I knew there was a reason why I loved that Bill James guy!!!Originally Posted by mvp 78
I knew there was a reason why I loved that Bill James guy!!!
Totally off topic, but is anyone else having trouble accessing the forums (only) from their phone? I've found a back door to get here but I can only access the five threads with the most recent posts. HELP!
It's a mere moment in a man's life between the All-Star game and the Old Timer's game.
-Vin Scully
Based on what I've seen this spring, I just hope he makes the 25 man roster and completely agree with you that it would make sense to trade Holt.
Finally, someone agrees with me on Holt.
It's not that I don't value him; I do. I just think his value to another team is higher, and that is the basis for making a good trade.
This! However saying that I do think the older Xander gets and he develops more skill for the game he wold be fine in almost any position he played.
I'm not opposed to leaving XB at short for sure but I still don't want to see hernandez at third. He is a second baseman/shortstop. Not much room for him right now I guess but that is the way it goes. I do find it amusing when I read past comments by some suggesting that XB is just an average at best ss. I don't believe this at all. He has improved in all areas of the game. I like him right where he is but if he isn't that good at short moving him right over to third should seem logical. Although I think that Marco deserves to be on this team, in no way would I think that moving XB to third makes any sense. He has worked too hard.
I'd keep Bogey at SS also. But the idea of having a very weak hitting right handed third base backup last year didn't go well and perhaps Rutledge would do better, but you have a terrific left hand hitter in Marco and he could fill in as utility for Short, second and third. Keep this kid and trade the players that have more value to others than to us.
makes sense to me
Bogey at SS with potential for additional power is what gives him higher ceiling at SS.
Wouldn't his bat become less valuable as a 3B? Similar to Swihart being a catcher versus a left fielder.
True, but if his SS defense is not a plus, and his 3B defense could eventually be a plus, it might tip the balance.
I used to be a strong advocate for moving Bogey to 3B, but that was when we had better defensive options at SS, and scouts were talking about Bogey's likelihood of not sticking at SS. Bogey improved on his defense enough for me to drop my crusade, but I think he took a baby step backwards last year, so I'm still open to the idea, but first we need to have a clearly better defensive SS.
BTW, league SSs had an OPS only about 50 points worse than the average league 3Bmen. It's not like the old days anymore.
But the SS class is top-heavy.
We miss you Mike.
I'm not sure about this. Depends on what you really want and traditionally expect form a third baseman. I hope that his bat keeps up with some of the explosive bats we are now seeing at ss. I think that Benintendi should be fine for us in left but I'm not expecting Jim Rice power out there either. With respect to XB, my "eyes" tell me that he is a very good ss. Of course there are better but he more than gets the job done. I would not move XB. XB's first year in the field was shaky. He spent that next winter working his tail off with Pedroia in Arizona. He got quicker, stronger, and better overall. He is damn good at what he does.
True enough, but it seems like the younger generation of good hitting SSs is growing. More of the better hitting 3Bmen are getting older (Beltre, Donaldson, Turner...). Except for Asrubal Cabrera, the top 9 SSs in OPS are under 28.
I saw a lot of defensive improvement from 2014 to 2015, and his UZR/150 went from -3.7 to +0.9. I was very happy that it appeared he was going to become a plus defender over the long run.
However, last year he looked ho-hum. He wasn't bad, but it seemed to me, he looked like he took a baby step backwards. His UZR/150 went down to -2.8.
He Defensive Runs Saved went from -9 to -1 to -10 over the last 3 seasons.
Inside Edge shows that although he made more "unlikely plays" than ever before (29%), his "likely plays" made went from 89% to 64% over the last 2 years.
There's still plenty of time to turn it back around and get better on defense, but I doubt he ever gets to top 6 or 7. With his bat, top 15 would be good enough.
The whole moving Bogey argument is moot right now, because we have no clearly better defensive SS other than Marrero, and he does not belong on the 25 man roster, let alone starting everyday. If we acquired a decent hitting and great fielding SS, then let's talk. Marco is not a plus defender at SS and neither is Holt.
I don't think that there is any question about who is going to be playing short or third or second for us at least starting off this season. I'm not a stat hound. I guess I truly do rely for the most part on what I see particularly from a fielding standpoint. You can tell me I'm wrong and perhaps use stats to prove it but I'm likely to hold my ground. XB is more than adequate at short as would be Hernandez if given the chance. I realize that you watch every play that every player makes and clearly spend the rest of your time studying the stats. Oh well - I'm happy with what we have and when Pedroia gets hurt and hernandez steps in, I will be ok with that as well.
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