Sox Sign Adam Eaton

[DeployEloy]

Renfroe isn't any more or less a platoon guy than Eaton should be. 5 home runs and a .351 slugging percentage against lefties in almost 900 career at bats. Not major league quality.

Nobody’s arguing Renfroe’s pop, but is that a true need for this offense given his other visible flaws as a hitter? The Sox really need an obp / contact hitter type. They shouldnt need nor want “Adam Dunn lite.” Renfroe is neither of those guys. He’s a very questionable fit in that regard, all the while having a worse glove than Eaton, Engel, and Leury playing in right.

Eaton ultimately fits the greater need with both the bat and glove. To be honest, do we need another bopper when 8 other guys in the lineup will hit 20-30 anyway? His power numbers ultimately become empty because we don’t have true obp guys to drive in other than Madrigal.

[Tragg]

Eaton's glove isn't good anymore, according to the metrics. RF is an offensive position for big-time production. Rick Hahn has made it the spot for a 7/8 hole hitter. Building a team is an art, and it is a lot harder than tearing it down.

[DeployEloy]

Eaton's glove isn't good anymore, according to the metrics. RF is an offensive position for big-time production. Rick Hahn has made it the spot for a 7/8 hole hitter. Building a team is an art, and it is a lot harder than tearing it down.

His glove may not be, but the argument was compared to Renfroe who doesn’t have a special glove either despite being a bit younger. I agree we need more offensive output from RF, but let’s not pretend this is anything more than a 1 year deal. There are definitely intriguing names that may hit free agency next year. Ozuna or Springer would be great this year, but they clearly weren’t realistic options with the $$$ they will command.

[ChiTownTrojan]

Renfroe isn't any more or less a platoon guy than Eaton should be. 5 home runs and a .351 slugging percentage against lefties in almost 900 career at bats. Not major league quality.

Yeah but he's the wrong side of the platoon. Eaton's career slugging against RHP (.436) is almost as high as Renfroe's (.449), and he gets on base at a much higher rate and strikes out half as often, all while playing better defense. The last thing this team needs is an OF that is only effective against LHP.

[Krs1]

Eaton's glove isn't good anymore, according to the metrics. RF is an offensive position for big-time production. Rick Hahn has made it the spot for a 7/8 hole hitter. Building a team is an art, and it is a lot harder than tearing it down.

If there were only an example of a team winning with an Adam Eaton in RF ...

[vegandork]

Yeah but he's the wrong side of the platoon. Eaton's career slugging against RHP (.436) is almost as high as Renfroe's (.449), and he gets on base at a much higher rate and strikes out half as often, all while playing better defense. The last thing this team needs is an OF that is only effective against LHP.

Wait...is your argument that against his better matchup, Eaton still slugs lower than Renfroe? How in the world does that make Eaton a better option? Renfroe has a really tough time with right handers so far in his career...and yet he outslugs Eaton who is a lefty...

Look, these are all bad options. But the argument that Eaton is somehow a better player is based on, what will be come Spring training, five seasons ago. Renfroe has mopped the floor with Eaton since then.

[ChiTownTrojan]

Wait...is your argument that against his better matchup, Eaton still slugs lower than Renfroe? How in the world does that make Eaton a better option? Renfroe has a really tough time with right handers so far in his career...and yet he outslugs Eaton who is a lefty...

Look, these are all bad options. But the argument that Eaton is somehow a better player is based on, what will be come Spring training, five seasons ago. Renfroe has mopped the floor with Eaton since then.

The point is that they don't need another guy who can mash LHP. They have some of the best players in the league at hitting LHP at SS, 1B, C, LF, and (hopefully) CF, and they literally don't lose to left-handed starters anymore. If hitting LHP is his only valuable skill, it's essentially worthless to this team. The fact that Renfroe, as a power hitter, is slugging about the same against righties as Eaton is an indictment of his (theoretical) value to this team, considering all the other things that Eaton does so much better than him (getting on base, defense, and baserunning).

Anyway, I'm sick of talking about Hunter Renfroe, and it feels weird to be defending the Eaton acquisition so strongly when I'm not a big fan of the move.

[Mohoney]

Look, these are all bad options.

Yup. These are all bowls of ****, and the only difference is the smell. Except our bowl of **** was twice as expensive for some reason...

[Krs1]

Yup. These are all bowls of ****, and the only difference is the smell. Except our bowl of **** was twice as expensive for some reason...

Because he is good at baseball and in some demand while the guys you want are not and were not?

[rdivaldi]

Renfroe has mopped the floor with Eaton since then.

🤨 I wouldn't exactly say that a guy who can't even reach an .800 OPS with poor defense mops the floor with anyone. I won't say that either of these guys were my choice for 2021 White Sox right fielder, but let's not pretend that either has some sort of advantage over the other.

[Frater Perdurabo]

Eaton and Engel will bring solid defense to RH, and good baserunning and the ability to get on base via walks and hits with some pop, to the 8-hole ahead of Madrigal.

Now we just need some left-handed thump in the 4 or 6 spot of the lineup, with positional flexibility and/or as a primary DH.

[vegandork]

🤨 I wouldn't exactly say that a guy who can't even reach an .800 OPS with poor defense mops the floor with anyone. I won't say that either of these guys were my choice for 2021 White Sox right fielder, but let's not pretend that either has some sort of advantage over the other.

I don't disagree, they're all really crapshoots for 2021 based on how they played last year, their lack of recent high end production, and the varying proclivities for injuries. Renfroe has been the better player recently, mostly due to injury issues with Eaton.

[Krs1]

I don't disagree, they're all really crapshoots for 2021 based on how they played last year, their lack of recent high end production, and the varying proclivities for injuries. Renfroe has been the better player recently, mostly due to injury issues with Eaton.

Sure let's go with this. Eliminate 2020 as a fluke and their most recent lines are 279/365/428 Vs 216/289/489.

One of those guys belongs in AAA.

[rdivaldi]

Renfroe has been the better player recently, mostly due to injury issues with Eaton.

I wouldn't say that. They put up almost identical WAR numbers with BR giving Renfroe the edge and Fangraphs giving Eaton the edge. Eaton's WRC+ was superior both years, which can't be discounted.