Callis on Pie
Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 9:34am
Last week, Jim Callis of Baseball America weighed in on Felix Pie, responding to an email asking what he thought the Cubs should do with him. The key line: "He needs another season or two in the minors. If they promote him now, the Cubs run the risk of sending the wrong message to Pie, just as they did to [Corey] Patterson."
I'm doing my best not to let my excitement about Pie get ahead of me. I keep telling myself he's only 21, and he hasn't played above AA.
But then Arizona Phil stops by and raves about him, and I'm torn. Is this the right time to promote a skilled but unpolished 21-year-old to the majors and give him the center field/lead-off job? I agree with Callis that it isn't. If there's one positive aspect to Corey Patterson's career, it's as a cautionary tale. Now, I'mnot saying that Pie is the same type of player as Patterson, or that he'll have the same type of career. I'm just saying that the Cubs would be unwise to forget such a recent object lesson in rushing talent to the bigs. So as much as I want the Center Fielder of the Future to be in the lineup come April, I think it would be better if he weren't.
Of course, the Cubs don't have too many alternatives. The starting CF for the I-Cubs this year was 34-year-old Calvin Murray. Given that he's one of Dusty's Guys, it wouldn't surprise me if he was on the major league roster next year, which would be really bad. My suggestion would be to send Pie to AAA, sign Kenny Lofton to a one-year deal, and expect Pie to be in center by the end of the season.
Comments
Schedule just came out: No
Ruz, OMG, if Dusty lobbies
IMHO, Pie is not ready to
Don't bring him up in '06.
If you're only argument
"Dusty will like his
Who knows how old Pie really
Please do not bring up Pie
You're right KJK. I get a
"But I fail to see how you
When shouldn't you play him
Not on the Pie issue, but
"When shouldn't you play him
"has anyone ever analyzed a
It's much easier to teach a
This whole "Dusty doesn't
1. Hollandsworth - great
Corey's an example of
"Name one young guy that
"That was probably the
The purpose of the minor
The biggest problem that
"The problem is that you
Since when is Patterson
How much would Lofton cost
He only ranked like next to
The real reason to get
Great I see that Mark Prior
PAP is lost on me. Go ask
Raised in the 50's/60's to
It may be part of the game,
It is funny that Dusty has
If we hire DePosdesta, I
The White Sox didn't win
president = andy mcphail GM
murton 0-4 sing 1-4 (single,
CWTP- My comments were more
EVERYTHING you just said,
There's no chance that
Potential free agents after
Wow, I guess the answer is
Using the same link the
Rob G. correct me if I'm
http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.
Chad, This was a hypo about
best case scenario for the
they picked up the option
OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Christmas
Cameron would be fine for
I guess what I was getting
thought they had a playoff
"Go ask Nolan Ryan and
'Cutting them down to a more
"Thats a great idea, as long
hendry wants to sign more