Chris just took over the NL lead in batting average (.332). We're 2/3 of the way through the season, and he's been remarkably consistent. I know, unsustainable BaBIP, but I'm not buying. I'm not sure he's a .330 hitter over the long haul, but I am very certain the dude can hit.
Can Chris Johnson win the NL batting title?
Who? The guy that was the throw in to some other trade? This team confuses the hell out of me.
doomedOriginally Posted by mossy
It's getting late enough in the year where I'm starting to think he actually could. He really was a great pick up. We have him under control for 3 more years, and he if keeps this up it could be huge.
He's also looked decent at third, and that was the knock on him. He's not going to win any gold gloves but he's no the butcher I had heard he was.
No, we need to trade our best young players for Chase Headley!
I agree on the defense. He's OK over there. I understand he hasn't played third all that long. Wade Boggs was crappy when he came up and worked at it until he was pretty good.
Yeah, Chris hasn't been the awful disaster that he is made out to be by some on this board. I think most of his blunders came early in the year when he wasn't playing everyday. I don't even remember him doing anything bad the last month defensively.
The thing with Johnson is he may very well finish this year with the batting title, guys over perform for full seasons all the time, IF he does that though, we should trade him in the offseason, no doubt in my mind. For a batter with career of high BABIP he'll hit for a respectable average, but probably closer to .300 than .330. I will always give credit where credit is due, Johnson should have the highest average of his career this year, this is most likely his career year, his Ks are down and LD% is up. I think playing way down in the lineup on this team helps, but even staying on this team there's a very big risk of regression to the mean even during this season.
That said hope he keeps it up, he's been an important piece in our winning this year (really everyone but Bossman has been)
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
Who will play 3B if we trade him?
Isn't is possible that Chris Johnson is entering his prime and is getting better?
Players don't enter their prime at 28, that's when their physical skills begin diminishing. You dont' enter your prime when your body reacts slower, you can't add muscle as easy and your hand/eye starts slipping. Just doesn't happen. Would be nice to dream about but it's not a multi-million dollar gamble I would want to be part of.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
Ages 27-30 is when the mental meets the physical. That is pretty much accepted as a baseball players prime years.
Not really, prime years in baseball is around 27-34 or so.
Yadi Molina is a good example even though he's a dick.
Logic!
A FA, a trade, La Stella, Salcedo, Gattis, who knows, I know there's no way we can justify paying him say 6-8M (he's arb 2) with a batting title to his name possibly more when we have Hudson and Mac hitting FA. Sorry but keeping one of those 2 is way more of a priority than keeping Johnson around. Who at his best probably still isn't a 3 WAR player
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
Oh, I didn't know that, I thought he was cheap.
He made 2.8 million this year and is having his best season, he may not get much over 5 if he doesn't win the title, but he's gonna get paid and I'd much rather invest that money elsewhere than on a 2 WAR player.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
Johnson is quite terrible defensively. I would sell him this off-season while his stock is high. As far as who to replace him? I think I might go with a cheaper internal option and spend Johnson's money on resigning Mac.
May be package Johnson and Medlen together with another top prospect in order to get a true ace like Sale or Price.
Or just keep that top prospect with the inevitable risk of losing guys like Mac, Freeman, and Heyward. I would swap them for one of the top pitchers os we can keep our cheap rotation in order.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
There is no viable internal option. My guess is Johnson will be moving on, but there's nobody in the system prepared to play 3B in the major leagues on a regular basis.
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