He's not the free agent middle-infielder that everybody's going to be talking about this offseason, but David Eckstein is in the midst of a strong year. The 5'7" second baseman is living up to his reputation as a player who does the little things right.
Eckstein, now 35, is playing great defense, hitting .302/.362/.395, stealing bases efficiently and, as Dave Cameron of FanGraphs points out, Eckstein's contact skills are exceptional.
If Eckstein reminds you of another former Blue Jays shortstop with tremendous control of the strike zone and solid defense, you're probably thinking of Marco Scutaro, who turned a breakout season into a $12.5MM payday last winter. Despite the similarities between the two, Scutaro is younger and has more power. By the time Eckstein becomes a free agent, he will be 20 months older than Scutaro was when the Red Sox signed him.
Eckstein's age may prevent teams from offering multi-year deals, but if he continues playing like this, he should sign a contract worth more than the $1MM he'll make in 2010. Eckstein's 2007 batting line of .309/.356/.382 earned him a $4.5MM guarantee from the Blue Jays the following winter. He's hitting at a nearly identical clip this year and playing better defense, which could be enough for a $3-6MM deal this offseason.
Don’t forget he played shortstop with the Jays, huge difference. Also, you got his stat line wrong.
Do not want.
Can’t see anyone going above 3MM for a sub .400 slugging percentage.
If they had a stat for being scrappy, David Eckstein would lead it year after year. Since they don’t, I guess Eck is screwed.
If GritStein keeps it up over a whole season, I’ll personally go to Petco and eat his hat.
Sorry, double posting
Oh God…my stomach is already getting queasy…you know Minaya is going to grab this guy, right?
The Pads should give him a reasonable 1-year extension; his lack of power doesn’t hurt as much at Petco where runs are manufactured more often than they are the result of a HR.
I was shocked to read that he got booed at SF earlier this year because I thought everyone loved his “scrappiness” (even mentioned in one of the comments above). But then I remembered how he punked the Giants in the WS as member of the Angels.
2006 World Series MVP and a great clubhouse guy, plus he has the hot, young wife too. That said, I hope he gets paid next year because his run is likely coming to an end.
The Cubs should get this guy. He is what they need. Give David a two year deal