19 Miami Marlins (Ureña) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Eickhoff)

julio 2019-04-27 17:36:52 UTC #81

Just saying (whatever that meme really means)? But what are you trying to say? Why are you comparing those two? You should probably be comparing Machado to Harper, if you want to argue (or imply) that the Phils should have signed Machado instead of Harper.

Or Machado + Altherr vs. Harper + Franco, or some such.

DurhamBull 2019-04-27 17:40:19 UTC #82

Franco has a -0.2 WAR despite a .900 OPS? Whatever method they're using must really hate his defense.

zambonir 2019-04-27 18:14:40 UTC #83

I think you want to be quoting and replying to AustinFan not me (or you just missed my sarcasm).

Certainly both WAR and defensive stats remain imperfect. If Maikel remains an .850 OPS guy his defense surely doesn't matter. And it also doesn't matter if he's the 8th hitter on the best offensive team in the league.

But what we don't know - the real comparison that would have to be made with Machado if we could - is how the two players would have done on a Phillies team without Harper. Which is why AF's comparision wasn't that serious and my reply wasn't either.

Austinfan 2019-04-27 18:23:30 UTC #84

I didn't think either player was a game changer and still don't, Harper will help, Machado would have helped, but less so given Franco's improvement (though it would have been interesting to see Williams as a starter).

Eickhoff's resurgence might end up a more important development this year if he can sustain it.

That's why you play 162 games.

zambonir 2019-04-27 18:39:11 UTC #85

I think we've all seen the true value of Harper already, and it exceeded anything we (or even ownership) could have anticipated. Star power is fun. Beyond that, we'll see (and he'll have to produce to maintain the shine).

Manny will probably put up more WAR than Bryce over the next 10 years (just because of defense and position alone, especially after Harper leaves the OF) but honestly I think the whole free agent saga is already forgotten. If he'd gone to a bigger-name team the media might be on it more. If we ever play the Padres in the post-season it will become a storyline.

I really hope Franco keeps it up. Extremely small sample and batting order shouldn't matter as much but he went right back to being 2017 Franco batting 5th. The IBBs are a big part of his OPS but the power's been impressive (and always was).

julio 2019-04-27 18:44:05 UTC #86

Ah, sorry! I see. My bad. I confess, I generally (at most) just skim AustinFan's posts these days - too much repetition of the same arguments. That post, my thought process was, "Eickhoff again - Yeah, he's always in Eickhoff's corner; nothing to see here."

Your posts, on the other hand, I actually read!