Defending Austin

by PhDBrian on Aug 13, 2009 12:10 AM EDT

Austin Kearns is just about the most overpaid player in baseball, and I have heard many calls for him to be released lately, but he is not without positive value for this team. So I am arguing we should just let him ride out his contract on the bench. I went out and looked at fangraphs data today and right now Kearns has generated more value than Dukes for this franchise this season in fewer at bats. How is this possible? Well Kearns actually does two very important, but highly underrated things, well: avoid outs and play his position. Kearns has an above average onbase percentage of .336 (Dukes ,314). That ranks better than 9 AL franchises and 11 NL franchises. His UZR/150 as a RF in fan graphs is a positive 4.1 and it is his worst year ever for that stat. Zero is completely average. Dukes is 1.0 thus far in RF. Kearns also is an intelligent baserunner who lacks speed. Which is to say he rarely makes mistakes on the basepaths unlike Dukes (fast and stupid). Kearn's big, huge, epic, beyond belief weakness is an absolute total lack of power (slg .306). Which, granted, is huge. Nonetheless I do not think he deserves to be outright cut, but rather be a bench player who can avoid outs and play a good defense in right field until his contract runs out. You could do alot worse on your bench.

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You forgot the intangibles!

Besides…Padilla is on the bench…

Padilla walked into the Nats' clubhouse for the first time and said, "My God. I'm in heaven."

by Mezza on Aug 13, 2009 1:12 AM EDT reply actions

Little chance Kearns get arrested for beating his X girlfriend and not paying Child Support

His intangibles are solid assuming he agrees that guys who slug .306 do not get to start in baseball.

"What you know is often the enemy of what you can learn" Bill James

by PhDBrian on Aug 13, 2009 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions

As for Padilla

Really great story, but he is not good enough to start, is not a long term answer due to his age, and we would not have to eat $8 million if we cut him. Otherwise, I like Padilla.

"What you know is often the enemy of what you can learn" Bill James

by PhDBrian on Aug 13, 2009 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree that it would be useless to cut Kearns...

He’ll be back soon from his hand issue. Plus, the rosters expand in September, so it won’t be like he’s keeping a spot from anybody else.

AAA season ends on 9/7, so it won’t be taking away at-bats to bring up a few guys and let them experience the show.

by RoscoeNats on Aug 13, 2009 8:09 AM EDT reply actions

He's also been unlucky...

…his batting average on balls-in-play (BABIP) is generally much lower than you’d expect for someone who hits the ball as hard he does. He seems to have an uncanny knack for avoiding gaps. Normally you’d expect this to regress to the mean and turn into a hot streak at some point, but the combination of thumb issues, reduced playing time, and throwing away Eckstein’s jeenyus modifications to his approach seem to have left us stuck with teh suck at the plate (aside from the above-average batting eye, that is).

"If somebody hasn't seen me, I try to leave a good impression on their mind, so they come back to enjoy this beautiful game of baseball." --Tony Plush

by Doghouse on Aug 13, 2009 8:59 AM EDT reply actions

by PhDBrian on Aug 13, 2009 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions

He is not very good

but he is better than bad. Personally, I think he is better than Millage, and the Bucos are starting Millage. If we just cut him then we still have to pay him, and that is a total waste.

"What you know is often the enemy of what you can learn" Bill James

by PhDBrian on Aug 13, 2009 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions