Wild Card Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 The Staying Power Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C: Despite his astronomical K rate of 39%, he still ranks 11th in MLB in OPS among catchers with at least 329 AB's. (And yes, Spike, his April stats still count). Pretty average MLB starting catcher. Casey McGehee, 3B: He ranks 14th in OPS among qualified MLB third basemen, ahead of names like Evan Longoria, Pedro Alvarez, Chase Headley, and David Wright. While the power has not been what we hoped, you would think Mike Redmond might see value in that .295 BA (4th among ML 3B) and .365 OBP (3rd among ML 3B) possibly batting second, as McGehee is an ideal hit and run guy who gets on base (Amazing it hasn't happened yet IMO). He's also playing replacement-level defense at this point according to WAR. Adeiny Hechavarria, SS: It looks more and more like he's finding his way. He actually ranks 12th out of the 21 SS in MLB in OPS, which IMO is acceptable and by the numbers is just below a league average starter. And while we can all disagree about the defense forever, he is acceptable there, as well. This is not the position of weakness it once was. The Replacements Obviously second and first base are the problems. Garrett Jones has managed to become the worst player on the team defensively while providing little offense, even against RHP (a shiny .739 OPS now on the year). This becomes the most obvious weakness on the team heading into 2015, so what do they do? I think most of us believe a combination of Kike and Dietrich could be interesting, but will we ever get to see them even try? As much as I want to see Solano succeed, he is not the second baseman this team is searching for. What is the plan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild blue Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 I say stick with Gar-shit Jones!! We have to clinch this wild card, duh!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollythewog Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 The problem with your analysis is that 2nd half casey is the casey we're going to get from here on out and into next year (his horrible GB% all year backs that up) and that casey is completely and utterly unacceptable. It's also very wild card of you to cite WAR as a measure for casey playing solid D, but ignore it when you go to hech who is playing very below average D according to the same standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erick Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Our infield is the complete opposite of our outfield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 The problem with your analysis is that 2nd half casey is the casey we're going to get from here on out and into next year (his horrible GB% all year backs that up) and that casey is completely and utterly unacceptable. It's also very wild card of you to cite WAR as a measure for casey playing solid D, but ignore it when you go to hech who is playing very below average D according to the same standard. Hech has a positive defensive WAR... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollythewog Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Hech has a positive defensive WAR... Not according to fangraphs (who is the most reliable imo. Casey is positive there as well). Hech's .2 total WAR for the year puts him as the 18th best SS among qualified SS's (there's 22 total. He's still 20th of 22 in dwar ie he sucks). SS is still a huge position of weakness for us and hech's .270 avg doesn't cure any of that and if anything just makes things worse because the dingbats in the FO will think he is a viable SS because of his avg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Not according to fangraphs (who is the most reliable imo. Casey is positive there as well). Hech's .2 total WAR for the year puts him as the 18th best SS among qualified SS's (there's 22 total. He's still 20th of 22 in dwar ie he sucks). SS is still a huge position of weakness for us and hech's .270 avg doesn't cure any of that and if anything just makes things worse because the dingbats in the FO will think he is a viable SS because of his avg. The positive with Hechavarria is that he is a talented player. This is not an aging guy past his prime with nothing to look forward to, this is a guy who is continuing to improve and does have upside. Would it be nice to upgrade? Of course it would. Is the SS position our biggest weakness? Hardly. This team can afford to let Hech run out there again next year and let it work itself out... A) Hope someone steps up in the minor league system as a possible competitor or replacement, and/or B.) Hope he continues to develop the talent and turn it into more results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollythewog Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 The positive with Hechavarria is that he is a talented player. This is not an aging guy past his prime with nothing to look forward to, this is a guy who is continuing to improve and does have upside. Would it be nice to upgrade? Of course it would. Is the SS position our biggest weakness? Hardly. This team can afford to let Hech run out there again next year and let it work itself out... A) Hope someone steps up in the minor league system as a possible competitor or replacement, and/or B) Hope he continues to develop the talent and turn it into more results. Considering the rest of our infield which is pure garbage, the team cannot afford to put a bottom of the barrel SS out there every day. a new SS is just as pressing an issue as every other infield spot (I agree Salty is fine). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Just redo the entire infield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollythewog Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 I'll post this here as well: Just how bad is our infield you ask? It's fucking awful. Per WAR and among qualified starters: Jones is 22 of 25 Adeiny is 18 of 22. Casey is 14 of 26, but dropping fast. Salty is 17 of 27 for C with at least 300 abs Solano is 24 of 30 for 2b with at least 240 abs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erick Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Thinking that Hechavarria is a talented hitter seems delusional. He is easily one of the worst hitters in baseball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverBullet Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Not if you only watch his highlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Thinking that Hechavarria is a talented hitter seems delusional. He is easily one of the worst hitters in baseball. Considering his position, which IS a factor whether you care to admit that or not, he is around average (just below). Among qualified MLB hitters, he ranks 129th out of 152 in OPS, so you are right when position is not considered. But literally, of the 23 players below him, most of them are other middle infielders. You have to realize that the game is in an offensive drought, and what was once terrible is quickly becoming acceptable. A perfect example is Brendan Ryan and Zack Cozart. Ryan was a phenomenal defender with a horrible bat. He was so good defensively that he once posted a WAR of 3.3 with a .555 OPS. He was quickly benched and designated for assignment when his OPS fell that far, despite the defensive value. Cozart is in the middle of a similar campaign where he has managed to post a 2.6 WAR so far despite his awful .579 OPS (in CINCI, no less!) but instead of being released he is likely going to be a mainstay. John Denver once said the times, they are a changin. Erick never heard that song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erick Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 No, I understand perfectly. You're the one who misunderstood what I said because I was strictly talking about Hechavarria's hitting ability. SS or not, Hechavarria is a terrible hitter and you'd be delusional to think otherwise. The main difference between Hechavarria this year and Hechavarria last year is an inflated .BABIP. His walk rate is still bad and he still has no power. He is a terrible hitter. As for WAR, the defensive metrics that go into WAR don't like Hechavarria as much as they like Ryan and Cozart so I'm not sure what your point is. For what it's worth, I think Hechavarria has defensive talent, but the point is that he's a weak link on the team. I love how you keep citing WAR, yet fail to mention that Hechavarria's is terrible. You're consistent as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 No, I understand perfectly. You're the one who misunderstood what I said because I was strictly talking about Hechavarria's hitting ability. SS or not, Hechavarria is a terrible hitter and you'd be delusional to think otherwise. The main difference between Hechavarria this year and Hechavarria last year is an inflated .BABIP. His walk rate is still bad and he still has no power. He is a terrible hitter. As for WAR, the defensive metrics that go into WAR don't like Hechavarria as much as they like Ryan and Cozart so I'm not sure what your point is. For what it's worth, I think Hechavarria has defensive talent, but the point is that he's a weak link on the team. I love how you keep citing WAR, yet fail to mention that Hechavarria's is terrible. You're consistent as always. I agree that Adeiny is a terrible hitter when position is completely disregarded. Again, my argument is that shortstops need to be graded on a curve offensively. It's just a fact of the game right now, because unfortunately very few people can start at SS in MLB and 85% of the people who can are among the worst hitters in the game. In comparison to the other starting SS in baseball, he is right in the middle. My point regarding Ryan and Cozart was pretty clear, when Ryan was a defensive whiz and couldn't hit it wasn't enough to stay on the field. Now that the league is seeing such a decline in offense, a nearly identical player in Cozart is a fixture in the Reds starting lineup with no replacement in sight. I just don't think Hech is the worst of our problems. Finding a solution at second and first base, IMO, should be a more pressing matter for the simple fact that there just isn't any solution out there that's better than Adeiny AND realistically achievable. We, just like most of the league, have a problem and no real solution. You kind of have to deal with it and fix the problems that can be realistically addressed, like first and second base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erick Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 SS can be fixed, as well. They'll just never do it because they overvalue Hechavarria. Hechavarria is below average offensively even providing the context of the position he plays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollythewog Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 I just don't think Hech is the worst of our problems. Finding a solution at second and first base, IMO, should be a more pressing matter for the simple fact that there just isn't any solution out there that's better than Adeiny AND realistically achievable. We, just like most of the league, have a problem and no real solution. You kind of have to deal with it and fix the problems that can be realistically addressed, like first and second base. Adeiny and Jones are similarly terrible overall: Jones is 22 of 25 Adeiny is 18 of 22. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 SS can be fixed, as well. They'll just never do it because they overvalue Hechavarria. Hechavarria is below average offensively even providing the context of the position he plays. So how can SS be realistically fixed with a near guaranteed improvement over Adeiny this off-season? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Adeiny and Jones are similarly terrible overall: Jones is 22 of 25 Adeiny is 18 of 22. The difference is Jones is 30+ years old, declining, and terrible defensively. He is also the easiest starter to replace, with an internal option in Bour waiting as well as many possible upgrades via trade or FA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollythewog Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 So how can SS be realistically fixed with a near guaranteed improvement over Adeiny this off-season? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Well when the marlins trade Stanton to the doyers for a package that includes Seager, that'll help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollythewog Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 how much is Asdrubal Cabrera gonna cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 how much is Asdrubal Cabrera gonna cost? Too much for not that good a player. AKA Jones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollythewog Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Too much for not that good a player. AKA Jones. ehhh he's a 2-3 WAR SS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 Well when the marlins trade Stanton to the doyers for a package that includes Seager, that'll help! Or to the Cubs for Addison Russell. Honestly that's the only realistic way IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erick Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Well, since we're supposedly going to have a $75 million dollar payroll next year, I'd be a fan of bringing in JJ Hardy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 Well, since we're supposedly going to have a $75 million dollar payroll next year, I'd be a fan of bringing in JJ Hardy... Remember that word "realistic"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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