So Taguchi In, Joey Gathright Out?

By Brett on March 30, 2009

This one comes from way out of left field. I have been fairly vocal in my position that Joey Gathright is completely superfluous, and should not be guaranteed a spot on the 25-man roster.

Until recently, my calls went largely unnoticed. Now Bruce Miles has joined the party, and says Gathright may not make the team. But the replacement is So Unlikeable.

Speaking of the outfield, could So Taguchi make the team as a nonroster guy ahead of Joey Gathright? We’ll see. Lou talked up Taguchi yesterday, saying he “gives you a professional at-bat.” Gathright today rainbowed a throw home from left field.

Well that’s half right, and I fear that Tagachi’s recent “cut” from the team may not be enough to prevent it from being fully right.

Gathright out is a step in the right direction, but replacing him with Taguchi would be more than ridiculous. It takes a guy who is superfluous and awful out, and replaces him with a guy who is superfluous, awful, and not lightning fast. Taguchi was sent to minor league camp yesterday, but that’s no guarantee that he won’t somehow magically find himself on the roster. There are, after all, three open spots on the 40-man.

Choosing between Gathright and Taguchi is a lose-lose proposition. Gathright sports a career (hilarious) OPS of .632. And though not nearly as comically low, Taguchi isn’t much better at .717, and was a spritely .580 last year. And Taguchi will be 39 this year.

Talk about a Hobson’s Choice. This is like choosing whether you want to stuff your mouth with dog doo or your neighbor’s doo. Can’t I just not stuff my mouth with doo?

If Gathright is getting bounced, let’s hope Lou Piniella and Jim Hendry are doing it because they realize there is exactly one back-up infielder that can play 2B, SS, or 3B on the roster, and the Cubs need another.

Gretchen Yessss. Bam. Goated. – Jun 20, 5:01 AM
rudy Haha, just ran into Jay Chapman and Casey Coleman at the bar in Des Moines drunk and taking kamakazi shots with some OKay looking... – Jun 20, 2:52 AM
toot What? – Jun 20, 2:45 AM
hansman1982 Well, they probably didn't get a quote from the scout who say "Who the eff is that guy and why are you listening to... – Jun 20, 2:37 AM
hansman1982 You do realize that the fact he wasn't a first round draft pick nearly ensured it was wasted money? No sense in getting too... – Jun 20, 2:34 AM
hansman1982 We really need to get Assman in on this one. – Jun 20, 2:32 AM
Scotti Little to none of this applies to Solar--his clock is started because he is on the 40 AND he has a 9-year contract (arb... – Jun 20, 2:26 AM
Scotti Unless the lower rounds go over 100k per. Coming under for those cats means nothing. Each guy that goes over counts against the cap. – Jun 20, 2:18 AM
Scotti The leverage that Hannemann had was that #1, he had 3 more years of college left (typical college kid has 1) and #2, he... – Jun 20, 2:15 AM
Eric He cost more money, that means I like him more. – Jun 20, 2:06 AM
jacob w That's 6 of our top ten in the fold. Doesn't the draft pool only affect the top 10? – Jun 20, 1:41 AM

Related Posts

Brett

Recent Comments

Recent Message Board Posts

Kane County Cougars

Brett and Sahadev’s Swell Podcast

Official BN Apparel

TradingPub Sponsor

Get Your Tickets

Latest Posts

Archives

Friends

Meta

Disclaimer