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Yahoo! Sports: MLB - Tatis to bat third in Expos' lineup, between Vidro and Guerrero
The Expos are expecting to be in the top tier of offensive teams in 2001. At least that is their plan. I'm sorry, but to paraphrase the First Father, "Not gonna happen."
The Expos were 14th out of 16 teams in runs scored despite being 8th in batting average. The reason a solid last place finish in walks (nearly 60 behind Arizona). Their lineup appears to be the following.
Bergeron -CF
Vidro - 2B
Tatis - 3B
Guerrero - RF
Stevens - 1B
Blum - LF (never played OF)
Barrett - C
Cabrera - SS
Bench - Mike Mordecai, Terry Jones, Mark Smith, Sandy Martinez and Randy Knorr (though I think they should drop one of them or get a backup catcher who can slug David Wells's weight), and maybe Tim Raines.
Nobody cracked 60 walks last year in this lineup and four of the five had sub .340 OBP's. They should make Tim Raines the hitting coach and a reserve.
The first four spots look pretty good and I would be happy with Barrett behind the plate, though he won't be a great offensive player and may be a big defensive liability. But Blum, Stevens, and Cabrera should be very worried about their job security, and I don't know if they are.
Alou stated in the article about Blum that "he's a guy who's going to have to play every day, somewhere." 28-year-olds with a career .335 OBP shouldn't be guaranteed a roster spot especially to play left field. I'd rather bring up Bradley and see what happens there, or sign somebody like Reggie Sanders for small dollars.
Tatis along with improvement from Bergeron and Barrett might add 80 runs, but that ignores the fact that Rondell White gave the Expos a great 290 at bats and Mike Mordecai was way over his head last year. 820 runs does jump them to sixth in the league, but that strikes me as a bit optimistic.
The Expos are expecting to be in the top tier of offensive teams in 2001. At least that is their plan. I'm sorry, but to paraphrase the First Father, "Not gonna happen."
The Expos were 14th out of 16 teams in runs scored despite being 8th in batting average. The reason a solid last place finish in walks (nearly 60 behind Arizona). Their lineup appears to be the following.
Bergeron -CF
Vidro - 2B
Tatis - 3B
Guerrero - RF
Stevens - 1B
Blum - LF (never played OF)
Barrett - C
Cabrera - SS
Bench - Mike Mordecai, Terry Jones, Mark Smith, Sandy Martinez and Randy Knorr (though I think they should drop one of them or get a backup catcher who can slug David Wells's weight), and maybe Tim Raines.
Nobody cracked 60 walks last year in this lineup and four of the five had sub .340 OBP's. They should make Tim Raines the hitting coach and a reserve.
The first four spots look pretty good and I would be happy with Barrett behind the plate, though he won't be a great offensive player and may be a big defensive liability. But Blum, Stevens, and Cabrera should be very worried about their job security, and I don't know if they are.
Alou stated in the article about Blum that "he's a guy who's going to have to play every day, somewhere." 28-year-olds with a career .335 OBP shouldn't be guaranteed a roster spot especially to play left field. I'd rather bring up Bradley and see what happens there, or sign somebody like Reggie Sanders for small dollars.
Tatis along with improvement from Bergeron and Barrett might add 80 runs, but that ignores the fact that Rondell White gave the Expos a great 290 at bats and Mike Mordecai was way over his head last year. 820 runs does jump them to sixth in the league, but that strikes me as a bit optimistic.
posted by Sean Foran # 11:08 AM 
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