RF/DH

by TomT on Mar 9, 2008 7:14 PM EDT

Rumors are going around that if Rocco is not ready for opening day the Rays may try to sign Lofton. The way John Rodriquez has played they may be better off working out a platoon where Floyd and Rodriquez play against righties and Gomes and Ruggiano play against lefties. Does anyone know how Rodriquez's defense is? He is 30 and has only 330 MLB AB's but his OPS is around .800 which make me think defense may be an issue.

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I watched him some in St. Louis

He looked average to me, but that's a very small sample size.

by R.J. Anderson on Mar 9, 2008 7:21 PM EDT reply actions

Re: RF/DH

Oh goodie, a 41 year old leadoff hitter in RF. Let the Met's have him.

by ttnorm on Mar 9, 2008 7:22 PM EDT reply actions

Re: RF/DH

Can Lofton play right field? I don't think he has much of an arm, but am not sure.

by bobr on Mar 9, 2008 9:38 PM EDT reply actions

Re: RF/DH

I am sure he could play right field at least as well as Gomes or Floyd.

by TomT on Mar 9, 2008 9:44 PM EDT reply actions

Re: RF/DH

According to BB-Ref, Lofton has played 10 games in RF (5 starts, 52 innings) all in 2004 with the Yankees. In that time he had 18 putouts, 1 assist & 1 DP (probably the assist). Otherwise, he has never played an inning there in the majors. He can still run, even at 40, so I suppose he could manage there, but I still have doubts about his arm.

He also still hits and gets on base, but it seems to me he is more valuable to a team that expects to contend this year, not simply one trying to get to .500 or so. Wouldn't people rather try our in-house players like Ruggiano or even Perez at some point? Or for that matter, give Gomes a chance. We tend to think of him as a brutal outfielder, but perhaps we are overstating that. If he is the right fielder, Floyd could DH most of the time. Cliff hits lefties just fine, so that should not be a problem.

by bobr on Mar 9, 2008 11:13 PM EDT reply actions