PTI: Third Base for 1H-2012 (1 - Reynolds)

Q Mal:  Is the 3B free agent market really so grim?

PTI Jemanji:  Nobody on this list I'd rather have than, say, Kyle Seager.

Except of course for Omar Vizquel.  I'd position little O at the halfway point, 45 feet from the batter's box, let him catch the batted balls with chopsticks and change the flow of the game.

.

Q Mal:  Do you feeeeeel like we doooo?  Could Mark "Nature's Ultimate TTO Hitter" Reynolds play for your ballclub?

PTI Jemanji:  As Gene Hackman once said, "takes a lot to scare me.  I love the sensation!"

I love Three True Outcomes hitters with high K, BB and HR.  But Reynolds is at 217 strikeouts per year, with .198 and .221 AVG's the last two years, and my worry is about his passing the point of critical mass.

Reynolds transitioned to the AL seamlessly, bonking 37 homers last year.  Sounds strange to say "37 homers is all he did," but the guy had only 86 RBI including the 37 times he knocked himself in.

If you told me that Reynolds was going to hit 220/320/480, with 5.0 runs per 27 outs .... okay, fine.  I'll admit that's a quality ballplayer.

I'm not confident that he won't get worse.  If I were the Royals I'd buy him.  If I had five promising in-house 3B's I might not :- )

........

In fairness:  the argument for?  Would actually be a Billy Beane 2002 argument.  Oddly, Mark Reynolds creates more bases than people think he does, and you could conceive of Billy Beane bringing him in -- for 2 years or even for just 1.

Alex Liddi looks interesting.  Mark Reynolds hit 37 balls over AL fences last season.  There's an argument.

Comments

1

The Jekyll & Hyde act is tantalizing
2009
APR .860, MAY .932, JUN .964, JUL .976, AUG 1.030, SEP .610
2010
APR .909, MAY .732, JUN .770, JUL .864, AUG .845, SEP .291
2011
APR .566, MAY .778, JUN 1.112, JUL .783, AUG .814, SEP .785
Since 2009, that's 6 months out of 18 with an OPS above .900, and 10 over .800 vs. 3 under .700 and 2 of those under .600 which actually isn't as bad as I thought it would be.
 
And regarding his fielding this season, with the drastic drop from a positive UZR last year to nearly 30 runs under.  I notice that his Range Factor dropped from about 2.6 over the previous 2 seasons to right at 2 this last season.  If I remember correctly, he's played through injuries in previous seasons, so perhaps he did again last year and that drastically impacted his defense (his Range Runs on Fangraphs was -15.2 after being between -5 and +3 the last 3 years).

2
tjm's picture

You know what's really depressing?  While we're talking about ways to stitch together a genuine MLB line-up in which somebody like Mark Reynolds might actually be an improvement (I don't think so, but he might), the Texas Rangers are hitting Nelson Cruz seventh.

3

Jack's scouting crew joined the Brewers in 1999.
They snagged Corey Hart (HS) in the 11th round in 2000.
Fielder (HS) in the 1st in 2002.
Weeks (college) in the 1st in 2003.
Gallardo (HS) in the 2nd in 2004.
Braun (college) in the 1st in 2005.
That's the core of this team that is on the verge of the World Series, but they didn't make the playoffs till 2008 (assist from Sabathia) or really look like a championship team until 2011 -- 12 years after Z started scouting for them and more than 9 years after they drafted Fielder.
PRO: that's a very strong card for Z to keep going with his core group
CON: it's going to take a really long time
I mean, you can't really ask for a better series of drafts and building from within, and it still took a whole decade to win a division title.

4
tjm's picture

That's depressing, isn't it? Takes a dozen years, you contend for one, then Fielder walks.

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