Indians Infield?

[osueddy]

Am I to assume that the Indians are going with some combination of:

Cabrera / Barfield / Carroll - 2B
Peralta - SS
Marte / Carroll - 3B

OR

Valbuena / Barfield - 2B
Cabrera - SS
Peralta - 3B


Is Shapiro done making moves that may add someone at 3B? I've come to realize that there are not many amazing FA's out there at 3B. I thought the Marte experiment was over last year, as he got his opportunity when Blake was traded to show what he had.

[MadThinker88]

What about this mix n match??

Barfield/ Carroll - 2B
ACab / Peralta - SS
Peralta/ Carroll - 3B

Luis V needs to mash & vaccum his way onto the roster in spring training as a 2B (or benefit from another person's injury).

[indianinkslinger]

I think you both are premature. See what we have in April.

[MadThinker88]

That could very well be the case. Time will tell.

[Hermie13]

If the season started today it'd likely be

2B: Cabrera
SS: Peralta
3B: Marte/carroll platoon


Barfield and Valbuena have to show a lot in ST if they want to crack the lineup....and there's still a chance of a stopgap being brought in....

[cardiackidz]

their is still a very long way to go this winter

[Hermie13]

'there' is still a very long way to go.....but there's not a ton of money left to be spent....

[TheWord]

If Peralta is going to move to third base fulltime, the decision should be made NOW and not in spring training.

If he is forced to move midseason, without a spring to work out his mechanics, that is asking him to take a dive at the plate as well.

Valbuena/Carroll > Marte....IMO

Jhonny should be moving and lets sort out what we have at 2nd, not give Marte who has done NOTHING another chance to prove he can hit at this level. I'd love to be proved wrong, because Marte is solid defensively and has a ton of potential, but my God show a little bit of it.

[Hermie13]

If Peralta is going to move to third base fulltime, the decision should be made NOW and not in spring training.
If he is forced to move midseason, without a spring to work out his mechanics, that is asking him to take a dive at the plate as well.

Valbuena/Carroll > Marte....IMO

Jhonny should be moving and lets sort out what we have at 2nd, not give Marte who has done NOTHING another chance to prove he can hit at this level. I'd love to be proved wrong, because Marte is solid defensively and has a ton of potential, but my God show a little bit of it.

By 'now' do you mean this week or what? I disagree with that, but by the first week or so of ST games a decision should be made or at least close. It depends if he's playing 3B in ST or not. If he is then the decision doesn't really need to be made til later in camp. Thinking he's playing 3B then movign back to SS shouldn't have much of an effect on him.


And agree that Valbuena/Carroll > Marte.....but Carroll/Marte is better than Valbuena/Carroll right now IMO. Again, Carroll hit better against righties last year....Marte (in limited at-bats) hit lefties very well. The worst it'd do is give Valbuena and/or Barfield more time in AAA (Valbuena only has 216 AAA at-bats....I'm not sold on giving him a job yet and would like to see him work more there....but maybe that's just me).


And I agree that Marte has done nothing (well he has shown he's a good glove at 3B and can hit lefties).....but Valbuena has shown NOTHING as well.

Marte was rushed way too fast the MLs.....unfortuantely so fast that he's now out of options....I'd like (if no stopgap is brought in) to see him get one more shot. He never seems to get more than a few at-bats a week. Even the best hitters in the league would struggle when you do that.

Marte lost his job in 2007 after a very slow start (and injury which didn't help any...i think he lost his job unfairly here, but again that's me).....I'd really have liked to have seen how he did with more than a month of consistent play.....

[TheWord]

Now was meant to mean "before the season starts."

Making a decision like this midseason is something I don't want to see, I want Peralta to be able to focus on hitting because this team is relying on him to come up big this season.

[Hermie13]

Alright, that's what I figured. I agree, I'd rather see it made now than midseason.....though I do think Peralta should be able to handle it. In 2004 at Buffalo he played 59 games at 3B and 77 at SS.....and was the league MVP that year.....

Even if he is moved to 3B 'full-time' he'll likely see some time at SS still....

[osueddy]

If we give Marte another chance, then our infield is set. I just can't see giving him much more than a month to prove himself, even though we may not have another viable option to make the infield work.

[dnosco]

If Peralta is going to move to third base fulltime, the decision should be made NOW and not in spring training.

If he is forced to move midseason, without a spring to work out his mechanics, that is asking him to take a dive at the plate as well.

Valbuena/Carroll > Marte....IMO

Jhonny should be moving and lets sort out what we have at 2nd, not give Marte who has done NOTHING another chance to prove he can hit at this level. I'd love to be proved wrong, because Marte is solid defensively and has a ton of potential, but my God show a little bit of it.

In present value, with Marte continuing to stink, you are probably right that Valbuena/Carroll > Marte. But it is also true that Valbuena/Carroll = absolutely no chance of us making the playoffs. Sorry, Amercian League teams usually can't afford a .270 BA and .700 OPS from their third base position, especially when their secondbaseman might not produce any better than that.

[TheWord]

Should we bring back Carlos Baerga?

[osueddy]

If he can hit .300, with 200 hits, 20 HR, and 100 Rbi's (didn't he do that twice?).

[Hermie13]

If Peralta is going to move to third base fulltime, the decision should be made NOW and not in spring training.

If he is forced to move midseason, without a spring to work out his mechanics, that is asking him to take a dive at the plate as well.

Valbuena/Carroll > Marte....IMO

Jhonny should be moving and lets sort out what we have at 2nd, not give Marte who has done NOTHING another chance to prove he can hit at this level. I'd love to be proved wrong, because Marte is solid defensively and has a ton of potential, but my God show a little bit of it.

In present value, with Marte continuing to stink, you are probably right that Valbuena/Carroll > Marte. But it is also true that Valbuena/Carroll = absolutely no chance of us making the playoffs. Sorry, Amercian League teams usually can't afford a .270 BA and .700 OPS from their third base position, especially when their secondbaseman might not produce any better than that.[/quote]

um....those guys would be playing 2B......Valbuena doesn't have the arm to play 3B really. Peratla would be at 3B and Cabrera at SS in that scenario.....and you can get away with a 2B haveing a .700 OPS....

[Hermie13]

Should we bring back Carlos Baerga?

good one