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OT: The Toronto Blue Jays

For a team that struggled to hit last year, he's a terrible option as an everyday player. Truly fucking terrible. This lunacy in comparing Chapman's stick to his (hurrr, he was as bad as IKF other than 2 months, durrrr) is the worst.

wRC+ 1st Half/2nd Half

IKF: 89/71
Chapman: 123/88

So the bad Chapman that people were rightfully criticizing was as good as the best IKF is capable of. But IKF spent half the season plumming the depths of rookie ball calibre production at the plate.

Nice.
 
It would be one thing if IKF was league minimum and his money was spent on a better LF than KK or DH than Turner, but we gave this fucker dollars and term.

Eduardo Escobar, here on a MiLB deal, is possibly better, but will probably not make the team because of the 40 man and our aledged MI depth
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
It would be one thing if IKF was league minimum and his money was spent on a better LF than KK or DH than Turner, but we gave this fucker dollars and term.

Eduardo Escobar, here on a MiLB deal, is possibly better, but will probably not make the team because of the 40 man and our aledged MI depth
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Chad Green (10.5) + IKF (7.5) + Justin Turner (13)

or

Reynaldo Lopez (10) + Urshela (1.5) + JD Martinez (16-18?)
 
This is some pretty over the top hand-wringing over a utility infielder. Obviously there were multiple teams bidding on IKF which is why he got more money and an extra year than these other jabronis. Generally speaking our pocket-protector wearing friends think a win in MLB is worth somewhere around $7-8 million dollars. He will be worth 1-2 wins if he gets enough PT.

Anderson obviously deserves a shot somewhere, and is likely going to bounce back to some extent. Rosario has bounced around a few teams now because he's a mediocre bat with some speed and poor defense, and it's silly to even be talking about Gio Urshela in this conversation.

IKF is here because he can play 2B or 3B in a pinch, and is a perfectly viable utility infielder if Biggio or Schneider steps up to snag a starting spot. (By the way, Cavan Biggio in the 2nd half - .404 OBP, 124 wRC+).

And we also have Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger and Palmegiani on the way up.

#HowILearnedToStopWorryingAndEnjoyEliteDefense
 
I don’t know how you can follow baseball and think that 2/15 million is a good price to pay for a 0-1 WAR player in free agency. A guy who needs lots of playing time to hit those lofty above-replacement-level heights.

Free agency is for adding incremental value. The Jays are paying IKF 5 times what Urshela got (times two years!) to be a probable downgrade on Espinal.
 
Urshela is 32 with average defense and a marginally better but rapidly declining bat, that skillset is not a better choice for a utility infielder than a 28 year old with plus defense
 
manny said:
I don’t know how you can follow baseball and think that 2/15 million is a good price to pay for a 0-1 WAR player in free agency. A guy who needs lots of playing time to hit those lofty above-replacement-level heights.

Free agency is for adding incremental value. The Jays are paying IKF 5 times what Urshela got (times two years!) to be a probable downgrade on Espinal.
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Yeah, I mean that's the problem. I don't hate the notion of an IKF at 3b, but like, at half the price we signed him for. Heck, even 2/8 or 2/10 if you insist on the second year. I mean, odds are you could put Otto Lopez at 3b and the difference between them is pretty marginal, and Lopez was DFA to make room.

Plus, we already have him in Espinal, who we all hate already. If he was a lefty and fit more of a platoon? Or like had a Kiermeier level of defensive playtime where you trust that more, I would be happier. But like, why even bother? 7m for half a win, maybe one win? Heck save the money and keep it to try to add someone at the deadline once you figure out how terrible the spot is without someone there. It's a move without any real purpose.
 
axlsalinger said:
Urshela is 32 with average defense and a marginally better but rapidly declining bat, that skillset is not a better choice for a utility infielder than a 28 year old with plus defense
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Last 2 years at 3B (I'd go 3 years, but IKF didn't play a single fucking inning at the position in 2021)

Isiah "Enjoy Elite Defence" Kiner Falefa:

282 innings, +3 DRS, 4.2 UZR/150

Gio "Average Defence" Urshela:

1414 innings, +10 DRS, 4.9 UZR/150

DRS thinks elite IKF is slightly better, and UZR thinks average Urshela is slightly better. One thing we know for certain is that Urshela has actually played a representative sample at the position that doesn't require dredging up a few dozen games played during the 1st half of the Trump administration.

As for his "rapidly declining bat" lol. Dude had his worst season last year (that was cut off in June due to injury) and still posted what would be a career high wRC+ for IKF.

The long and the short of it is that Urshela is a good bet to be an average bat and plus glove at 3B this season, IKF a good bet to be a tragically bad bet (Zips has him at a 78 wRC+) and a plus glove at 3B.
 
Urshela's Fangraphs Defense-Fielding and Positional Adjustment stat the last 7 years:

-1.8
-1.5
-5.0
0.8
0.7
-0.6
0.1

This is not a good defender. And at an age where his play could easily fall off a cliff with the bat too.

Look, I get that IKF is certainly overpaid, I just don't spend that much time worrying about it because that is generally what happens when you sign free agents. I am fine with him as a guy who can play 3B when needed and also being a plus-D backup at SS (especially with Espinal's defensive and offensive numbers going way down last year).
 
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