We have now reached the portion of our program where we, as fans, scour the daily quotes from management whilst trying to determine “the plan.”
So, if you’ll indulge me, please put on your tin-foil hat and travel with me down conspiracy lane.
I think we all agree that Reid Brignac will be the opening day shortstop in 2012, by default. But I thought Joe’s comments on Tim Beckham’s demotion were especially interesting yesterday. Joe made great efforts to point out that Beckham’s defense was Major League-ready and also mentioned that there was nothing left for him to work on at the plate. That makes it sound like we should be asking when, not if, Beckham will make his Rays debut in 2012.
Assuming Brignac underwhelms again — something I see as a distinct possibility. Isn’t a newly-versatile Beckham the perfect candidate to replace Reid (who still has minor league options) to form a super, middle-infield, platoon with Ben Zobrist, Sean Rodriguez, and Jeff Keppinger? Those four would combine in a million different ways to play short and second. Right? They could be the middle-infield Voltron.
Keep those tin-foil hats on because here’s where it gets weird. If Voltron is the first step of the plan, isn’t the next step a permanent infield of Longoria, Lee, Beckham, and [insert First Baseman here]? That makes Zobrist a permanent outfielder, frees up Desmond Jennings to replace BJ Upton in Centerfield, and makes Brandon Guyer the new Outfield-version of Zobrist spelling all three spots depending on pitching matchups. Right?
The big problem with all this is that I now have to care about Tim Beckham again. If he actually pans out, I am going to have to take back all those mean things I said about drafting Beckham and not Posey. I would be … gasp … wrong. That is a fate worse than last place..
I love this post in so many ways, but I think it has to start with Vultron. I somehow still have this memory of screaming “and I’ll make the head” when I was probably 6 years old. Ha!
Oh right, baseball…I love the possibilities of that infield combination. And let’s go ahead and just keep Carlos penciled in at 1B forEVER, thanks.
In other news, Mark, your RSS feed is broken. That makes me sad because the RSS feed is how I know you have posted something, which is how I comment with such OCD intensity so regularly.
How, if at all, does the potential infield depth impact re-signing BJ? Is the perception that he is 100% gone, either at the trade deadline or next winter? If Zobrist stays at 2nd then the outfield starts to look a touch thin, especially if Joyce doesn’t develop against lefties (thus potentially platooning with Guyer, one the candidates to replace Deezy in LF). According to all the prospect lists, we won’t be seeing any outfield help until the likes of Sale, Mahtook or Vettleson mature, which will be a number of years yet, if ever.
Does anyone have a handle on what an Upton extension might look like? I’ve been trying to look at other comparables but he’s tough to nail down.
I believe I last heard that he was said to be worth something in the $10-14 million/year range. It was in an article last year on ESPN. I guess they used some sort of metrics to compare him to other CF’s and their salary ranges.
I wish BJ would take a hometown discount and stick around. He’s a great player compared to anything other than his lofty expectations. Even if he did, does anyone think he’d stick around for 4-5 years at 8-10 million per season even if we could afford to go that high?
The downside is, we aren’t BJ’s hometown.