Orioles Discussing Four-Year Deal With Nick Markakis (Signs w/ATL)

[Dark Helmet]

Range is a pretty huge factor. How does he look in range?

If he's below average in range I don't see how anyone could call him overall an above average fielder.

Catching the balls you do get to. Cal never had the range, was he a below average SS?

[eddie83]

Do defensive metrics have road/home splits?

It seems to me Nick plays the wall so well at home that it mitigates some of his range issues. I think he has more issues going back on balls to his right then his left. It seems to me he does better going towards the line. There are some balls that fall in front of him.

[Can_of_corn]

Catching the balls you do get to. Cal never had the range, was he a below average SS?

Cal's positioning made up for his lack of range.

Do you think Nick is great at positioning?

[Can_of_corn]

Do defensive metrics have road/home splits?

It seems to me Nick plays the wall so well at home that it mitigates some of his range issues. I think he has more issues going back on balls to his right then his left. It seems to me he does better going towards the line. There are some balls that fall in front of him.

Sure they do.

Was a big tadoo a few years ago that both Nick and Adam scored significantly higher on the road then at home. Theory went that the wall in right played a factor.

[MurphDogg]

If his defense regresses to 2012-13 levels and his offense stays where it as, he's a 1 WAR player.

This is not accurate. In this scenario he would be about a 1.5 WAR player.

[RVAbird]

Cal's positioning made up for his lack of range.

Do you think Nick is great at positioning?

In addition to positioning, there is a lot more that a shortstop can do to make up for less-than-stellar range than an outfielder can. Footwork, intuition, arm strength and accuracy are much more more important at short. Shortstops have to do a lot more than just catch the balls they get to.

[mdbdotcom]

I would like to see the numbers for an average right fielder. Take all the numbers and come up with an average.

Most right fielders aren't very good. Calhoun and Nava are exceptions. Of all the qualifying AL right fielders in 2014, Calhoun was the only one with positive DWAR. Is it possible that Nick is "average" or "just below average" when compared with all outfielders, but "pretty good" compared with other right fielders?

Also, does the fact that he compiled his defensive numbers while playing 200 more innings in RF than any other AL player mitigate the stinkiness of those numbers a little bit? Put some other guys out there for as many innings as Nick played in RF and they might really put up some lousy numbers, or does it not work that way?

[AlbionHero]

I'd be interested to see the numbers on Cal. He didn't have great range but they say he positioned himself very well and made up for it by doing that.

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2014&month=0&season1=1871&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=20,d

He was the 5th best defender of all time according to Fangraphs

[CA-ORIOLE]

Catching the balls you do get to. Cal never had the range, was he a below average SS?

The best metric we have for Cal is Total Zone. which shows him to be an elite defensive shortstop. Certainly well above average by any means. The same metric shows Nick as mediocre as does both DRS and UZR. It's a lot harder for an outfielder to use positioning than an infielder and sure handedness for an infielder is much more valuable attribute than for an outfielder.

The Cal versus Nick stuff is fairly meaningless.

[MurphDogg]

Thanks for the correction. The thought remains the same even though I'm .5 off.

Yep, if he regresses in one area while staying the same in another area his WAR will go down. You are so very wise.

[Dark Helmet]

Cal's positioning made up for his lack of range.

Do you think Nick is great at positioning?

I do remember Nick getting a lot of credit for his positioning during telecasts. And imo, I think he does a good job positioning himself.

[Can_of_corn]

I do remember Nick getting a lot of credit for his positioning during telecasts. And imo, I think he does a good job positioning himself.

So good.

Not great.

Thanks for being honest.

[Dark Helmet]

The best metric we have for Cal is Total Zone. which shows him to be an elite defensive shortstop. Certainly well above average by any means. The same metric shows Nick as mediocre as does both DRS and UZR. It's a lot harder for an outfielder to use positioning than an infielder and sure handedness for an infielder is much more valuable attribute than for an outfielder.

The Cal versus Nick stuff is fairly meaningless.

Wasn trying to compare the two. Cal didn't have the range of say Jeter. Doesn't mean Jeter was better. Nicks slow, but that doesn't mean he's a horrible fielder. Im not a sabermetrician, so those stats are meaningless to me. Sorry.

[Dark Helmet]

So good.

Not great.

Thanks for being honest.

im not going to say he's an elite fielder. I just don't think he's as bad as metrics make him out to be. Thats all im saying.

[weams]

The best metric we have for Cal is Total Zone. which shows him to be an elite defensive shortstop. Certainly well above average by any means. The same metric shows Nick as mediocre as does both DRS and UZR. It's a lot harder for an outfielder to use positioning than an infielder and sure handedness for an infielder is much more valuable attribute than for an outfielder.

The Cal versus Nick stuff is fairly meaningless.

You and I agree here.