Let me tell you a secret – are you ready for this?
[whispering] The Royals, you see, aren’t very good at shortstop.
Sorry, should I have warned you to sit down for that shocking news? As a group, Royals shortstops are batting .208/.244/.271, which is an incredible amount of garbage. Dead last in the league, in fact. Actually, no, check that – It’s also the worst batting line for shortstops in all of the Majors.
And those numbers could be worse, when you take out the surprisingly decent bat of Willie Bloomquist, who shouldn’t really be counted as a shortstop. I think tonight’s performance there is a pretty pointed argument against playing him there, don’t you?
So that leaves TPJ and Luis Hernandez, and maybe Mike Aviles if he ever gets healthy, but it sounds like he’s a long way away from taking the field again. It’s hard to argue against the idea that the Royals could use a boost at short. But…to whom would we go? (oh hey, Biblical reference!)
In the past, the Royals have been linked to Seattle’s Yuniesky Betancourt, but that wouldn’t be an upgrade – he’s batting .238/.259/.312. Well, OK, that is a better line than the KC collective, but that doesn’t mean it’s a move that a real Major League team should make.
What about Omar Quintanilla? He’s only seeing part-time duty in Colorado behind Troy Tulowitzki, but in his limited duty is batting .208/.345/.250. Even with a WAR (Win Above Replacement – lovingly explained here) of 0.0, Quintanilla is more valuable than TPJ or Hernandez or Aviles.
Defensively, he might also work out well – his UZR/150* is 7.0, better than any of the team’s current options.
Player UZR/150 at short
Quintanilla 7.0
TPJ 5.0
Aviles -7.7
Hernandez -15.1
Bloomers -30.6
(UZR/150 (ultimate zone rate per 150 games): The number of runs above or below average a fielder is, per 150 defensive games.)
Of course, the next problem would be what we send to them. Our own cupboards are pretty bare in most departments at AAA and the MLB level, so if the Rockies need someone who is ready to help them now, a third team might have to be involved.
Anyway, it’s hard to tell whether Dayton’s looking to deal right now. But even after the crapfests of the last two games, the Royals aren’t totally out of the hunt for the Central. 5.5 games back is an attainable deficit, or so I tell myself in order to fall asleep at night. Adding Quintanilla at short would help the embarrassing defensive situation, which would go a long way in supporting pitchers like Luke Hochevar and Brian Bannister, who rely on adequate (or better) defense to get outs. And you already know about the “offense” our team is putting up at short.
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7 comments
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Jeff P.
June 19, 2009 at 2:33 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Sounds good to me. All I want at this point is great defense and an OBP north of .300, doesn’t seem too much to ask.
P.s. You misspelled deficit:)
Minda Haas
June 19, 2009 at 4:20 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Even “good” defense would be a plus at this point. Asking for “great” is a pretty tall order these days…
And thanks – I need an editor sometimes, especially when I write these things late at night!
Amanda
June 19, 2009 at 8:30 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Omar has played 22 innings this year at short its hard to get an accurate uzr with so few games. Also if his hitting is that bad in Coors then i can only imagine how bad it will be at the K.
Jeff P.
June 20, 2009 at 1:14 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Good point.
Minda Haas
June 21, 2009 at 9:25 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
That is a good point. I think in my crazed search for an answer to the Royals’ SS problem, I conveniently ignored the small sample size. Which means the Royals are so bad I’m committing cardinal sins of sabermetrics! AGH!
Lark11
June 24, 2009 at 11:28 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
If I was looking for an inexpensive shortstop who could have some sneaky good value, I’d take a look at Paul Janish. The Reds don’t seem to view him as a potential starter, but he’s intriguing.
Janish potentially provides plus defense and plus on-base skills at a premier defensive position. That kind of combination doesn’t come along all that often.
His hit tool isn’t great and he’ll never hit for power, but he does have a compact line drive swing (22.2% line drive rate in his MLB career) that should enable him to hit at least .260-.265 at the MLB level. If he does that, then he’d likely post an OBP of ~.345-.350 to go along with it. Add in plus defense at short (2009: 13.6 UZR/150) and I think you’ve got a player who could be fairly valuable.
At times, Janish has been overpowered by MLB pitching, but a .260 batting average *should* be within his grasp. If it is, then his secondary skills will make him a rather intriguing player. At the very least, I like him more than Quintanilla.
Anyway, my $.02.
Minda Haas
June 24, 2009 at 3:00 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Janish is an intriguing option – good call. That’s why there are comments here, because I don’t always see these guys as possibilities.