And while I was more comfortable at 2B, I found 3B to be much easier to me.

One reason why there might seem to be more 2B prospects than 3B prospects is because you can move 2B prospects to 3B, but not nessisarily 3B prospects to 2B. They require different fielding skillsets, to be honest, but a 2B is more likely to already have the skillset nessisary for 3B than a 3B to have a 2B Skillset.

Offensivly, Corner Infielders are expected to hit more than Middle Infielders. True or not, that is important when considering value. Cardenas has more value to another team if he is a 2nd Baseman than a 3rd Baseman.

As for Patterson, I don’t know what we should do with him. We’re not putting him in Left Field, he’s terrible defensivly at 2B, and he does not have the arm to play 3B. And while he has hit at AAA, he hasn’t put it together at all in the majors. Then again, he can’t be worse than Rajai offensivly, can he?

so ellis is loved because he’s great at D, but sucks at O. Hannahan is hated because he sucks at O, but is loved at D. Is there that much an expectation for a 3B/2B in O that justifies this love-hate relationship?

Think how much Swisher’s value was increased by playing 1B to go along with “three” OF positions. Now the A’s are trying to do something similar with Doolittle. Of course, learning multiple infield positions is more difficult than being a 1B/Corner OFer, as the Barton/Carter experiments have shown us, but Cardenas by most accounts has an excellent arm to go along with unspectacular range, suggesting he could be a decent 3B as opposed to a meh 2B.

I also think that organizational need should be a determining factor in where Cardenas ends up:

If Cardenas is on the A’s in 2010 the need is much greater at 3B (assuming that Ellis is more likely to be healthy than Chavez, and the A’s still have Patterson and Pennington hanging out in AAA).

If Cardenas isn’t on the A’s untill 2011 then his position of greatest impact is in part determined by Weeks’ progression. Although again, Ellis has an option.

Finally, the market for FA 2B is much more favorable than that for 3B over the next few years: Hudson, DeRosa, Iwamura, Kennedy, Sanchez and Polanco vs. Beltre, Glaus and Lowell. I don’t think the A’s will go the FA route at either of these positions, but the general scarcity of HR-hitting 3Bs creates an extra incentive to see if Cardenas can do well there.

Easy on the eyes, and very well penned. Keep ’em coming.

Curmudgeon that I am, I was all ready to bristle when you said you came “to set things right”.

But no, it was a well-presented argument, clearly communicated without jargon and obscure acronyms, and without attitude.

Well done.

My only quibble is that I’m not as confident in you are with Ellis. He’s starting to get old enough that his defense is going to fall off a cliff soon, and with his injury history, it may happen sooner rather than later. Still, Weeks is indeed in the pipeline as well, and third base is a wasteland.

Help me understand something, though. Even if second base isn’t harder to play than third base, doesn’t a second baseman who mashes the baseball have more market value than a third baseman who does? Statistics aside, what could we get more back for if we had to trade Cardenas? One who mashes at second, or one who mashes at third?

and require a different set of skills to play each. 3B requires a stronger arm, the ability to react to and field bunts, guarding the line, covering foul territory, etc. 2B requires double play pivots, handling throws from the catcher on SB attempts, going back on pop-ups more often, taking more cut-off throws, etc.

But with Cardenas, I believe the biggest concern has been arm strength. If you can’t make the throw across the diamond, you’re not much use at 3B. This is also the reason Chase Utley is not a third baseman.

My perspective is that it doesn’t need to be an “either/or” with Cardenas. He could come up as a 3Bman, where we need help and don’t have it ready, and then 2 years later shift over to 2B if the need is there, if he can excel there, if the A’s sign or trade for a quality 3Bman, etc. Getting him ready for both, and seeing how he handles both, seems like a good idea to me.