[DesertCat]

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DesertCat:

I believe you switched those - Cabrera's range is subpar and Rowand's range is great.


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I don't have access to any advanced defensive metrics so I used baseball ref's RF9 field. Rowand's RF9 for 2007 was 2.64 vs a league ave of 2.71. Melky's RF9 for centerfield was 3.02. I understand how rough these numbers are, advanced metrics may paint a totally different picture.

But that won't totally change my point. Melky is probably only a bit below league average in CF hitting. If his defense is decent, is it worth spending $11M per year more on Rowand? Rowand is likely to get worse, while Melky could still get better. They went down this path putting a ton of money into Damon and now they are stuck with a guy who can't hit well enough to play anything but center, but who they apparently feel can no longer play center.

Of course if Melky's defense is on par with Damons, you might as well play Damon for the extra offense.