Eckstein on White Sox radar
I was in St. Louis this weekend with some friends, and when I’m there the conversation invariably turns to the Cardinals.
The people of that city love their Cardinals. And they love their scrappy little intangible-filled shortstop by the name of David Eckstein.
When I returned home today, I found this article in the Chicago Sun-Times.
St. Louis Cardinals free agent- to-be David Eckstein (above) is becoming target No. 1 on the Sox’ offseason wish list. He would give them a leadoff hitter with a career .349 on-base percentage and a sure-handed shortstop. Plus, he and Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski worked together last offseason in a feud for TNA Wrestling. Team Eckstein won.
Let me make a few things clear here. Eckstein’s vaunted .349 career OBP is about 15 points higher than the league average.
His .357 career slugging percentage is about 63 points below league average.
When he throws from short to first he looks like he needs to sit down and take a break afterward because of all the strain such an effort puts on him.
The 5-foot-7, 177-pound Eckstein has a positional Marginal Lineup Value (PMLV) of -7.4. Basically, this tells us how many runs are contributed by a batter beyond what an average player at the same position would produce in a team of otherwise league-average hitters. You can read more about this stat here.
There are other stats I can throw at you to prove the point, but to do so would be overkill.
The Sox don’t need intangibles. They don’t need “veteran” leadership.
They need players who will improve the team’s league low .711 OPS. Or their .395 team slugging percentage, which is better than only Kansas City’s .390.
Moving from Juan Uribe’s -14.1 PMLV to Eckstein’s -7.4 at least shows that the team wants to improve, but I have a feeling they could do better for cheaper.
Intangibles and experience are expensive non-assets these days.
Just, out.