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It's been a decade now since Scott Rolen was unceremoniously traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Placido Polanco, Bud Smith and Mike Timlin. Although Smith was considered a decent prospect who had success in the minors and already had MLB experience (even a no-hitter) at the early age of 21, Polanco was the only legitimate player in the return. Bud was basically out of baseball by the age of 26 and never threw an inning in MLB after the trade. Timlin was simply an aging bullpen arm.
I'm sure most of us (if not all) are aware of the situation with David Bell, Polanco and Chase Utley. Chase was ready for the show by 2005, and since Bell was in the middle of a 4-year deal - and Placido was in his last, the Phils figured it best to simply move Polanco as opposed to Bell while eating a portion of David's salary. In retrospect, I'm sure they would have done differently as they began eating some bad contracts only a few seasons later.
But since the 2002 season, offensive production has been brutal from the 3B position. Here's a list of those who played a decent portion of games there and their overall production based on OPS (On Base + Slug Pctgs) and OPS+ (relative to the league along with park factors).
To call this lackluster would be quite an understatement. To be fair, unlike most teams, the Phils have gotten their 3B-type production from 2B with Chase in the lineup. But even if these were translated to 2B performance levels, they're below average - and not as forgiving now that Utley's on bad legs and can't be counted on with confidence as in the past.
The FA class at 3B this year is full of 35+ year olds who are in decline and/or facing durability issues, or players closer to 30 that are nothing more than fringe MLers or bench players.
Free Agents - Third Basemen
Miguel Cairo (39)
Eric Chavez (35)
Mark DeRosa (38)
Alberto Gonzalez (30)
Orlando Hudson (35)
Brandon Inge (36)
Maicer Izturis (32)
Adam Kennedy (37)
Jeff Keppinger (33)
Jose Lopez (29)
Casey McGehee (30)
Placido Polanco (37)
Scott Rolen (38)
Drew Sutton (30)
Ty Wigginton (35)
Kevin Youkilis (34)
source: mlbtraderumors.com
Taking a look at players who are possibly available after the 2013 season, I see only David Wright or maybe Martin Prado as possibilities. But, the Mets will either try to lock Wright up to a long-term deal or trade him by the deadline if they're out of things to a team who may feel can extend him. Prado will likely be playing 3B next year in place of Chipper Jones. He's played there in the past, but we'll see this coming season if he can do it every day. If he succeeds, there's always the chance the Braves resign him before he can make it to free agency.
So, looking at fixes via free agency, I'm sure we'll be hearing Kevin Youkilis' name quite often this winter. On the good side, he's coming off his worse season so might come at a bit of a "discount" in terms of dollars and/or years. But, it could also mean the beginning of a straight decline and we've seen how those contracts pan out when we we think of Raul Ibanez and Polanco.
It's a tough spot to be in. Is Cody Asche the definite 3B by the end of 2013? We'll know once we see how he fares against AAA pitching and what he looks like in ST in Florida. Franco showed solid promise but he's so far away that he can't be counted on yet whatsoever until he reaches higher levels. These seem to be the three options:
1) Sign a free agent - likely Youkilis
2) Go with a platoon of Freddy Galvis and Kevin Frandsen
3) Make a trade
Option three will be fairly difficult as there are a few teams in need of a 3B, and most have better prospects to move in a deal. So, that brings us to option 1 & 2 as the most likely scenarios with a free agent acquisition less likely if the Phils go over the top in replacing the outfield using the same avenue as they will be strapped against the tax line. As much as I like Galvis' glove, he is coming off a major issue with his back and was a very weak hitter even with some "help". And I can't get too excited from Frandsen's small sample as he's pretty much been a utility guy his whole career, and it's not likely he'd suddently become a reliable everyday player at the age of 31.
I'm sure most of us (if not all) are aware of the situation with David Bell, Polanco and Chase Utley. Chase was ready for the show by 2005, and since Bell was in the middle of a 4-year deal - and Placido was in his last, the Phils figured it best to simply move Polanco as opposed to Bell while eating a portion of David's salary. In retrospect, I'm sure they would have done differently as they began eating some bad contracts only a few seasons later.
But since the 2002 season, offensive production has been brutal from the 3B position. Here's a list of those who played a decent portion of games there and their overall production based on OPS (On Base + Slug Pctgs) and OPS+ (relative to the league along with park factors).
Code:
OPS OPS+ 2003 David Bell .579 57 Tomas Perez .698 87 2004 David Bell .821 107 2005 David Bell .671 72 2006 David Bell .743 87 Abraham Nunez .577 47 2007 Abraham Nunez .600 55 Greg Dobbs .780 96 Wes Helms .665 69 2008 Pedro Feliz .705 82 2009 Pedro Feliz .694 82 2010 Placido Polanco .726 94 2011 Placido Polanco .674 85 2012 Placido Polanco .629 70 Ty Wigginton .688 85 Kevin Frandsen .834 124
The FA class at 3B this year is full of 35+ year olds who are in decline and/or facing durability issues, or players closer to 30 that are nothing more than fringe MLers or bench players.
Free Agents - Third Basemen
Miguel Cairo (39)
Eric Chavez (35)
Mark DeRosa (38)
Alberto Gonzalez (30)
Orlando Hudson (35)
Brandon Inge (36)
Maicer Izturis (32)
Adam Kennedy (37)
Jeff Keppinger (33)
Jose Lopez (29)
Casey McGehee (30)
Placido Polanco (37)
Scott Rolen (38)
Drew Sutton (30)
Ty Wigginton (35)
Kevin Youkilis (34)
source: mlbtraderumors.com
Taking a look at players who are possibly available after the 2013 season, I see only David Wright or maybe Martin Prado as possibilities. But, the Mets will either try to lock Wright up to a long-term deal or trade him by the deadline if they're out of things to a team who may feel can extend him. Prado will likely be playing 3B next year in place of Chipper Jones. He's played there in the past, but we'll see this coming season if he can do it every day. If he succeeds, there's always the chance the Braves resign him before he can make it to free agency.
So, looking at fixes via free agency, I'm sure we'll be hearing Kevin Youkilis' name quite often this winter. On the good side, he's coming off his worse season so might come at a bit of a "discount" in terms of dollars and/or years. But, it could also mean the beginning of a straight decline and we've seen how those contracts pan out when we we think of Raul Ibanez and Polanco.
It's a tough spot to be in. Is Cody Asche the definite 3B by the end of 2013? We'll know once we see how he fares against AAA pitching and what he looks like in ST in Florida. Franco showed solid promise but he's so far away that he can't be counted on yet whatsoever until he reaches higher levels. These seem to be the three options:
1) Sign a free agent - likely Youkilis
2) Go with a platoon of Freddy Galvis and Kevin Frandsen
3) Make a trade
Option three will be fairly difficult as there are a few teams in need of a 3B, and most have better prospects to move in a deal. So, that brings us to option 1 & 2 as the most likely scenarios with a free agent acquisition less likely if the Phils go over the top in replacing the outfield using the same avenue as they will be strapped against the tax line. As much as I like Galvis' glove, he is coming off a major issue with his back and was a very weak hitter even with some "help". And I can't get too excited from Frandsen's small sample as he's pretty much been a utility guy his whole career, and it's not likely he'd suddently become a reliable everyday player at the age of 31.
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