Nick Green Is Not the Answer
December 7, 2009 at 8:55 am | Posted in Chin-Lung Hu, Nick Green | 6 Comments(Note #1: yes, I know these are just rumors. I don’t want to have to write that on every blog post. But what’s the point of having a blog dedicated to one team if I can’t comment on each little rumor that comes down?)
(Note #2: there’s going to be a ton of Dodger-related rumors coming out over the next few days as the winter meetings reign. I won’t be writing up ALL of them here, but they will all get mentioned on the MSTI Twitter. Follow today!
Unless the question is, “I’ll take over-30, poor-hitting, mediocre-fielding backup infielders for $800,000, Alex!” From the Twitter of Yahoo’s Tim Brown:
Dodgers met with agent for infielder Nick Green, exploring backup possibilities.
I hope that means they’re exploring possibilities for backup infielder, and not backup possibilities to not getting Nick Green, because I assume that would be some sort of amputee situation.
If you don’t know much about Green, that’s because you shouldn’t. This is a guy who is 31 and has played for five teams in parts of five seasons, almost entirely as a backup. In 2009, he was pressed into service as Boston’s starting shortstop for nearly half the season thanks to a multitude of injuries, and responded with a pretty bad .236/.303/.366 line. That’s not even a case of a guy being exposed due to too much playing time; that mirrors exactly his career line of .239/.307/.352. Even in over 3000 PA appearances in the minors, his OBP is just .324. “Getting on base” is clearly not Nick Green’s strength, no matter where he plays.
“But hey,” you might say. “He’s a shortstop, so if he really can’t hit, he must be a whiz with the glove, right?” You’d say that, and you’d be wrong. For his entire career, he’s a whopping 0.6 fielding runs above average. That’s not horrible, but nor is it an asset.
So please, enlighten me. When you’re trying to come up with backup infielders, paying Nick Green more than you’d have to pay Chin-Lung Hu to be 5 years older, a far inferior fielder, and a likely inferior batter (Hu at least has a .342 OBP in the minors, and at his age still has time to improve) makes sense in what way exactly?
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I figure this is a case of overvaluing a “veteran.” Certainly the Dodgers aren’t the only team that does this. A known commodity is worth more than an “unknown” (read: young) commodity, even to the point of absurdity. Well, he sucks but at least we know just how much we sucks.
That, and teams really dig on players that can play all infield positions. It’s like Mark DeRosa. Part of his value, at least in popular media discourse, is that he can play tons of positions. But he doesn’t play any of them well. The idea alone that he can stand at third base and second in the same game has probably made him a few more million bucks than he’d get otherwise.
The irony of course is that the Dodgers are apparently too terrified that Wolf or Hudson will accept arb, or that god forbid they’d have to draft more players, but have no problem potentially paying an extra half mil for a replacement level player.
Comment by gklarsen— December 7, 2009 #
[...] options here. First it was 35-year-old Jamey Carroll, who’s at least not without his virtues. Then it was 31-year-old Nick Green, who can’t really hit and isn’t a big asset with the glove. What horror awaits us [...]
Pingback by Geez, At Least Nick Green is Ambulatory « Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness— December 7, 2009 #
[...] rumor, I responded anyway, since the Hot Stove has been lukewarm at best. I was, to put it mildly, not impressed: If you don’t know much about Green, that’s because you shouldn’t. This is a guy who is 31 [...]
Pingback by Death Match: Nick Green vs. Chin-Lung Hu « Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness— January 11, 2010 #
[...] have to talk about something. Whether it’s been bemoaning the signing of the old and busted Nick Green or Angel Berroa, wishing that Felipe Lopez had been signed (it’s not too late!), trying to [...]
Pingback by Casey Blake, Backup Shortstop? « Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness— February 25, 2010 #
[...] I’ve actually written about “Green vs. Hu” several times, initially when the first rumors about Green arriving came early last December: If you don’t know much about Green, that’s because you shouldn’t. This is a guy who is 31 [...]
Pingback by It’s Like They Just Never Learn « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— May 4, 2010 #
[...] this is how I spoke of him when we first heard rumors: If you don’t know much about Green, that’s because you shouldn’t. This is a guy who is 31 [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Second Base « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— October 20, 2010 #