tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post114352524498768578..comments2023-07-09T11:23:36.355-04:00Comments on On Baseball & The Reds: Today in Baseball Prospectus...jinazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07697776280178146413noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-1143652180825054762006-03-29T12:09:00.000-05:002006-03-29T12:09:00.000-05:00Anonymous said... Hatteburg is Sean Casey at one t...<I><B>Anonymous said... </B><BR/>Hatteburg is Sean Casey at one tenth the price. End of story. </I><BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, that's not entirely true. As bad as Casey was last season (for a first baseman), Hatteberg was 25% worse. Casey has grossly out produced Hatteberg the last 2 seasons, and Casey's career OPS+ is 14 points higher than Hatteberg's.<BR/><BR/>I'm not upset to have Hatteberg (like J, I'd prefer he was a backup). However, if he gets 500 at bats this year and performs like he did last season, the Reds will definitely have a drop in runs scored. Casey hit into a lot of double plays, but he also had a .371 OBP. That's not easy to replace. And given that the Reds didn't really do anything with the money that they saved on him, his loss means little bit more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-1143606718271158272006-03-28T23:31:00.000-05:002006-03-28T23:31:00.000-05:00Hatteburg is Sean Casey at one tenth the price. ...Hatteburg is Sean Casey at one tenth the price. End of story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-1143576286742441342006-03-28T15:04:00.000-05:002006-03-28T15:04:00.000-05:00You may like Hatteberg then, as he's a good contac...You may like Hatteberg then, as he's a good contact guy who's very patient at the plate. I thought he was a great signing as a reserve. But he's going to be 36 this year, and given that that the Reds may be lucky to not finish last this season, I'd like to get a guy in there who has some future potential. I think Choi is a better bet than Pena (moot point now), but I'd rather see one of those guys than Hatteberg starting at first.<BR/><BR/>Strikeouts...well, I'll definitely grant that they are the least productive out, save for being caught stealing. But I think their detriment to a ballclub is overrated--a player can strike out a lot IF they are otherwise productive, particularly if they get on base and have power. But I'd gladly take a guy who could post a 880's-plus OPS this year along with some additional strikeouts. Wouldn't bother me a bit. And both Choi and Pena are potentially able to do that this year, while the best we can hope for from Hatteberg is a high 700's OPS.<BR/>-jjinazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07697776280178146413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-1143575776183369142006-03-28T14:56:00.000-05:002006-03-28T14:56:00.000-05:00I'm not as worried about the SOs as some. Casey m...I'm not as worried about the SOs as some. Casey may have made contact, but he also grounded into a lot of DPs (27 (!) last year). And 58 RBIs is very low for a .300+ hitter, esp. in that park and with that lineup.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13441809988487585009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23241716.post-1143560572290224722006-03-28T10:42:00.000-05:002006-03-28T10:42:00.000-05:00If they won't take Choi, why would they take Pena?...If they won't take Choi, why would they take Pena? I'm as mystified as anyone about this, but obviously there is something that Narron and Krivsky like about Hatteberg that is not apparent from looking at his past performance. Or there is something in the works that we can't see. <BR/><BR/>Personally, I am not in favor of more Reds strikeouts, period, whether they come from Pena or Dunn or Jim Thome. This is one of the reasons I think the Casey trade really hurt us, because we now have one less reliable in-play ball every nine at bats. (Unless Williams wins 15 games and pitches 200 innings. Then I'll just shut up.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13441809988487585009noreply@blogger.com