My last post linked to a must read interview with MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes, who discussed where the Cubs stand entering this year’s Winter Meetings. If you’re wondering what direction they’re likely to go this offseason, this is the place to start.
This time I’d like to point out a quick read and an interesting take on David DeJesus’ defensive skills. I don’t keep up with it very much at all, but I found this bit at ESPN’s Stats & Info Blog (scroll down a bit in the link) worthy of mentioning now that fans are forming their opinion of DeJesus.
Baseball Info Solutions, the company that devised the Defensive Runs Saved metric, does video review of every play in every game.
DeJesus was one of the best in the league Good Fielding Plays, with 29 in 2011, fourth among rightfielders
DeJesus also limited his mistakes. His Good Play/Misplay Ratio of better than 2-to-1 rated second-best (to Gold Glove winner Nick Markakis) among those who played 750-or-more innings played at the position.
If you think defense is still undervalued in the market for baseball talent, this would appear to be some evidence of that notion. It’s understood that DeJesus is coming off a down year with the bat, but not only is he a good bet to rebound this year, his glove will be a welcome addition to a team that was badly in need of an upgrade on defense. The Cubs are in the market for pitching, but the staff is still more than likely gonna have to rely on a steady defense to make up for its shortcomings to an extent.
Bill James, who, of course, worked with Theo and Jed during their time in Boston, insists that we can evaluate a player’s defensive contributions in terms of runs, and there’s every reason to believe the Cubs’ new baseball executives are of the same opinion. Even if you’re not a fan of publicly available defensive metrics, it should seem intuitive that defense can be quantified somewhat accurately. The Cubs may be one of the organizations most prepared to accomplish this task now.
I think there’s some inherent risk in banking on team defense to make your team good, since forecasting future defensive performance still appears to be a very difficult thing to do. But all things considered– especially the terms of the contract– DeJesus is a great fit for this team right now. He’s a better than average hitter, and a guy who does a little bit of everything well is a nice addition to a team with weaknesses across the board.
The addition of DeJesus seems telling to me about the organization’s faith, or lack thereof in Tyler Colvin. With Brett Jackson soon to arrive in the majors, it seems unlikely that the Cubs are planning on going with three, full-time left-handed hitting outfielders in the future. To some, this may have seemed like a given, but it doesn’t look like Colvin will be given a great shot at earning back an everyday gig. I suppose we shouldn’t be shocked to see him traded, perhaps even at the Winter Meetings, but if I had it my way, the Cubs would simply cut Alfonso Soriano so Colvin could share left field with a complementary platoon player (Scott Hairston? He’s hit lefties, and been stuck in pitcher’s parks most of his career. Spent 2010 in San Diego, so Jed Hoyer should be familiar with his game).
I thought DeJesus was a good signing.
I might disagree about the flat-out cutting Soriano though. If you’re going to platoon someone with Colvin, you might as well squeeze as much out of Soriano’s remaining corpse of a contract as the platoon partner.
Hmmm, this thing logged me in on my HardballTalk account. Lulz.