Pick Three for the 25-man

[wildcard]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

You have a tendency to minimize the offensive differences between these two players and maximize the defensive differences.

Kim: .801 OPS, .839 vs. RHP, Rtot/yr -24, Rdrs/yr -23, -17.4 UZR/150, 0.6 rWAR, 0.9 fWAR

Rickard: .696 OPS, .618 vs. RHP, Rtot/yr -18, Rdrs/yr -16, -19.7 UZR/150, -0.5 rWAR, -0.7 fWAR

It's an objective fact that Kim was a much better hitter than Rickard last year, especially vs. RHP.    You can't minimize the importance of a 220-point gap in their OPS vs. RHP.    

Meanwhile, the stats confirm your conclusion that Kim is a bad OF, but they also show Rickard was not much better.    Now, I happen to agree with you that defensive stats aren't always reliable and have to be taken with a grain of salt.   But Rickard would have to be drastically better on defense to overcome Kim's huge offensive advantage vs. RHP, and that's a very tough case to make given the numbers.   

True, But Joey had a 321/427/447/874 in 2015 in the minors.  I am not saying he will match that this year but he obvious hit righties in the minors.   If he improves just his OBP to a level close to Kim he will be a better player than Kim overall because of his other skills that are better than Kim's.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, wildcard said:

True, But Joey had a 321/427/447/874 in 2015 in the minors.  I am not saying he will match that this year but he obvious hit righties in the minors.   If he improves just his OBP to a level close to Kim he will be a better player than Kim overall because of his other skills that are better than Kim's.

That's a pretty big "if."    Kim had a .393 OBP vs. RHP, Rickard .296.     I do hope and expect that Rickard can improve that somewhat, but he'd probably need to narrow the gap from last year's 97 OBP points to something like 30 points for his other advantages to outweigh Kim's hitting advantage.   

[weams]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

That's a pretty big "if."    Kim had a .393 OBP vs. RHP, Rickard .296.     I do hope and expect that Rickard can improve that somewhat, but he'd probably need to narrow the gap from last year's 97 OBP points to something like 30 points for his other advantages to outweigh Kim's hitting advantage.   

Plus, Joey is the short end of a platoon.  For a player with limited power that is tough to make happen without some very good defense. 

[Babypowder]

14 minutes ago, wildcard said:

True, But Joey had a 321/427/447/874 in 2015 in the minors.  I am not saying he will match that this year but he obvious hit righties in the minors.   If he improves just his OBP to a level close to Kim he will be a better player than Kim overall because of his other skills that are better than Kim's.

And in 2015 Kim hit .326/.438/.541/.979 in Korea. If he improves he will further the gap even more.

Or wait, does this logic only work one way?

[weams]

3 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

And in 2015 Kim hit .326/.438/.541/.979 in Korea. If he improves he will further the gap even more.

Or wait, does this logic only work one way?

No, it works both ways. I believe they both are what they are, unless one of them goes to the Bonds, Ortiz, Bautista school of late improvement. And Korea is probably a step up from the US minors. For the most part. 

[Babypowder]

Just now, weams said:

No, it works both ways. I believe they both are what they are, unless one of them goes to the Bonds, Ortiz, Bautista school of late improvement. 

That's the most likely scenario to me too. Rickard will play the vast majority of this year at 26 years old. He's not some young prospect.

[weams]

Just now, Babypowder said:

That's the most likely scenario to me too. Rickard will play the vast majority of this year at 26 years old. He's not some young prospect.

Nor does he have any one tool that is really plus. 

[wildcard]

12 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

And in 2015 Kim hit .326/.438/.541/.979 in Korea. If he improves he will further the gap even more.

Or wait, does this logic only work one way?

I agree and I would love to see it.  I don't expect with his slam the ball to the off field approach he had last year.  Maybe he changes.  I doubt his defense gets much better.  Speed is not one of his skills.

[clapdiddy]

11 minutes ago, weams said:

Nor does he have any one tool that is really plus. 

Yup.   I think he can be a nice role player and likely for only a few years.

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, weams said:

No, it works both ways. I believe they both are what they are, unless one of them goes to the Bonds, Ortiz, Bautista school of late improvement. And Korea is probably a step up from the US minors. For the most part. 

I'm not sure Korea is a step up from AAA.   I think the talent level at AAA is probably more consistent.   Eric Thames posted three straight seasons of 1.100+ OPS in Korea.

[wildcard]

13 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

That's the most likely scenario to me too. Rickard will play the vast majority of this year at 26 years old. He's not some young prospect.

Kim 29.  Probably is what he is.  Rickard turns 26 in May.  Over 3 years younger.  He probably has not peaked yet as a hitter.

[weams]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I'm not sure Korea is a step up from AAA.   I think the talent level at AAA is probably more consistent.   Eric Thames posted three straight seasons of 1.100+ OPS in Korea.

He got a real nice MLB contract. Real nice. 

[weams]

Just now, wildcard said:

Kim 29.  Probably is what he is.  Rickard turns 26 in May.  Over 3 years younger.  He probably has not peaked yet as a hitter.

So this is his peak year?  If so, a shame. Because he will play very little in the MLB. 

[Frobby]

Both Kim and Rickard have a chance to be better in 2017 than 2016, benefiting from experience in the big leagues.    Rickard's odds of improving are probably better due to his age.    But he has a big gap to close to justify playing much vs. RHP.    It's a tall order.  

[weams]

Just now, Frobby said:

Both Kim and Rickard have a chance to be better in 2017 than 2016, benefiting from experience in the big leagues.    Rickard's odds of improving are probably better due to his age.    But he has a big gap to close to justify playing much vs. RHP.    It's a tall order.  

I'm not convinced he will get much chance at the MLB level to show that this season.