The team, as presently constructed, is totally reliant on Fielder and Braun.
Excellent post Robert, and thank you for putting up the splits. The 2B numbers don't surprise me at all because Weeks had an .857 OPS and Lopez had a .855 OPS (and .407 OPB). While Escobar is no lock to be better offensively than Hardy, it's highly unlikely that he will be worse - chances are he will be slightly better. The other thing is that while Hardy is a good defensive SS, Escobar is even better - like someone else said they improved defensively at SS. It's also highly likely that they will be better offensively at C whether that means bringing in someone else or just giving Kendall fewer ABs. A full season of Gamel/McGehee at 3B will likely be better than what they got in 2009.
While the difference between Cam and Gomez might not equal one pitcher, what they are trying to do is replace two pitchers - if they replace both Looper and Suppan with guys who average a 4.50 ERA, over 360 innings (average of 180 each - Loop and Sup combined for 355 innings last year) that amounts to 28 fewer earned runs. If they average a 4.00 ERA it amounts to 48 fewer earned runs over 360 innings. By saving $13-15M in this deal combined with dumping Looper and Weathers, that leaves over $20M to spend on pitching, which should get you good enough arms to save over 30 runs. I don't think the difference between Cam and Gomez is much more than 30 runs.
Excellent post Robert, and thank you for putting up the splits. The 2B numbers don't surprise me at all because Weeks had an .857 OPS and Lopez had a .855 OPS (and .407 OPB). While Escobar is no lock to be better offensively than Hardy, it's highly unlikely that he will be worse - chances are he will be slightly better. The other thing is that while Hardy is a good defensive SS, Escobar is even better - like someone else said they improved defensively at SS. It's also highly likely that they will be better offensively at C whether that means bringing in someone else or just giving Kendall fewer ABs. A full season of Gamel/McGehee at 3B will likely be better than what they got in 2009.
While the difference between Cam and Gomez might not equal one pitcher, what they are trying to do is replace two pitchers - if they replace both Looper and Suppan with guys who average a 4.50 ERA, over 360 innings (average of 180 each - Loop and Sup combined for 355 innings last year) that amounts to 28 fewer earned runs. If they average a 4.00 ERA it amounts to 48 fewer earned runs over 360 innings. By saving $13-15M in this deal combined with dumping Looper and Weathers, that leaves over $20M to spend on pitching, which should get you good enough arms to save over 30 runs. I don't think the difference between Cam and Gomez is much more than 30 runs.
