Last year he was a 1 WAR player. So he was $5M overpaid. This year, even back at a "natural" position, he's a -0.5 WAR guy. Meaning he's about a gazillion $ overpaid. Any WAR he had in '09 was based on an unsustainable level of walks (almost 60% above anything he had done before).
Figgins is seeing a steadily declining diet of FB's and more sliders. Evidence is he is swinging at more pitches out of the zone. There's a hole in his hitting ability somewhere that is being exploited. The question to ask is whether Figgins is the player of the 2nd half of last season or the player of the first half of both '10 & '11?
Right now he is a historically bad fulltime 3B. He will improve some....but he may just then be simply pretty bad.
If he shows some life at the plate then play him. Right now he is atrocious there. It makes no sense to play the player that he currently is. Last year we were already down and out. Not so today. Sit him, use him sparingly, and if he shows life then increase his AB's. That is exactly the right prescription for a utility-type player. We did it with Kennedy. Should happen with Figgins.
If Figgins is really a 2 WAR (+) player, then there should be GM's who would happily eat up his current salary. We saw how many were knocking at the M's door this winter.
I think he's done (as a fulltime + 3B). I think baseball knows it.
Tough situation, because the likely chosen answers are so extreme. Either you bench him or play him everyday and hope he finds a game. Z created this mess. His letting it fester further is a poor decision.
I'm rooting for Chone, really. It would make us better. Not as good as an Ackley/Kennedy 2B/3B solution, however.
Truthfully, I don't think Z thought this team would contend, which would give him a year to arrive at a solution. Pineda, Bedard, Vargas, Smoak and Kennedy have changed that dynamic.
Right now (yes, it could change), everyday we play Figgins we're a bit worse than we should be. 100 games of a bit worse adds up. Batting him 2nd for those 100 games (rather than 9th) is an extra 77 (or so) PA's that he shouldn't get. 77PA's is something like nearly two games of nothing but Figgins. That's two games way too many.
If there were not inexpensive and bettter alternatives at hand it would be another thing. But there are.
This is a different season than it was 3 weeks ago. The old paradigm is out the window. A new one is needed. More than any other player, a reevaluation of Figgin's role (in the absence of a resurgence) is part of that new paradigm.
Go team.
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