Of course Ozzie should be in the Hall of Fame. One of the few primarily defense players worthy of that distinction.Famous Mortimer wrote: ↑November 30 22, 4:48 pmDo you think Ozzie Smith should be in the Hall of Fame?MrCrowesGarden wrote: ↑November 30 22, 1:17 pmI don't know if this answers your question, but I think defense by and large is overrated. Some guys are better at it, some are worse, but there's only so much you can gain by being an S-tier defender, and it's less than can be gained by being a behemoth with the bat. Whether it's Edman or Bader or Dejong, we've seen players with WAR totals that look anywhere from acceptable to good but who are borderline unplayable when the bat is miserable. AFA the game-winning hit thing goes: I guess them's the breaks? Surely it's happened to Edman or Arenado or Ozzie or any other elite fielder too.
I do agree that it's unlikely the Cardinals will look to address shortstop. Edman is fine so long as he's batting at the bottom of the lineup because he is a good defender with good speed. I really don't get the holding a place open for Masyn Winn.
Like I said, I don't want to watch a team of defenders either, but it does win games from time to time. By the same token, surely everyone is borderline unplayable when the bat is miserable?
The problem with all these arguments is, Edman was fine with the bat last year too. 108 wRC+, decent walk and strikeout rates, best baserunning shortstop...if that's your number 9, then you're winning 110 games.
The reason I say Edman is a perfect 9 hitter in a DH system is that he still doesn't really get on base all that greatly and doesn't hit for much power, but he plays great defense and has enough speed to get himself into scoring position when he does reach. Thankfully he came on at the end of the season to rebound from that terrible slump, but my broader point was it's easier to hide defensive shortcomings than offensive ones.
emoji for emphasis.
