Shortstop OBPs

[HoopsCubs]

Through Sunday, Cesar Izturis has a .303 OBP for the season. This may or may not surprise folks: there are 10 teams, whose main starting SS or SS platoon tandem had lower OBPs that Izturis:

 

.258 - Lugo - BOSTON

.275 - Everett - HOUSTON

.278 - Greene - SAN DIEGO

.283 - Uribe - WHITE SOX

.284 - Vizquel - SAN FRANCISCO

.289 - Crosby - OAKLAND

.295 - Pena - KANSAS CITY

.301 - Drew - ARIZONA

.301 - Gonzales - CINCINNATI

.302 - Clayton/McDonald - TORONTO

 

I'm sure many of those guys are better sluggers than Izturis, but I was still surprised by the OBP figures.

 

4 or 5 of those teams are considered contenders. On the surface, it would seem Hendry could have an easier time trading Izturis than Jones.

 

Toronto intrigues me as both of their guys are much older than Cesar, and both are free agents after this year - Cesar has a team option, which while steep at $5.45M might be viewed by Ricciardi as a better option than the bleak SS free agency class after the 2007 season.

 

Hoops

[RynoRules]

I am surprised at several of the names on that list.

[Roast]

Lugo and Drew are both surprises, to me.

[HoopsCubs]

I am surprised at several of the names on that list.

 

You might want to double check my data - I did it rather quickly in the morning.

[Bruno7481]

Lugo has been awful.

[weis21]

Izturis, Jones, Epatt, Gallagher to Toronto for Rios and low level prospect

[Balsa]

Lugo has been awful.

He's been more than awful.

[CubColtPacer]

Seeing Lugo's name on the list made me think-for all the criticism Hendry takes over the roster (and most of it he deserves, don't get me wrong) he at least picked most of the right players this offseason. I can't even imagine how bad this Cubs team would be if they had picked up 3 or 4 of the Lugo/J.D. Drew/Schmidt/Padilla combination like many people wanted him to.

[rawaction]

Seeing Lugo's name on the list made me think-for all the criticism Hendry takes over the roster (and most of it he deserves, don't get me wrong) he at least picked most of the right players this offseason. I can't even imagine how bad this Cubs team would be if they had picked up 3 or 4 of the Lugo/J.D. Drew/Schmidt/Padilla combination like many people wanted him to.

 

{sarcasm}All of them would have performed to career best and been 100% healthy for the Cubs. The Cubs have had amazingly good luck with free agent signings over the years.{sarcasm}

[UMFan83]

Yeah but Izturis is 22nd (out of 28 qualified) in the league in SS Fielding %, 28th (DEAD LAST) in the league in range factor, and 22nd in zone rating.

[Soriano12]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the overall talent level for SS's has been dropping across baesball?

[rawaction]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the overall talent level for SS's has been dropping across baesball?

 

Ripken aging, Arod moving, Garciaparra's injury all led to this. Now Tejada isn't the same player he was. Michael Young isn't having his usual season. A lot of top SS prospects have proven they can't handle the position on top of that.

[E.J.]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the overall talent level for SS's has been dropping across baesball?

 

Ripken aging, Arod moving, Garciaparra's injury all led to this. Now Tejada isn't the same player he was. Michael Young isn't having his usual season. A lot of top SS prospects have proven they can't handle the position on top of that.

 

Yep. The SS position isn't what it once was. That's why we should just bring up Ronnie and let him play SS for a while to see if he can keep up his recent success. He's OPS'ing .979 at Iowa. Hendry should try to get an upgrade in RF because there aren't that many upgrades available for SS.

[UK1679666180]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the overall talent level for SS's has been dropping across baesball?

 

Ripken aging, Arod moving, Garciaparra's injury all led to this. Now Tejada isn't the same player he was. Michael Young isn't having his usual season. A lot of top SS prospects have proven they can't handle the position on top of that.

 

Players like Hardy and Betancourt (who I love watching), also Drew, Wood, Tulowitzki, Reyes, etc. I'm not too worried about the next generation of SS. While they prob, won't reach the production of Rodriguez, Nomar, Tejada and Jeter (I think Reyes will though), there will be enough quality out there to still recognize the offensive advantages of having a quality SS.

[rawaction]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the overall talent level for SS's has been dropping across baesball?

 

Ripken aging, Arod moving, Garciaparra's injury all led to this. Now Tejada isn't the same player he was. Michael Young isn't having his usual season. A lot of top SS prospects have proven they can't handle the position on top of that.

 

Players like Hardy and Betancourt (who I love watching), also Drew, Wood, Tulowitzki, Reyes, etc. I'm not too worried about the next generation of SS. While they prob, won't reach the production of Rodriguez, Nomar, Tejada and Jeter (I think Reyes will though), there will be enough quality out there to still recognize the offensive advantages of having a quality SS.

 

True. Haven't seen much of Betancourt. Not sold on Drew, Hardy or Tulo yet. Tulo will probably be the best of the bunch, and I'm pretty close on saying he's legit. Hardy's had a great year, but he never projected to do what he has so far. Is he antoher Peralta? Drew, well....is a Drew. You know he has talent, but will he ever live up to his potential?

[UK1679666180]

Betancourt will never be accepted by many b/c he'll never hit for power and doesn't BB much, but he can swing the bat and will be around .300 for most of his career, but he has great hands and a cannon. He's just flashy, which is nice to see once in awhile (although, I'd prefer production everyday of the week). Edited June 26, 2007 by UK

[Soriano12]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the overall talent level for SS's has been dropping across baesball?

 

Ripken aging, Arod moving, Garciaparra's injury all led to this. Now Tejada isn't the same player he was. Michael Young isn't having his usual season. A lot of top SS prospects have proven they can't handle the position on top of that.

 

Players like Hardy and Betancourt (who I love watching), also Drew, Wood, Tulowitzki, Reyes, etc. I'm not too worried about the next generation of SS. While they prob, won't reach the production of Rodriguez, Nomar, Tejada and Jeter (I think Reyes will though), there will be enough quality out there to still recognize the offensive advantages of having a quality SS.

 

True. Haven't seen much of Betancourt. Not sold on Drew, Hardy or Tulo yet. Tulo will probably be the best of the bunch, and I'm pretty close on saying he's legit. Hardy's had a great year, but he never projected to do what he has so far. Is he antoher Peralta? Drew, well....is a Drew. You know he has talent, but will he ever live up to his potential?

 

Peralta has rebound nicely this year :?:

[jersey cubs fan]

Through Sunday, Cesar Izturis has a .303 OBP for the season. This may or may not surprise folks: there are 10 teams, whose main starting SS or SS platoon tandem had lower OBPs that Izturis:

 

.258 - Lugo - BOSTON

.275 - Everett - HOUSTON

.278 - Greene - SAN DIEGO

.283 - Uribe - WHITE SOX

.284 - Vizquel - SAN FRANCISCO

.289 - Crosby - OAKLAND

.295 - Pena - KANSAS CITY

.301 - Drew - ARIZONA

.301 - Gonzales - CINCINNATI

.302 - Clayton/McDonald - TORONTO

 

I'm sure many of those guys are better sluggers than Izturis, but I was still surprised by the OBP figures.

 

On the other hand, MLB is getting on base at a .332 clip, on average, and 13 MLB teams are getting .332 or better from SS. 28 teams are getting better than the Cubs .276, 29 are getting better than the Cubs 553 OPS from SS. 10 teams are getting an 800 OPS or better from SS, while only 1 team is getting an overall OPS of 800 or better.

 

SS is a position with a 340 point difference in OPS between top to bottom. The difference between 10th place and last place is 250 points, whereas most positions there is just about a 200 point difference between 10th place and last.

 

There's quite a bit of solid production coming out of the SS position this year, unfortunately the Cubs don't have any of it.