Comments on: Hinske to see time at 3B

By: oldpep

oldpep — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:40:29 +0000

When you look through the baseball encyclopedia, you see a lot of guys playing 3B who weren’t much with the glove. Killebrew leaps to mind, but guys Jim Ray Hart, Jim Thome, and Hank Thompson spent a lot of time there. Mel Ott used to play about a third of his games there, and recently Bobby Bonilla and Gary Sheffield played whole seasons there.
Hinske has enough stick to more than offset the amount of runs his defense costs compared to what Ransom would have allowed.
If Boston did this, a lot of the writers saying he can’t play 3B would be saying that it was another brilliant Theo move.

By: Chris H.

Chris H. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:14:03 +0000

Definitely, Jeff. But I also think its a pretty big positive that the Yankees got him to play a bit at 3B. I’m thinking what it would look like with Ransom there and he doesn’t really offer anything at all, so when compared to the other replacement option, I really like the move.

By: JeffG

JeffG — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:30:35 +0000

I guess if you want to stay positive about this trade I it would make sense not to mainly focus on the 3rd base aspect. If he gives Matsui/Swish a break during a cold streak that could add value. He also is insurance against injury.

By: Chris H.

Chris H. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:59:47 +0000

If Girardi is smart he’ll figure out the best method for rotating Hinske and A-Rod (when CC pitches, not when Wang pitches).

By: Moshe Mandel

Moshe Mandel — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:33:02 +0000

I do not love UZR either. Put it this way- if you ordered players by OPS, wOBA, and Runs Created, you are likely to get fairly similar lists. If you use UZR, FRAA, ZR, +/-, etc… to evaluate players, each metric is likely to give you a radically different list. To me, that suggests that these metrics are not much more than hints in the right direction.

By: JeffG

JeffG — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:13:06 +0000

I’m not always convinced that Ultimate Zone Rating is the best indicator of a players defense. To me it was obvious from watching games that Pena could make some pretty spectacular plays. Plays that in my mind might shorten innings and prevent runs.
I have a feeling that Hinske on the other hand could very well be a liability over at third. He might drive in some runs but what does that mean when he bruises our pitching staff? I really would have preferred to keep Pena.
Perhaps on the positive side this could lead to bigger and better things for the youngster. Regualr at bats could improve his game. September isn’t that far away either.