Griffin had his moments. He might also have a place on the all-time list for most years in the majors with a cumulative negative WAR (Wins Above Replacement).*
*although nowhere near the -WARs achieved by Doug Flynn and the Cubs’ legendary Tuck Stainback.
Griffin was typical of the slick fielding/terrible hitting shortstops in the pre-Ripken era.
Thinking back to all the shortstops I saw growing up, before Jeter. They were all awful hitters, and it was widely accepted. Gene Michael, Bucky Dent, Bobby Meacham, Alvaro Espinosa et al. I don’t think any other position went through such massive change over just a few decades.
Don’t forget my favorite, Mark Bellanger aka The Blade.
Belanger is a good example of so-damn-good in the field, it truly made up for the anemic hitting. Not so for a lot of those guys.
Ernie Banks SS 1953 to 1961
Rizzuto of course hit pretty damn well too. Won the MVP in 1950.
Pee Wee Reese was no slouch either.
There’s 3 in the 50s without me even trying.
Now the 70s, was not a time for shortstops that hit. Though Toby Harrah hit well and walked a lot for a pretty good OBP, though that wasn’t valued that well in the 70s.
With one rather painful exception.
That made him an immortal. At least to the North East.
Twins reportedly trade reigning batting champ Luis Arraez to the Marlins for Pablo Lopez. Other players (prospects) are reportedly involved, which makes sense cause straight up that trade doesn’t quite make sense for the Twins.
Sucks for my AL keeper fantasy team, however.
The Twins absolutely fleeced the Marlins, even without the prospects. They have middle infielders coming out of their ears throughout their system, and Lopez is fantastically underrated. The move pushes Jazz Chisholm into centerfield. I don’t really understand the Marlins’ aversion to acquiring players with any sort of power, but with that Polo Grounds of a stadium, I guess I get it. Sort of a ‘14-15 Royals vibe.
I’m looking at Griffin on B-R and he has a 3.0 WAR for his career, his best being 3.4 in 1986. So yeah, he had his moments, mainly that one year. I remember Doug Flynn and looking at his page, ouch!
I’m reading rumors out of Kansas City that Salvador Perez has been unhappy with the organization since they didn’t extend an offer to bench coach Pedro Grifol during their managerial interviews, and he ended up taking the White Sox job. I thought it was a mistake as well at the time, but I didn’t think it’d cause such a rift in the locker room. I’d be absolutely gutted if Salvy left or was traded.
I can’t imagine the KC fanbase in general would be super happy with such a move.
Baseball wise, KC could do well in a trade; I am sure they could get a nice return for him and a big heavy catcher who’s 33 years old is maybe a guy you don’t mind moving when the team has to think of the future. However, in these circumstances, you often don’t get the return you deserve.
The obvious trade candidate would be Houston. He’d fill an immediate need, and truly stack the deck in the AL. Is someone like Hunter Brown in return feasible? From a purely strategic view, it’d be a smart move to let Salvy bring us a handful of prospects - we’re at least 2 years away from relevance, have help at C with Melendez and a 19 year old Carter Jensen, and need to build a lasting rotation. But man would it suck.
Houston has lots of pitching but they do need a catcher. That seems possible.
Is Salvador Perez that valuable? This is not a position that ages well and he is getting to the point where a lot of players fall off fast. I’m not sure Houston or anyone else is going to give top prospects for a twenty million dollar player who’s defense is starting to decline and has had some significant injury issues. Then again someone might be desperate enough for a catcher.
For a win-now team, just plugging a hole for a year or two can be a rational move.
We truly need spring training to start, my social media timelines are being overwhelmed with some stupid realignment proposal that some sportswriter threw out there for clicks
Dodgers just added David Peralta
Dodgers adding former Gold Glove winner | Yardbarker
and Alex Reyes
Dodgers add former All-Star closer to their stacked bullpen (msn.com)
That shores up both center field and the rotation. I’m feeling better about the upcoming season.
Reyes isn’t going into the rotation, he’s a reliever coming off of major shoulder surgery. And Peralta is years from his CF-playing days - but he does shore up their 4th OF. I imagine Outman is their primary CF.
Looks like the stupid runner on 2nd is here forever.