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MLB rankings: Tigers are just 14th

Only last year was Fowler better than AJax, only because AJax has never been as terrible as he was last year.


Offense > Defense, but Fowler is so bad defensively it negates a large chunk of his offensive contributions. Like I said, given the choice I'd take Fowler over Gose, but I don't want either of them. At this point we just have to all hope that Gose is somewhat less than abysmal offensively and that our moronic manager doesnt hit him leadoff because SPEED.
 
Fact is Fowler would not be my first choice either. But I posted it because it seems many good players got traded for peanuts this year (Seth fuckign Smith!!!), and DD overpaid for Gose and Cespedes. And we still have an enormous hole at leadoff (Kinsler will probably get the job again....sigh), and scrambled eggs at CF.

He can only ride the Cabrera trade for so long.

1 year of Fowler at 9.5 million at his career averages starts to look a lot better once you think about the alternatives.
 
Other than the Greene trade, DD's trades recently have been less than stellar for sure. And I personally think he's had a shit offseason once again (though not quite approaching last year's shitfest.)
 
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Only last year was Fowler better than AJax, only because AJax has never been as terrible as he was last year.


Offense > Defense, but Fowler is so bad defensively it negates a large chunk of his offensive contributions. Like I said, given the choice I'd take Fowler over Gose, but I don't want either of them. At this point we just have to all hope that Gose is somewhat less than abysmal offensively and that our moronic manager doesnt hit him leadoff because SPEED.



Totally disagree then. Not once since his first season (not counting his 2008 cup of coffee) has Fowler posted an OPS under .750. Ajax has only done it twice, and once just barely. There is a lot of fluctuation in Ajax's stats year to year, hard to know what to expect from him. Obviously Ajax is better defensively, but even then he's been nothing more than average for a couple seasons now.

Still, I kind wish we hadn't traded Ajax.
 
Dude, I get it you don't like the guy.

But seriously, no more valuable than Ajax? who struck out 140+ times, with a .308 OBP and a .655 OPS? vs. .374 OBP and .774 OPS?

And this whole defense negates offense argument is just terrible.
Only compared the two because they posted about the same war last season. I understand you brought him up only because OBP to hit at the top of the lineup. Sadly there arent many CF who post a good OBP these days. I definitely think that they could have done better than Gose, unfortunately there most ideal option was Span.

I still argue they could have gotten any of the following. Incirate, Jennings, Stubbs, Jay/Bourjous, Gentry, Rasmus, and Revere
 
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Dude, I get it you don't like the guy.

But seriously, no more valuable than Ajax? who struck out 140+ times, with a .308 OBP and a .655 OPS? vs. .374 OBP and .774 OPS?

And this whole defense negates offense argument is just terrible.

If you count only Detroit AJ's OBP is at .332 and OPS is at .730. So it's more comparable. Can't count Seattle..
 
Last 3 years Away

A. Jackson 78.5 RC/650 .262 BAVG .320 OBP .410 SLG .730 OPS 12.6 PA/BB

D. Fowler 76.6 RC/650 .247 BAVG .351 OBP .357 SLG .708 OPS 7.5 PA/BB

R. Davis 67.5 RC/650 .260 BAVG .308 OBP .357 SLG .665 OPS 19.5 PA/BB

A. Gose 47.3 RC/650 .219 BAVG .286 OBP .297 SLG .583 OPS 12.5 PA/BB


UZR/150 Last 3 years

A. Gose 5.8

A. Jackson -3.5

R. Davis -6.9

D. Fowler -17.7


TOTAL (RC/650 + UZR/150)

A. Jackson 75.0

R. Davis 60.6

D. Fowler 58.9

A. Gose 53.1


Fowler takes a walk and that is about it. His overall offensive stats are skewed for having played in Colorado all those years. I would pay Rajai Davis his $5 Mil before Fowler's $9.5 Mil. Matt Kemp is a better option in CF over Fowler. A CFer I have ranked worse than Dexter Fowler is B.J. Upton, but not by much.

Traditionally speaking, you hardly ever see a leadoff hitter playing C, 1B, 3B, or RF. That leaves SS, 2B, LF and CF. Even LF is seldom seen as a leadoff hitter.

On the Tigers, we have Kinsler at 2B and Iglesias at SS. So, it really comes down to who we find for LF and CF. We got Cespedes for LF, that filled no particular need. That leaves CF.

There have been 32 players with at least 700 PAs leading off in the last 3 years.

OBP Rankings (not park adjusted)

4. D. Fowler .374
13. A. Jackson .346
20. I. Kinsler .332

**R. Davis = .303 OBP

Certainly Dexter Fowler would fill a team need for a bonafide leadoff hitter, but that is it. There is no value in what he does to his actual cost.
 
I use ops more myself too. Just found it weird last year that we led the AL in obp easily and yet people seemed upset because it was due to hits moreso than walks.


Anyways, player 1 was Dexter Fowler and player 2 was Adam Jones.

Yes DET lead in OBP, but where did they lead that from?

#1-2 Hitters = tied for 10th in AL with .316 OBP 24.8 PA/BB (by far the worst walk rate)

#3-6 Hitters = 1st by a large margin with .354 OBP, 20 points higher than 2nd place BOS (14.4 PA/BB)

$7-9 Hitters = 5th with .309 OBP 13.4 PA/BB


Austin Jackson had 120 PAs hitting first last season. His stats were .333 BAVG .375 OBP .477 SLG .852 OPS 20.0 PA/BB

Batting #1 R. Davis + I. Kinsler (622 PA) = .288 BAVG .319 OBP .442 SLG .761 OPS 28.3 PA/BB

Batting #2 T. Hunter + I. Kinsler = .278 BAVG .308 OBP .425 SLG .733 OPS 24.7 PA/BB

The 2014 AL average Walk Rate = 13.9 PA/BB

The 2014 AL Average Walk Rate for #1-2 hitters = 14.1 PA/BB


This was the bitch last year. It is about getting people on in front of Cabrera and Victor. It is about maximizing the efficiency of the lineup, not pretending it is good enough and not trying to improve.
 
It is so frustrating DD cannot find a decent leadoff hitter or number two hitter... Imagine how good the line-up would be with a better top of the order hitters.
 
I have to say I'm pessimistic about this team too. I hope they can at least be in the hunt late in the year to keep things fun and interesting, but I think 85 wins is about where they end up.
 
AL OBP Ranking for #1-2 Hitters last 10 years

2005 = 9th .333 OBP 15.1 PA/BB (Inge/Guillen)

2006 = 14th .331 OBP 13.7 PA/BB (Granderson/Polanco)

2007 = 3rd .363 OBP 16.7 PA/BB (Granderson/Polanco)

2008 = 3rd .355 OBP 12.0 PA/BB (Granderson/Polanco)

2009 = 13th .321 OBP 14.1 PA/BB (Granderson/Polanco)

2010 = 2nd .351 OBP 12.7 PA/BB (Jackson/Damon)

2011 = 9th .320 OBP 13.0 PA/BB (Jackson/Boesch)

2012 = 3rd .338 OBP 12.0 PA/BB (Jackson/Berry/Dirks)

2013 = 4th .339 OBP 15.8 PA/BB (Jackson/Hunter)

2014 = 10th .316 OBP 24.8 PA/BB (Kinsler/Hunter)


First Batter of the Game (OBP)

2005 = 7th .346 OBP

2006 = 4th .370 OBP

2007 = 3rd .383 OBP

2008 = 12th .278 OBP

2009 = 12th .301 OBP

2010 = 2nd .395 OBP

2011 = 10th .272 OBP

2012 = 3rd .377 OBP

2013 = 7th .315 OBP

2014 = 12th .296 OBP
 
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Last years lineup #'s vs AL ave

SPOT RUNS(AL AVE) OBP(AL AVE) OPS(AL AVE)

1 106(96) .327(.326) .773(.718)
2 103(89) .306(.318) .709(.709)
3 111(87) .366(.342) .879(.782)
4 99(79) .412(.332) .994(.757)
5 66(74) .340(.314) .808(.717)
6 74(68) .298(.300) .646(.675)
7 62(64) .318(.303) .694(.680)
8 63(63) .308(.311) .638(.680)
9 73(59) .296(.286) .638(.614)


Bold is where we were below league average.

Looking at this I see that it's obvious that the #6 and #8 spots were our biggest problems(IMO). Followed then by our #2 spot.

I expect Nick to be better his second year and we should be better at SS.
 
Looking at this I see that it's obvious that the #6 and #8 spots were our biggest problems(IMO). Followed then by our #2 spot.

I expect Nick to be better his second year and we should be better at SS.
I actually think they will be the same if not worse. I am shocked how many people actually think Iglesias will be good at the plate this year. He did miss an entire season, please go back and look what that has done to hitters in the past. Heck Victor hit .250 through to the all star break
 
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I actually think they will be the same if not worse. I am shocked how many people actually think Iglesias will be good at the plate this year. He did miss an entire season, please go back and look what that has done to hitters in the past. Heck Victor hit .250 through to the all star break


Well the bar is set incredibly low for him based on last year. I'm sure he'll be able to handle besting the .286 OBP and .579 OPS that we had from our SS's last year.
 
Well the bar is set incredibly low for him based on last year. I'm sure he'll be able to handle besting the .286 OBP and .579 OPS that we had from our SS's last year.

I hope they had him practicing his bunting over the past 15 months!
 
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