They were toying with putting him in left when Burrell went down and when they still thought they had a chance at the wildcard. They wanted his bat in the lineup everyday. Bowa's too loyal (read: stubborn? stupid?) and didn't want Polanco on the bench so they just kept Utley in the bench role he's been in.
He'll be the starting 2B next year. Count on it. Polanco will be gone.
Scott Hairston: Hasn't Arizona been thinking about moving Alex Cintron to 2B?
Rickie Weeks: He is in way over his head in AA this season. Barring an excellent showing in the Arizona Fall league, Weeks will not even be in the picture for the starting job in Milwaukee next season. Like Registered_Guest mentioned, it is looking more likely that Weeks will not have an extended stay until September in 2005.
Michael Cuddyer: The 25-year-old has a 751 OPS in limited playing time this season. He could be the man who takes over for Luis Rivas in 2005.
I think Scott Hairston will be good next year too. He has played pretty well this year and the lineup can't get much worse next year than it is this year, so his RBI's and runs should improve. I can see him hitting about .280 for a full year with decent power.
Amazinz wrote:Isn't Philadelphia toying with the idea of converting Utley to the OF?
He would still be eilgible at second if they did.....
Yep. He already will have 1B/2B eligibility in some leagues. He needs 5 more games for Yahoo leagues. Not sure if he'll get that. If there was any truth to moving him to the OF he would have 1B/2B/OF eligibility at some point next year and that would make him even a little bit more valuable.
Maine has a good swing for a pitcher but on anything that moves, he has no chance. And if it's a fastball, it has to be up in the zone. Basically, the pitcher has to hit his bat. - Mike Pelfrey
I think all the best sleepers have been covered.
Utley, Chris Burke, and Hairston are definitely the top 3.
Other than them, I can only see Brandon Phillips as a potentially good 2B. He's made big strides in his K/BB ratio this season, next season he'll have to prove it's no fluke.
Cuddyer is also interesting, as someone else mentioned. His status is still questionable. He could replace Rivas at 2B, Koskie at 3B, get traded elsewhere, or be stuck in a logjam as he has for the past couple of seasons.
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by Jamescloud16 » Tue Aug 31, 2004 10:10 am 
