Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Ultimately I guess you just have to define 'adequate'.
Would you concede that Defensive Runs Saved is probably among the best defensive metrics out there?
I went back as far as I could find numbers for and in that time I found 3 truly abysmal defensive seasons for 1b - 1 by Mike Jacobs, 1 by Carlos Delgado and 1 by Prince Fielder. Those 3 seasons are the only 3 seasons I could find where a 1b managed a -20 DRS or worse. Using James' fairly straightforward '10 runs equals a win' rule, the 3 absolute worst defensive seasons I could find by a 1b cost their team 2 wins each.
Prince Fielder was easily the most routinely terrible 1b I could find and he averaged about -10 DRS per season; so 1 win lost.
The absolute worst defensive 1b in baseball over a 10 year period cost his team approximately 1 win per year on defense.
Do I think Matt Holliday could do that? Yeah, yeah I do. There's nothing 'adequate' about that performance; it's quite terrible. But on the scale of terrible and in consideration of the damage a 1b is actually capable of out there, I think his offense at 1b would more than make up for clear deficiencies on defense.
I keep thinking about Allen Craig. He did NOTHING correct defensively. He didn't get into a proper crouch, he didn't break at his knees, his footwork was hot garbage, he didn't pick balls well. He was an abysmal defensive 1b. Everything he did looked like an OF playing 1b and yet he was worth 'only' about -5 DRS over a 1500 inning season.
It's not a great solution but I'm done overstating the difficulty of the position and the downside of the experiment. It's a calculus and in that calculus you'll absolutely take a hit defensive at 1b but you'll be a better team with Bourjos/Grichuk getting those ABs over Reynolds. Moreover, what you lose defensively at 1b you gain back, at least partially, by having Bourjos or Grichuk in defensively over Holliday.
Desperate times...
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I think the more simple move is just to go get someone to play first.
Hell, I'll agree with Hamas and take Napoli at this point.
And pgm can eat shit.