duncan_idaho |
08-20-2021 09:16 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by BWillie
(Post 15792124)
Alot of us figured this was coming, which is still baffling to me why they didn't move him. Dayton will probably think to himself, next year he's going to bounce back and we can move him then. An aging speedster is kind of scary. His defense already has declined for some reason. He's stealing bases so efficiently, still though.
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They didn't move him because teams didn't offer enough in return. Same as it has been the past few years. Moving a player that good and that cheap for organizational depth just doesn't make much sense. You need at least one big-ticket item in return, and no one has ever offered it.
Merrifield's D has drastically ticked up this year, though. He has played a really excellent 2B (the eye test backs that up, too). So I'm not sure where you're getting the "declining" defense comment from. His defensive value dropped as a slightly below average CF/RF, but he's still a plus 2B.
Looking at his advanced batting profile, the biggest concern is that he is hitting a higher number of ground balls and those ground balls have come at the expense of his line drive rate. Which has dampened his BA. His exit velocity and barrel rates (big indicators) are right in line with how Merrifield performed when he hit for higher averages with more pop. He's never been a big exit velocity guy.
The biggest issue is the launch angle/groundball rate. It hasn't seen a drastic change. That's not something I'd tie to physical decline.
He's still on pace to be a 4-win player at 2B, though, because of the defense and baserunning.
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