A post in which I make a meat analogy

Published by on November 9, 2011 | 26 Responses

The offseason. It’s a crazy, weird time. One minute we’re fanaticizing about Carlos Beltran playing right field, and the next, you learn that the Giants narrowly avoid Willie Bloomquist. Seriously, this time of year is fun in a masochistic way; the highs, the lows, the Melky Cabreras, the offseason has it all.

I generally hate offseason rumors, but it’s good blog fodder, and I’ve been in the mood today to talk about this stuff. Which brings me to …

Clint Barmes

Giants are looking for a SS as a fallback to Brandon Crawford. I can tell you Clint Barmes has some big fans on the Giants coaching staff.
November 9, 2011 8:44 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@extrabaggs
Andrew Baggarly

Clint Barmes Facts:

  • He once injured himself by falling down while trying to carry a package of deer meat that Todd Helton gave him. No, seriously, that happened.
  • He’s a career .252/.302/.401 batter. That’s a wOBA/wRC+/OPS+ slash of .303/74/78.
  • He’s hit LHP better over his career (98 wRC+) compared to RHP (66).
  • Barmes has played all over the diamond; he’s logged 3,748 career innings at SS; 2,362 innings at 2B; and some brief time at 3B (51.1), CF (17) and RF (6).
  • If the advanced defensive metrics are to be believed, he’s a good defender at SS (UZR/150 of 7.2 runs).
  • Had a career year with the bat in 2011 (94 wRC+).

I guess he would platoon with Crawford if the Giants want to go in that direction. Upgrading shortstop should still be a top priority for the team. Getting even an average (two win) player to stick at SS would be huge for the Giants. As for Barmes, he appears useful against LHP, but as noted above, he’s downright terrible against righties. He has essentially hit as well as Brandon Crawford did in 2011 for his entire career against right-handed pitching.

The Giants seem firmly locked into value-mode right now, and Barmes should come cheap — and for good reason. Before 2011, Barmes’ previous career seasonal high (by fWAR) was two wins. However, he is coming off a 3.1 fWAR season. If there ever was a time for Barmes to cash in, it’s probably now.

I don’t have access to Crawford’s minor league splits, but being a left-handed batter, I assume he has a normal split against RHP. If so, a Barmes/Crawford platoon at SS has some slight positives. Both are strong defenders, which is a nice start, but there’s a good chance that Crawford will never hit major league pitching — and it pains me to say that because I adore his defense —  which would effectively ruin a platoon scenario. In 2011, hitters faced off against RHP in 73.2% of all plate appearances in the major leagues. While Barmes hits LHP somewhat well, he’s only going to face LHP approximately 25% of the time making his the weaker side of the platoon.

Barmes has some uses, but for a team like the Giants that really, really needs to upgrade a key position, I fear he’s more deer meat than filet mignon.

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gil
gil

whats the hells going on around here?

Ryan
Ryan

Bloomquist's versatility would have come in heck of handy. The guy plays a competent outfield and shortstop and steals a few bags. Hit better than Aubrey Huff in 2011 for pennies on the dollar.

oldjacket
oldjacket

He actually didn't, not that that would be compliment, even for a shortstop.

Ryan
Ryan

my bad. "made outs a lower clip than Aubrey Huff".

Kevin
Kevin

Why is everyone flipping out about the Bloomquist offer? He was going to be the Mike Fontenot/Keppinger of 2012. He was NOT going to be a starter. Both Kepp and Font woill recieve more than 2 mil a year through arbitration so everyone just needs to calm down

El Lefty Malo
El Lefty Malo

>>Why is everyone flipping out about the Bloomquist offer? $4.6 M

Damon
Damon

I still like Crawford's walk rate. The way the lineup is shaping up, he's going to be the #8 hitter- which means we are going in knowing full well that he's there for his defense. He may not hit 24 dingers like Juan Uribe, with his every-pitch Saturn V moonshot swing, but he also has a better batting eye than Uribe. It seems to me that with a bit more experience he could at least hit .250, which would probably give him an OBP in the .330 range. With his glove, I'm totally fine with that.

marcellosfg
marcellosfg

I still think Crawford could be a league average player in 2011, and potentially better beyond that. Hopefully GP doesn't see this.

Andy G
Andy G

I sometimes wonder how much of giants' fans' perception of Crawford (.204/.288/.296, 66 OPS+ in '11) has been shaped by that debut grand slam in Milwaukee. Ill admit I thought Crawford's debut dinger was a sign of his potential. Until, you know, his other at-bats. And for someone hailed as a defensive plus at SS, I seem to remember a fair number of throws pulling Huff off the bag, even if they didn't all go for errors (to be fair, Huff's stretching ability is limited, maybe those first few weeks in left really spent what was left of his legs). Want a call up who actually impressed me last year? Brett Pill anyone?

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

I think his defense will be fine. He passed the eye-test during his brief time in the majors, and it seemed to back up every scouting report I've ever read on him (very good range, really strong arm, good hands).

Jake
Jake

i believe he is in the Tulo/Furcal category in terms of arm. And i'd make comparisons to Tulo with regards to overall D. He takes excellent angles to the ball, positions himself well, has his feet in the best positions to make a solid throw, and can throw from virtually any position his body might be in. Ask any manager, build your defense up the middle. Defense first is a must at shortstop, and any offense that comes along is gravy. The FO would be making a mistake to not let him have the keys to the position. People forget SS is not supposed to be a heavy offensive spot.. if he plays the D that he does, he'll figure out how to hit up in the bigs and deserves the spot.

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

In last year's writeup, BA pretty much said that Crawford has plus-range, but also noted that his "awareness" and "smart positioning" help his overall defensive package. So, you're right in the sense that he has good instincts. He's probably the best defender (non-Omar category) that the Giants have had at SS in quite some time.

Ryan
Ryan

It is interesting that he 'has very good range' as he is not particularly fast. He must have quick feet and good instincts. Is his arm 'really strong'? Not Furcal strong, but strong enough to make the throw from the whole. He's an interesting shortstop; I don't feel particularly 'wowed' by his athleticism. The glove itself is ++, everything else probably hovers around + or avg. The bat is another story. It still doesn't seem fair to feed him to the wolves when he has a limited number of AB's above class A. Let's hope his learning curve has been as steep as it appears in the AFL.

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

Reasoning? Based on his excellent defense, I assume? I don't mean to come off as harsh on Crawford as I did in this post, but scouts have never liked his swing and I just don't know how much of a chance he has to be competent with the bat.

marcellosfg
marcellosfg

Definitely largely because of his defense. Even with a subpar bat, he's a decent player.

David C
David C

Interestingly, Crawford's offense has a shot. He was hampered by a 14% LD rate (51% ground-ball rate!) leading to a .228 babip. However his iso was rather low and perhaps weak-hitting is his style. It's worth noting that the iso and babip are low compared to his minor league numbers ( he also managed to an unusually low K rate). Last year I kept waiting for him to stop grounding out and it never happened--but then again I kept waiting for Huff to stop grounding out as well. Point is, I like his 10% BB's and if learns how to replace 5% groundballs with 5% LD's he wouldn't be such a hole at the plate.

David C
David C

A quick use of of an xbabip calc. (http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/11/10/1124792/a-new-xbabip-calculator) shows we'd expect him to hit .3 babip. The calculator is probably 'biased towards the mean' and perhaps underestimates his lack power (or at any rate misrepresents what happens at the fringes). For a player comp Martin Prado had an similar batted ball profile and put up a .26 babip and casey mcghee had a similar line and a .25 babip. The question I'm trying to answer is: IF Crawford hits the same batted ball profile (or within a couple percent) can we expect his babip to go up? The xbabip suggests yes, but his IFH% doesn't have that much room to go up (and I certainly wouldn't count on it 'regressing' upwards). That leaves hitting the ball out of the infield more often (on the ground or not). We can only hope that he was unlucky with his GB placement.

Ryan
Ryan

Barmes has got to be an upgrade over Fontenot and Keppinger. He can actually play shortstop and won't be totally overmatched as a hitter. It might be a total value pick. Compare the short 2/12 he might get with the at least 3/30 deal Rollins will get. Maybe a deal like this still leaves enough money in the coffers to sign Beltran. Maybe not.

Shankbone
Shankbone

Barmes can play 2nd as well, which will be needed at some point in the season, no matter how well Freddy Sanchez rebounds. Check out his last 3 years compared to Rollins, its closer than you would expect. Rollins is getting more than 3/30 also. Barmes stats are fueled by his DWAR, (baseball ref) but look at this: Rollins: 3.7, 2.0, 1.0 for a total of 6.7 WAR Barmes: 2.9, 1.3, 2.0 for a total of 6.2 WAR DWAR: Rollins 0.7, 0.5, -0.5 for 0.7 DWAR Barmes: 1.5, 1.3, 1.4 for 4.2 DWAR Still, Barmes L/R splits are terrible, but I would definitely take him over Keppinger, and maybe the Hobbit as well due to the superior D.

oldjacket
oldjacket

I was underwhelmed, rather than outraged by the Cabrera trade, but if this Willie Bloomquist thing is to be believed, it is the single most dispiriting thing of the offseason. Brandon Crawford put up a .259 wOBA in 220 plate appearances last year. The break even point for wOBA is actually exactly that. So, his true talent is halfway between league average and .259, or .290. A .290 wOBA would make Crawford amongst the bottom 10% amongst mlb regulars. Willie Bloomquist's career wOBA: .297. So, bottom 12% instead of bottom 10%. Plus a defensive downgrade. In short, $4 million to not upgrade on Brandon Crawford. This, immediately after trading away Thomas Neal to not upgrade on Brandon Crawford.

Paapfly
Paapfly

100 percent agreement from me for what Otis has said here. Just a series of dispiriting moves (and attempted moves, thank god) by the FO.

Andres
Andres

What about the giants getting J.J Hardy?

Paapfly
Paapfly

That boat has sailed. They kept their relievers last offseason and went for Tejada at $6.5MM instead--worked out swell.