Is Eaton Washed up?

[vegandork]

I really don't understand these kinds of statements. Eaton is not a superstar, but has proven to be a solid player year in and year out since 2014. An outfield that features two budding superstar sluggers can survive a league average hitter manning one of the three spots. Other than the obvious choice in Springer, who should the Sox have signed?

Eaton's been a negative value fielder the last three years even when healthy, and that was the one thing about him that used to make him special. He's never been a big offensive producer. And as his defense has regressed, the value of his limited offensive capabilities diminishes.

It's important that we don't confuse replacement level with league average. Eaton is roughly replacement level, and trending downward. And that's only when he isn't beat to ****.

[DeployEloy]

At the start of the offseason I was all like "I hope the Sox get an all star right fielder, a DH who can mash the ball, and a TOR starter!" and they have done none of those things and reduced my hopes to "I hope they sign a backup utility infielder" and I am not sure I will get even that much. Given their moves so far, the utility infielder is gonna be Chris Getz suiting up again.

I think they have done at least one of them, but I realize I probably think higher of Lynn than most, especially in recent years.

[ChiSoxNationPres]

Right. 32 and fresh off leg troubles at 31.

He was in the 74th percentile in the league for sprint speed last year. 86th in outfielder jumps. Legs seem fine to me.

What were the leg troubles last year? He had injuries in '17 and '18, not in '19 or '20 (broken finger).

[vegandork]

He was in the 74th percentile in the league for sprint speed last year. 86th in outfielder jumps. Legs seem fine to me.

What were the leg troubles last year? He had injuries in '17 and '18, not in '19 or '20 (broken finger).

He came back from leg troubles and was a shell of himself, seeing his historically good defense fall to well below average. It's not so much a leg injury as it is his legs are now jelly.

[Krs1]

He came back from leg troubles and was a shell of himself, seeing his historically good defense fall to well below average. It's not so much a leg injury as it is his legs are now jelly.

He came back from a couple leg injuries and had a very career average year in 2019.

[voodoochile]

He came back from leg troubles and was a shell of himself, seeing his historically good defense fall to well below average. It's not so much a leg injury as it is his legs are now jelly.

BOOM! Goalposts moved...

See it's not that he's actually an injury risk, he just sucks...

[ChiSoxNationPres]

He came back from leg troubles and was a shell of himself, seeing his historically good defense fall to well below average. It's not so much a leg injury as it is his legs are now jelly.

He literally only had good dwar in '16, if that's the stat you are going off of. I personally don't put much stock into corner OF dwar, especially when it's around -1 and higher, and anecdotally a player is decently receptive at the position. So it really just looks like dwar never liked him in RF, as he was negative there even before his injuries in '17 and '18.

"His legs are now jelly" is just you throwing out another hyperbole. His sprint and jump rankings don't support that.

[vegandork]

He came back from a couple leg injuries and had a very career average year in 2019.

He had a replacement level year with his second (out of three) successive campaign of negative WAR defense.

[vegandork]

BOOM! Goalposts moved...

See it's not that he's actually an injury risk, he just sucks...

Worn off legs are less of an injury risk?

You're out of your ****ing mind Voodoo. You're pipe-dreaming over a three times over washed up can of sardines.

[Krs1]

He had a replacement level year with his second (out of three) successive campaign of negative WAR defense.

I mean, if the calculator says so...

[voodoochile]

Worn off legs are less of an injury risk?

You're out of your ****ing mind Voodoo. You're pipe-dreaming over a three times over washed up can of sardines.

LOL! I'm not expecting him to become Springer. I just don't think you're even CLOSE to being right with your extreme take on him being done, BUT... I know you have to keep pushing the narrative. You're fully invested now and won't back down until you are proven wrong.

I do like how you're opinion of him swings from "barely replacement level" (1.5 WAR in his last full season) to your quote above. It's like if anyone challenges your opinion you have to double down even harder.

[vegandork]

He literally only had good dwar in '16, if that's the stat you are going off of. I personally don't put much stock into corner OF dwar, especially when it's around -1 and higher, and anecdotally a player is decently receptive at the position. So it really just looks like dwar never liked him in RF, as he was negative there even before his injuries in '17 and '18.

"His legs are now jelly" is just you throwing out another hyperbole. His sprint and jump rankings don't support that.

Your convenient admission of your opinion of DWAR notwithstanding , 2016 was his big first year as a corner outfielder (he was a mediocre CF before that), and what made him a valuable player. His 2017 was injury plagued and he put up bad defensive numbers. His 2018 was lost mostly to injury. 2019 he was terrible defensively. 2020 he was terrible defensively. I'm not sure how you expect this to be a point.

Here's a question. What were his sprint and jump rates before? I honestly don't know. But I have a feeling the answer is going to be very different than what they are currently.

[vegandork]

LOL! I'm not expecting him to become Springer. I just don't think you're even CLOSE to being right with your extreme take on him being done, BUT... I know you have to keep pushing the narrative. You're fully invested now and won't back down until you are proven wrong.

I do like how you're opinion of him swings from "barely replacement level" (1.5 WAR in his last full season) to your quote above. It's like if anyone challenges your opinion you have to double down even harder.

It's a pretty safe bet considering his bat wasn't good to begin with, it's worse than it used to be, and there's no chance his really bad defense improves, plus...he's injured like 75% of the time. As I said before, I'd feel a lot different about this move IF he was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training looking to make the roster as a 5th outfielder.

[Frater Perdurabo]

None of those guys STL traded are near the quality of the three you mentioned. I highly doubt it would take 2 of, let alone all three for them to ship out Blackmon and $20 mil. The pay you are suggesting is probably the quality of an offer that Arenado should have been dealt for, not Blackmon.

I was being sardonic and facetious.

[ChiSoxNationPres]

Your convenient admission of your opinion of DWAR notwithstanding , 2016 was his big first year as a corner outfielder (he was a mediocre CF before that), and what made him a valuable player. His 2017 was injury plagued and he put up bad defensive numbers. His 2018 was lost mostly to injury. 2019 he was terrible defensively. 2020 he was terrible defensively. I'm not sure how you expect this to be a point.

Yeah, I take a lot of WAR data with a grain of salt. It's very clear to produce flawed/mixed/debatable results. Especially with DWAR in a corner outfield spot. I remember when people were claiming Harper was an atrocious RF when he was a FA, and I said that was ridiculous. His numbers there since haven't been anywhere close to the -3 he was awarded in '18. Thus, why I'm saying DWAR hasn't really liked what he's done there in general outside an outlier '16 season. It didn't like him when healthy since. And he isn't this "jelly leg" guy because of those injuries. People, you know, actually recover from injuries in their late 20s/early 30s.