Middle infield prospects?

by bkmhoxx on Aug 16, 2008 1:18 PM EDT

What do soem of you guys think the ceilings are of Brent Lillibridge, Hernan Iribarren and German Duran? At one point in time, these 3 guys were fairly well thought of as decent prospects. They all 3 have had their struggles this year. I know Duran has a lot more pop than the other 2 but i was curious to see what you might thing their ceilings could be.

Utility type guys?

Average middle infielders?

Or could one of them be something fairly nice?

any thoughts are appreciated.

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Better yet, Id like to see some lists of the best updated 2b and ss prospects!

by barlow078 on Aug 16, 2008 1:20 PM EDT reply actions

Lillibridge is a utility guy.. a good utility guy tho

Maybe he can crank out a few decent years as a starter, but I wouldn’t bet too strongly on that.
It still floors me that wannabe experts were howling all offseason about Lillibridge being the answer at short and moving Yunel out of the way by July. Idiotas!

by nms on Aug 16, 2008 1:32 PM EDT reply actions

Question

Does Lillibridge = DeRosa? DeRosa was a similar situation for the Braves if I remember correctly.

Mike Newman
baseballhandyman.blogspot.com

by Baseball Handyman on Aug 18, 2008 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions

No

DeRosa is dashingly handsome and Lillibridge looks like BatBoy.

by aCone419 on Aug 18, 2008 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions

in addition to the fact that Lillibridge does infact like BatBoy

I always liked DeRosa as a better pure hitter than Lilli although, Lilli has a better glove at the up-the-middle spots.

by nms on Aug 18, 2008 7:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I basically agree

I almost want to say he’s Omar Infante pre-this year. He’ll be able to handle all there IF positions and play strong defense at each, plus if the Braves want to go this route, I think he could be a decent OF. His speed is for-real, and I think he could have a decent career being an everywhere backup, getting 3-5 starts a week depending on how the bat rounds out.

I really liked him coming into the year, but I no longer believer his bat will play enough to keep him at SS every day (though his glove is certainly up to the task).

by mraver on Aug 19, 2008 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions

you say "I think he could be a decent OF"

In college he spent a good amount of time in CF. When he played for Team USA he played there are was good, so I think he could be a good IF/OF/superutil guy

by nms on Aug 19, 2008 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions

er

AND was pretty good.

I am a moron

by nms on Aug 19, 2008 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Lillibridge is a SS

who is blocked by a superior talent. I wouldn’t mind having him in the Indians organization even though his prospects at SS aren’t really any better there.

by sdtribefan on Aug 16, 2008 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

Josh Rodriguez

Pretty solid, if unspectacular.

Asdrubal is still really young, too… what is he? 22 this year?

by alskor on Aug 16, 2008 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Most of all, Peralta is probably the best overall SS

in the American league and he is signed for 3 more years. He isn’t going to 3B or anywhere else in the near future since he is just 26. J-Rod is probably going to fight it out with Cabrera for 2B. Rivero might be the one to push Peralta aside in two years.

by sdtribefan on Aug 17, 2008 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

Good Stuff!

Mike Newman
baseballhandyman.blogspot.com

by Baseball Handyman on Aug 18, 2008 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow, AL shortstops are terrible

That’s not a knock on Peralta—he’s underrated because people keep being disappointed that he doesn’t hit like ‘05, but he’s still a very good all-around player.

But man, other than Peralta, the whole SS conversation is national league. Ramirez, Reyes, Rollins, Escobar, Tulo, Hardy. Heck, it’s almost entirely NL East.

I’m still a Lillibridge believer, for what it’s worth. I think he could be a middle of the back starting shortstop. He needs to get things turned around, of course, but a change of scenery would certainly help.

by aap212 on Aug 18, 2008 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I forgot Jeter

But I think most people who like or dislike Jeter could stand a little less discussion of him.

by aap212 on Aug 18, 2008 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Ive thought it over

and can’t agree. Peralta isnt a terrible shortstop, but Asdrubal is a phenomenal one. They will likely switch positions at some point, or Peralta will go to 3B. Asdrubal, what he has done at his age – he is getting seriously overlooked. He can hit, is patient at the plate and he’s a plus plus defender. Cabrera was tremendously overlooked as a prospect and has been overlooked so far as a major leaguer.

Heck, I like him better than Peralta going forward and I would wager the Tribe FO does too.

by alskor on Aug 19, 2008 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions