Report: Marlins trade Cantu to Rangers for Evan Reed, Omar Poveda

[Fish and Chips]

Cantu has been battling .243/.290/.655 over when you take out his april #. Not what i call a "run-producer"

[emkayseven]

a) You have a different view of the team than I do then.
b) You're inserting him into the lineup on (in my opinion) a playoff contending team. That's expecting him to produce right away.
c) He was barely in the minors last year and (if I'm not mistaken) predominantly played second base over his final two years or so in the farm system.
d) I never said he was a "great" run-producer; just that he is one of the better ones on the team.
e) Which proves my point that judging hitters by position is essentially pointless.
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Hanley is OPSing .788 with RISP. Why is nobody getting on his case then? He is our franchise player, after all (and no; I am NOT comparing Ramirez to Cantu as a player).

saying he's one of the better run producers on a team when he basically only had one good month and most of our non-gaby hitters have severely underachieved just isn't saying much

[Valid]

saying he's one of the better run producers on a team when he basically only had one good month and most of our non-gaby hitters have severely underachieved just isn't saying much

I understand that, but that doesn't change the fact that he is one of the better run-producers on this team and that the offense will be worse off without him no matter how you spin it.

Look; I'm not saying he's a great player or anything, but if this team wants to make a playoff push, it needs Cantu. His bat will wake up sooner or later.

[Ramp]

Why does his bat have to wake up? His numbers each of the last four seasons since he entered the NL have gone down.

[Valid]

Why does his bat have to wake up? His numbers each of the last four seasons since he entered the NL have gone down.

So you're saying he has been reduced to a sub-.700 OPS hitter?

[CrimsonCane]

I understand that, but that doesn't change the fact that he is one of the better run-producers on this team and that the offense will be worse off without him no matter how you spin it.

Look; I'm not saying he's a great player or anything, but if this team wants to make a playoff push, it needs Cantu. His bat will wake up sooner or later.

Or, it could stay the same.

[Ramp]

So you're saying he has been reduced to a sub-.700 OPS hitter?

Maybe?

[Valid]

Or, it could stay the same.

It could, but chances are, it won't. He has gone through these kinds of stretches before and then busted out of them.

If you don't think this team can make a push for the playoffs, then I can obviously see the point of dealing Cantu and getting something (as little as that "something" may be) for him before he walks in the off-season. However, if you haven't thrown in the towel yet, I don't see how you can think that trading him could possibly better this team (unless you just expecting Morrison to come up and mash).

[lou]

This team needs another reliever, improved defense on the left side which is the worst in baseball, and Morrisons bat in the lineup, more than it needs Cantu OPSing .750.

Also pursuant to Coghlan hasn't played 3B in awhile, I don't think Cantu has really played 3B in awhile either based on his out of this world -15 UZR. He's just standing there not tagging 3B and waiting to bat. Expectations for Coghlan, or Uggla, at 3B are VERY LOW. Even if they suck, it's a neutral move defensively cause Cantu is that bad.

I dont hate the guy. I'm glad we've had him these 3 years. He's done a good job and really saved our asses as an amazing placeholder, but it's time. Its clear we can get some sort of pitcher for him. We have multiple viable alternatives. We need pitching much much more than being worried about Morrsons, or Maybins, or whoever bat.

[Valid]

If we can get a solid pitcher for him, I'd do it, but his value has plummeted. I don't see how we can possibly get anything of value for him.

And again, saying we "need" Morrison's bat in the lineup is reaching. He has proven nothing on the ML-level yet.

[Fish and Chips]

Cantu is not a run-producer though, he has been emilio bonifacio since may and has sucked. He had a great april and got 23 rbis in 23 games, but since only got 31 rbis in 71 games, that is not irreplaceable. In that same stretch uggla got 44, hanley 47, ross 36, sanchez 34, ronny 26, CC 25, and even stanton in 34 less games had 28 rbis. The lineup will be fine without him

[Valid]

So now Cantu is Bonifacio?

[Fish and Chips]

He has been a .650ish hitter for 75% of the season and played horrible defense at 3B

[Ramp]

Since May 2nd, Cantu is hitting .243/.295/.351 with 4 homeruns in 295 at bats

He has walked just 16 times and struck out 55.

[wanks1212]

I understand that, but that doesn't change the fact that he is one of the better run-producers on this team and that the offense will be worse off without him no matter how you spin it.

Look; I'm not saying he's a great player or anything, but if this team wants to make a playoff push, it needs Cantu. His bat will wake up sooner or later.

Run producer? What the hell is that? Someone who drives in RBIs? You realize that RBIs are largely due to one's position in the lineup, right?

And if you want to use the RISP thing and just ignore the sample size issues, among regulars Cantu's fifth in OPS with RISP, behind Cody, Uggla, Gaby, and Stanton (! 1.039 OPS with RISP OMGCLUTCH!) and 11 points ahead of Hanley. He's not one of the best guys on the team. He's average. With runners on, Cantu trails Hanley, Cody, Gaby, Helms, and Stanton. Wowzers, he's not the best again.

And for the "bat will wake up sooner or later" part, Cantu has a career .773 OPS (OPS+ of 100) over the first half and .772 OPS (OPS+ of, again, 100) over the second half. He's remarkably consistent, and remarkably average (OPS+ of 100 FTW), at the plate. FWIW, April is typically his best month (.868 OPS), and his performance usually is on a downward slope from there until, inexplicably, September.

Cantu has a .721 OPS. Even I, someone who's not particularly high on Mr. Morrison, will acknowledge that Logan's highly capable of putting up a .721 OPS and adequately replacing Cantu's bat in the lineup. I'd be shocked if he couldn't pull off at least that .721 OPS, and I'd peg Logan as being closer to the .750 mark that Cantu should be at, but isn't, because Cantu sucks right now.

And as far as replacing Cantu's defense, Cantu is currently the worst - worst - third baseman in the N.L. by UZR/150, and it's not even all that close. Cogs just has to be the worst third baseman in the NL to keep up the defense we've had at third base all season. If Cogs can be the worst, and he can, then the infield defense suffers no loss by shifting Cogs to 3B.

And as far as Logan replacing Cogs in LF and the defensive impact there, Cogs is rocking a sexy -8.8 UZR/150, which isn't as bad as my man Johnny Gomes but still puts him near the bottom of the NL. If Logan can be well below average in LF, but not a complete abortion, then the LF defense doesn't suffer either.

Point: Cogs shifting to 3B won't harm the infield defense unless Cogs is literally the worst 3B in baseball by a substantial margin, because that's what Cantu's been all year. Logan in LF won't harm the team defense unless he's even less athletic than imagined. And replacing Cantu with Logan in the lineup doesn't hurt unless Logan really falls on his face and can't put up a .721 OPS. .721. That's not asking alot.

Edit: fuck, everyone else already piled on. Carry on then.