The F.O.'s Thoughts On Brauns Future?

[bigbrewkahuna]

Yikes.Ryan Braun has 20 errors so far.His range factor and zone rating are the worst in the league.He could finish with a sub .900 fielding percentage.As you know,this is not good, to say the least.

 

Many here would like to see him moved to LF next year,while many will point out the idea as unrealistic for a variety of reasons.

 

This made me curious as to what exactly the front office is saying ,either publicly or privately, regarding Brauns future at 3rd base.

 

I have no idea what the F.O. is thinking ,but I can think of 3 possibilities.

 

A. They have zero interest in moving Braun to the outfield.They have a firm plan and committment for Braun at 3rd base only.Stay the course.End of story.End of discusssion.

Besides,isn't it a bit premature to throw in the towel this early in his career?

 

B.The F.O. is currently not pursuing any ideas of moving Braun to the outfield.However,if the opportunity presented itself to aquire a decent 3rd baseman,they would strongly consider the idea of moving Braun to LF.

 

C.They won't openly admit it,but they would love to aquire a better fielding 3rd baseman with a decent stick and move Braun to LF.Enough is enough with Braun at 3rd.

 

My own thoughts.It probably is a bit too early to pass final judgement on him.He hasn't played a full season in the bigs after all, and the F.O. may very well be committed to Braun as a 3rd baseman longterm.

 

However,nothing is etched in stone regarding any players future,and if there was ever a time to change a mindset,this may very well be the time.

And though I am admittedly still a Jenkins fan,I will shed no tears if Braun is moved to LF next year.

 

So what exactly is the F.O. thinking or saying these days?

 

 

(added tag --1992)

[Invader3K]

We heard the same stuff with Rickie Weeks last year. It takes time to learn defense at the MLB level. Frankly, Braun's defense is a pretty minor problem for this team, given their pitching and offensive woes over the last couple months.

[clancyphile]

And one thing about Weeks this year: He has slumped due to his wrist problem, but he has played much better defense and his OBP skills have increased.

 

Keep Braun at third.

[brewcrewkid14]

I think if he continues working on his fielding, he can become an above average third basemen.

 

People always said Wade Boggs was a poor defensive third basemen early in his career, but he worked at it and ended up winning a few gold gloves by the time he retired.

[Ennder]

11 of the 20 errors were throwing errors which are generally pretty fixable.

 

Zimmerman has 19 errors as well and a .954% and is considered one of the best future fielding 3B in baseball.

 

If Braun improves even a tiny bit he'll be in that .950% range, keep in mind he is a converted SS so hasn't had a long history at 3B, he's still learning the position.

[BrewCrewForever]

Keep Braun at 3B, he will be fine. Just like Weeks.

[1992casey]

Looking back, it seems that a lot of Ryan's throwing errors have been of the 'pull Prince off the bag' variety. Those would seem much more fixable than the throwing errors that sail into right field, the dugout, or the stands.

 

Range factor is a poor stat that should be disregarded in almost all cases. When you look at its formula (putouts plus assists per nine innings), the flaw is apparent. There's a ton of statistical noise caused by whether or not pitchers strike batters out and by the fielders surrounding the player in question.

 

Ennder, is there a range stat like Zone Rating that ignores errors? That might measure a player's ability to get to the ball--in other words--measuring the tool more than the success rate.

[Baldkin]

Its all in Braun's footwork, which will still come around.

 

His throwing errors are all on throws that are tailing, almost always towards the homeplate side of first base... because he's still throwing like he was at SS from time to time - half sidearm, not setting and coming over the top with his throws.

[Fatter than Joey]

To me -- the answer is Hall to 3b, Gross to CF, Braun to LF, Mench/Jenks to TB.

 

I would certainly welcome any veteran additions to the team.

 

I am less optimistic about Braun's ability to play 3b -- however it is early, and certainly giving more reps. is a reasonable solution.

[MJLiverock]

Gross is not a CF. He can't go back on a ball and takes bad routes. I'll give you he has a great arm but I have no desire at all to see Gross play CF everyday in the majors.

[splitterpfj]

They could go with Hall at 3B, Braun in LF, Hart in CF, Gross and a platoon mate in RF...but I don't think Braun will be moved.

[bigbrewkahuna]

I just wonder what the front offices true feelings are.They may have shown a unified front this spring about Braun,but could there now be any wavering of convictions.I take it it is not a one man dictatorship in the F.O.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Braun has shown flashes that he can glove it. He just needs to work at it. His throwing will come around. I see no reason why he can't be an average to maybe even better glove at 3B.

[splitterpfj]

I think Braun will become at least a league average defender at 3B. I think the comparisons to Weeks are spot-on, and I expect a similar improvement, he's obviously got the physical skills to do it, I'm sure they'll wait as long as they can for him to get it.

[dvoiss]

Braun is going to be fine at 3rd. Moving him at this time makes no sense at all. I remember the talk about Weeks last year. I also rememeber that Yount committed about 45 errors his rookie year. This is something you have to go through

[Brian the Automator]

I'm going to echo Invader's comments regarding Rickie. Braun's an athletic guy, and he still isn't THAT far removed from a position switch. I think he could be a tremendous left-fielder, but I think they should give him at least another full year to improve at 3B. It worked for Rickie, and I don't see why it wouldn't work for Braun. He strikes me as a very hard worker, and someone who's not going to get nonchalant about that aspect of his game.

[TooLiveBrew]

Plus, we've converted LaPorta to be a LF (hopefully that works out...), so we'd just have to re-shuffle once he's ready ('09? - '08?). Braun will be fine, just as Rickie has become solid with the leather. I share the concern that nothing is a given, but agree that in this case I trust & agree with the f.o.'s opinion.

[Team Canada]

I remember the talk about Weeks last year.

 

 

Ditto. Rickie's definitely improved (see that amazing play behind second a couple days ago), and we were all over him last year. It's hard to take the long view, especially in a pennant race, but players do improve over the years. If Braun can eliminate the bad throws and gradually improve his fielding, he'll be fine.

[JJHardy7]

Isn't this pretty much the same discussion we've had?

 

 

Braun played SS in college. So he's played 3B for a little over 2 years. I think it's not a factor at all right now.

 

Does anyone ever wonder how many errors the infield would have if Prince was maybe 3 or 4 inches taller? Just a thought.

[crewcrazy]

Aramis Ramirez used to be an error machine at 3B, too, and has recently turned into an above average defender. If Ramirez can do it, I have no doubts Braun can do it considering Ryan's work ethic. Give him the winter to work on fielding and I think we should see some improvement next year...he might never be the kind of guy whose errors stay in the single digits year after year, but his athleticism allows him to get to a lot of balls that most other 3B's wouldn't be able to get to. IMO, what he needs to work on is learning when to just eat a ball after making an incredible stop instead of trying to rush a throw...that seems like it'd be an easily fixable problem, too. With any luck, working on a lot of fielding reps with JJ will solve that problem of every ground ball sneaking between the two of them as well.

[danzig6767]

Isn't this pretty much the same discussion we've had?

 

 

Braun played SS in college. So he's played 3B for a little over 2 years. I think it's not a factor at all right now.

 

Does anyone ever wonder how many errors the infield would have if Prince was maybe 3 or 4 inches taller? Just a thought.

 

That's something i've thought.How many more outs would the infielders have if we had a taller/longer armed firstbaseman that was also better at scooping throws in the dirt?

 

[gregmag]

I think we just need Braun to hold on at 3B until Mat Gamel is ready.

 

Greg.