quote:Originally posted by jaggerz:
"Cabrera is being criticized for being average in the field. Okay, but remember he went from first to third without complaining so that Fielder could play his only position. Some ego maniacs would not have done that."
I already addressed this argument in this thread, here. Cabrera's move to 3B was not unselfish. It was an attempt to avoid the position where he most belongs (DH), and the historical stigma that move would have on his legacy. One could make a more cogent argument that that was selfish rather than unselfish, since they already had a better 3B (Inge, a legitimately good defensive 3B). You can argue that absorbing Cabrera's awful defense at 3B instead of Inge's [viewed prospectively, probably a difference of 20-30 runs defensively; remember, we're talking about BEFORE this season - you can't use Cabrera's -4 defensive runs performance this year to justify that decision retrospectively, because he had been a negative defender at the much easier position of 1B (-3, -5) the previous two years, and was positively awful when he last played 3B (-10, -19, -10 from 2006-2008)] would be worth it in order to have Delmon Young's offense over Brandon Inge's, but that's a pretty tricky and dicey trade-off, especially since Inge had been a league-average-ish .247/.321/.397 hitter (to go with +10 defender at 3B) as recently as 2010, and Delmon Young was coming off a .268/.302/.393 season in 2011. Not a decision I would have called good or even justifiable at the time - and the fact that, to some degree, "it worked" does not change that. Decisions based on bad process that nevertheless lead to good results are still bad decisions.
And I think it goes without saying that you are wrong to call Cabrera "average in the field." He is terrible. He had been one of the worst full-time defenders in baseball at any position over the preceding six years (especially when he played 3B), and I will bet $50 with anyone who thinks his relatively better -4 performance in 2012 is repeatable. He will regress, and regress HARD and FAST. His desire to move to 3B was far more selfish than unselfish, and will hurt his team in the long run.
And while I'm at it, this whole "Miguel Cabrera is a LEADER" stuff that's also being trotted out as an intangible (those always get trotted out when the stats don't support your guy)? Am I the only one who remembers Cabrera being arrested for slapping his wife around after coming home at 6 AM and being dragged down to the police station where he his blood alcohol was tested at over three times the legal limit HOURS AFTER *THAT*? All at a time when the Tigers were trying to close out a division crown, with a one-game lead over Minnesota with two games left to play? THAT'S your leader? I think I'd take the rookie over him in my clubhouse any day.
quote:"Secondly, while defense is important, great hitters have a bigger impact on the game.Hitters like Cabrera cause teams to strategize more.The only defender that might cause an offense to change its strategy is a catcher that can throw like Molina.While Trout is a great fielder, teams do not change their plans because of him.
First, though you are right in saying that offensive has a bigger impact on the game than defense does, that is already built into modern comprehensive statistical models, ALL of which still show that Trout was more valuable by a wide margin. Second, it is wrong to use a standard of requiring a defender to "change offensive strategy" before giving any credit for defensive value (or demerit for lack of defensive value). Individual defense may have less of an impact on a game than individual offense, but runs saved are just as important as runs produced, and we have pretty accurate ways of measuring both these days. Pretending otherwise and ignoring defense entirely in any discussion of "value" will inevitably lead to making seriously flawed judgments.