Baseball seems to be the one sport (out of the major ones) where defense seems to get vastly underrated. You take a guy like Everett, whose one of the best, if not the best, defensive shortstops in the game but is very undervalued because of his bat. Then you take a guy like Piazza, whose a career .309 hitter that has been sucking it up behind the plate for a while now but given (essentially) a free pass for those defensive shortcomings. But you take say, basketball, and you have guys like Bruce Bowen, Rodman, Ben Wallace, great defenders that are/were important pieces to their teams and highly valued despite their offensive shortcomings. I think any baseball team can afford an average to below average hitter if he provides above average to stellar defense. The number eight hitter isn't expected to do to much anyways. So as has been said time and again, this team can afford, use and NEEDS his defense provided the hitters around him actually do their jobs and produce.
I've seen Everett get to balls straight up the middle that no other SS or 2B could get to. He has tremendous range, something that won't decrease if you replace Biggio.
Lugo was a bit of a joke....but he has blossomed into a very good offensive player, and a good example of a decent SS that is better than AE. DD
But would you agree that the offensive capabalities of the team go down somewhat with them on the floor. Instead of five scorers on offense your down to four. Yet it doesn't matter cause of what they bring on defense. Why can't the same be said of Everett. Yes he has to hit, but Bowen and Wallace still have to be on the floor when their team has the ball.
But have you seen him play lately? It's been since last season for me, but he's really picked up on his D. Still can't carry AE's jock, but he's not a hack out in the field, has decent range, and his stick is average.
You can't compare the two sports. If a team hits all its balls to the right side, Everett's defense is worthless. Great defensive basketball players can affect the game every other possession. Baseball's an individual sport for the most part. You don't have to pass Ben Wallace the ball, and he can set picks and do other things. Adam Everett has to bat.
I disagree completely! Of course a basketball player can have a more immediate impact on a larger portion of the game: there's half the people, and the court fits inside the smallest portion of the baseball field! Just because the basketball court is crowded doesn't make it more of a "team sport" than baseball.
I'm not really comparing the two so much as I'm merely pointing out that defense is underrated in baseball in terms of a player's overall worth. Defensive-minded baseball players can in fact affect the play. Maybe it's not as apparent and not necessarily every single play. But you constantly see guys test the defensive weaknesses on a team, whether it's stealing off of say Ausmus (who can't get anybody out this year) or Piazza (who's just horrid at it), or testing the arm of Biggio when he played in center. And if a team manages to hit all its ball to the right side, you don't think that may have been part of their strategy to avoid hitting into that vacumn? I'm sure players think twice about trying to knock one past Everett or Willy with their speed and range. I know when I play I try to find the holes on a team instead of hitting toward the best players. Sure baseball's more of an individual sport than other games and individual defensive capabilities might not directly impact the game as much as say basketball, but I'm just kind of tired of valuing a player solely based on what they can do with a stick. Because that is not the only facet of the game. Why should a Piazza be considered for the Hall because of his offensive numbers only but Ausmus shouldn't be considered on the merit of his defensive abilities. Plus, we all know, no matter what sport you're in, that defense wins championships. As for basketball, for ex. Ryan Bowen did a pretty good job defensively on Dirk the playoffs before last, but was a huge liability on offense. The team didn't have to pass him the ball, but defenses could double off of him. Wallace's lack of offensive production wasn't a liability? I'm sure Detroit could have fared better with him putting up more than 10-12pts a game.
Aside from accurately throwing a ball to a guy, which is generally a very easy thing to do for a major leaguer, and maybe being able to competently run the basepaths or make contact on a run-and-hit, nothing about baseball is "team".
That's the difference. Everett affects the game on a significant level defensively, and I'm estimating here, about once every five games. There are only a small number of guys who can consistently get hits to a chosen side of the field. Most guys aren't Ted Williams. They're just trying to make contact and/or jack the ball. Play what? Are you swinging at 90 mph sliders or 30 mph beach balls? Rhetorical, of course. Everett is a defensive god, but, rightly so, John Dewan states that he'd much rather have Jeter at SS because of his overall ability. Because Piazza's total contributions were more significant than those of Ausmus. Far more so. Worst cliche in history. I forget who said it, but "Defense doesn't win championshipts. Winning wins championships. Great. Basketball isn't baseball.
Everett's not in right field. He plays in a critical position that is usually involved in a number of key plays throughout the game. There's a reason defense at that position is coveted. Look for power hitters elsewhere, i.e. the corner positions. True, only the good hitters can do it; guys like Willy T probably just want to make contact and get safely to 1st (let his speed get him there). But I'm sure Willy would rather hit the ball to someone other than an Everett-caliber fielder. Doesn't mean he can do that at will, but I'm sure it runs through his mind. Again... yes players are looking to first make contact, but you don't think they've analyzed scouting reports and know a team's weaknesses in the field and try to take advantage of that. Now will most players be able to take advantage and hit where they want, more than likely no, but that doesn't mean they don't have any strategy at all going up to the plate. Jeter is overrated. Yes he does have an overall better game than Everett. Still would rather Everett though...he's the no. 8 so he's not expected to do too much offensively. Again, that's based on my argument that defense is often overlooked. Ausmus has been of the best defensive catchers in the game but casual fans overlook that cause he doesn't hit the ball out of the pakr. If you can get in by offensive numbers alone, why not defensive. It may be a cliche, but it's been proven time and time again. Besides "winning wins championships" is just redundant. The principle can be applied to both sports though. Again, if you can have defensive specialists in one sport, why not another. Seems people are too fascinated with the long ball. I love watching Everett play, he's a slick SS. And I love having Ausmus behind the plate, I feel all a warm and secure knowing he's back there. Course, you can only have so many defensive specialists and this team can't really afford to have both.
Baseball is more of an individual sport inside a team sport. You have players basically doing their own thing, but all need to be performing to their level and functioning properly for the team to win. A pitcher could theoretically win the game by himself, by striking out every batter he faces and hitting a hr... but what happens when he can't strike out the side, he needs his fielders to back him up...what happens whe he can't hit for s*** like most pitchers, he needs his teamates to produce some runs. Everyone is still relying on each other and that's what makes it a team game.
What?!? Jeter's a front-runner for the AL MVP. Everett is struggling to hit .240. Defense on an offensively-anemic team is somewhat secondary. Everett's value becomes much higher if he was playing on the 2004 Astros when we had plenty of offense to go around. But we can't hit the ball now can we? And even if we could hit, I'd take the probably AL MVP over Everett.
But that's the equivalent to having a basketball player win a game solely with blocks and free throws.
To be clear. He has 18 freaking errors this season in about half as many attempts as AE. AE has 4. The Dodgers have been experimenting with Lugo as a rightfielder. Wanna guess why? Because he can't field SS. You can't jack around with SS. Not for the difference between a guy batting .240 and a guy batting .290. We learned that lesson. Lugo cost us a playoff series to the Braves. No, thanks. Seen enough. Maybe the Dodgers have seen enough from him as an infielder, too.
