Fahey looked great at shortstop last night!

[Sports Guy]

I agree with you.

I am not campaigning for Fahey for SS.

I just don't buy into the notion that a very good defensive SS can't be justified. On this team- as it is now stinks with a great SS. So, if the view is long term (finally) than who cares who mans shortstop in the short term ?

Getting a SS (Aybar) in a deal for Tejada is ideal. But, what is plan B or C when the ideal trade isn't or can't be made. What I said earlier is- my goal in a Tejada deal wouldnt be to get a SS back - it would be nice, but my goal would be the best players I could get.

Sure it can be...But why does he also have to be a poor hitting SS?

We should be looking for a combination of good defense and good hitting. Not one or the other(unless it is a DH)

[Sports Guy]

BTW, when did Fahey turn into a GG caliber SS?

You guys are talking about him as if he could make the HOF due to his defense, ala Ozzie Smith. I have seen some throws in the dirt from him.

I agree that he has good range and good hands and is likely above average but we are not talking about Belanger-esque defensive ability here.

[hoosiers]

Why does everyone say "Great offensive teams can afford a .650 hitter at SS" but not one single poster has proposed that we develop a great offense so that we can have a top defensive SS? Don't we expect Markakis to be a very good hitter? Don't we expect Reimold to be a big time power hitter? With a free agent bopper or two or some quality offense received in a trade, I could easily see us having a top offense in two to four years.

As we are experiencing now, it is a lot easier to build a strong offense around a quality producer at SS, but there are many, many ways to build a very competitive team - including ones with Brandon Fahey as a starting SS.

[Sports Guy]

Your post contains more words than thought.

It also contained the correct answer.

[Avsfan]

Why does everyone say "Great offensive teams can afford a .650 hitter at SS" but not one single poster has proposed that we develop a great offense so that we can have a top defensive SS? Don't we expect Markakis to be a very good hitter? Don't we expect Reimold to be a big time power hitter? With a free agent bopper or two or some quality offense received in a trade, I could easily see us having a top offense in two to four years.

As we are experiencing now, it is a lot easier to build a strong offense around a quality producer at SS, but there are many, many ways to build a very competitive team - including ones with Brandon Fahey as a starting SS.

Those pieces have to be in place before we could even consider that happening. Get me some big bats, and we'll talk.

[Avsfan]

BTW, I'd like to see Eric Aybars OPS adjusted by league and park to see just how good he really is offensively as a prospect. Put Fahey in Salt Lake City and he might have an .800 OPS too.

Aybar gets on base over 35% of the time...Fahey is around 31%. OBP is 2/3 more important than SLG.

[Sports Guy]

Aybar gets on base over 35% of the time...Fahey is around 31%. OBP is 2/3 more important than SLG.

Not to mention Aybar is a speed merchant and he doesn't strike out that much...He has some pop in his bat but i do not think the park he plays in will be a big deal....I think that is more of a concern for Brandon Wood than it is for Aybar or even Kotchman.

[RShack]

Bingo...The best team possible does not have Fahey as a starter.

I agree. I *like* Fahey. I am *not* dissing Fahey. Sooner or later, some injury to somebody will let us see what happens when he plays everyday. But it's crazy to *plan* on him playing everyday.

All we need is somebody with a good-enough glove and a pretty-good power bat at 1B, and we've got about the best IF in baseball. People shouldn't go messing with that. And they *especially* shouldn't go messing with it over a hard-playing underdog kid who makes a good team mascot...

[osfan83]

WE could increase Gibbons offensive "value" by putting him at SS.

[DrungoHazewood]

Here's an advantage of having an all-field, no-hit shortstop like Fahey: If he gets hurt for a couple months you just plug in Eddy Garabito or Chris Gomez or Mike Moriarty or any of 200 other guys just like that and you lose essentially nothing. Lose a great-hitting shortstop and replace him with Chris Gomez and you've just dropped 4, 5, 6 games in the standings.

Shortstops tend to get hurt more than DHs or first basemen, so you're less likely to suffer a catastrophic injury.

[Sports Guy]

He might be a speed merchant but he's not expert. He gets caught a lot. He has 17 SB and 9 CS this year. Last year it was 49 & 23. The year before it was 51 & 36. He could get better but I'm not sure his basestealing ability is a weapon just yet.

How can you say the ballpark is not a factor? When you say he has pop, much of that pop may have to do with where he as played as far as league and home park.

Yea, he needs to improve those base stealing skills BUT that has nothing to do with his ability to get on base because of his speed, which was my point(think CPat).

As for his other numbers, his homers may be inflated some but he is a gap to gap hitter and with his speed and line drive stroke, i am not too worried about the ballparks helping his doubles and triples too much.

[Mackus]

So Eddy Garabito & Brandon Fahey are essentially the same player to you?

They are to me. Fahey is bit better, but there really isn't much difference.

[66-70-83-??]

Here's an advantage of having an all-field, no-hit shortstop like Fahey: If he gets hurt for a couple months you just plug in Eddy Garabito or Chris Gomez or Mike Moriarty or any of 200 other guys just like that and you lose essentially nothing. Lose a great-hitting shortstop and replace him with Chris Gomez and you've just dropped 4, 5, 6 games in the standings.

Shortstops tend to get hurt more than DHs or first basemen, so you're less likely to suffer a catastrophic injury.

Why didn't you tell Earl and Whitey that ?

They might have won a few more each if you were around to council them.

Tell Jim, Dave, Mike, and Pat that they didn't need the Blade- they might have won 4,5, or 6 more with a better hitting SS.

[Mackus]

And you've seen Eddy Garabito play SS how many times?

Zero

The point is that unless Fahey is so far advanced defensively that he's one of the best in the league (which I don't think he is) that he's essentially the same as any other decent-fielding, light-hitting utility infielder. He's better than Chris Gomez, but not by much, replace Fahey with Gomez for a year and you probably lose one or two more games. Replace Tejada with Fahey, and you probably lose a half a dozen games at least.

[DrungoHazewood]

So Eddy Garabito & Brandon Fahey are essentially the same player to you?

Yes they are. I know Fahey is everyone's favorite hustling little skinny guy with a good glove, but every team has three or four of these guys in the organization.

I'm not trying to be callous, but turn over the nearest log and four Brandon Faheys scurry out.