Why Upton should move to 1B.....

[floplag]

6 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

I just can’t imagine Angels fans would really be worried about Justin Upton’s mobility at 1B when the Angels right now are running probably the least mobile player in the majors out there to play first regularly right now. 

I think you missed my point, moving guys to first because they dont run well, has nothing to do with their athleticism in terms of reaction quickness, hands, footwork, etc.. all of which are needed to play 1B well. 
Albert can run a lick anymore, but he still has good hands, seemingly good enough footwork, and moves well enough to field the position.  I think hes actually looked pretty good over there this year, but every time he tries to run full speed it makes me hurt. 

[Dtwncbad]

No I did get what you meant.  My point is Upton is not even at that full blown slug immobile state that many are at when they have to move to 1B, so he would likely have better mobility than many that move to 1B and certainly better mobility than Albert has now.

I know Albert gets some praise for some of his fielding still, but to be honest I think he sucks at 1B pretty badly.  But that more makes my point than anything else.  Pujols isn’t killing the Angels win loss record at first with his lousy defensive play, so I really can be all that concerned that a younger, more athletic, in better shape, more mobile player like Upton is going to be some crazy disaster that hurts the team.

[floplag]

2 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

No I did get what you meant.  My point is Upton is not even at that full blown slug immobile state that many are at when they have to move to 1B, so he would likely have better mobility than many that move to 1B and certainly better mobility than Albert has now.

I know Albert gets some praise for some of his fielding still, but to be honest I think he sucks at 1B pretty badly.  But that more makes my point than anything else.  Pujols isn’t killing the Angels win loss record at first with his lousy defensive play, so I really can be all that concerned that a younger, more athletic, in better shape, more mobile player like Upton is going to be some crazy disaster that hurts the team.

I didnt suggest he was, but i dont think anyone would argue him being the most graceful of outfielders. 
I would bet right now Albert plays a better 1B than Upton could, without fear of losing. 
Its moot though, it isnt going to happen, and i would rather see them convert Calhoun then Upton if it comes to that. 

[Hubs]

13 hours ago, Second Base said:

Upton has three years left on his contact. Marsh won't be ready until end of 2020, but roughly start of 2021.

So basically it comes down to this. Do you trade away Marsh because you have two years left of Upton, or do you move Upton to accommodate 6 years of Marsh?

I know which one I choose.

Youre assuming that Marsh is a legit all star from day one. I bet he ends up being more like Calhoun than Trout.

More likely, Marsh won't be an everyday player until 2022 at the earliest.

Adell will be here in 2020.

[BackUpTheTruck]

As long as Upton is making the routine plays in left field, he is a great player for us.

If Kole Calhoun put up Upton's offensive numbers we'd be a lot more reluctant to trade him.

[Dtwncbad]

36 minutes ago, floplag said:

I didnt suggest he was, but i dont think anyone would argue him being the most graceful of outfielders. 
I would bet right now Albert plays a better 1B than Upton could, without fear of losing. 
Its moot though, it isnt going to happen, and i would rather see them convert Calhoun then Upton if it comes to that. 

Calhoun at 1B makes way less sense than Upton.  Calhoun is listed at 5’10”.  I very much doubt he is even 5’10”

So he is short and you would be taking a GG glove out of the OF.

[Jeff Fletcher]

Back when I covered the Giants, there were a lot of fans who wanted to see Bonds moved to 1B when he was declining in the OF. 

I remember JT Snow getting a real laugh out of the notion that 1B is easier to play than LF. 

The mistakes in the OF may cost you more bases, but there are way more plays for the 1B. There is a lot more to do and learn (cutoffs and relays, bouncing off the bag when holding a runner, etc). All the LF has to do is go get the ball when it’s hit. 

[floplag]

13 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Calhoun at 1B makes way less sense than Upton.  Calhoun is listed at 5’10”.  I very much doubt he is even 5’10”

So he is short and you would be taking a GG glove out of the OF.

To clarify, im not suggesting now.  Im suggesting if/when Adell/Marsh/etc... are ready if both are still around.  Which is not likely. 

[Docwaukee]

this still feels like a discussion for 1.5-2 years from now.  

[Claude]

3 hours ago, floplag said:

I think most people think 1B is much easier to play than it actually is personally.

Upton’s reaction time in the outfield is average at best. Putting him at first base with sharp line drives or hard hit ground balls that require split second decisions would be a disaster. 

[Dtwncbad]

1 hour ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Back when I covered the Giants, there were a lot of fans who wanted to see Bonds moved to 1B when he was declining in the OF. 

I remember JT Snow getting a real laugh out of the notion that 1B is easier to play than LF. 

The mistakes in the OF may cost you more bases, but there are way more plays for the 1B. There is a lot more to do and learn (cutoffs and relays, bouncing off the bag when holding a runner, etc). All the LF has to do is go get the ball when it’s hit. 

Reasonable Giants fans would be justified in being interested in Bonds playing 1B.

That doesn’t mean they think playing first is easier than playing LF.  More likely, they wanted to keep Bonds bat in the lineup and gladly accept an anticipated OK (inferior to Snow) defense at 1B.

I am sure JT Snow was quite interested in making the conversation entirely about defense.

[Dtwncbad]

4 minutes ago, Calzone 2 said:

Upton’s reaction time in the outfield is average at best. Putting him at first base with sharp line drives or hard hit ground balls that require split second decisions would be a disaster. 

I bet he can’t even play catch from 90 feet.

[Jeff Fletcher]

2 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

Reasonable Giants fans would be justified in being interested in Bonds playing 1B.

That doesn’t mean they think playing first is easier than playing LF.  More likely, they wanted to keep Bonds bat in the lineup and gladly accept an anticipated OK (inferior to Snow) defense at 1B.

I am sure JT Snow was quite interested in making the conversation entirely about defense.

So the question is this:

Do you believe having a bad 1B hurts you less than having a bad LF?

[Revad]

Perhaps Marsh should learn 1b at some point.  

[Claude]

1 hour ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

So the question is this:

Do you believe having a bad 1B hurts you less than having a bad LF?

It just another bad contract that they can’t move. This contract was very Epploto like IMO. I still don’t understand the extension and why they needed to do it. He wasn’t going to opt out and leave. He knew it would be contract suicide. Arte got worked again. BUSTin Upton.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Calzone 2

[Jeff Fletcher]

5 hours ago, Calzone 2 said:

It just another bad contract that they can’t move. This contract was very Epploto like IMO. I still don’t understand the extension and why they needed to do it. He wasn’t going to opt out and leave. He knew it would be contract suicide. Arte got worked again. BUSTin Upton.

I think you should go back and read some threads from September-October 2017.

[Angelsjunky]

6 hours ago, Calzone 2 said:

It just another bad contract that they can’t move. This contract was very Epploto like IMO. I still don’t understand the extension and why they needed to do it. He wasn’t going to opt out and leave. He knew it would be contract suicide. Arte got worked again. BUSTin Upton.

At the time it was considered a bargain by most; I personally didn't love it, especially because we had already drafted Adell and Marsh and it didn't make sense to sign a five year contract. But at least we had a good LF locked up after years of mediocrity. But when the offseason played out it became clear that Eppler overpaid; but at the time he couldn't have known how the market would form. At worst Upton will be a negative for a year or two. 

[ScruffytheJanitor]

Holy Hell, the takes on this thread are ridiculous.

[jordan]

Upton will be fine in LF. I’m not in favor of him moving to 1B. I don’t think he will make that adjustment. I do see him taking more time at DH in 2020 when Ohtani is pitching again while Albert rides the pine. 

[Stradling]

When Marsh is ready we should move Upton to 3rd base.   Trout can take some reps at SS he played it in high school.  Fletcher could log some gritty innings on the mound. Ohtani is obviously the closer, when he isn’t hitting or selling tickets at the gate.  We can probably lure Juan Rivera out of retirement to play some more 2nd base. Yep, it’s all coming together, our extremely bad take line up.  

[floplag]

5 hours ago, HaloComputerGeek said:

Agreed. But Calhoun won’t be an Angel next year and Upton will. 

So that is the moot point. 

likely true, but not defenite so, meh.  not worth arguing over at this point, as Doc i think said, a conversation for the future. 

[Dtwncbad]

14 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

So the question is this:

Do you believe having a bad 1B hurts you less than having a bad LF?

No Jeff, that is not the question.  That is half the question.  The question would include looking at what offense is attached to the lineup decision.

[Claude]

8 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I think you should go back and read some threads from September-October 2017.

Detroit is still sending Arte thank you cards for the salary relief they received in that deal. We traded for Upton to help us make a late season playoff push and we finished out that season 11-17. We are notorious for acquiring and overpaying players that used to be really good for somebody else but their former teams figured out it was time to move on from them. 

[Dtwncbad]

I don’t get the disappointment in Upton.  He is a good player I am glad to have.

Doesn’t anyone remember the hole in LF that lingered for years?

[Jeff Fletcher]

12 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

No Jeff, that is not the question.  That is half the question.  The question would include looking at what offense is attached to the lineup decision.

That’s a fair point. 

As others have said, this really isn’t going to be a question until Marsh arrives, which looks like 2021ish, and is ready to be an above average offense corner outfielder (which may be never).