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Friday, January 28, 2005More on Finley's defensePerhaps the most important component in the Steve Finley signing is his defense. That's why I've been waiting for David Pinto to release his defensive metric before posting my scouting report on Finley, so I could get some kind of grasp on the issue. (By the way, the list is now up to 84 names. I may need to pare that back a bit...) But a comment by Rich (from Halo Herald) has caused me to say something about Finley's defense today. Now, being but a humble blogger, all I have access to is the most basic of defensive numbers - range factor and zone rating. These two stats are so reliant on the pitching staff one plays behind, they are virtually useless as defensive metrics. They are only effective in comparing two players that play the same position on the same team. Luckily enough, Finley was traded half way through the season, so we have a couple of players that fit the criteria. We can compare Finley to the player he replaced in Los Angeles (Milton Bradley) and the player who was his replacement in Arizona (Luis Terrero), and we should have a pretty good basis for comparison. (Still, the sample sizes aren't huge, and other changes to the pitching staffs had been made, so don't read too much into these.) So Finley was an ever-so-slight improvement over both in range factor (meaning he made more plays per 9 innings) and was a significant downgrade from Milton Bradley in zone rating (percentage of balls caught in his defensive "zone"). Keep in mind that neither Terrero nor Bradley are celebrated for their glovework. So take what you know about Milton Bradley and Luis Terrero and apply that to what you know about Garret Anderson, and you should get an idea of what the Angels are looking at next season.Player INN RF ZR |-----------|------|-----|--- S. Finley 896.1 2.20 .850 L. Terrero 488.2 2.14 .840 |-----------|------|-----|--- M. Bradley 792.2 2.66 .901 S. Finley 484.2 2.69 .862 You tell me - did Steve Finley deserve a gold glove last season? And is he a significant upgrade over Garret Anderson (or Jeff DaVanon)? I think the answer to both those questions is no, but that's just my opinion. |
