To convert either Richchard Hidalgo or Daryl Ward into 3rd base men? If I was either of them I would certainly look into it; loose some weight and start practicing for that position. The out field is over flowing with man power and there is a chance Mr Hunsicker will still acquire a legitimate center fielder. I understand that baseball is much harder that is looks but D-dub and Richard have power and above average arm that is needed to be descent 3rd sackers. I will pardon a .950 fieldin percentage for their first year in that position if need be. They probably need to loose some weight and work on their agility and stamina in order to last the entire season. Heck Blum is there to help carry some of the load if need be as well. Trading Ward is hard because of his yet fulfilled potential; trading Hidalgo is hard as well because of the remain dollar amount of his contract (which is magnified by his "lack of" production in the last 2 seasons). The 3rd right now is a no man's land and in my opinion someone like D-dub or Hidalgo would fit in well if they put their minds to it.
If Richard hits like he did last season, I would rather have Geoff Blum at 3B than Richard Hidalgo...and that's assuming that Richard does a decent job defensively.
It's a whole different ball game to go from the outfield to a position like third. A third baseman could go to the outfield but the opposite would probably be quite difficult. Plus Ward doesn't have a very good arm and if it were that easy to lose weight he'd have done it already. Ward just doesn't have much of a work ethic apparently.
Also, there has rarely been a 2B, SS or 3B position that has been manned by a left hander. In many cases, a left hander throwing to first is an awkward motion (think about a second baseman turning a double play). Another reason is that most any left handed kid that starts playing baseball, is relegated to the OF, 1B or pitcher. Even if Ward were right handed, he would be absolutely brutal at third. It is hard to "learn" how to play 3B. It is very much a reflex position.
Ward could never have the athleticism nor the arm to play 3rd, plus he is left handed. Hidalgo, has a great arm, but you just can't convert outfielders to 3rd basemen. Also, both of these guys had sub par years at the plate. Blum did well at the plate and if a fine 3rd basemen.
Well it is not impossible at all to move a outfielder to play 3rd base, but you are talking about Hidalgo abd Ward here. They are both fat @$$'s, slow, and are not even good fielders in the outfield. If you want a more realistic idea, move Kent to 3rd, leave Biggio at 2nd, and move Blum to the outfield. Or better yet, sign Kenny Lofton and move Kent to 3rd.
Can you name anyone who's ever done it? Third to outfield has been done by Pujols, Chipper, and even Bill Spiers could play third/outfield but he was originally a shortstop.
RocketFan85 - Hidalgo is a terrific defensive OF. No need for that knock hjust becasue he couldn't hit the past 2 years. And Ward isn't as bad as most people make him out to be. He catches what he gets to, plays the Crowford Box wall tremendously and hits the cut off man. Sure he doesn't have the speed a lot of outfielders have but compared to most guys in left, he's not bad.
Kent, Biggio and Bagwell can not play 3B at a major league level. What makes anybody think an OF can?
Fielding statistics are hard to document but they have come up with "Zone Rating" and "Range Factor". Of the regular left fielders last year, Ward was far and away the worst in Range Factor. The players ahead of him ranged from 1.80 to 2.01. Ward was 1.49. Range factor is put outs + assists divided by innings. He is also dead last in "Zone Rating". ZOne Rating is the percentage of balls you field in your "zone". The players ahead of him ranged from .782 to .930. Ward was at .766. To be fair, he was third in the league (LF) in assists with 9, but based on games I watched he should have had double the number. There are no ifs, ands or buts, last year Ward was a bad outfielder.
Greg M Doggie is a bad outfielder. Only plus that Doggie brings in the outfield is that he has one of the best arms in the MLB. Come on people, you are talking about MAJOR LEAUGERS here, they have enough talent to move from the outfield to the 3rd base. Not all of them, but it is possible.
It may not be impossible especially in Richard's case. His weight problem apart, he has (potentially) the bat and arm to be descent enough. If he looses something like 50-70 pounds (pounds he got after the huge contract) and then work on his flexibility and agility it could work. I know it is a long short but I will hate to see us stock with him and his contract without much playing time and lots of pressure to produce in the out field. This idea at least is better than the ridiculous Biggio to CF proposition. I personally do not like biggio to anywhere in the out field either because we could still add a legit CF, then we have Lance playing left. That will leave Ward, Hidalgo, Lane, Bigg and Merced sharing time in RF. Okay then, I don't want to sound crasy but I have been racking my brain to see how we can get the best scenario here. So is it inconceivable for Bigg to play some 3rd then? I am very excited about Kent's acquisation but the numerous questions left unanswered are still frustating me. I just hope that we can pull a few more deals to ballance our team out. Presently we lack equilibrium with out present allignment.
As much as I love Biggio, I'll be the first to say that he has lost some of his range defensively at second base, expecting him to go to third, would be an even harder propostion for him. With the addition of Kent, OF is the only postion left for Biggio. As for getting Ward or Hidalgo to play 3rd base, its not going to happen. Neither of them is athletic enough to play 3rd. Not to mention the fact that it would take a couple of seasons for either one of them to get acclimated to the postion.
bobrek - Range factor and zone rating are useless stats. How many 'outs' banged off the scoreboard? How many got stuck in the area just to the no-mans-land area to the right of the scoreboard? Totally useless unless teams play in a uniform park and each team had pitchers who allowed proportionate numbers of groundballs to flyballs. RocketFan85 - Do you watch the games? Richard still has terrific range, especially for a RF, he sets himself up perfectly to use that arm and he catches everything that he can get to. What makes him bad? BTW, he is reportedly thiner than he's been in years. Fegwu - Biggio to the OF is <b>much</b> more feasible than Hidaglo to 3B. The suggestion is so far out in RF that I'm not going to discuss that further. And no, Biggio can't play 3B, nor can Kent. The reason why Biggio is being displaced as apposed to Kent, is because Biggio is a much better athlete. He has good instincts and can still run. It's certainly possible this expirement will fail but it's better than any other alternative. BTW, the Astros offensive production from third was better than EVERY other team in the NL, Blum and Ensberg are terrific fielders and Blum is a switch hitter. You may not have noticed but other than Blum, Berkman is the only other left-handed batter in the starting lineup.
I'm just trying to figure out which thread is more ridiculous, this or the Bagwell to 3rd thread. This ain't fantasy baseball, guys.
That may be true, however, when you use them comparatively, they are somewhat useful. For example, in 2001 Berkman had an RF of 1.98 (3rd in the league) playing in the same park as Ward with basically the same pitching staff. His ZR was .851. My whole point is that Ward is a bad defensive outfielder.
Burk Turgidson Okay you just added one more post to your total but you did not add any substance. Let me give you the opportunity to "add" something tangible here - in your opinion what do you suggest the Astros (Hunsicker) do with the situation on the ground in reference to the clog we now have in the OF, lack of a legit CF and a "need" for an everyday 3rd sacker? Remember if you do not probe your brain you may never learn or evolve.
