Twins @ Pirates

The year before Lamb came over to the Twins he hit .289, .366, .453
The year before Crede came over to the Twins he hit 248, .314, .460

So you are right, there is an argument to be made that Joe Crede of 2009 is no Mike Lamb of 2007 – because offensively Mike Lamb is better. However career wise I might suggest that the offensive numbers are close enough to warant a strong argument that Joe Crede is Mike Lamb with the significant difference being that Mike Lamb was never subject to long stretches on the DL!

Joe Crede career totals: .257, .306, .447 798 games in 9 seasons
Mike Lamb career totals .277, .333, .417 936 games in 9 seasons

You know what the biggest difference between Lamb last year and Crede this year? Last year Busher was not yet ready for the major leagues…

forgot to thank you for the humor in your reply. I hope I didn’t come off as sounding critical of guinness junky. Just skeptical of the argument that he has to play because we signed him.

BTW my original post wasn’t referring to Lamb, I was originally thinking about that long and painful stretch where Kubel sat on the bench and Bartlett sat in the minors while the Twins insisted on trotting out Juan Castro…………………….

Every year, there are guys who struggle in the spring and flip the switch when the pressure of the season starts on opening night. Every year there are guys who do great in spring and wither under the bright lights of the regular season. As a gross generalization, the former tend to be guys with a few years of experience and the latter tend to be rookies and second-year guys.

Young guys who struggle in spring training: Now you’ve got something to be worried about. Span is the only guy coming north that I’m really worried about. Good thing we have depth in the outfield.

you guys are arguing well beyond my original point. Admittedly I understand that caluofmn and I went off the path too in our discussion over Lamb vs. Crede… …but the original thought that I threw out there is not an argument to install Buscher as out 3rd baseman over Crede, but to ride out Buscher’s current hot streak rather than waste it.

Attempting to reduce that argument by claiming it is somehow analogous to going out and getting Monroe because he is posting good Spring training numbers is missing the point altogether. Buscher might not be a better 3rd baseman this year than Crede, but he is A LOT better right now during this hot streak. Signing Monroe because of his current numbers would be foolish, but if he was on the team I sure as hell would consider starting him in the outfield over Denard Span right now. To not consider it would be as foolish as looking to sign him because of this hot streak.

Crede is struggling a little right now (not a lot, granted – at least not like Span) and Buscher is tearing the cover off of the ball. Both for average and for pop. Without Mauer we need that production.

To argue that sometimes some players flip a light switch on opening night is just as silly. Even in the few and rare instances of such a turnaround happening overnight, it is foolish to take such a general rule of thumb that veterans are more likely to pick it up (and conversely rookies more likely to wither) once the bright lights are turned on, and apply it to a specific set of players. That is pure speculation along the lines of gambling.

My original argument is that if we are going to gamble why not place our bets on the statistically more probable bet: Buscher’s hot streak is not going to suddenly turn off on Monday, and Crede isn’t going to suddenly come out of his (small) struggles on Monday. The only way Buscher is going to suddenly go cold is by taking the bat out of his hands.

How long will Buscher tear it up, and how long will Crede struggle? Who the Hell knows, but I think it is worth considering riding the two streaks out until one or the other disappears…