behad you sound bitter or something. last time i checked biggio was more expensive than burke and burke's upside is a hell of a lot better than biggio's. remember we are talking about a guy in burke who was a great college player, someone who put up great minor league numbers last year, and followed it with an excellent spring. yeah biggio still plays fine and he had a solid year last year but when you have someone who could put up a much better year and who has done nothing to show that he can't perform then you give him a chance. especially if he looks like he can get on base a hell of a lot more, steal a lot more bases, and play better defense.
The way the lineup looks for opening day they need Biggio to start. I'm not all nostalgic about the past and feel he is owed some place on this team while he chases some milestones. I think that is a bad argument for any player. I'm not gonna feel good for his 3,000th hit if he is holding this team back. That being said, unfortunately their offensive lineup is so suspect going into the year they need a solid presence like Biggio starting. I mean Endsberg is batting cleanup and Everett is batting leadoff. This has the makings of a disaster. Like it or not, they need Biggio right now. But if the season goes south and he isn't productive they need to move on.
Biggio will NOT be 42 until after the 2007 season. Based on last year's numbers, he is about 2 seasons and 1 week away from 3000. If he gets 178 hits this year and next (that is his 2004 total), he will be at 2995 prior to the 2007 season. Perhaps it is unrealistic to think he will get 178 hits, but if he is healthy there is no reason to expect a significant drop off in offensive production.
I don't think it's unrealistic at all... especially since he's not leading off. He doesn't have to worry so much about getting on, he can swing freely.
And what gives you that brilliant idea? Is it the fact that Biggio has played great defense the first two games? Or is it the fact that he is batting .500 with an OPS of 1.306? I guess we should throw Burke in there and see what he is made of... oh wait, we already have and he couldn't even get a sac bunt down. In 22 career plate appearances Burke is 1 for 19... he'll get his chance, and he'll be a good player but for the love of God don't say he's KNOWN to be a better option then Biggio.
No..he sucks!!! He's awful!!! He's kidding...and so am I. RM95 and I always post that stuff about Biggio sarcastically to counter those who think he's washed up.
by the way...i totally agree. taking it as a given that Burke will outperform Biggio is beyond silly to me.
Why All Of The Biggio Bashing? Damn, I'm getting tired of people saying Biggio is washed up and Burke is a better option at second base. Where in the hell are you guys coming up with this idea? He's obviously still in good shape and can play decent second base, even better then Kent could. Let's take a look at some of the milestones he'll reach this season shall we? Homeruns He had 24 last season, the most of his career for a total of 234... which is a crapload for a leadoff man. He also has 41 career leadoff homeruns, which is third most of all time... he could catch Brady Anderson (44) this season if Garner moves him back to leadoff for a bit and move into second place all-time. Ricky Henderson is the all-time leader with 81. Doubles At the start of the 2005 season he had 564 total doubles, that's good for 18th all time... and he is the ONLY one in the top 20 that has done it in 17 seasons or less. He hit 47 doubles last year (his most since he hit 56 in 1999 leading the league), and if he hits 41 this season he'll be in the top 10 in just 18 seasons, and no one else in the top 14 have done it in less 20 seasons. Durability He is he only player in MLB history to be an All-Star catcher one season and then an All-Star infielder the next season. He's now in his 18th season and has played every day at 4 (vastly) different positions, and done rather well. Obviously he wasn't the best out fielder, but he was a much better second basemen then Kent, Kent simply couldn't play in the outfield if he tried. Steals He has 397 steals and when is all said and done he should be in the top 50 of all time. Not bad for a guy who started out as a catcher and never had amazing speed. Runs Scored If there was one stat that trumps them all Runs Scored is it. It doesn't really matter how, when or what happened... as long as you crossed home plate. He's scored 1603 runs through the 2004 season good for 40th of all time. If he scores between 87 and 103 runs this season he'll jump all the way up to number 23. It's safe to say that if he tries for 3000 hits, he has a great chance of ending up with over 1800 career runs scored... that will put him at 16th of all time just under Carl freaking Yastrzemski. Only Lou Gehrig has scored runs faster during a 17 season span. In summary, I think everyone on Chris Burke's sack needs to realize that he is backing up one of the best of all time, and certainly the best ever in our organization. Biggio has earned starting, and as long as he can hit over .275 (.286 career, .281 last season) with 40+ doubles and 15+ homeruns he SHOULD be our everyday second baseman. Chris Burke is 1 for 19 in big league at bats, and has far from proven his worth. He'll get spot starts and usually start in day-after-night situations... which is exactly what he should be doing. Bottom line, until Biggio shows extreme signs of fading or until Burke can prove his worth (a little more then 1 for 19 all time) Biggio should be our man at second.
wait..let me be clear. I'm not a Burke hater. Not at all. I hope he's freaking awesome!! I just have heard people call out Biggio here so much, that I tend to respond sarcastically to it.
No one will argue with you about Biggio's career. So posting his career stats won't get you anywhere. It's how they perceive he'll do this year relative to Burke...and his playing time cutting into the development of a younger, cheaper player. But I'm with you...Biggio is a very good middle infield bat. And the reports of his demise as a defensive 2B are way overstated.
His overall stats from last season were just as consistent as his career stats, and you don't trump something like that simply because there is an unproven rookie under him. Burke has proved NOTHING in the big leagues.
I like Burke too, I'm far from a "hater" but he hasn't proven a damn thing... he can have all the potential in the world but that potential isn't going to gaurantee a .275 average, 60+ RBIs, 40+ doubles, 15+ home runs and 90+ runs scored. By Biggios past couple of years those are all "safe" numbers to predict for him.
the argument back will be because he hasn't been afforded an opportunity. my argument back to that is, "tough crap." he has better veterans starting in front of him who give the team a better chance to win over the past 2 seasons.
