Personnel Decisions

by raysfan81 on Jun 6, 2009 7:47 PM EDT

With Pat Burrell starting his rehab assignment this week it brings to the table the question of who will get sent down when all of the players on the DL return.

Here are the likely candidates and their stats over the last seven games:

Joe Dillon:

RBI

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

.455

.727

1.182

Gabe Kapler:

RBI

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

.000

.286

.000

.286

Reid Brignac:

RBI

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

.267

.313

.467

.779

Matt Joyce

RBI

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

.333

.800

1.133

The obvious choice is Gabe Kapler as the first when Pat comes back but I'm not sure Joe Maddon would want to lose him because he still thinks he can hit (HA).

What do you guys think?

Poll

Who should be the first sent to the minors

Gabe Kapler

57 votes

Reid Brignac

6 votes

Matt Joyce

1 votes

Joe Dillon

5 votes

69 votes | Poll has closed

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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Comments

Kapler can't be sent down without being released

They might do it, but I doubt it. Dillon has a hot bat right now and Kapler has a cold one, but generally, Kapler is just a much better hitter than Dillon, and both are due for regression. I say stick with the known quantity who’s more likely to help us in the future.

Another option is to trade away Gross. Joyce makes him redundant.

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by Brickhaus on Jun 6, 2009 7:52 PM EDT reply actions

I agree

except for the Joyce comment. I think Joyce will be a better player than Gross, and may even be better now, but I don’t think the Rays want to platoon him. That would simply delay what they hope is his development as a player who can be at least adequate vs. lefties. I don’t think his value as a platoon player right now is so dramatically more than Gross’s that the Rays would sacrifice the opportunity for him to get multiple ABs vsl lefties.

On the other hand, I don’t think they can afford to start him regularly against lefties, especially the really good ones like Sabathia and Lester. So I am guessing they will send Joyce down rather than keeping him as a part time player.

by bobr on Jun 6, 2009 9:46 PM EDT reply actions

DFA Kapler

He is a sunk cost at this point.

He can’t generate ANY power with that upper-body swing, and doesn’t get on base. Defense looks very replacement-level.

by twenty5psi on Jun 6, 2009 11:23 PM EDT reply actions

Is this going to set the record for most lop sided poll ever.

Not only is PTB coming back but a bunch others. I started a short debate at the end of the gdt about this but here is coming back soon or at least their DL stints are near an end.

PTB
Bartlett
Kaz
Bradford
Shouse
Percival (ugh I know)

I would Cut Kaper when PTB comes back
Send Brignac back to the minors to work on 2B everyday (I’m a huge Brignac guy as you know but Dillon as earned a spot for now and can platoon with Zobrist at 2B, Zobrist than platooning with Joyce in RF)
I would have Kazmir working out, out of the pen in rehab and than put him there when he comes back unless you can work out a trade (Sonny or Niemann). When he comes back cut Izzy or Wheeler whichever is left after Bradford comes back.
Bradford- Izzy of Wheeler, most likely Izzy as AF could try to work out a trade with Wheeler until Kaz is ready.
Shouse- Choate (the easy one)
Percy- Cut him if he refuses to retire

by Dbullsfan on Jun 7, 2009 12:34 AM EDT reply actions

Keep Kapler.

I’ve defended Dillon and in terms of hitting, I don’t think the gap between Kapler and Dillon is as significant as most probably think. For example, Kapler has a career 750 OPS vs. Dillon’s 773 MLE OPS (according to minorleaguesplits.com; If someone has better comparable measures, by all means correct me). Age isn’t a factor as they are separated by less than a month. However, poor start or not, Kapler will probably hit lefties better and play better defense. Dillon can play more positions, but doesn’t seem to play any of them particularly well. Unless they want to go with a Joyce-Zobrist platoon with Aybar at second when Bartlett and Burrell comes back, it would be nice to have that RH bat to occasionally fill in at RF.

baseball is played on a calculator in your grandmother's basement, not on the field

by RATW on Jun 7, 2009 12:46 AM EDT reply actions

Both are merely platoon players so you may as well compare their vs LHP split

Kapler career .291/.344/.478 7.5% BBrate
Dillon MLE …….297/.429/..494 23.2 BBRate
Dillon MLB………377/.486/.590 16.2 BBrate 74 PA

To me, Dillon’s eye is the difference. A very nice platoon piece that slipped through the cracks.
Dillons had twice as many PA vs RHP in the bigs and MILB. In the Rays bigs, you can be assured he would be used correctly.

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by FreeZorilla on Jun 7, 2009 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions