Church or Giles

[Weirdos19]

Think we could get either of these guys for 3 mil and then platoon him with Hart? Would end up being a 8 million dollar platoon, but could be very effective.

[dadofandrew]

Church's career numbers are not as good as Hart's, and while it may be an effective platoon, why not just go out and get a better player for $8M?

[trwi7]

Church's career numbers are not as good as Hart's, and while it may be an effective platoon, why not just go out and get a better player for $8M?

 

Church - .272/.345/.441/.786 with a career .341 wOBA and a 14.2 UZR/150 in right field.

 

Hart - .273/.326/.470/.796 with a career .342 wOBA and a -2.3 UZR/150 in right field.

 

They're exactly the same player on offense, Church is the better defender and he's likely to be cheaper.

[JoeHova]

I'll take Church any day. Giles looks done.

[Hotdog]

How about a Church/Rocco Baldelli platoon? Of course, that is if we can trade Hart for a SP of some kind. Heck I would even take a power reliever.

[Schlitz001]

I would stay away from Giles all together.

 

Corey Hart is 4 years younger than Church, has better numbers against RHP than Church and is a far better baserunner than Church, which wOBA doesn't take into account. I don't think there is a need to bring him in to platoon. Corey just had a down year and is capable of putting up another 20/20 season in 2010. Unless DM is enticed to trade Hart for some pitching I would hang on to him and start him everyday.

[wishicouldhit]

I just have a feeling that Hart is going to have a bounce back year. As Doug has stated, last season they made him be more selective at the plate which took away his power. in my opinion he will have more trade value next season then he does right now, even considering one less year of his eligibility.

[logan82]

Corey Hart is 4 years younger than Church, has better numbers against RHP than Church and is a far better baserunner than Church, which wOBA doesn't take into account.

 

Depends on where you get your wOBA from. Fangraphs wOBA includes baserunning or did a year ago.

[Invader3K]

wishicouldhit wrote: in my opinion he will have more trade value next season then he does right now, even considering one less year of his eligibility.

You have to keep in mind that we only have Hart under control for two more seasons. If he has another bad year, or even just an "OK" 2010, his trade value is going to be pretty minimal.

[JohnBriggs12]

Church is a nice player, but I don't see him as an upgrade over Gerut.

[pingman]

IMHO Church would be a quality 4th OF but not at his projected salary

[yoshii8]

Pingman, isn't he a FA now that the Braves let him go?

[TooLiveBrew]

I just have a feeling that Hart is going to have a bounce back year. As Doug has stated, last season they made him be more selective at the plate which took away his power. in my opinion he will have more trade value next season then he does right now, even considering one less year of his eligibility.

 

I agree on Hart, wishicouldhit. I thought he showed some encouraging signs last season, and then got smacked with the emergency appendectomy. If he comes out of the gates well in '10, I also wouldn't mind seeing Melvin try to sell-high on him in order to bring in some pitching.

[reillymcshane]

Ryan Church, if healthy, is a very solid RF if you platoon the guy. He would be a solid left handed bat in the lineup - but he's shown little ability to actually hit lefties, so he's not a full time guy. He's also considered a very good fielder - much better than Hart. Corey's UZR/150 ratings in RF have been -9.1, -5.3 and +6.7 the last three years. Church's has been 19.4, 6.9. 23.0, 20.8.

 

Gerut's RF numbers are pretty small, so they don't really work well with UZR. But his CF numbers are generally good over the past couple of years - 9.6 and 12.2 - so he would probably be more comparable to Church as a fielder. Plus his ability to play CF is great.

 

I worry about Gerut as a hitter. He, frankly, sucked last year, after being great in 2008. Which is the real player? His splits over the past two years show him actually hitting lefties better than righties - but it's only a sampling of 600 ABs (100 vs lefties, 500 vs righties).

 

I know Church had some injuries last year, and hit poorly (but not as bad as Gerut). If he's healthy, and if Hart is dealt, I would prefer Church due to his quality fielding and lefthanded bat - he's hit righties to a tune of .755, .815, .866 OPS over the past few years - and last season's was influenced by his injuries.

 

If I had my choice of the three, I'd probably go with Hart, due to his ability to play everyday and (I feel) higher upside than any of the guys. But if Hart is dealt, Church would be a viable option in a platoon situation (assuming he's healthy). He had back and neck problems last year - and I'd make sure he's got a clean bill of health.