getting joey gathright

[Turnbowsaves24]

He is a free agent and very solid defensive player that could be the lead off hitter we need. He is fast and can turn a single into a double with ease. Then could trade Cameron for some pitching to the Yankees

[monkeyman343434]

And he can never get on base, his career obs is .328, no thanks

[trwi7]

It doesn't matter if he's fast. You can't steal first base.

[Brian the Automator]

He is a free agent and very solid defensive player that could be the lead off hitter we need. He is fast and can turn a single into a double with ease. Then could trade Cameron for some pitching to the Yankees

To me, Gathright is just Tony Gwynn Jr minus a HOF dad.

[JohnBriggs12]

And he can never get on base, his career obs is .328, no thanks

 

That's quite the overstatement to say he can never get on base. In 2007 he had a .371 OBP and having done that one year, he's certainly capable of doing it again. Melvin is known to believe that speed guys develop later as hitters.

 

You wouldn't grab him and hand him the starting CF job obviously but I see no reason not to have competition for that job. It worked for the Brewers in 03 when Melvin brought in Pods to compete with Sanchez.

[Bert55]

But can he bunt?

 

I pray one day the Brewers find themselves a a guy, with speed, batting from the left side that can bunt.

[logan82]

I hope they sign him right after Corey Patterson.

[Brian the Automator]

That's quite the overstatement to say he can never get on base. In 2007 he had a .371 OBP and having done that one year, he's certainly capable of doing it again. Melvin is known to believe that speed guys develop later as hitters.

I really hope that Doug Melvin wouldn't gamble that the one season where Gathright put up a .371 OBP in just 74 games and hope it happened again.

 

And what's the basis on saying "Melvin is known to believe that speed guys develop later as hitters" other than lucking out on Podsednik for a career year?

[aracko]

Id be on board.

 

Not baseball related but has anyone ever seen this clip of Joey?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySfw8f0beg

 

Defensively I think he is an improvement over anything we end up putting out there outside of Cameron. Huge range.

 

Id be a huge fan if we could get him.

[Brian the Automator]

Defensively I think he is an improvement over anything we end up putting out there outside of Cameron. Huge range.

 

Id be a huge fan if we could get him.

Is any kind of defense worth a career .263/.328/.304 line? When Seth McClung out-slugs your starting CFer, it just seems like bad news.

[ILuvDaBush]

I just imagine Macha forcing Gathright to take BP with the pitchers...only to have Yo and McClung put him to utter shame. Then again, perhaps the Soup Nazi could teach him the art of the bunt.

[southpaw121505]

But can he bunt?

 

I pray one day the Brewers find themselves a a guy, with speed, batting from the left side that can bunt.

Is this a joke?

[aracko]

Joey Gathright is willie Mays Hayes. No matter how much people resist, Id still love to have him on our bench and work his way into the lineup. If he cant make the team then he gets cut. So what.

[Fatter than Joey]

He is fast and can turn a single into a double with ease.

 

He has 1100+ MLB ABs and 30 career doubles, so -- no he really can't.

 

To me, Gathright is just Tony Gwynn Jr minus a HOF dad.

 

Gathright is fast, a good basestealer, and defender -- Gwynn is none of those things. Gathright also has some pretty decent MILB stats, Gwynn does not.

 

That said, I wouldn't know why the Brewers would pursue him, unless he was a ST NRI and just wanted to see what he could do. I'd much rather have Gathright as my 5th OF than TGJ, but I would definitely opt for curtain #3.

[valpocrewsader]

Gathright is fast, a good basestealer, and defender -- Gwynn is none of those things.

So Gwynn isn't fast and isn't a good defender? What are you basing that on? If he's on the 25-man roster, there are probably only a couple players on the team faster than him and, save for Cameron, no one better in the OF on defense.

[Brian the Automator]

Joey Gathright is willie Mays Hayes. No matter how much people resist, Id still love to have him on our bench and work his way into the lineup. If he cant make the team then he gets cut. So what.

 

If they could sign him to a minor league deal, fine... but given the fact that they're going to have to still do some 40-man maneuvering to perhaps get a SP or two, I just don't see anyone on the 40-man I'd want to cut to make that happen.

[Fatter than Joey]

So Gwynn isn't fast and isn't a good defender?

 

Right. Obviously he is not as slow as Fielder or a plodding catcher, but he will never be fast enough to steal bases. I have never seen a defensive metric to indicate that he is a decent OF.

 

TGJ has good marketing people.

[Brian the Automator]

Right. Obviously he is not as slow as Fielder or a plodding catcher, but he will never be fast enough to steal bases. I have never seen a defensive metric to indicate that he is a decent OF.

Joey Gathright steals bases at a 74% clip. If the benchmark is that 66.7% is the break even point, he's stolen a career 78 bases, is it really that much of a value? I do feel that the THREAT of stealing puts added pressure on a pitcher, but if he's only getting on base at a .328 percentage, I'm very underwhelmed.

 

As far as TGJ's defense goes, I've watched him in the majors and in the minors, and I'd really say that his defense is Cameron-esque. I don't think he has an amazing arm or anything, but he's very instinctive and pretty rangy. I agree that TGJ has a lot of name hype associated with him, and that he's not a good idea as a starting OFer, but I don't see Gathright being any better.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Joey G had 4 XBH's last year in over 315 PA's. He slugged .279. He's worse than most backup catchers at the plate. The only value he has is as a 5th OF/PRer, and we have one of those in Gwynn. I don't see the reason to put forth the effort to sign a guy who's barely different than what we already have, minus the fact that he's got enough of a track record to prove he's probably never going to be more than what he already is, which is mediocre at best.

[ILuvDaBush]

But what are we going to do if we're down 3-0 in the ALCS, I mean NLCS, and we're facing the best closer in baseball? Who steals second for us off the bench? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[DHonks]

Brian, what impresses you about TGJ? I've seen iffy big league range, a mediocre arm, and average jumps. I can't recall seeing him run down one ball that made me say, "wow!" Cameron did that on a daily basis. I was enamored with Gwynn in the minors, but have been very unimpressed as his speed and range hasn't impressed me in the big leagues. As colby and I discussed before, if Gwynn is as strong defensively as his reputation, then Fernando Perez is the greatest defensive CF to ever play the game. While Perez is amazing, I think that helps explain that I think Gwynn isn't as good as once claimed.

[Brian the Automator]

Brian, what impresses you about TGJ? I've seen iffy big league range, a mediocre arm, and average jumps. I can't recall seeing him run down one ball that made me say, "wow!" Cameron did that on a daily basis. I was enamored with Gwynn in the minors, but have been very unimpressed as his speed and range hasn't impressed me in the big leagues. As colby and I discussed before, if Gwynn is as strong defensively as his reputation, then Fernando Perez is the greatest defensive CF to ever play the game. While Perez is amazing, I think that helps explain that I think Gwynn isn't as good as once claimed.

I'll freely admit TGJ has a mediocre arm. I've seen him make great jumps on the ball, never take odd routes, and sliding catches. Now obviously, my exposure to seeing him play has been limited to a few visits to minor league clubs and the limited time he's had reps in the Milwaukee outfield, for take it for what it's worth. I know that he's also had a very positive defensive reputation from scouting reports to this point.

[TooLiveBrew]

TGJ has good marketing people last-name skills.

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

Gathright is fast. That is all.

[joepepsi]

I guess they could platoon Gathright and Kapler in CF. It might work OK, but it might not. Seems like it would be an acceptable platoon for a team expecting to win 79 games.

[Fatter than Joey]

Joey Gathright steals bases at a 74% clip. If the benchmark is that 66.7% is the break even point, he's stolen a career 78 bases, is it really that much of a value?

 

No, I agree with you -- all I am saying is that the dude has wheels, moreso than TGJ. TGJ never stole bases in MILB, Gathright racked up some good totals in the minors.

 

I've watched him in the majors and in the minors, and I'd really say that his defense is Cameron-esque.

 

If you mean Kirk Cameron, I would agree with your astute observation, if you mean Mike Cameron, clearly you are insane. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

I don't see Gathright being any better.

 

I mostly agree... If you look at the math, it clearly shows the following.

 

Mike Cameron > Melky Cabrera > Gathright > Roomba > TGJ.