Yes and most likely.Originally Posted by Old Red
Yes and most likely.
I could have sworn he was already DFA'd this year or we had at least discussed him. He has the same fWAR as Rafaela. As a backup SS, they could do a whole lot worse IMO! Even if he's a guy you bring in for the 8th and 9th inning, it'd make sense to have him on the bench a la Pokey Reese.
Really in this case, he’s having his one bad year defensively. He has shown he has the skill set…
A SS who can't hit (OPS below .600), is struggling on defense this year, is 34, and has been DFA'd by a team with a losing record. Sounds perfect to me.
You're combining two players.
The numbers above are from Chicago White Sox SS Paul DeJong, who is 30 years old with an OPS of .717 and 16 HRs. His metrics are uncharacteristically down this year. He has not been DFAd by anyone this season,
Nick Ahmed was DFAd by the Giants, is 34 and struggles offensively over his career. But his defensive metrics are actually still pretty good...
FYI, Pokey Reese played in 96 games as the Sox SS in 2004. That team was knee deep in great bats and could afford a no-hit SS like Pokey. If memory serves, Bill Mueller, OPS .811, batted 9th on the 2004 Sox, who led MLB in runs scored with 52 more than the 2d place team and whose team OPS was .832.
The 2024 Sox are a far cry from the 2004 Sox.
I clearly said "backup SS (to) bring in for the 8th and 9th inning." His bat is fine on the bench and in a limited sample against tough lefties (733 OPS vs LHP).
Mueller only started 6 games in 2004 hitting 9th.
8th - 182 PA
2nd - 141 PA
7th - 88 PA
9th - 27 PA
Being 30, you wouldn't attribute the decline completely to age either. IDK. Not watching him day in and day out so only can comment on the metrics and not the EYE TEST.
DeJong's name was not on this page (42) until you mentioned it. So all my stats are on Nick Ahmed.
Now that I know you are offering DeJong up, I do like the righty power (16 dingers). However, his WAR after 86 games is only +0.3. Hamilton's is +1.4 and Rafaela's is +1.2.
Plus, quite frankly, I have to wonder about those 16 dingers, which remind me suspiciously of Jacoby Ellsbury's 32 dingers in 2011--fool's gold.
I’ve watched a few games this year in person and on TV. I don’t feel qualified to call it an age-related decline, which is certainly possible…
He was brought in at posts 610 and again in 612, which was the one I responded to that you followed up with.
But he gets mentioned on this board a lot, which is 100% because I bring him up far too often considering that he’s maybe a league average player…
Brilliantly done. You completely ignored that the 2004 Sox scored 52 more runs than anyone else and had an insane team OPS of .832. Still, I stand corrected on Mueller batting 9th.
Let me restate my position. As bad as the Sox defense is--they currently have 6 more errors and bunch more unearned runs than anyone else--I believe the Sox hitting is more important to winning games and the pitching is more important than the hitting. So screw the 8th/9th inning glove and get a good arm and a good righty bat.
You guys all forget that the Sox have just 13 lineup players, which means just 4 subs, one of whom is the essential backup catcher. Right now that's all Wong and McGuire do is cover that one position. So the other 11 players provide 8 of the 9 hitters and 1b, 2b, SS, 3b, LF, RF, CF, and DH.
Moreover, lately Cora has gone to using his bench to replace lefty bats with righty bats and vice versa, depending on whether the opposing pitcher on the mound is a lefty or righty. Rafaela plays both CF and SS precisely because that gives Cora some flexibility on getting his two best righty bats, O'Neill and Ref, into the lineup when lefties are on the mound.
Not that it means anything, but impression I get from soxprospects is that the best SS glove the Sox can readily get their hands on is someone named Marcelo Mayer.
I keep hearing the Sox desperately need a right-handed bat. But where is this bat supposed to play?
I don’t disagree but we had bad D and bad O for years.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
DH? Against LHP at the very least.
Last edited by Old Red; 07-10-2024 at 01:14 PM.
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