Taking things a bit too far
3 Comments Published by Colin Wyers on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 11:53 AM.
There are a lot of things you can criticize Dusty Baker for, and there's even a kernel of truth to this, but still - huh?
Yep, it's Dusty's fault that... that what? That we missed out on a half-season of The Riot? That Theriot isn't very good? What are you even saying here?
With the Cubs out of the race in '06, Baker often played veteran Neifi Perez over rookie Ryan Theriot, leading to criticism he slowed Theriot's development.
"I don't think that's a fair criticism," Theriot said. "Neifi was a great player, and a proven veteran, a guy that did a lot of good things for a long time. There's a flip side you never hear about. He could've thrown me to the wolves and it could've turned out bad. I learned a lot just sitting back watching. There wasn't very much pressure, so just sit there and understand the big-league life. I learned from guys like Neifi and Todd [Walker]. They taught me a lot. One thing Dusty did do, when he started seeing some confidence, a couple good games in a row, he kept throwing you back out there."
Yep, it's Dusty's fault that... that what? That we missed out on a half-season of The Riot? That Theriot isn't very good? What are you even saying here?
Labels: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Dusty Baker, Ryan Theriot
Theriot knows where his bread is buttered. When he's relying solely on being a 'proven veteran' (kinda like Neifi was back in '06) to provide him with, you know, a job, will he want some kid taking his playing time?
It's not nonsense, it's...you know, it's like his contribution to his 401(k) plan or something. Two chickens in every pot and a bullshit never-was 'proven veteran' in every lineup.
I guess it's because Dusty limited Theriot's exposure that we've been stuck with him the last two years. Take a look at his 2006 stats with the Cubs. .328 batting average, OPS of .412 and a slugging percentage of .522 for an OPS+ of 135.
Granted it was in only a little more than 50 games. Had he played more, perhaps he would have reverted to his norms and then Hendry would have made more effort to acquire a proven shortstop for 2007.
I'd love to believe that, Frank, but I think Jim and Lou have seen more than enough evidence at this point to know that Theriot is not good at baseball to go after another shortstop if they weren't pleased with what they were seeing.
I suggest they both get their eyes checked.