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  1. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    It’ll be funny when the beat writers refuse to acknowledge they got scooped on this by a guy with a Twitter feed and a blog.

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  2. Berselius

    Line up

    RF DeJesus
    CF Jackson
    1B Rizzo
    LF Adolfo
    SS Castro
    C Beff Castle
    3B Valbuena
    2B Barney
    P Germano

    I guess Vitters must have gotten snakebite or something

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  3. Berselius

    Now that the Cubs have another OBP-y guy, glad to see Castro moving down in the order. I hate it when middle infielders hit second by default, numbers be damned

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  4. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Rizzo the Rat:
    I think something else is in the works. This FO only lets the writers know what they want them to know. They wouldn’t call up a young hitter to platoon him.

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  5. BubbaBiscuit

    What a fricking awesome ass day! Move Baker while he has value for not much, but something and calling up the young uns. Bacon! Bacon for everyone!

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  6. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    Hoyer speaks:

    “We’ve been talking about bringing these two guys up for a while,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “And we felt like the right thing to do wasn’t to do it immediately after the (trade) deadline, but to see how the waiver period shook out. We’d had some dialogue with Detroit before the deadline, and they had interest in (Baker) and put a claim on him in. We’re happy for Jeff. They wanted him a lot and he gets to go into a pennant race,. And for us, we get a chance to bring up Josh and give him a chance that he’s earned.”

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  7. Author
    mb21

    And for us, we get a chance to bring up Josh and give him a chance that he’s earned.

    But apparently not a chance to play full time.

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  8. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:
    I’m not taking what Sveum said too seriously right now. Hoyer sounds like he wants Vitters to play.

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  9. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ dylanj:
    Yeah, like I said either something else is going on, or Sveum hasn’t been given his marching orders yet.

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  10. Author
    mb21

    Why do you both think that? I’m pretty sure Sveum has been in on the discussions with these guys. He said Jackson will play 80-90% of the time. Sveum didn’t even say he was playing every day. I’m pretty sure Thoyer didn’t call them up without first telling Sveum what’s up. We know they talked about it several times and we know Sveum previous said you want them to play every day when you call them up, but now he’s not saying that. I see no reason to not believe what he said.

    Obviously it will depend on how they perform. If Jackson or Vitters start out 8 for 11 they’re not getting a day off. If they start out 0-11 look for them to get a day off.

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  11. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:
    I just don’t think THoyer would bring this kid up to platoon him. Smacks of spin to me.

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  12. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    we know Sveum previous said you want them to play every day when you call them up, but now he’s not saying that. I see no reason to believe what he said.

    Fixed

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  13. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:

    we know Sveum previous said you want them to play every day when you call them up, but now he’s not saying that. I see no reason to not believe what he said.

    I think this is it. Sveum can say what he wants, but this is the truth.

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  14. Author
    mb21

    I don’t care if they play every day or not to be honest. I think it makes the most sense, but I figure this is something they know more about than I do. If they don’t think either are ready to play everyday at this level, it’s not the end of the world. Pretty sure both will be playing every day to start next year unless either of them just flat out sucks this year. They have a better understanding of their weaknesses than I do so I’d assume if Jackson is playing 80-90% of the time it’s because they want him to focus on things while not playing too. Same goes for Vitters.

    I don’t have a problem with a team calling a player up and making him earn more playing time this time of year. I have a serious problem with calling up a top prospect to begin the season and then not playing him every day. It’s late enough in the season I figure getting to be on the MLB roster will be of more value to these guys than an extra month in AAA.

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  15. Author
    mb21

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:
    He didn’t say platoon. He’ll play against some righties, but I also expect he’ll get some days off vs righties too. Jackson will get some days off vs lefties.

    There hasn’t been any miscommunication between Thoyer and Sveum. They spent much of the most recent off day discussing this. They’re on the same page here.

    I was only joking with my initial comment on the subject. I have no problems with what Sveum said. It’s almost certainly what the organization discussed and agreed upon. There’s only a month left in the minor league season so even if both were platooned it’s no big deal. They’d get just as much playing time over the next 2 months as they would in 1 month of AAA.

    The bottom line is that how they play will dictate how much playing time they get. Play well and they play every day. Don’t play well and they won’t. If they pull this shit at the start of the season I’ll care because they could actually go play every day in the minor leagues, but at this point in the season it’s not at all uncommon. A far superior prospect in Mike Olt was basically called up to platoon at 1st and DH.

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  16. Author
    Rizzo the Rat

    Sveum on the radio says that he’ll be playing him a little less than Brett and against most LHP’s, at least starting out. He also said he wants to evaluate his defense at third.

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  17. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Rizzo the Rat:

    I wonder if they won’t do a Braun and move him to LF if he can’t play third. Not sure how well his bat plays at NL corner OF, though.

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  18. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    Jagbag streaming Cubs-Dogs just switched to CLE-DET. This angers up the blood.

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  19. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    Fucking stream is still on DET-CLE. I can’t imagine being less interested in a baseball game and I was at a short-season A-ball blowout last night.

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  20. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    That might be the first time I’ve ever seen a pitcher go inside on Sori to get the K.

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  21. Steve Swisher

    BTW, I met Brett Jackson a while back.* Homeboy has charisma to burn. Swagger, if you will — plus a staggeringly hot 6-foot-plus girlfriend. If he puts up decent numbers, I don’t doubt he’ll be the most popular player in Chicago. He has the zazzle that Castro and Rizzo don’t.

    *I will cop to developing an instantaneous mancrush. It happens.

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  22. Steve Swisher

    @ Rice Cube:

    Yeah, he seemed very cool. Good eye contact. Firm handshake. “I’m Brett Jackson,” he said. Icy blue eyes. Lithe, supple calves. Sculpted lats. Well-defined traps. Taut…

    I’ve said too much.

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  23. Eric

    Jackson’s stance starts out a bit like Rizzo’s. With his SO numbers at Iowa I imagined he would look more like Happy Gilmore.

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  24. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Eric:
    Yeah, their stances are remarkably similar. Different approach to the ball, though. Jackson really closes down his front shoulder, while Rizzo squares to the plate and strides towards the ball.

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  25. Eric

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:
    I don’t remember the similarities in spring. I know Rizzo adjusted his hands down over the past year. If Vitters looks the same we know we can either lynch or applaud Iowa’s hitting coach, depending on the results.

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  26. Author
    mb21

    Just watched his first 3 PA. Jackson has a good eye. Every time I’ve seen him play (last couple springs, game this year on tv) he’s had that great eye.

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  27. Author
    mb21

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:
    I only saw 3 PA today (dying laughing) but I heard Len say there was concern with his defense and for good reason too. It seems he’s not playing every day at least in part because of that. I agree with you. Not sure he has the bat to play a corner OF spot. It’s not like the guy is Ryan Braun at the plate and he doesn’t have anywhere near Braun’s speed to cover the outfield.

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  28. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Eric:
    Vitters, IIRC, has more typical plate mechanics. Slightly open, short stride, clean, compact swing, flat through the hitting zone.

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  29. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:

    Yeah, but they won’t find out how good or bad a defender he is while he’s sitting on the bench. We know what Valbuena is. Might as well let Vitters play, because benching Valbuena doesn’t hurt you, at all. I’m not even sure Valbuena is that much better a defender, given what I’ve seen from him. I have no idea what his rep is as a defender at 3B, though.

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  30. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:
    Getting himself out on a lot of pitchers pitches. Needs to be more selective. Power and patience have seen slight upticks, though.

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  31. Author
    mb21

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:
    That’s nice to see, but his BB% is still awful and the K% is higher than previous years. He’s been bitten by a low BABIP the last two months, which has hurt his performance, but he’s sucked for a couple months at the plate. Overall he’s still having a fine season, which is more important than what I just said, but it seems something isn’t right. I do like him hitting lower in the order like berselius mentioned.

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  32. Author
    Suburban kid

    That was pretty shit that Jackson’s first career at bat was a foul ball that the umps didn’t see.

    Also, Rizzo, WTF with the first inning TOOTBLAN? If you were Milton Bradley and this was in Chicago, you’d be dead fucking meat.

    Also, Len said Vitters will start tomorrow.

    Finally, Jackson’s stance was kind of Babe Ruth like with the low hands near the body. I think that’s what it reminded me of.

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  33. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:
    I think it’s about pitch selection. He needs to learn that just because he can hit a pitch, doesn’t mean he should hit that pitch.

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  34. Author
    Suburban kid

    @ mb21:
    I’d give my left man boob to have seen him in person, but alas, it was only on the newsreels between the main features that I got to see that swing.

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  35. Author
    mb21

    It seems silly to me the Dodgers would be mad at the Cubs over something so silly even if they shouldn’t have done it and Sullivan provided nothing to back up his argument.

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  36. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:

    I think Sullivan is full of shit. He has no sources, thus the reason for none being cited. He’s the only one with this “story” and Morosi and Rosenthal both seem to have good sources in the LAD org.

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  37. Sk on a strange device

    The dodgers might get pissy because they didn’t get what they wanted (dempster for nothing special since it was a rental and they could pay the salary ). But I don’t this is a first by any stretch.

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  38. Author
    mb21

    @ Rice Cube:
    I don’t think it’s that they can’t listen; it’s more that teams expect some sort of privacy. That’s reasonable. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I could understand the Dodgers being a little upset over it, but pissy enough to not do any trades with the Cubs over it? That just sounds ridiculous.

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  39. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:

    Disparaging things are no doubt said about players in these calls. Maybe the Dodgers are embarrassed about some things they said, knowing now that Dempster heard them, but I doubt it’s a big deal. Sullivan, as usual, is just manufacturing conflict, whole cloth. The Scott Templeton of sportswriting.

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  40. Author
    mb21

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:
    Agreed. As I said, I could see them being a little frustrated, but it’s absurd to think they’re that pissy about it. They may not appreciate what the Cubs did and might think less of them, but it’s not going to stop them from making trades. No way.

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  41. Author
    mb21

    If they were all that upset about it, wouldn’t they have said something? Wouldn’t we hear about this from someone else who knows what the fuck they’re talking about?

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  42. Author
    Mercurial Outfielder

    @ mb21:

    And as much as the Dodgers are pissed, I bet a lot more players are looking at THoyer with respect for letting a vet who had by that point thoroughly frustrated and pissed off the FO sit on those talks. That’s a big gesture by THoyer and I bet it hasn’t gone unnoticed by veteran players.

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  43. Author
    Rizzo the Rat

    Fangraphs doesn’t have live stats on Jackson. The site probably doesn’t realize he was called up yet.

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  44. Author
    Rizzo the Rat

    I mean, I was expecting a drop when he came to the big leagues, but losing over .200 in ISO?

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  45. Steve Swisher

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:

    Ok, what does a 5-6 runner mean? I have to say, I respect Goldstein’s knowledge, but jeebus does the guy take himself seriously or what? Or maybe it’s just that I don’t like sports guys who aren’t funny.

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  46. Doogolas42483

    Steve Swisher wrote:

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:
    Ok, what does a 5-6 runner mean? I have to say, I respect Goldstein’s knowledge, but jeebus does the guy take himself seriously or what? Or maybe it’s just that I don’t like sports guys who aren’t funny.

    It’s above average.

    Scouting scale:
    2-8

    5 is average. If you have a 6 it is a ‘plus’ tool. Plus-plus is 7 and elite is 8.

    Going down is basically the opposite haha. Speed actually has a specific measure:

    Left side Rating Right side
    3.9  80 4.0
    4.0  70 4.1
    4.1  60 4.2
    4.2  50 4.3
    4.3  40 4.4
    4.4  30 4.5
    4.5  20 4.6

    And they also use a 60 yard time to measure it as well. I don’t have those exacts on me though.

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