Seriously....can we quash the Biggio can't play center/Biggio is washed up nonsense? That guy made a play last night that was well above average...he's been fine in center...not necessarily spectacular, but fine. He's batting like a true leadoff hitter. And he's freaking Craig Biggio...if your name belongs to any record where the only other name who's accomplished it is Tris Speaker, than you, by definition, rock the casbah.
Biggio is a good player true but to have a true CF or in this case a true backup for late inns would be nice.
i don't know what that means...i think he is vastly underrated as an outfielder at this point in his career. vastly.
i agree, Biggio has far exceeded my expectations in Center Field. I can overlook the ocasional baserunner who takes 2nd or 3rd on him, especially if he continues this offensive tear.
STATS, Inc. has this scouting report on Biggio's defense: He's got one of the weakest CF arms in the game, but he handles what he gets to in the field. Offensively, he's great this season through 14 games. His .379 OBP is better than his career average, and he's hitting with pop. But at 38 he certainly isn't likely to post the .400 obp or 20 homers he used to hit, and his stats have been in a slow decline since 1998. I'd be happy with the .350 obp and 40 doubles he hit last season. Still, it's a tribute to him that he's playing as well as he is at his age. Look at Robbie Alomar (who, with Biggio was one of the 2 best 2B of the 90s) and how rapidly his production has gone downhill.
Personally, I'm clueless when it comes to our outfield defense, since I don't go to a lot of games. Using the camera shots on TV to measure defense is useless. You don't get to see the jump the OF gets. You don't have too much of an idea of his speed. A ball hit to the same spot to Andrew Jones might be caught easily, while it might take Biggio a circus catch to get it. Yet the TV watcher might feel that Biggio is a better OF because he did the "spectacular". From everything I've read, Biggio is a below-average defensive CF. That's really the best I can go on unless I go to all the games and concentrate on watching defense.
Biggio's only liabilty in CF is his arm. As far as range and making plays he is actually pretty average, and not awful like most people would lead you to believe.
exactly... oh, and by the way...how overrated are the concerns about our DEEP centerfield. yes...it's freaking deep. but how often do you see the hill/flagpole in play? seriously, it's so freaking rare that the plays that do go out there are memorable. the outfield plays deep on guys capable of hitting it back there. it's just been sold here and elsewhere that biggio is this huge liability to this club....i bet he creates far more runs than any concerns about his defense give up to opposing teams.
If his defense was that bad, he'd move to LF, and Lance would play CF. In fact, Lance can probably cover CF just as well... its just that a.) his arm is more useful in LF, and b.) playing CF day-in and day-out can make one a little tired (although Lance's best year so far has been 2002... when he was our starting CF).
Biggio is not a centerfielder. He made a nice play last night. That's great. Let's now talk about the numerous balls he doesn't get to. He's not a liability as far as speed is concerned, but he is a best average, and coupled with a lack of arm strength, that equals slightly below average. All that being said, he's on a tear, and where elses would you play him?
ok..let's talk about them. name one so far this season. and if he's such a problem not getting to balls....how can he also not be a liability as far as speed is concerned? if he's not getting to the balls, what other factor than speed are you chalking that up to? again...i don't think he's nearly the liability he's been made out to be. he's not a gold-glover, but this guy isn't hurting us in CF.
He's not a liability as far as speed is concerned because he's average, but there are still balls he doesn't get too that better than average centerfielders can.
won't argue that....he's not andruw jones. no argument here. he's not a gold glover. not a great defensive centerfielder. but he is not below average. he doesn't suck. and for the money he's being paid and with what he's doing at the plate, he's a tremendous value right now.
Max, please get off your Biggio man crush and just admit that he is perhaps the worst defensive centerfielder in Major League Baseball today. What are you trying to prove with all this anyhow? You have this Baylor-driven Drayton McLane obsession that defends anything he does with regard to the team.
The only liability is his arm. His hitting is much better than most centerfielders. People tried to make him a scapegoat last year, I doubt it will work now.
I would beg to differ MadMax. While there is no one magic number that can tell you who the best defensive player is, I think Range Factor is as good as any for a center fielder. Biggio's Range Facto in 2003 was better than only one CF in the majors with enough playing time to qualify, and that was Steve Finley. 2003 MLB CF Range Factor NAME RF Mike Cameron, Sea 3.42 Rocco Baldelli, TB 3.07 Alex Sanchez, Det 3.07 Jim Edmonds, StL 3.06 Carlos Beltran, KC 3.05 Torii Hunter, Min 2.98 Mark Kotsay, SD 2.87 Andruw Jones, Atl 2.70 Scott Podsednik, Mil 2.63 Bernie Williams, NYY 2.63 Johnny Damon, Bos 2.63 Juan Pierre, Fla 2.56 Marquis Grissom, SF 2.52 Endy Chavez, Mon 2.50 Kenny Lofton, ChC 2.48 Marlon Byrd, Phi 2.45 Vernon Wells, Tor 2.45 Preston Wilson, Col 2.33 Craig Biggio, Hou 2.30 Steve Finley, Ari 2.06
Sorry for the crummy formatting on that table. As for offense, Biggio was slightly below average. He posted an OPS+ (park-corrected OPS as compared to the league average) of 95 where 100 is average.
Biggio is not a below average centerfielder. He's not costing us games. And he's hitting as you'd hope a leadoff hitter would. Period. The end.
