Fielder's defense

[ELCABALLO45]

Alot has been talked about Prince and his awesome year he had with the bat.

 

Hitting 46 homers, knocking in 141 runs and walking 110 times. However, I think more needs to mentioned on how well he played defense this last year.

 

Coming up everyone knew he was going to struggle on defense, but with his offense you could live with it.

 

Look at Prince Fielders UZR/150 these past years (Runs above average per 150 defensive games)

 

2006: -11.5

 

2007: -9.5

 

2008: -8.2

 

As you can see he has improved the last 3 years.

 

And this year..

 

+0.1

 

Not only has Prince turned into a elite hitter in baseball, he has also turned himself into a pretty good defensive 1st baseman.

[Invader3K]

Yep, it's why he's become so incredibly valuable. His defense is no longer a liability, and he's established himself as an elite hitter. It's why the Brewers will probably offer him a huge contract, which Boras will turn down, and he'll eventually leave for an obscene contract elsewhere. We should enjoy him while we can.

[TooLiveBrew]

Be careful with UZR -- it's a stat that can fluctuate quite a bit. One good or solid season of UZR doesn't say much about true talent. Iirc three seasons of UZR data is roughly comparable to one season of offensive data, in terms of reliability.

 

Prince certainly looked improved in the field this season, but I wouldn't call him good. He doesn't cover much ground, and is about as short a 1B target as there is in MLB.

[logan82]

UZR doesn't really cover the biggest part of being a 1B. It only looks at the fielding aspect.

[Flood Pants]

These numbers don't suggest that he's "good." Merely that his defense no longer subtracts runs from his net worth. Average at best. Which is still a huge improvement over where he started.

 

In a Pujols-less league, Prince would be a legitimate MVP candidate. I'd love to see the Brewers go to lengths to retain him, and Melvin seems to be one of the better negotiators in the game. Maybe he can call in the favor owed to him from signing the Gagne contract.

[DougJones43]

There's no doubt in my mind this improvement is a direct result of him being in such good shape this season. I agree though, that his height and inability to dig throws still makes him a below average defender. At least he's not totally awful anymore though.

[trwi7]

I agree though, that his height and inability to dig throws still makes him a below average defender.

Just watching him this year he has gotten so much better at digging out throws as well. At least imo.

[dlk9s]

Regardless of what the numbers say, in my opinion, Prince actually looked good in the field this season. No, he doesn't have the range of some other guys and his short stature can't help him at that position, but he seemed to make a lot of great plays. I was impressed.

[RU Rah Rah]

Invader3K wrote:

It's why the Brewers will probably offer him a huge contract, which Boras will turn down, and he'll eventually leave for an obscene contract elsewhere.

Should Boras not seek the most lucrative contract possible for his client?

[greeg35]

He should be seeking the best deal possible for his clients. There's a lot more to it than money.