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Monday, April 10, 2006 |
Adrian Beltre-Watch, Year 2
Having angrily, obscenely objected to the non-signing of Adrian Beltre in the 2004/2005 offseason, I periodically like to revisit the object of my affliction. I recall this U.S.S. Mariner roundtable about the situation at third base in which Jeff Shaw wrote
I’m convinced most Mariner fans suffer from 3TSD: third-base traumatic stress disorder. Scads of at-bats by Jeff Cirillo and Scott Spiezio sent observers into such a funk that we’re convinced the team will never have a hot bat at the hot corner.Ah, familiar refrains to the ear of a Dodger fan. And indeed, Beltre's defense was simply phenominal; how often I recall him grabbing a bouncing hopper at a full gallop and throwing a strike across the diamond to nab an out. Or at least, that was what I thought; now I discover that his DT card damns his defense with faint praise, tagging him as just a hair above league average at best. His 106 Rate2 in 2001 and 2004 don't appear to be the mark of a two-standard-deviations-above-the-mean player. Indeed, lately Lookout Landing ran a game recap of Sunday's loss to the A's that indicated Beltre actually was a negative contributor to Seattle's lineup, offensively and defensively. His stone-cold bat aside, apparently he's lost his touch with the glove as well:How else to explain the widespread pessimism about Adrian Beltre? It’s true that the monster patrolling Chavez Ravine in 2004 didn’t show up in Safeco Field last year, and it’s further true that a $64 million contract brings the weight of expectation.
But we’re talking about a player that will turn 27 just as the season starts, is durable barring freakish medical problems and plays terrific defense. Beltre is entering his prime, and there are serious grounds for anticipating a rebound.
With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the fifth, and the Mariners trailing 2-0, Bobby Crosby hit a tailor-made DP ball to Adrian Beltre, who couldn't make the simple play to end the inning. A run scored, and Eric Chavez drove in another in the next at bat to double the deficit.Well, one game is one game; we dismiss what Mr. Small Sample Size tells us, generally. Yet, the whispers in the press grow to a shout. I read in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (h/t BTF) that Beltre is "on the brink of being a bust", Seattle management having "misidentified a passing comet as a new star." Those hating on Paul DePodesta can imagine what the Dodgers might have looked like last year with $70 or $80 million dedicated to the Adrian Beltre who can't resist swinging at the low and away slider.
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