Austin Riley currently ranks dead last in OOA. Not among 3B, that’s every single player in MLB.
While he is more or less average on plays to his right or left, he is a staggering -8 on plays “In” (I believe these are balls where he is charging in to field and throw). That specific weakness signals a lack of athleticism which isn’t something that can be fixed.
How does everyone else feel about this? I am under no illusion that he’s Arenado, but as a casual fan I would have assumed he would be closer to average (and I think he was actually quite good last year). If Riley is truly this bad at 3B then I wonder what position the Braves can play him at. 1B isn’t an option. I’m not sure he has the body type to play outfield (though he was pretty decent back in 2019).
Update on this 2 weeks later. In June, Riley has been +3 OOA, including +2 on balls “in”. Fun travels into the world of small defensive sample sizes.
Woof - Remember when people wanted to spend money on pitchers like Grienke?
Can't wait till Strider settles in - Rotation is stacked as some of us were saying from the beginning of ST.
what the heck man.. we are razor thin at pitching right now. imagine this team with a 4 week DL stint from anyone of our 4 main starters.
What would William Contreras get back in a trade?
Not advocating we actually trade him considering our need for cheap controllable players. But there is this concept of selling high and I can’t imagine his stock being higher at the moment.
There probably isn’t a player available that would entice me enough, but it’s a fun thought exercise considering we have limited trade assets.
That would all depend on how scouts view his positional aptitude moving forward. If he is viewed as a legitimate catcher, or at least someone that can catch 2-3 times a week, then I think he could be a 40M surplus value range.
Also highly depends on good his bat is going to be. His brother has been a consistent 2+ WAR player and will have made 22 million in total before he's set to become a free agent at the end of the year. His surplus value after year 1 would have been well over 70 million. I don't think it's outlandish to think William will have a similar evaluation after this year.
William and TDA are 2.3 fWAR combined, and both are gonna be here next season. There's no way in hell I'd trade Contreras unless we feel it's total luck
What would William Contreras get back in a trade?
Not advocating we actually trade him considering our need for cheap controllable players. But there is this concept of selling high and I can’t imagine his stock being higher at the moment.
There probably isn’t a player available that would entice me enough, but it’s a fun thought exercise considering we have limited trade assets.
William and TDA are 2.3 fWAR combined, and both are gonna be here next season. There's no way in hell I'd trade Contreras unless we feel it's total luck
I mean once Langliers was traded I think it pretty much set in stone that the team is going to give Contreras every opportunity to be the catcher of the future.
Don't sleep on him in LF 2-3 games a week while TDA continues to the revolving door of 'primary' veteran catchers.
I've said that I think Contreras needs to be in the lineup every 4 out of 5 games. When TDA is healthy he should be the starting catcher right now. I'd have Contreras catch when TDA needs a day off and then have him in LF or DH in the other games. Whether it's Contreras or Ozuna in LF I don't really care at this point. Harris and Acuna will play good defense in the other outfield spots.