Offseason trade prediction craziness
Outfielder Brad Hawpe likely will not be traded because he has more value to the Rockies than anybody else
So spaketh Steve Henson in an otherwise sort-of kind-of fine article about what NL West teams are looking to do this offseason. I don’t know what Steve’s definition of "value" is, but Hawpe isn’t leading the Rockies in any significant offensive category (and, as near as I can tell, isn’t leading in any insignificant category either except for doubles), makes a medium-large amount of money ($5.5M in 2009), and is an absolute ridiculous butcher in the field (-13 FRAA for 2009; notoriously awful outfielder Manny Ramirez was at -4).
In other news, here’s a list of players Fangraphs says were more valuable to the Rockies in 2009 than Brad Hawpe:
• Troy Tulowitzki (awesome)
• Todd Helton (awesome)
• Seth Smith (also an outfielder)
• Carlos Gonzalez (also an outfielder)
• Chris Iannetta (part-time catcher)
• Clint Barmes (!)
Also the following pitchers:
• Ubaldo Jimenez (looks like the president)
• Jason Marquis (awful)
• Jason Hammel (who?)
• Jorge De La Rosa (got hurt at a rotten time)
• Aaron Cook (was hurt most of the year)
So, hey Steve, what does "value" mean in your world? And why does your projected starting outfield contain Hawpe, Gonzalez, and the fairly-terrible Dexter Fowler, and not the utterly awesome Seth Smith, whose salary will once again be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars? Is it because you are a crazy person?
