Life After Eckstein

[greenback44]

Renteria is 32. It's not long he's a long-term option. He's making a lot of money. He has a career OPS+ of 97.

A 97 OPS+ is fine for a shortstop, especially one who was playing everyday at the age of 20 (maybe even 19).

Eck spends a lot of time dealing with injuries. That's part of the concern with him.

[jdk82]

Rico Washington might be another guy to look at

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/ ... gton.shtml

[Bo Hart]

It's not that Renteria is going to make an "impact" per se if the Braves would trade him back, it would be about adding depth to a lineup that revolves around essentially four players, with one past their prime, one coming out of it, one super duper elite hitter and one who will only put up between an .800/.850 OPS.

By comparison here:
Juan Encarnacion has a career OPS+ of 96
Edgar Renteria has a career OPS+ of 97

Renteria will give you more OBP, but less power (and vice versa). And no, it's not fair to compare them because Renteria's production is above average when you factor in his position, whereas Juan's is below average. But if we're talking lineup depth? I'm not so sure I like the idea.

SS seems to me that it would be the easiest to find such an upgrade. And don't get me wrong on Eckstein, I do love the lad, but we saw his decline last year. Even when he was leading the NL in hits, his walk rate wasn't up and he was just picking up a lot of singles. Renteria's better days are behind him, but he would still top a .700 OPS rather easily.

Eck's career BB/PA average: .068.
Eckstein averaged a walk every .082 plate appearances in in 2005.
Through May of 2006, his BB/PA was .081.
Through mid-June (before his injury), it was .067 (OBP at the time was .383).

So both of those last two ratios look, to me, right where they should.

He has been really bad this year, but so has virtually everyone on the team. I'll withhold judgment until later in the year. But if he is at around his career averages I don't know that I'd be completely opposed to bringing him back for one season, given that the alternatives aren't very attractive.

A 97 OPS+ is fine for a shortstop, especially one who was playing everyday at the age of 20 (maybe even 19).

Definitely. He'll give you a VORP in the range of 20.0 or so. Can you make a case for a shortstop with that type of production making 10 million? Possibly / probably.

But do you want to give it to a guy who is 32 (and likely to be in decline, as a result)?

And they're not going to give him away, so do you really want to give up legitimate prospects in the process?

The culmination of all of this leads me to a simple answer: "no.".

[ZigZagCardsFan]

Felipe Lopez should be available from the Nationals at the trade deadline...we could make a pre-emptive trade this year.

[Jmodene]

In hindsight, they probably should have just ponied up on Renteria a few years ago

They *did* pony up for Renteria. His agents were bound and determined, though, to get maximum dollar, though, and played the "disrespect" card to entice Edgar to sign with Boston.

It wasn't quite as sleazy as the games Polanco's agent played with *him*, or the way Boras played the Weaver situation last winter, but it was close.

[StL Dan]

Would Renteria even be the subject of discussion if he weren't having a nice April, thus far?

[Cronos]

Felipe Lopez should be available from the Nationals at the trade deadline...we could make a pre-emptive trade this year.

I completely forgot about Lopez...hmm. That's an option.

[GatewaySnayke]

It's not that Renteria is going to make an "impact" per se if the Braves would trade him back, it would be about adding depth to a lineup that revolves around essentially four players, with one past their prime, one coming out of it, one super duper elite hitter and one who will only put up between an .800/.850 OPS.

By comparison here:
Juan Encarnacion has a career OPS+ of 96
Edgar Renteria has a career OPS+ of 97

Renteria will give you more OBP, but less power (and vice versa). And no, it's not fair to compare them because Renteria's production is above average when you factor in his position, whereas Juan's is below average. But if we're talking lineup depth? I'm not so sure I like the idea.

That would be adding depth. You're taking out Eckstein's sub 90 OPS+ and replacing it with a player who can come closer to 100.

[Jmodene]

Not hardly; Rico is 29 years old and has never hit above .242 in AAA ball. He started the season in AA and only got called up to AAA again when somebody got hurt.

BTW, has anybody noticed that Eli Marrero has yet to play a game this year for Memphis since he hurt his arm late in spring training?

Rico Washington might be another guy to look at

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/ ... gton.shtml

[skmsw]

Would Renteria even be the subject of discussion if he weren't having a nice April, thus far?

Well, he did have a pretty nice 2006, too, you know.