Athletics Nation - A's acquire Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar for John Jaso, Daniel Robertson, and Boog PowellAn SB Nation blog for Oakland Athletics fanshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47025/an-fave.png2015-01-20T13:34:52-08:00http://www.athleticsnation.com/rss/stream/72893342015-01-20T13:34:52-08:002015-01-20T13:34:52-08:00Ben Zobrist infographic from Fox Sports<img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cNFNYyuZ1VWhAoArsMmokD_YK7s=/410x410/cdn.vox-cdn.com/fan_shot_images/371278/011915-JABO-Zobrist1-17-15.vadapt.955.high.0.jpg" />
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>A visual interpretation of how awesome Ben Zobrist has been in his career, created by David Golebiewski for Fox Sports. For a larger version, here's the link to the original story: http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/oakland-athletics-ben-zobrist-star-or-complementary-lineup-piece-012015</p></p></div>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/20/7862363/ben-zobrist-infographic-from-fox-sportsAlex Hall2015-01-19T17:21:20-08:002015-01-19T17:21:20-08:00Ben Zobrist Q&A with Daniel Russell of DRaysBay
<figure>
<img alt="ZORILLAAAAAAA!!!!!!!" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uazAbu9HIPydh5q5IFaa2O5h_zc=/0x0:2118x1412/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45498680/usa-today-8090777.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>ZORILLAAAAAAA!!!!!!! | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He can do everything on the field, but can he cook?</p> <p>After the Oakland Athletics completed their recent trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, I asked Daniel Russell of <a href="http://www.draysbay.com/" target="_blank">DRaysBay</a> a few questions about Yunel Escobar and Ben Zobrist. Then Escobar got flipped away to the Washington Nationals for reliever Tyler Clippard, so now we don't really need to know anything about him. Here is the remaining half of the Q&A, for your enjoyment, with a bit of extra commentary to beef things up after the departure of Yunel!</p>
<p><b>1. Ben Zobrist is known for playing many positions. At which position do you think he plays his best defense? And at which others would you say he's above-average?</b></p>
<p>DR: Zobrist is above-average at the outfield corners, and competent anywhere in the infield, but he's a gem at second base. When the season is over, and you think back on 2015, my expectation is you won't be able to pick out a moment or bad feeling about Zobrist's defense, whether it's with an outfielder's glove or hunkering down on the infield dirt.</p>
<p>If it helps, I've always thought of Zo as an incredible second baseman whose instincts could carry him at center field if they needed to.</p>
<p><i>Alex's stat check: The defensive metrics jibe with Daniel's take. Both UZR and DRS give Zobrist excellent marks at second base, though DRS thinks he's fallen off a bit in two of the last three years. They also favor him greatly in the outfield corners, though DRS has soured on him in right lately. He has actually improved at shortstop over the years, which could be a product of experience or could just be a reminder that these stats can fluctuate in samples of only a couple hundred innings per season. He's also graded out as roughly average in center field. So, perhaps he is indeed an acceptable backup option at short and center, though I still wouldn't rely on him every day in either spot.</i></p>
<p><b>2. Zobrist's career splits slightly favor him as a right-handed batter (against lefties), but only barely. Did you generally feel more confident in him from one side or the other, or was it the same either way?</b></p>
<p>DR: This man is the textbook definition of consistent, and that carries over from his defensive ability to offense. I was never worried about Zo from either side, which is part of what made batting him high in the order so much fun. He's a comfortable bet batting near the top of the order because no relievers are going to scare you with him on deck.</p>
<p><i>Alex's stat check: Listed below are a few splits for Zobrist. First, his career platoon splits.</i></p>
<p><i>Zobrist career, vs. RHP: .254/.350/.421, .771 OPS<br>Zobrist career, vs. LHP: .285/.363/.447, .810 OPS</i></p>
<p><i>As Daniel suggested, Zobrist can handle pitchers of both hands. He's been slightly better against lefties, but it's close enough to consider him even. Are there any recent trends to change this conclusion?</i></p>
<p><i>Zobrist 2014, vs. RHP: .246/.338/.365, .703 OPS<br>Zobrist 2014, vs. LHP: .340/.399/.474, .873 OPS</i></p>
<p><i>My goodness! He forgot how to hit righties last year, which is a problem since most pitchers are righties! Oh, wait ...</i></p>
<p><i>Zobrist 2013, vs. RHP: .287/.376/.436, .812 OPS<br>Zobrist 2013, vs. LHP: .250/.310/.333, .643 OPS</i></p>
<p><i>Back in 2013, he was great against righties and couldn't hit lefties. (And in 2012, he was better against lefties again.) So really, what we're looking at here are the realities of small-sample data, which is that splits like these will fluctuate year-to-year and that the clearest picture is the larger body of work over a career (plus any pertinent subsequent info, like Coco complaining that his neck injury bothered him last year when he batted right-handed). Clearly Zobrist possesses the capacity to hit both lefties and righties.</i></p>
<p><b>3. Can you give us some background on the Zorilla nickname?</b></p>
<p>Zorilla Gorilla was Joe Maddon's handiwork, and probably came about when the slender defender started hitting for power in the team's lost 2009 season. It's possible it came from earlier as a joke, but he certainly earned it with that 27-homer season.</p>
<p>Funny enough, Zorilla's are a real life thing. It's a type of weasel in Africa that's striped like an NFL umpire's uniform. Took some wind out of the sails of that nickname until this bad boy came about:</p>
<blockquote lang="en" class="twitter-tweet">
<p><a href="http://t.co/Ruyu7WcYBI">http://t.co/Ruyu7WcYBI</a> - Tampa Bay Rays Ben Zobrist "Zorilla" ... - <a href="http://t.co/BFbMkzyzeB">http://t.co/BFbMkzyzeB</a> <a href="http://t.co/39NTtScLFm">pic.twitter.com/39NTtScLFm</a></p>
— I Get It (@BaseBallProUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaseBallProUSA/status/489009013560852480">July 15, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</p>
<p><i>Alex's stat check: Umm ... Here's a link to the <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striped_polecat">zorilla page on Wikipedia</a>? It's also known as a "striped polecat," which reminds me of Little League one year when the teams were named after minor league clubs for some reason. I was on the Durham Bulls, a team that Zobrist later played for in real life (Rays' Triple-A affiliate). One of the other teams was named after the now-defunct Albany Polecats. I always wondered what a polecat was, and this was just before Google was founded so I guess I never looked it up. Now I know, nearly 17 years later. </i></p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Thanks for taking some time to tell us about our new player, Daniel!</p>
<blockquote lang="en" class="twitter-tweet">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/mgh171942">@mgh171942</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/athleticsnation">@athleticsnation</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/krod_07">@krod_07</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Athletics">@Athletics</a> I think this is the best one <a href="http://t.co/SCBCoHfhmP">pic.twitter.com/SCBCoHfhmP</a></p>
— Nick Armour (@njohnarmour) <a href="https://twitter.com/njohnarmour/status/557324424039264256">January 19, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/19/7854795/athletics-trade-analysis-ben-zobrist-daniel-russell-draysbayAlex Hall2015-01-17T09:43:19-08:002015-01-17T09:43:19-08:00Billy Beane's ever-evolving roster puzzle
<figure>
<img alt="It seemed like these two pieces fit well together, but Beane didn't think so." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PSXf-ETN-0eaGbf9Z1msIrz_-YU=/0x0:2292x1528/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45225884/usa-today-7463176.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>It seemed like these two pieces fit well together, but Beane didn't think so. | John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Constructing a Major League Baseball roster is like playing a game of chess. You have to be calculating and plan your maneuvers a few steps in advance and there are horses and ... wait, no, that's not right. It's like a game of Monopoly, racking up assets and balancing money and property and pushing the little car around the board and ... no, that's not it either. A jigsaw puzzle! Yes, that's it. Constructing a roster is like fitting together a jigsaw puzzle of skill sets and salaries so that they create the image of a winning team.</p>
<p>When Billy Beane <a href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/10/7525293/as-acquire-ben-zobrist-and-yunel-escobar-for-john-jaso-daniel" target="_blank">acquired</a> Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar from the Tampa Bay Rays, it sure looked like he'd gotten the <a href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/10/7526775/athletic-trade-ben-zobrist-yunel-escobar-roster-lineup/in/7289334" target="_blank">final pieces he needed</a> to complete his own convoluted puzzle by filling both middle infield positions in one fell swoop. Heck, I was already halfway though writing my column declaring that very thing. However, it turns out that he wasn't done yet, as four days later he <a href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/15/7553499/athletics-acquire-tyler-clippard-trade-nationals-yunel-escobar" target="_blank">flipped Escobar</a> to the Washington Nationals for set-up reliever Tyler Clippard. Beane wasn't done tinkering, and it's arguable as to whether he'll ever truly be done. The picture he's assembling is one of those Magic Eye things, and I could never figure those out, so the only way to know what the finished product looks like is to wait until Opening Day and see what 25 names are on the roster. To break from the puzzle analogy for a moment, the journey to that April 6 roster has felt an awful lot like this:</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3sqXozkLQFE" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>What is he painting there? He's just messing around, putting random lines together, right? Why did he add that thing right there? And then, when everything is in its proper place, BAM! You see what it was all building toward. Beane took a roster that was potentially great but was declining, and he turned it into one that was merely good but improving.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>I'll admit that I'm having trouble understanding this latest deal. I've been on board with everything Beane has done so far this winter, though sometimes it's taken a day or two for the sting to wear off from certain moves. I grudgingly accepted the trades of our beloved All-Stars, and I even got the logic behind selling high on Brandon Moss and am willing to be optimistic about the unheralded prospect he fetched. I see the bargain potential in Billy Butler and Ike Davis, I see the upside in Brett Lawrie and Marcus Semien, I see the superstar in Zobrist, and I understand the general theme of <a href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/11/7529175/billy-beane-and-the-3-year-cycle-of-sellbuying" target="_blank">getting younger and deeper</a> while still competing for the 2015 postseason. The whirlwind of moves has been dizzying, but this was finally the one that threw me for a loop.</p>
<p>The thing that's tripping up my brain is probably the timing. If it had gone down as a simultaneous three-team deal, I would have been able to digest it properly. But having four days in between to mentally slot Escobar into the lineup was just enough to throw me off. That was just long enough to get comfortable with him, even though he's a guy who I generally have not wanted to acquire in the past for various reasons. Now I find myself unable or unwilling to get too attached to any permutation of the roster, or to make any meaningful predictions about future events. It seemed like the winter was winding down, but now I'm feeling jumpy again, nervous of when the next trade might be announced. "As things currently stand" are the magic words of the offseason.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>And what about the move itself? Escobar seemed to make a lot of sense on the A's roster. He's a serviceable starting shortstop with actual MLB experience, and without him the A's don't have that. Marcus Semien might be fine defensively at short, or he might not. Zobrist and Eric Sogard can both fake it there, but not for too long at a time. Tyler Ladendorf might be able to <a href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/15/7551907/athletics-trade-yunel-escobar-tyler-clippard-tyler-ladendorf-vs-eric-sogard" target="_blank">handle some of the load</a>, but he's yet to make his MLB debut and he's probably a platoon player. Andy Parrino is so enticing that <a href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/16/7558583/athletics-shortstop-andy-parrino-clears-outright-waivers-spring-training-invite" target="_blank">zero teams wanted him for free</a>.</p>
<p>The best-case scenario is that Semien, who has 40 MLB innings at short and played only two-thirds of his minor league innings there, settles in as a solid defender. And if he gets hurt or his glove simply can't cut it, then the team will be stuck with another 2014-level replacement -- someone like Sogard or Ladendorf or Parrino. So, while Escobar is most likely to post a 90 OPS+ and <a href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/14/7541615/should-the-athletics-worry-about-yunel-escobars-defense" target="_blank">average-at-best defense</a> and around 1 WAR, there seemed to be extra value in <i>where</i> that 1 WAR was coming from. The alternative might be 0 WAR, or worse, at a position that you can't upgrade as easily as the bullpen or the outfield or anywhere else. We had this same conversation last winter about second base and that didn't get fixed until Zobrist came over a week ago.</p>
<p>
<link href="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3608425/mustreads.css" rel="stylesheet">
</p>
<p>Clippard, on the other hand, is exactly what I didn't think the A's needed. He's a reliever in a crowded bullpen, and he's an expensive one just months after the utter train wrecks that were Jim Johnson (7.14 ERA) and Luke Gregerson (MLB leader in blown saves). I'm generally not a fan of high-priced relievers, especially when they're not even in closing roles, but after <a href="http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/16/7557975/athletics-trade-tyler-clippard-saves" target="_blank">a deeper look</a> I'm at least confident that Clippard is an upgrade and that he's unlikely to explode to the spectacular extents that last year's duo did. He'll probably be good, he could be great, and he almost certainly won't suck. He'll also keep Ryan Cook out of the eighth inning for the most part, and I hadn't considered how uncomfortable I would have been with Cook as the main set-up man.</p>
<p>I still don't know if Clippard was a necessary acquisition, or at least a better asset to have than a stable veteran shortstop, but if you don't fully trust Cook and are unwilling to hand the eighth to a rookie like R.J. Alvarez in a contending season, then I suppose a new arm was required and Billy found a great one on a one-year deal.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>So, Escobar was the missing piece, unless he was just an aging malcontent with minimal upside. And Clippard is just the next Luke Gregerson at Jim Johnson's salary, unless he's Oakland's answer to Wade Davis. I just don't know what to think anymore, and I'm afraid to start drawing deep conclusions about anything in case Clippard gets flipped on Sunday for Beane's next bauble. For all the annoying jokes about how you shouldn't get used to this new player or that one because Beane will just trade them away next week, <i>it actually happened</i>. Now those hyperbolic jokes have entered the realm of legitimate advice.</p>
<p>There could be five more trades before the spring, or that could have been the last one. We can't get too attached to the current makeup of the roster lest another gust of trade winds blow everything out of place once more. For now, all we can do is enjoy the fact that we got the best player in both deals. Oakland's 2015 roster improved with the addition of two more All-Stars, one of them a <i>real-live second baseman</i>, at the cost of just one good DH, a couple prospects, and some money. Beyond that, any conclusions we try to draw are subject to change at a moment's notice. The only hope for respite is Opening Day -- for a couple of months thereafter, there isn't likely to be any other GM willing to play chess with Beane. Err, Monopoly. Wait, what was the analogy again?</p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/17/7526533/athletics-offseason-billy-beane-trade-yunel-escobar-tyler-clippard-ben-zobristAlex Hall2015-01-16T12:00:25-08:002015-01-16T12:00:25-08:00Andy Parrino clears outright waivers
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yqVKLWTyRs4n6REy9MqKwGbeQks=/570x570:2212x1665/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45230996/166702443.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/">Athletics</a> shortstop <span>Andy Parrino</span> cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville, the team announced in a press release. Parrino, 29, was designated for assignment on January 10 to clear space on the 40-man roster for arrivals <span>Ben Zobrist</span> and <span>Yunel Escobar</span> from the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.draysbay.com/">Tampa Bay Rays</a>.</p>
<p>
<link href="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3603867/mustreads-compact-only.css" rel="stylesheet">
</p>
<p>Parrino will receive an invitation to spring training, and the glove-first switch-hitting infielder appears to be in competition with 40-man rostered players <span>Eric Sogard</span> and <span>Tyler Ladendorf</span> for the role of backup infielder behind Ben Zobrist, <span>Marcus Semien</span>, and Brett Lawrie. Non-roster invitee Joe Wendle may also factor.</p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/16/7558583/athletics-shortstop-andy-parrino-clears-outright-waivers-spring-training-inviteJeremy F. Koo2015-01-14T07:00:04-08:002015-01-14T07:00:04-08:00Should we worry about Yunel Escobar's defense?
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6EdJZXAuEU5NmGrmEoUu1RDINnU=/0x150:1822x1365/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45214092/453750776.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Scott Iskowitz/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yunel Escobar had what can charitably be described as a bad defensive 2014 at shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays. Will he continue to play as poorly?</p> <p>In 2014, by the two main sabermetric statistics for defense, Defensive Runs Saved, and Ultimate Zone Rating, Yunel Escobar turned in <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=ss&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=900&type=1&season=2014&month=0&season1=2003&ind=1&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=25,a">one of the most below average defensive seasons at shortstop (min. 900 innings) since 2003</a>, at 26 runs below average per 150 defensive games. In 2014, at age 31, Yunel Escobar turned in the worst qualifying shortstop season of UZR/150 since they started keeping track of UZR.</p>
<p> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Yunel the worst" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nmAbldhwzXvwo6x1b9FGRUwkiaE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2931610/Screenshot_2015-01-13_19.47.45.0.png">
</figure>
</p>
<p>Besides Yunel Escobar, that top-ten list is all players that were either below-average defensive shortstops or they were a young player that only later turned into an above average shortstop (Stephen Drew).</p>
<p>In 2013, however, Escobar was a finalist for a Gold Glove, with a UZR/150 of 12.2, though only four Defensive Runs Saved. Before that, he profiled mainly as an average to above average shortstop, though keep in mind that an MLB-average shortstop is a very, very good fielder. <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=ss&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2014&month=0&season1=2003&ind=1&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=4191&sort=1,a">His career DRS and UZR statistics at shortstop</a>:</p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="485" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 485pt;">
<colgroup>
<col width="31" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1322; width: 31pt;"> <col width="35" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1493; width: 35pt;"> <col width="43" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1834; width: 43pt;"> <col width="33" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1408; width: 33pt;"> <col width="31" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1322; width: 31pt;"> <col width="28" span="2" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;"> <col width="32" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;"> <col width="38" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1621; width: 38pt;"> <col width="32" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;"> <col width="38" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1621; width: 38pt;"> <col width="51" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 2176; width: 51pt;"> <col width="65" style="width: 65pt;"> </colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td rowspan="2" height="30" width="31" style="text-align: center; height: 30pt; width: 31pt;"><b>Year</b></td>
<td rowspan="2" width="35" style="text-align: center; width: 35pt;"><b>Team</b></td>
<td rowspan="2" width="43" style="text-align: center; width: 43pt;"><b>SS Inn</b></td>
<td colspan="4" width="120" style="text-align: center; width: 120pt;"><b>Defensive Runs Saved</b></td>
<td colspan="5" width="191" style="text-align: center; width: 191pt;"><b>Ultimate Zone Rating</b></td>
<td rowspan="2" width="65" style="text-align: center; width: 65pt;"><b>Def</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;"><b>rGDP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGFP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rPM</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DRS</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DPR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>RngR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>ErrR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR/150</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2007</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">ATL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">363.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">2.3</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2008</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">ATL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1105.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">15</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-3.7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">7.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">8.8</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2009</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">ATL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1208.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">13</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">7.8</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2010</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">ATL/TOR</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1179.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">4.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">4.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">10.2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2011</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">TOR</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1121.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">6.2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2012</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">TOR</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1250.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">17</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">14</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">4.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">5.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">11.0</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2013</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">TBR</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1320.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">5.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">5.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">10.7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">12.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">17.5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2014</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">TBR</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1183.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-17</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-24</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-1.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-12.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-3.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-17.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-26.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-11.0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>So what do we make of all these numbers for next year? Steamer projects a "Def" of 2.7, where Def is UZR + positional adjustment. The positional adjustment appears to be around six runs, so we can guess that Escobar is projected by Steamer to have around a -3 UZR. A below average season at shortstop, but not catastrophically bad.</p>
<p>But wait, even an average player having an unlucky year should not be having the worst defensive season since they started keeping track of advanced fielding statistics. Should he?</p>
<h3>Anecdotes</h3>
<p>
<link href="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3608425/mustreads.css" rel="stylesheet">
</p>
<p>I tried to look for examples of veteran players who had been average or better defenders before suddenly having very bad defensive seasons at shortstop, as measured by UZR/150. There are a few flaws in this method. First, survivor bias would cause players that had suddenly become bad at fielding to simply not play shortstop anymore, but move to a different position like second base. On the other hand, the survivors may simply be those that were evaluated to have simply had a hard luck year and could still play a competent shortstop.</p>
<p>In bringing up these players, I only mean to suggest that it is possible for someone to have one bad year at shortstop but come back fine defensively the next year. I don't have a suggestion on how likely that is and I would guess that most shortstops who are becoming atrocious shortstops just don't play shortstop anymore.</p>
<h4>Alcides Escobar's 2012</h4>
<p>Alcides Escobar was somewhere between average and very good at shortstop after his first few seasons in the big leagues before a poor 2012 according to UZR:</p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="436" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 436pt;">
<colgroup>
<col width="42" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1792; width: 42pt;"> <col width="35" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1493; width: 35pt;"> <col width="41" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1749; width: 41pt;"> <col width="33" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1408; width: 33pt;"> <col width="31" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1322; width: 31pt;"> <col width="28" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;"> <col width="27" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1152; width: 27pt;"> <col width="28" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;"> <col width="32" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;"> <col width="28" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;"> <col width="32" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;"> <col width="50" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 2133; width: 50pt;"> <col width="29" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1237; width: 29pt;"> </colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td colspan="3" height="15" width="118" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt; width: 118pt;"><b>Alcides Escobar</b></td>
<td colspan="4" width="119" style="text-align: center; width: 119pt;"><b>Defensive Runs Saved</b></td>
<td colspan="5" width="170" style="text-align: center; width: 170pt;"><b>Ultimate Zone Rating</b></td>
<td rowspan="2" width="29" style="text-align: center; width: 29pt;"><b>Def</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;"><b>Season</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>Team</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>Inn</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGDP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGFP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rPM</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DRS</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DPR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>RngR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>ErrR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR/150</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2008</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">MIL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63"></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63"></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63"></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63"></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63"></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.0</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2009</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">MIL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">300.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-1.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-1.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-6.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2010</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">MIL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1151.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">4.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-1.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">9.1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2011</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">KCR</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1387.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">11</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">10</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">8.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">9.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">9.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">16.8</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;"><b>2012</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>KCR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>1379.2</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right"><b>0</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right"><b>1</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right"><b>-3</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right"><b>-2</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>0.1</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-11.3</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-2.3</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-13.5</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-14.0</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-6.4</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2013</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">KCR</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1388.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">8.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">10.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">12.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">18.0</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2014</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">KCR</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1433.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">9.0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>That 2012 was just his age-25 season, and he roared back in 2013 to join Yunel Escobar on the finalist list for the American League Gold Glove at shortstop.</p>
<h4>Jason Bartlett's 2010</h4>
<p>Jason Bartlett broke out early as a good defensive shortstop before beginning what appears to the naked eye to be a steady decline all the way to 2010, his age-30 season in Tampa:</p>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 436pt;" width="436" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<colgroup>
<col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1792; width: 42pt;" width="42"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1493; width: 35pt;" width="35"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1749; width: 41pt;" width="41"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1408; width: 33pt;" width="33"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1322; width: 31pt;" width="31"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;" width="28"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1152; width: 27pt;" width="27"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;" width="28"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;" width="32"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;" width="28"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;" width="32"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 2133; width: 50pt;" width="50"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1237; width: 29pt;" width="29"> </colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt; width: 118pt;" width="118" height="15" colspan="3"><b>Jason Bartlett</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 119pt;" width="119" colspan="4"><b>Defensive Runs Saved</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 170pt;" width="170" colspan="5"><b>Ultimate Zone Rating</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 29pt;" width="29" rowspan="2"><b>Def</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" height="15"><b>Season</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>Team</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>Inn</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGDP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGFP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rPM</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DRS</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DPR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>RngR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>ErrR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR/150</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2004</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">MIN</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">22.0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-1.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-15.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2005</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">MIN</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">585.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">11</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">13</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">10.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">12.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">26.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">15.6</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2006</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">MIN</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">879.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-3</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">10</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-3.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">15.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">11.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">17.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">16.1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2007</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">MIN</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1194.0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">14</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">15</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">13.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-4.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">8.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">9.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">14.8</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2008</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">TBR</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1097.0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">3.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-1.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">2.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">7.6</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2009</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">TBR</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1153.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-4</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">8</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-4.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-3.0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-5.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-6.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.5</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15"><b>2010</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>TBR</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>1104.0</b></td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;"><b>-3</b></td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;"><b>0</b></td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;"><b>2</b></td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;"><b>-1</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-3.1</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-9.0</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>1.9</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-10.2</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-13.5</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-4.5</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2011</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">SDP</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1211.0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-8</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-1.0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-1.0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">2.0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">6.2</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2012</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">SDP</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">233.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-1.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-1.0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-4.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.2</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Yet the season afterward, in San Diego, he was nearly the definition of an average shortstop. He's a little bit different from Yunel Escobar in that Escobar has always been rated as an average or better shortstop until his bad defensive year. Jason Bartlett hardly played since suffering a right knee strain in 2012, and retired after playing three games with the Minnesota Twins in 2014.</p>
<h4>Miguel Tejada's 2009</h4>
<p>I hesitated to even include Tejada, because Miggy's 2009 in Houston for his age-35 season came after several years where he vacillated between a slightly below average to a slightly above average shortstop:</p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="436" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 436pt;">
<colgroup>
<col width="42" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1792; width: 42pt;"> <col width="35" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1493; width: 35pt;"> <col width="41" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1749; width: 41pt;"> <col width="33" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1408; width: 33pt;"> <col width="31" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1322; width: 31pt;"> <col width="28" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;"> <col width="27" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1152; width: 27pt;"> <col width="28" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;"> <col width="32" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;"> <col width="28" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;"> <col width="32" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;"> <col width="50" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 2133; width: 50pt;"> <col width="29" style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1237; width: 29pt;"> </colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td colspan="3" height="15" width="118" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt; width: 118pt;"><b>Miguel Tejada</b></td>
<td colspan="4" width="119" style="text-align: center; width: 119pt;"><b>Defensive Runs Saved</b></td>
<td colspan="5" width="170" style="text-align: center; width: 170pt;"><b>Ultimate Zone Rating</b></td>
<td rowspan="2" width="29" style="text-align: center; width: 29pt;"><b>Def</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;"><b>Season</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>Team</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>Inn</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGDP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGFP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rPM</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DRS</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DPR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>RngR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>ErrR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR/150</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2003</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">OAK</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1417.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-11.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-10.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-9.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-3.3</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2004</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">BAL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1421.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">11</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">4.8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">4.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">4.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">12.2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2005</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">BAL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1394.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-1.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-4.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-4.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.0</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2006</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">BAL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1293.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-11</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-11</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">0.7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">9.1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2007</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">BAL</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1068.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-4.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-4.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1.5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2008</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">HOU</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">1354.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">9.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">10.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">16.9</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;"><b>2009</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>HOU</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>1371.1</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right"><b>0</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right"><b>1</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right"><b>-16</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right"><b>-15</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>0.9</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-11.3</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-2.1</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-12.5</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-11.3</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right"><b>-5.5</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2010</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">SDP</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">496.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-3.3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">3.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">2.2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="15" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="15" align="right" style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;">2011</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">SFG</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">334.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" align="right">-5</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-0.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-2.9</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-11.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" class="xl63" align="right">-1.1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>After that year, Miggy signed with the Baltimore Orioles, where he exclusively played third base. He was traded mid-season to the San Diego Padres, where he mostly played as an average to below-average shortstop. He couldn't keep that up in 2011, moving all around the diamond, including turns as a poor shortstop. He never played shortstop at the major league level after that year.</p>
<h4>Orlando Cabrera's 2009</h4>
<p>The 2001 and 2007 Gold Glove winner at shortstop had a pretty bad 2009 defensively, his age-34 season with the Oakland A's and Minnesota Twins:</p>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 436pt;" width="436" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<colgroup>
<col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1792; width: 42pt;" width="42"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1493; width: 35pt;" width="35"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1749; width: 41pt;" width="41"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1408; width: 33pt;" width="33"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1322; width: 31pt;" width="31"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;" width="28"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1152; width: 27pt;" width="27"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;" width="28"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;" width="32"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1194; width: 28pt;" width="28"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1365; width: 32pt;" width="32"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 2133; width: 50pt;" width="50"> <col style="mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 1237; width: 29pt;" width="29"> </colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt; width: 118pt;" width="118" height="15" colspan="3"><b>Orlando Cabrera</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 119pt;" width="119" colspan="4"><b>Defensive Runs Saved</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 170pt;" width="170" colspan="5"><b>Ultimate Zone Rating</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 29pt;" width="29" rowspan="2"><b>Def</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" height="15"><b>Season</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>Team</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>Inn</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGDP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rGFP</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>rPM</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DRS</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>DPR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>RngR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>ErrR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>UZR/150</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2003</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">MON</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1385.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">4</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">2.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">8.4</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2004</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">- - -</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1358.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">10</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-1.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-7.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">4.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-5.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-5.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.7</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2005</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">LAA</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1240.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">5</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">13.9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">6.0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">19.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">24.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">26.0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2006</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">LAA</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1320.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-9</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-10</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-3.9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-2.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-2.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">4.6</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2007</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">LAA</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1330.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">3</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">7.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">4.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">12.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">13.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">19.4</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2008</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">CHW</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1389.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">10.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">4.0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">14.9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">13.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">22.1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15"><b>2009</b></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><b>- - -</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>1388.2</b></td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;"><b>-1</b></td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;"><b>2</b></td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;"><b>-30</b></td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;"><b>-29</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-1.6</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-10.7</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-0.8</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-13.0</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-11.7</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;"><b>-5.9</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2010</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">CIN</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1030.2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">-1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.0</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-2.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">3.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">1.9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">2.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">7.2</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;" height="15">
<td style="text-align: center; height: 15pt;" align="right" height="15">2011</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">- - -</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">309.1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">0</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">2</td>
<td align="right" style="text-align: center;">3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-1.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-0.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">-3.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl63" style="text-align: center;">0.8</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>He bounced back to an average 2010 campaign defensively. In 2011, he started the year with the Cleveland Indians, who mostly played him at second base, before being traded to the San Francisco Giants, who played him at shortstop. He retired after the 2011 season.</p>
<h3>Yunel Escobar will be fine, probably</h3>
<p>These anecdotes seem to comport with the rule of thumb that one season's worth of extreme performance in either direction should be regressed halfway toward the mean of zero, absent other data. With more data, such as previous seasons of average or better performance, you could even call an entire extreme season a mere aberration and expect a return to previous performance, with some decline allowed for a regular aging curve.</p>
<p>Here, we have one young player who seems to have just had a down year defensively (Alcides Escobar), one player who had an injury sent him to retirement a few years later (Bartlett), one player whose declining bat and drug violations ended his career (Tejada), and one player who retired after his bat let him down (Cabrera).</p>
<p>I would be more troubled by Yunel Escobar's poor defensive season if Escobar had never been an above average fielder. It seems, however, that for these players that had a significantly out of character defensive season, they regressed back toward where these players were playing before. And I think that's what we can expect from Escobar, a regression back towards being an average shortstop, settling in somewhere between average and just below average.</p>
<p><i>All statistics courtesy of <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/">Fangraphs</a>.</i></p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/14/7541615/should-the-athletics-worry-about-yunel-escobars-defenseJeremy F. Koo2015-01-12T19:39:27-08:002015-01-12T19:39:27-08:00Zobrist & Escobar, the Athletics' new double play combo<iframe src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=29106687&topic_id=11493214&width=400&height=224&property=mlb" width="400" height="224">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Having a real middle infield is going to be fun.</p></p></div>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/12/7535921/zobrist-escobar-the-athletics-new-double-play-comboAlex Hall2015-01-12T14:57:06-08:002015-01-12T14:57:06-08:00Zobrist: "It'll be good knowing Yunel is there."
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ghTvjYos4jmCZ8bpK0pbPoUuqrI=/790x133:3066x1650/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45203328/usa-today-8006461.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Monday afternoon, Ben Zobrist answered questions on being the "perfect A's player," moving to a new clubhouse, and his meeting with the Rally Possum.</p> <p>New <a href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Athletics</a> everything-man <span>Ben Zobrist</span> spoke to reporters in a conference call this afternoon to talk about his new teammates, his defensive versatility, and his chance encounter with the Coliseum fauna last year.</p>
<h3>New clubhouse</h3>
<p>Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle asked Zobrist about how he felt moving from the <a href="https://www.draysbay.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Tampa Bay Rays</a> to a new major league clubhouse for the first time in his career. After talking about leaving "behind a lot of friends and relationships" in Tampa, he talked about the players he did know and the players he had played against that he was excited to meet, like <span>Billy Butler</span>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I've played with Fam Fuld and <span>Stephen Vogt</span> in Tampa and know those guys very well. I look forward to getting to know certain guys. Now I get a chance to build an everyday relationship with these guys.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Slusser also asked about coming into a club that has made so many offseason moves. Zobrist replied:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Every year there's a little bit of a culture change in a clubhouse. Certain guys are staples in Oakland that have been there for a few years and we'll take our cue from the way those guys do things. At the same time there's a new dynamic and a new culture and chemistry they've cultivated from not having the same starters every year.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>Versatility</h3>
<p>John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group and Joe Stiglich of CSN California asked quesitons about his defensive versatility. Hickey asked about the narrative that he was seen as being the "perfect A's player." Said Zobrist:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>From what I know about the organization and the way they've done things in the past it seem like they do things very similar to Tampa Bay in that they do a lot of matchups and find ways to be creative with the lineup. I know that Oakland thinks the same thing about me [that Tampa did.]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Stiglich asked how Zobrist came into his defensive versatility, and Zobrist mentioned that at the start of his major league career he did not play shortstop well enough to get in there everyday:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I had to keep an open mind early on because I wasn't playing well enough as an everyday player at shortstop to stay in the lineup. Once I find my comfort level starting everyday then I was already in that role of utility. I had already come to grips with my importance in flexibility.</p>
<p>I've always looked at that as a positive thing for our club, giving our manager the flexibility to put the matchups on the field. It's a little bit more difficult to prepare because of that sometimes but I think it helps during a long season to not get complacent. It helps to see the game from a different point of view and have to stay on my toes and think ahead before plays happen.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3><span>Yunel Escobar</span></h3>
<p>Slusser asked about playing with Yunel Escobar as a double play partner:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yunel and I are very different in the way that we field ground balls. Yunel is a slick-fielding Latin guy who makes it look pretty and I am not that. I get to the ball and get rid of it and hopefully it's on the money and it's not necessarily going to look pretty but it gets the job done. It will be a good comfort level in spring training knowing Yunel is there.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Got it, Yunel makes it pretty, the Zorilla just flings it at first base, like so:</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/article/media_slots/photos/000/984/941/793627191_original.gif?1374718560"></p>
<p>(h/t to AN member duballers23)</p>
<h3>Rally Possum</h3>
<p>Slusser asked Zobrist about his encounter with the Athletics Rally Possum. First, a reminder of that incident:</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="224" width="400" src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=35236791&topic_id=6479266&width=400&height=224&property=mlb"></iframe></p>
<p>Zobrist recounted that he had gone a long way to chase a foul ball to left field when he saw something out of the corner of his eye:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I thought what in the world? . . . I looked over and there it was this baby possum just staring right up at me. I stood frozen for a second thinking, "Where in the world did this possum come from?" And I looked at the bullpen and they were laughing at me and they looked just as surprised as I was and apparently it was a good omen for the A'd and maybe not so much for [the Rays.]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Welcome aboard!</p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/12/7534005/ben-zobrist-on-athletics-trade-yunel-escobarJeremy F. Koo2015-01-11T16:08:53-08:002015-01-11T16:08:53-08:00Billy Beane And The 3-Year Cycle Of Sellbuying
<figure>
<img alt="Nice catch, eh?" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7hspVfVasvDwbPD6m6uuFpXc_ug=/0x419:1624x1502/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45197290/usa-today-8119859.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Nice catch, eh? | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If Billy Beane is the master of anything lately, it appears to be the "sellbuy". This is not to be confused with the "sell by" date on a gallon of milk, because gallons of milk last far longer than the average A's player.</p>
<p>If I could make the screen on your computer go wavy accompanied by mysterious music, so that you knew you were seeing a flashback (or that the psychedelic mushrooms were finally kicking in), I would ... as I take you back to 2012 when Oakland shed <span>Gio Gonzalez</span>, <span>Trevor Cahill</span>, and <span>Andrew Bailey</span> in a publicly stated quest to "get younger".</p>
<p>Pundits viewed this as a euphemism for "rebuild" as Oakland restocked the farm system a bit, most notably the upper minors. They also restocked the big league roster with cheaper replicas, swapping lefty Gonzalez for lefty <span>Tommy Milone</span>, righty Cahill for righty <span>Jarrod Parker</span>, and lefty RFer Sweeney for lefty RFer Josh Reddick.</p>
<p>Growing pains? Not so much. After the big sells came the big buys: Beane signed veteran SP Bartolo Colon and then <span>Yoenis Cespedes</span> was signed to help strengthen a team that -- admittedly thanks in large part to the "out of nowhere" star contributions from <span>Brandon Moss</span> and <span>Josh Donaldson</span> -- contended in 2012, won the AL West in 2012, and went on to contend for three years straight.</p>
<p>It appears Beane may have done it again. So that Oakland could replenish its farm system with the additions of Franklin Barreto, Joey Wendle, and the next crop of young starting pitchers (<span>Jesse Hahn</span>, <span>Sean Nolin</span>, <span>Kendall Graveman</span>, <span>Chris Bassitt</span>), the A's swapped Josh Donaldson for the younger and less-accomplished-so-far <span>Brett Lawrie</span>, sent in-their-30s-and-not-so-cheap Brandon Moss and <span>Jeff Samardzija</span> packing, exchanged <span>Jed Lowrie</span> for a cheaper player with a similar skill-set in <span>Marcus Semien</span>, and swapped <span>Derek Norris</span> for the lower profile platoon combo of <span>Stephen Vogt</span> and <span>Josh Phegley</span>.</p>
<p>The thing about getting younger and cheaper is that at the end of the day you have more payroll flexibility and more prospects. And what Beane knows is that after "selling" it's not the end of the day yet. So later in the day he becomes a buyer, trading one of his better prospects (<span>Daniel Robertson</span>) in a deal to net a "win now" player (<span>Ben Zobrist</span>, under contract for only one year but immediately one of the team's very best players) and a true shortstop.</p>
<p>It's no longer the 5-year cycle of "buy" and "sell," of "win now" and "rebuild," of "contention window" and "nab high draft picks". What Beane has essentially done is a time lapse: He has consolidated the rebuild and the win now into the same off-season. Which means that the period of time when Oakland is rebuilding and can't contend? That would be December.</p>
<p>Well played, Mr. Beane.</p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/1/11/7529175/billy-beane-and-the-3-year-cycle-of-sellbuyingNico