The 2007 Cubs: Cliff Floyd
Lost amid the headline-grabbing free agent signings that the Cubs have made this offseason--Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Ted Lilly--was a nice little pickup that Jim Hendry procured on January 24th. In picking up Cornelius Cliff Floyd (Yes. Cornelius. I looked it up) Jim Hendry simultaneously strengthened the outfield and the bench.
Now there has been a lot of gnashing of teeth that Floyd's presence will mean reduced playing time for Matt Murton. Well, surely that's possible--likely, even--but so what? It's not like we'd be trotting out Todd Hollandsworth out there. When healthy, Cliff Floyd has proven to be a very relaible slugger--a solid left-handed stick who even still, at his advanced age, is capable of slugging at a .500 clip while being patient to the tune of a .350 OBP.
Ah, but therein lies the rub. "When healthy". Two words that mark a very meaningful caveat for Cliff, for he has rarely been healthy enough to produce, over the full course of a season, the kind of numbers that an .850 OPS would provide. He's a tease. A left-handed Rondell White, if you will. Which is why the contract to which Cliff Floyd agreed is chock full 'o' incentives. A base salary of $3 million is what Cliff starts off with, with incentives more than doubling that number to $7.5. These incentives are, of course, mostly dealing with games played (100 starts) and plate appearances (425).
Lou Piniella has not said whether or not he's going to go with a left-field platoon with Floyd and Murton. At the time of Cubs Convention, when Lou was saying encouraging things about Matt, Floyd had to sign with the club. Odds are, however, that some sort of platoon is likely, at least until Angry Jock gets traded out of town.
But this writer thinks dealing Jock would be a mistake. As much as I like Thunder Matt I'm not as offended by the idea of a Murton/Floyd platoon as some people are. If Jock were to be traded during the season (or before), then that leaves the team with a razor-thin margin for error--or worse, a Floyd injury. I'd rather the Cubs bank on Floyd taking at-bats away from Murton than bank on him playing everyday should they feel comfortable enough to deal Jock. Because once you've done that, you've done put all yer eggs in Floyd's faberge basket, which will break as easily as Floyd himself. When that happens, you're really up a creek. So bite the bullet, Cub fans, and prepare yourself for Cliff striving to hit those incentives.
Of course the ideal solution would be to incorporate Floyd and Murton into a platoon, but not necessarily a strict lefty/righty platoon. Rather, a situation with Murton getting 60%+ of the starts. While this would undoubtedly make Cliff unhappy, it would provide the benefit of cultivating Murton's progress while, at the same time, preserving Floyd. If Floyd gets two starts a week and becomes the #1 lefty off the bench, then that would work. In order to make that happen peacefully, let's all hope Cliff gets injured in Mesa, and spends the first 6 weeks of the season on the DL. By the time he comes off the DL, he'll realize that his chances of getting 100 starts are nil, and then wouldn't be a threat to be a distractive malcontent.
Well, do you have any better ideas?
theantigoat
I think Floyd could make a big difference. I mean sure he's injury prone, but when he's healthy he is solid at the dish. I'm just glad to finally see some decent depth on the team. At least we are'nt quibbling about being severely under manned. Just take the optimistic approach, we have a pretty damn good bench.
Dan
Sorry about the triplicate post. I got error messages and didn't think the post had gone thru. I have an idea regarding CF. The Brewers are planning on playing Jenkins/Hall/Hart from left to right, making Brady Clark a bench player or trade bait. I say swing a deal for him, and let Soriano grow roots in RF instead of facing the possibility of yet another positional switch from CF to RF when Pie is deemed ready. Outfield defense improves with Clark instead of Jones and Soriano getting less action in RF, and Clark is the perfect guy to hit behind Soriano, a guy who strikes out infrequently and is patient enough to allow Soriano to swipe some bags and get into scoring position for Lee and Ramirez. As it stands, it's either DeRosa or Izturis in the two slot...not good.
Dan
Besides the horrid baserunning and throwing problems you mentioned Curt, Jones has always been completely inept when it comes to hitting left handed pitching. That means lots of wasted AB's when he's played on an everyday basis. And his numbers against righthanders are nothing special for a corner outfielder either. Even Murton, who supposedly couldn't hit RHP all that well, hit them just as well as Jones did last year.
Dan
Besides the horrid baserunning and throwing problems you mentioned Curt, Jones has always been completely inept when it comes to hitting left handed pitching. That means lots of wasted AB's when he's played on an everyday basis. And his numbers against righthanders are nothing special for a corner outfielder either. Even Murton, who supposedly couldn't hit RHP all that well, hit them just as well as Jones did last year.
Dan
Besides the horrid baserunning and throwing problems you mentioned Curt, Jones has always been completely inept when it comes to hitting left handed pitching. That means lots of wasted AB's when he's played on an everyday basis. And his numbers against righthanders are nothing special for a corner outfielder either. Even Murton, who supposedly couldn't hit RHP all that well, hit them just as well as Jones did last year.
Chip
Cornelius huh? Can we call him Corny Floyd then?
Curt
I dont know what everyone has against Jacques. Other than his base running, and throwing into the ground, I dont think he did all that bad. I'd like to see him stay.
Clute
Jones
Clute
The possibility of trading will only occur if Pie is on the 25 man roster. That is unless Pinella pulls a Dusty and lets Pie rot on the bench.
greg
Well, since my earlier comment didnt make it up here for some reason, ill post again.
I also agree that dealing jones is a mistake but not because i like a murton/floyd platoon, but because jones is an asset to the team. The cubs are better with him than without him.
I dont like the murton/floyd platoon. How does Floyd deserve playing time? Murton proved himself last year as a player and if he was any other player he would be assured of starting without a platoon. Think of it this way. Pie isnt going to have a platoon if he comes up and we wouldnt want it either. Why is it ok for murton? Pie is all hype right now, he has no MLB experience.
Also, we have 8 outfielders on the 40 man roster. We are not hurting for them. I dont like the floyd signing. I dont mind floyd, i guess i dont understand why we signed him and Ward. They are very similar players. We have a pair of twins on the bench basically. What purpose does that serve? None.