go pitcher there). I think you can see that the line up just doesn't make a lot of sense. I could buy the line up a bit more with Schwarber at C and Baez in CF though I still don't love it. Then you could keep Russell 9th and bat Cogs/Deno first depending on pitching. But that still is taking putting Baez in which adds to the K issue even if he's at 25%

If they hit, they will find a way. You look at lineups old school and bring new school into it. Strikeouts are a big part of the game now. Kids are being brought up being taught to watch a lot of pitches and it is causing high strikeout rates. Look at the Houston Astro's.

There line up is completely unconventional. They are first in homers, first in strikeouts, 4th in runs. They are batting the same as the Cubs and a lower OBP. There is more then one way to skin a cat. If Baez and Schwarber turn out to be the better hitting options, its a no brainer for the Cubs to go that route. The Cubs aren't winning the series but they also shouldn't just drop out of the race.

Also, if this does pan out. There is no problem shopping Coughlan for a pitcher. He isn't in this teams future. Shit, the Cubs could shop Fowler. Isn't that their MO? Like I said, it will shake itself out but you have to look at all possibilities. I guarantee Theo and them have not shut any doors. Its why they have Maddon. He is a coach that can handle not the norm.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

All I'm doing with the Bryant to CF talk is repeating what Kasper has said and seeing who he works for I don't think it's idle speculation. I also don't think it will be their first choice but Almora is not ready and I still they're committed to him even if he's a .240 MLB hitter because of that defense. They may need a bridge and they're not going to re-sign Fowler. I also think if they don't get their perceived value for Castro he might play out there next year. This year they're trying to cobble something together because of injuries, lackluster performances and the fact that the market prices for players is too damned high right now. Not to mention the fact that they have a manger who really isn't afraid to do move pieces around.

 

[beckdawg]

If they hit, they will find a way. You look at lineups old school and bring new school into it. Strikeouts are a big part of the game now. Kids are being brought up being taught to watch a lot of pitches and it is causing high strikeout rates. Look at the Houston Astro's.

There line up is completely unconventional. They are first in homers, first in strikeouts, 4th in runs. They are batting the same as the Cubs and a lower OBP. There is more then one way to skin a cat. If Baez and Schwarber turn out to be the better hitting options, its a no brainer for the Cubs to go that route. The Cubs aren't winning the series but they also shouldn't just drop out of the race.

Also, if this does pan out. There is no problem shopping Coughlan for a pitcher. He isn't in this teams future. Shit, the Cubs could shop Fowler. Isn't that their MO? Like I said, it will shake itself out but you have to look at all possibilities. I guarantee Theo and them have not shut any doors. Its why they have Maddon. He is a coach that can handle not the norm.

I mean hey I'm all for the unconventional idea. But there's a reason something is conventional even if it isn't always the 100% optimal idea. And I get that K's aren't quite as negatively viewed as they used to be. But let's get real here. Anyone can see the present version of the cubs are having trouble scoring runs. One of the issues they have is K's. I think you're going to be hard pressed to argue that doubling down on more high K rate players is the optimal play here especially with someone like Baez. One of the reason the Astros are doing well is even though they are striking out a god awful amount, they are 6th in walk rate(cubs are #3). You will argue Baez can have a higher walk rate than I will but clearly he's not going to be a 11%+ guy and since he'd essentially be replacing Fowler in this scenario and Fowler has been a career 11% walk rate guy you're taking a downgrade there and a downgrade in K rate too. He obviously offers other things Fowler doesn't and I get that but in this area he is almost certainly a downgrade.

Also, I have to wonder how Baez would handle the umps because Fowler has been getting some questionable calls and Maddons been thrown out of games where they were calling a huge zone on Soler. Probably wouldn't help Schwarber either as many of these umps seem to favor vet players over rookies rather than calling a rule book zone.

Either way, I think it is a mistake to remove Fowler and Cogs from the line up. But I could live with them trying Baez in CF if Fowler doesn't pick up. I'd also be down with trying him at 2B if Castro doesn't pick it up and starting the Russell to SS transition. I'm not against giving him a chance I just don't really see how it's going to be the optimal play.

 

[beckdawg]

All I'm doing with the Bryant to CF talk is repeating what Kasper has said and seeing who he works for I don't think it's idle speculation.

Not trying to be a dick here but as far as I'm aware Kasper has never played the game at the college or pro level. I mean it's a bit like listening to something Hawk says and taking it as a real possibility. That's no disrespect to Len as an announcer. I think he's fine I just don't think his personal views have any real merit.

Again, not trying to pick a fight or anything but I think idle speculation is exactly what it is. Bryant isn't a plus runner. He's probably below average but plays up a bit because he has good instincts. Wrigley isn't the most demanding OF ever as Fowler is a -2.5 UZR/150 this year after having been much worse in other years). In a pinch especially before he's in his late 20's, sure maybe you toss Bryant out there some but as an every day player? I can't see that at all. Scouts prior to the draft thought he would be an ok corner OF if 3B didn't work out but no one even mentioned CF as a possibility and again I read a lot of scouting crap.

Either way, it's kind of pointless because as I said if people want both Baez and Schwarber in the line up you can get the same thing by just playing Baez there and he probably has a more realistic shot given they made the same move with Alcantara.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Not trying to be a dick here but as far as I'm aware Kasper has never played the game at the college or pro level. I mean it's a bit like listening to something Hawk says and taking it as a real possibility. That's no disrespect to Len as an announcer. I think he's fine I just don't think his personal views have any real merit.

Again, not trying to pick a fight or anything but I think idle speculation is exactly what it is. Bryant isn't a plus runner. He's probably below average but plays up a bit because he has good instincts. Wrigley isn't the most demanding OF ever as Fowler is a -2.5 UZR/150 this year after having been much worse in other years). In a pinch especially before he's in his late 20's, sure maybe you toss Bryant out there some but as an every day player? I can't see that at all. Scouts prior to the draft thought he would be an ok corner OF if 3B didn't work out but no one even mentioned CF as a possibility and again I read a lot of scouting crap.

Either way, it's kind of pointless because as I said if people want both Baez and Schwarber in the line up you can get the same thing by just playing Baez there and he probably has a more realistic shot given they made the same move with Alcantara.

It isn't Kasper's personal opinion. He is getting the idea from the organization. That's his job to find out tidbits like that. He didn't need to play college or pro ball to ask Jedstein or other FO what their thoughts are on CF and Bryant. Also, while Bryant may do a decent job at 3B, he isn't quick diving for a ball and getting rid of it. That's where 6'6" comes in to play. I find the idea if a big boy with a big arm roaming CF intriguing.

 

[beckdawg]

It isn't Kasper's personal opinion. He is getting the idea from the organization. That's his job to find out tidbits like that. He didn't need to play college or pro ball to ask Jedstein or other FO what their thoughts are on CF and Bryant. Also, while Bryant may do a decent job at 3B, he isn't quick diving for a ball and getting rid of it. That's where 6'6" comes in to play. I find the idea if a big boy with a big arm roaming CF intriguing.

I mean that's speculation on your part no? I didn't hear his exact comment so I could be wrong but I've read nothing from the scouting community that indicates that CF is even a remote possibility. And again, my question would be that even if that info is coming from the organization why now would they move him to CF? They had both Baez Castro when they drafted him and Alcantara was some what decently thought of. I think at the time Lake was also playing 3B. And I believe they had both Olt and Villanueva at the time. So they had a crowded infield before adding him to the equation. It's a lot harder to find a quality CF than it is to find a 3B. So, if they thought CF was even possible why wouldn't they let it play out like they have with Schwarber at C which is to say play him there until he can't?

That doesn't strike anyone else as odd? Like I said, I'm not trying to be a know it all here and pick a fight but it really doesn't make any sense to me. Bryant didn't even play CF in college as far as I'm aware he played RF.

 

[SilenceS]

Could Bryant handle an extended run of games in center?


Maddon said he wasn’t sure but knows that Bryant would be willing.

“Yeah, why not?” Bryant said. “I probably played there five games in college. I actually like center a lot better than the other two, just because you don’t have to deal with the hooks of a righty smashing one down the left-field line or a lefty smashing one down the right-field line.

“So it was cool out there. Center field’s fun.”

 

[beckdawg]

Maddon said he wasn’t sure but knows that Bryant would be willing.

Bryant's a huge character guy. I'm sure he'd catch if they asked him to. He'd pitch too if asked. I guess what I'm getting at isn't whether it's possible because he did it this year. My stance is more whether it's the optimal move and as I said it seems odd this is where the push is coming from people. Seems pretty obvious to me that CF is the more demanding defensive position. Baez as a former SS(not to mention CF in HS) is better suited to play that than Bryant would be. In other words, you'd get better defense out of Bryant at 3B and Baez in CF than vice versa.

Like am I wrong here? Isn't the whole idea to find a way to get Baez into the line up? Obviously I'm not pushing for that but if that is indeed the case why wouldn't you just leave Bryant alone at 3B and have Baez start working in CF in AAA upon his return from injury? Isn't this exactly what they did when Alcantara got pushed off of 2B by Baez?

 

[Parade_Rain]

I mean that's speculation on your part no? I didn't hear his exact comment so I could be wrong but I've read nothing from the scouting community that indicates that CF is even a remote possibility. And again, my question would be that even if that info is coming from the organization why now would they move him to CF? They had both Baez Castro when they drafted him and Alcantara was some what decently thought of. I think at the time Lake was also playing 3B. And I believe they had both Olt and Villanueva at the time. So they had a crowded infield before adding him to the equation. It's a lot harder to find a quality CF than it is to find a 3B. So, if they thought CF was even possible why wouldn't they let it play out like they have with Schwarber at C which is to say play him there until he can't?

That doesn't strike anyone else as odd? Like I said, I'm not trying to be a know it all here and pick a fight but it really doesn't make any sense to me. Bryant didn't even play CF in college as far as I'm aware he played RF.

Bryant has the speed to play CF. It's highly logical to connect the dots with the personnel issues they have. The "scouting community" isn't handling those personnel issues. The Cubs FO is. Feel free to continue the dick posts. It's entertaining. The forum can use the traffic.