Beyond belief... no... but he does make plays that not many other SS in the league can do. Plus, he's much better at handling things than his predecessor was... and we did suffer 'beyond belief' with him. Hell, some people lost their jobs w/ him in there (Lugo).
Wasn't he injured for pretty much the entire playoff run we had? That would tell me that we can certainly win without his defensive prowess. Obviously we didnt suffer too much with Viz in there and Viz is far from a gold glover (although he is not, by any means, bad)
Yea... I already mentioned that in the previous post. Sure, we didn't suffer... but Viz didn't help us either... and Everett WOULD have made a difference had he played. The plays he makes are so subtle, it looks like its easy... but in reality, not many SS's can get to some of those balls up the middle. I believe it was francis4prez who would time and time again post in the playoff threads about how why we couldn't field anything up the middle, whereas the Cardinals seemed to be getting to every one of those balls... the difference was Edgar Renteria > Viz. In the end, having a great defensive SS is a luxury... not a neccesity... but its a luxury that plays to our strengths, since we have pitchers like Pettite who induce a ton of ground balls, and you're not going to pull Oswalt, Clemens, or Lidge's stuff... you're going to want good defense up the middle.
Minor league stats rarely, and I mean rarely, translate to ML stats. Rarely. See: Zinter, Alan; Ward, Daryle; Saaaaaaaarloooooos, Kirk; and a host of others. Since when do you need an arm to play 2B? Dude *never* had an arm; that's part (only part) of the reason they moved him to 2B in the first place! Secondly, so far he's shown good range and good agility (but we'd better look again in June and July). I never, and I mean *never*, want to see Craig Biggio at 3rd. All the ballyhooing by the mediots of his so-called "decline" would be just too irritating. Secondly, players like Biggio benefit from routine. Evidently, the Astros feel they will get as much or more from Biggio this year than from Burke. I feel the same way.
Defense up the middle is a plus....a big one....but when your lineup is what our lineup is, we could stand to take a slight hit in the field if it meant more pop at the plate. What difference would Everett had made? Would we have made the World Series if we had him?
I missed this, DD. And you know I can't let this go. You want to play a guy at 3B and in the OF who you don't think has the arm to be an everyday 2B ? Yikes.
if you're thinking Adam Everett will hit like Carlos Beltran...if Carlos Beltran is the "standard" for production in the 2 hole...you're going to be very disappointed!
I don't have a problem starting Everett, I believe they quickly decided in the minors that Burke didn't have the arm for SS. I guess if I was putting together a lineup until Berk gets back, I'd start Biggio in LF (despite his arm, he covers ground fine), which would give Burke a chance to start at 2B, and let Scott get his feet wet with fill-in starts backing up all 3 OF positions. Then I'd reevaluate after Berkman got back. No way Everett and his .317 OBP should be hitting anywhere near the top of the lineup, though. Even in July when he was hitting better, he just didn't get on base. 17 walks in 384 AB?
i didnt say anything remotely like that....the guy is a not a good hitter by any stretch....certainly not a 2 hitter and DEFINITELY not a leadoff hitter
i put a smilie out there because i knew you didn't think that..or say that. but i'm saying Everett did a pretty serviceable job in the 2 hole last year...that, of course, was dwarfed by what Beltran was able to do in the same spot.
I don't know about leadoff hitter either... but not a good hitter by ANY stretch? The guy has made significant progress since he came in the league... and he's got enough pop in that bat, and enough speed on the basepaths to give him an everyday job.
You must not understand the role of a 2-hitter. AE was *solid*, even *outstanding*, in the 2-hole. Did you watch?? Did you even notice??? Because, if you parrot OBP and BA off of some stats-site you're going to swing and miss badly. He hit *behind* the runner--almost every freaking time. He hit the ball hard. He hit a bunch of doubles. He didn't strike out a lot. He bunted very well (but too much, but that was probably Jimy's call). These are the things you expect from a 2-hitter (although the modern fan will argue that .333avg, .400obp, .450slg, 100rbi are the only acceptable standards for *any* spot in the lineup). Dude was finally coming into his own before that broken wrist.
/agree I think bandwagon fans are going to be suprised how much offense will drop in the coming years now that Baseball will be juice free again. I dream of 1-0 pitching duels, so I love it.
15 doubles is a bunch? You can eschew the OBP issue if you wish, but I ask you this - if Biggio gets on base 34% of the time, then 66% of the time Everett is coming up to bat with nobody on. That's 2/3 of the time. What good does hitting behind the runner do in that situation? And how does that skill help him at all in the leadoff position, where he's at now?
I understand that you need to set the table...not just move the runner up EVERY TIME. The guy batted .250. hardly 1 every 7 games is a bunch? He was average....at BEST as ANY hitter....2 , 8 or where ever he hit...period. He was servicable...he was a viable option for us...he was ok...he was by no means "outstanding". You think he was outstanding and you want to know if I watch the games?
You do know that Biggio won't be the only runner on base when Everett comes up to bat right? You see, the beauty of the game is once you get to the number 9 hitter, the line up starts all over again!
