While they’re not in the same division, a pair of centrally based major league teams have produced a couple of the majors’ top-performing shortstops. The White Sox of the American League Central have seen Tim Anderson turn into a rather valuable player. The same goes for the Cardinals of the National League Central and Paul DeJong. They’re pretty similar in value, age and contract situations, but which of the two would you rather have?
Anderson, 26, was a first-round pick in 2013 who debuted in ’16 and took some time to find himself as a major league hitter. In 1,643 plate appearances from his first year through 2018, he hit a below-average .258/.286/.411 (86 wRC+) with 46 home runs and 51 stolen bases. A high strikeout rate (26 percent) and a low walk percentage (3.4) were part of the problem. Those K/BB trends largely stayed in place last year (2.9 percent and 21 percent, respectively), but Anderson nonetheless found another gear a hitter. He slashed .335/.357/.508 (130 wRC+) with 18 homers and 17 steals en route to a career-best 3.5 fWAR (he combined for 4.1 in the prior three seasons) and an AL batting title. Of course, he was also the beneficiary of a .399 batting average on balls in play – up .110 points from the previous year – and Statcast wasn’t as bullish as his bottom-line production (.363 weighted on-base average versus .328 expected wOBA).
Shifting to the defensive side, Anderson hasn’t been a consistently good player, at least not according to the metrics. By Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating, he has been a plus player twice and a minus fielder twice. The most recent campaign fell into the latter category, as he posted minus-12 DRS with a minus-9.1 UZR. DeJong, meanwhile, has greatly outdone Anderson as a defender since debuting with the Cardinals in 2017. Last season, for instance, DeJong put up 26 DRS and 11.4 UZR, making him one of the sport’s top fielders.
Also 26, DeJong has graded as a solid performer on a regular basis dating back to his first game in the majors. He has been at least a 3.0-fWAR player every season, including a career-high 4.1 mark in 2019. DeJong, unlike Anderson, has struggled to hit for average of late, but he was a 30-HR man last year – a season in which he finished with a .233/.318/.444 mark (100 wRC+) across 664 plate appearances. Going by wRC+, it was the third consecutive time that DeJong registered league-average or better offensive numbers. That and his excellent defense have combined to make DeJong quite valuable for St. Louis.
Beyond the production on the field, you have to consider the two players’ contracts when comparing them. They’re pretty alike in that regard, too. Anderson inked a six-year, $25MM extension heading into the 2017 season. That deal also includes a $12.5MM club option for 2023 and a potential $14MM salary the next season. Whether or not the White Sox pick up either option, they’re surely not regretting the gamble now. Likewise, the Cardinals must be happy that they locked DeJong into a six-year, $26MM pact prior to 2018. That deal includes a $12.5MM option for 2024 and $15MM in ’25.
There’s a lot to like about both of these shortstops, but if you have to pick one, whom would you want on your team? (Poll link for app users)
I’ll take Dejong’s maturity (or Anderson’s lack thereof) any day. Very similar players.
Anderon is entertaining, but Dejong has put up really good defensive metrics, and I don’t really think either are much more than slightly above average hitters
Anderson lead all of MLB in batting average last year (over .100 pts higher than DeJong). Will Anderson hit .335 again maybe but probably not. DeJong’s BA has trended down with the more AB’s he has gotten each year. Those are FACTS compared to the professional scouts take of “I don’t really think either are much more than slightly above average hitters”, LOL!
Batting Average. hehe.
I hope Timmy continues with a strong batting this season, if and when it retuns. I don’t want it to be a fluke like Avi’s.
Anderson..Immature..right..
Enjoys playing baseball = immature. Got it.
Says he’s like Jackie Robinson = immature. I don’t have a problem with his having fun. I do have a problem with him comparing people not liking his bat flips to the hatred Jackie faced.
Anderson player in the central, which was a historically bad division last year. The Tigers and Royals were running with rotations that belonged in AAA. Anderson doesn’t win a batting title in any other division.
I take DeJong.
Hahahah what? I dare you to back that theory up with a statistic. Guy won a batting title only because of the division he played in, that has to be the first time anyone has ever said that
That’s not even a bad point he made…
Twins aren’t a 100 win team and they won 100 bc of the division. (Could have finished 5th in NL east if you replace them with marlins)
Yankees hitters also overperformed bc they faced 3 AAA pitching staffs.. (the team is very overrated) any of the 4 NL east teams would have won 100 in the division too…
It’s not far off to say anderson wouldn’t have done as good when not facing like 7 teams in the AL who have AAA pitching
Tim Anderson hit over .300 against 11 of the 19 opponents played last year. Of those 11 he hit over .400 against 5 of them and hit over .500 against Seattle. In the AL Central he hit .319 against the Indians, .347 against the Royals, .400 against the Tigers and .471 against the Twins.
Oh yeah cause the Brewers & Pirates starting pitching scared & downright dominated everyone, right?
And Gleyber Torres would’ve hit 25 home runs if he didn’t face Baltimore’s high school rotation… Everybody faces plenty of bad pitching. The good ones take advantage of it.
Anderson has no maturity issues. None.
Having fun at a game is what you are supposed to do.
sounds like you are just a racist who hates the game of baseball. anderson > dejong in every aspect of the game.
Oh look, the guy who blames racism for everything. As opposed to the facts which clearly show Dejong is an overall better player.
actually, it is very racist to call tim immature just becasue he plays the game the right way.
You did see that Dejong is clearly a better defensive player in the article. Like not even close in comparison. I think that is somewhat an important aspect of the game….
Wrong, Pinstripes. DeJong has more power than Anderson (30 HRs vs 18 last year) and he’s a far superior defender at SS. So there is no way Anderson is better than DeJong in every aspect.. Defense at SS, C & CF is the most important in baseball and DeJong dominates Anderson in this category. Stop trying to play the ignorant racism card here. That has nothing to do with the question posed.
What happened to Xabial
This is a secret being kept from us by the government.
i dont need sleep, i need answers
You hear that sound? That’s the bottom of the barrel.
Dejong for sure, but we really need some MLB baseball to start.
Tim Anderson.
Looking at second half stats Paul Dejong is a .236 hitter while Anderson is a .286 hitter. Also has better barring averages in August and September. Roughly 50-60 points higher than Dejong.
Dejong had a better War
WAR is a subjective, made up stat.
Batting average is a garbage statistic as well. That being said, I’d rather have a guy that hits .250 with 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in than a guy that hits .300 with 10 home runs and 70 runs batted in.
So you don’t like batting average, but you want to use RBI’s? Interesting to say the least.
Tim Anderson’s no walk strategy means he’ll never have sustainable success.
Agreed. You have to be very careful with these types of players. Their entire offensive production is tied to batting average. He doesn’t steal that many bases, doesn’t hit for that much power, and doesn’t walk. The guy hit 335 and barely had a slugging over 500. It was like watching Chris Johnson go for the batting title in 2013, just an empty batting line.
If he doesn’t hit 290, he’s not going to be a positive on offense. And I don’t think Anderson is the type of guy to consistently hit 290.
TA7 leads the team in steals every year, averaging about 18-20 per year.
I’m sorry, is that a lot?
He’s had only one year in which he had more than 17. Nobody denies he’s faster than DeJong, but your argument isn’t that valid until he’s stealing at least 20-30 more bases a year than DeJong. Last year, that difference was only 8.
Don’t be sorry, because 18-20 kind of is nowadays bro-man briffle if you noticed that the NL & AL leaders snagged 37 & 46. Mallex Smith and his .207 BA and his -0.1 WAR had most in AL. There’s not too many Kenny Lofton’s, Otis Nixon, Juan Pierre’s, etc in the game anymore.
It’s not a lot, and leading his team is meaningless when it’s so little. It’s not enough to really add much value to his overall game.
TA had 26 steals in 2018 (9th most in AL). Some guys in front of him were Mallex Smith, Billy Hamilton & Dee Gordon who do basically nothing other than steal bases. Only 6 players stole more than 30 bases in the entire MLB last year.
OK you don’t get it. I don’t care that he led his team or finished 9th in 2018. It’s not that many stolen bases. It’s not enough to increase his value. We’re talking 15-30 stolen bases, that’s one or less stolen base a week during the season. It’s one of the least relavant and important offense statistics right now, unless you’re stealing enough bases (50+) to have a game-by-game impact.
Everything is relative my friend. Is it you just can’t accept stats that don’t support your argument? TA has 68 career stolen bases to DeJong’s 11. DeJong had approximately 100 more AB’s last year too.
Your whole argument centers around Anderson finishing 9th in 2018 in a category that teams don’t value, don’t care about, nor do anymore. This isn’t the 1980’s, no one steals bases.
Dejong’s career WAR is much better than Anderson’s despite Anderson playing in more games. His defense is light years ahead.
Dejong’s total baserunning in 2019 was also valued higher than Anderson’s as well, despite “all” of those stolen bases ♂️.
Get a clue, bud.
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&…
Subjectivity bud because like you mentioned how can someone get valued significantly higher but steal less bases? Most of the leaders in fangraphs base running also stole the most bases!!! Copied this finely written piece and I’ll let this speak for myself-
I can’t help but wonder whether DeJong’s defense is being overstated. The only time he’s ever been credited with completing even an Unlikely play by Inside Edge was in 2017 (when he completed 3/11). Everything since then has been 40% chance of success or higher. While his OOA looks impressive, he was negative moving laterally toward 3B (compared to Nick Ahmed, who was negative in no areas, the only area DeJong was superior was moving laterally toward 1B, and that was after multiple years of being in the negative there). DeJong’s rate of fielding errors improved marginally, while his throwing errors all but dried up (shrunk from 8 the prior season to 1 in 2019, and that’s with more play time). What happened last season? Goldschmidt happened! After going to STL, guess what happened to Ahmed’s throwing errors? If you guessed they went up, you’d be right. Yet, even without Goldschmidt there, he still completed 7/15 Unlikely plays (and even managed to complete a remote play for good measure). I’m not saying that DeJong is a bad defender, he’s still leaking at this point, but I firmly believe that Goldy made him look like a better defender than he actually is. I can’t research that currently, because I don’t have access to play logs of Goldy’s 26 scoops, but I’d be willing to wager that a good amount of those are from DeJong.
“how can someone get valued significantly higher but steal less bases?”
Jesus, I’m done here pal. You’re either trolling or a complete idiot. Probably both.
Do you realize that baserunning encompasses more than just stealing bases? Even with Anderson having more stolen bases, he was valued less as a runner so you’re whole stolen base point, if you ever had one, is completely moot.
yes, reminds me of Alcides Escobar. Capable of having a great year but once pitchers figure him out its over.
DeJong for sure. As good as he is on defense I think he is still under rated until he gets a gold glove like his partner up the middle Kolten.
De Jong all day, even if they both played equal defense, I would still choose De Jong. Players that don’t take walks just have such ugly slash lines, even when they bat .330+. I don’t believe he can continue to hit .330+, I think .290 would be more realistic, so his OBP will likely drop to .310 or less.
For some reason, I feel like if we are 15 years in the future, and recap both of their careers, one of them is going to be far and away the better player. I just don’t know who it will be… I don’t normally feel that way about these “smackdown” articles, but for this one it just seems that way.
Do you think Anderson will continue to hit 300 or better? Because Dejong has already shown he is useful despite a low batting average, something Anderson can’t do.
60 games per 1 War for Anderson in his career, 33 games per 1 War for Dejong in his career.
I think it’s going to be pretty obvious.
There’s no such thing as hustle or being a good teammate. I know because I am an uptalking millenial and the computer told me so.
I’d rather take a flyer on that SS for the Kiwoom Heroes. H’s lighting it up in the KBO and he has some former MLB teammates who are grooming him. Maybe his arm won’t grade out but his glove and footwork are good enough to get his bat in a MLB lineup.
You’d rather take a flyer on someone from the KBO than 2 young shortstops that put up 8.9 and 6.8 WAR over the last 2 years? Seems like an absolutely terrible decision.
Nobody cares about KBO numbers. Eric Thames was a god playing over there.
I’m a Tiger fan so I see this as a prompt for who you’d want for a rebuild. My answer is neither. I think we saw both of their max upsides. The KBO kid looks dynamite on the Kiwoom Heroes. And also, Thames has been legit the best bench bat in the MLB since he came back from Korea.
Nobody saying he isn’t a solid player. He’s pretty much a guarenteed .250/.350/.500, 25-30 home run hitter, but you compare that to what he did in Korea? It’s like early-2000’s Barry Bonds to Joc Pederson.
So the “Babe Ruth of the KBO” translates to being the best BENCH BAT in the MLB… That doesn’t tell you something about the quality of competition? I guarantee you that Anderson and DeJong would look like superstars there too.
Yes DeJong and Anderson would look incredible in the KBO, just like the Kiwoom SS Kim Ha-seong looks incredible in the KBO. Also, the MLB player perks sink some and bring out the best in others.
dejong and wong, nice combo
Top 5 shortstops of all time:
1. Ozzie Smith
2. Cal Ripken
3. Troy Tulowitsky
4. Arod
5. Walt Weiss
Wrong! I know you’re trolling but I’m interesting in the subject regardless. Ripken is number one. Simmons will top Ozzie’s glove. ARod’s bat would’ve made him the best SS of all time if he didn’t join the Yankees and selflessly defer to Jeter, who is my number four. Then, the most underrated of all time, Trammel rounds out the top five of all time.
Umm, Honus Wagner.
Tulo? Weiss? No chance.
Simmons over the Wizard? Uh, no. I’d even take Vizquel over Simmons.
1. Honus Wagner
2. Cal Ripken
3. Robin Yount
4. Derek Jeter
5. Ozzie Smith
Weiss is the best defensive short stop of all time. Honus would be a utility man (working for a utility company) if he were alive after 1960.
I can’t tell if you’re trolling or you actually believe either of these statements…both which are clearly false.
DeJong is the better player hands down.
DeJong’s skillset feels like it’s going to age better, but I think Anderson has a higher ceiling.
Tim Anderson put up a 3.7fWAR mostly fueled by a 4.7 oWAR last season despite missing over a month of the season. Because of his injuries he barely qualified for the AL Batting Title. The previous season he was more consistent with his glove and posted a 1.6 dWAR. If he can combine his 2019 offense with his 2018 defense while staying healthy we are looking at a 5-6 WAR player.
Anderson is still just 26 and had a late start playing baseball as a prep basketball star in high school. He has come a long way in MLB in a relatively short time. He is a supreme athlete who is quickly becoming a solid baseball player. The White Sox will finally have a batting order in which Anderson can further blossom as a hitter going forward. He has an offensive floor of a 20-20 hitter with a ceiling even higher. TA7 also gets top marks for his bat flips!
Anderson presents an enthusiastic warrior mentality for the White Sox in the clubhouse and on the field. He is yet another member of the team, along with his wife, who has performed wonderful charity work in Chicago. Anderson is already a star on the Southside and will become a more noted one on a team that is primed to shine in MLB over the next decade.
I love Anderson, but his fielding woes and lack of plate discipline hold him back.
I’d take Dejong at this point. Hopefully, Anderson can make this a more difficult choice with an improve season in the field.
What you say is very true. I was also promoting Tim Anderson without referencing Paul De Jong who is a very good player and the better defensive shortstop at this point in time. I do feel that Anderson has the higher ceiling and will prove it on a potentially great White Sox team going forward.
I’ll take Bogaerts, Semien, Baez, Torres, Story, Lindor, Turner, Machado, Seager and Polanco over both of these guys.
Nobody said these are the best two SS’s in baseball. I don’t think anyone other than their mothers would claim that. They’re just comparing two players with similar values and similar contracts.
Now say you’re a GM running a team with a $200 million annual budget for salaries over the next five years. Are you still taking each of the guys you listed over DeJong or Anderson?
I’d take Semien, Baez, and Lindor over them because the difference is that big. The rest, it would depend on what the rest of my team looks like. If I need another star, yeah, I’d take a couple of them over these guys; if my team is already solid, no.
Math, YES
If you are talking shortstops I would definitely have swapped out Manny Machado for his Padres teammate and former White Sox prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. If the latter was still a White Sox, Tim Anderson would probably be in the outfield or some other teams SS as we post.
That said and in retrospect, I’m good going forward with Tim Anderson at SS, Yoan Moncada at 3B and Nick Madrigal at 2B for the White Sox. You can’t undo the past. I’m pissed that Fernando Tatis Jr. was traded to the Padre but relieved that Manny Machado opted for San Diego as a free agent. If Anderson doesn’t work out defensively at SS in the next two seasons I’d rather the White Sox pursue my favorite MLB player and SS, the amiable Francisco Lindor as a FA than what they might have had in Machado. I’d also rather have Anderson’s demeanor on the White Sox than Machado’s.
We are fortunate in Chicago to have a couple of quality and potentially great shortstops playing concurrently in the city. Tim Anderson and Javier Baez are the two best players at that position in the city since I was a kid and able to see two Hall of Fame shortstops man the position in Luis Aparicio and Ernie Banks. I was too young to witness both together for more than a partial season when Banks moved off of the position and to the outfield in 1961 before becoming the Cubs regular 1B until he retired in 1971. The White Sox traded Aparicio following the 1962 season but he did return for 3 more years from 1968-1970. Aparicio and Banks were the regular shortstops and multiple All-Stars together in Chicago from 1956-1961. Anderson and Baez have an opportunity to surpass that timeline together provided the former improves his defense at SS and if the latter gets a contract extension from the Cubs before he hits free agency following the 2021 season.
Higher ceiling: TA
Higher floor: DeJong
DeJong is the better defender, though TA’s defense is better than people slam him for. He’s not Ozzie Smith, but he had -1 OOA in ’19 (DeJong had +13 OOA) and in ’18 TA’s OOA was +5 (DeJong had -5 OOA in ’18). TA’s inconsistent, but not horrible as many would label him as. That being said, he does need to clean up his defense.
TA’s better overall offensively. DeJong has better power, but TA’s a much better hitter. DeJong’s BA would concern me (.233 in ’19, .241 in ’18). Of course you could say the same about TA before last year. At least DeJong knows how to take walks, but I’d take a base hit over a walk any day of the week. TA’s speed is far better.
DeJong’s bWAR was 5.3 in ’19 and TA’s bWAR was 3.7 in ’19. Obviously the HR’s and defense is what led to DeJong besting TA in bWAR. I’m better accepting the WAR stat, though I think there’s still too much weight on defense (though I can still live with it). I will accept WAR with open arms if they ever unify it. Until then, I can’t fully embrace the stat. There’s no excuse by now that there can’t be one universal WAR stat.
Personally I’d take TA right now, but that’s me. If DeJong suddenly improves his hitting like TA did last year, then I’d take DeJong. 2 different skill sets, just depends on what you’re looking for in a player. I’ll sacrifice defense for better offensive player (at least to a point). TA’s defense is still decent enough to where he’s my choice.
TA was better offensively last year, he hasn’t been if you look at the last 3 years. Unless you think TA can keep up a 400 babip, I don’t think it’s easy to make a definitive statement that he’s better offensively.
Agree with your arguments, but for a team looking to contend for a title in a few years, I’d rather have a higher floor from a position where neither is likely to ever be a superstar. A team’s stars are, by definition, high-ceiling guys, but a low floor guy can be a glaring hole that costs them a few games a year. As for TA’s defense, he’s made at least 20 errors each of the past three seasons and the team got Keuchel, who excels at inducing grounders. When the BA inevitably falls off (hopefully not lower than .280), his defense will stand out more, and not in a good way. Basically, the defense and consistency are why I’d pick DeJong.
Anderson isn’t gonna keep up a 400 babip. He’s fast, so it’ll likely be higher than average, but not that high.
As a White Sox fan, I’d take DeJong. He probably has a lower ceiling, but he’s far more consistent and a very good fielder. I can’t even say DeJong is a worse hitter, as his career OPS+ is higher than Anderson’s. There’s also the fact that, because he signed his deal a year later, he’s controlled through 2025. Anderson may have had a breakout last year, but that BA is unsustainable. He’s certainly faster and will still probably hit for a higher average, but with less power and worse defense.
deJong is highly overrated. Anderson by a mile.
DeJong:
2017 – 2.8 WAR
2018 – 3.6 WAR
2019 – 5.3 WAR
Anderson:
2017 – negative .4 WAR
2018 – 3.1 WAR
2019 – 3.7 WAR
Yeah, he’s better by a mile. Said no one ever.
WAR is a subjective, made up stat. I will take Dejong however.
If anything, DeJong is underrated due to the lack of flash on his top-level defense. He has never had a backup capable of getting him rest as of yet in his ML career and he’s been overworked – the first and second halves have been very different. It will be fun to see what he can do when he’s getting rest every once in awhile.
Who played on the better overall teams from 2017-2019? The answer is simple and it’s clearly DeJong. Does that make a huge difference, probably not, but it cannot be ignored. I don’t think DeJong is highly overrated but I think he hit in a much better lineup those years and has more power. The defense argument is a joke because do you think the Cubs would like to take back the 184 million they gave to Heyward for his defense??? WAR is subjective and like some other stats can be used for or against a player.
dejong is highly overrated and tim anderrson is a better by a mile. there i said it too, because its true.
I sAiD iT tOo BeCaUsE iTs TrUe
It’s just too bad that facts and statistics don’t back your opinion.
Anderson’s career isn’t going to last long. It’s only a matter of time till he pisses off the wrong pitcher with one of his outrageous bat flips and catches a 98mph fastball in the ear hole.
just say it man, you hate baseball
Nope. Love Baseball. But if a guy can flip a bat and celebrate why can’t a pitcher retaliate? I don’t mind seeing the bat flip, but this guy is a bit excessive. Be a professional, act like you’ve done this before.
So a pitcher has the right to commit assault because they had their feelings hurt? Go yell at a cloud.
You call that assault? Jeez you probably better not watch football.
@Sum Guy
I would call definitely call it assault. A 98 mph fastball to the head could potentially kill the batter. I’m guessing you’ve never tried to swing at (or, more appropriately, ducked away from) a 98 mph fastball, otherwise you wouldn’t question it.
Go look up what happened to Dickie Thon. That was an accident. But that is what can happen when you throw at someone’s ear hole. Doing that intentionally, which is against the rules, because you had your feelings hurt over a home run is absolutely assault. It’s also weak. Don’t want a bat flip? Don’t give up home runs.
Go look up the number of guys who have been killed by fastballs to the head vs the number of guys who got up and walked away and talk to me again.
Also for the record the game was played that way for nearly 100 years until a bunch of whinypussies like you came around. I bet you want to see the NFL resort to flag football too.
@Sum Guys
So basically since no one’s been killed yet by a 98 mph fastball to the head, we can assume it will never happen and it’s safe to head hunt with 98 mph fastballs. Good logic there.
All it takes is one player to die this way. And even if no player were to ever die, it could instantly end their career or render them a shell of the player they were before the fastball to the head. Imagine the numbers Tony Conigliaro would’ve put up had he not received a fastball to the face back in ’67.
No where did imply that it could never happen. If you want to imply that I’m saying that then maybe you should question your own rationale. What I’m simply stating is that if you want to showboat you may face some retaliation. In every other sport in the world this is a common practice. No pitcher minds a little bat flip when you’ve bested him. But Tim Anderson outright spiking bats and screaming at a pitcher like the guy kicked his dog and insulted his mother is a bit obscene. Again the game was played that way for over a 100 years.
@Sum Guy
Funny thing is, if you hadn’t said that he could catch a 98 mph fastball at his ear hole for showboating, then I completely agree with you. I like TA a lot as a player, but I cringe when he (or any player in sports for that matter) showboats. I am also of the school of thought to act like you’ve been there, so I get it. But to head hunt with a 98 mph fastball goes too far. That’s all I was getting at.
I’m not saying I want to see that happen I’m saying that eventually he’s going to piss off the wrong pitcher and his next at bat he’s gonna catch one up and in.
well the answer if objectively DeJong, so those who pick Anderson are clouded in bias
This is like asking if Springer or Avi Garcia was the better RF after the 2017 season. The answer was Springer by a mile, but people refuse to acknowledge (or comprehend) how meaningful BABIP and BB rate are to future performance.
It’s DeJong now. It’ll be DeJong over the next 3-5 years. And it’s not close.
Yah, but what if Avi knew what pitch was coming?
He’d continue to be a BABIP reliant, BB phobic, pull-side ground ball machine, who’s vastly inferior to Springer.
DeJong > Anderson and no, before White Sox fans accuse me of being one, I am NOT a Cardinals homer.
I can’t help but wonder whether DeJong’s defense is being overstated. The only time he’s ever been credited with completing even an Unlikely play by Inside Edge was in 2017 (when he completed 3/11). Everything since then has been 40% chance of success or higher. While his OOA looks impressive, he was negative moving laterally toward 3B (compared to Nick Ahmed, who was negative in no areas, the only area DeJong was superior was moving laterally toward 1B, and that was after multiple years of being in the negative there). DeJong’s rate of fielding errors improved marginally, while his throwing errors all but dried up (shrunk from 8 the prior season to 1 in 2019, and that’s with more play time). What happened last season? Goldschmidt happened! After going to STL, guess what happened to Ahmed’s throwing errors? If you guessed they went up, you’d be right. Yet, even without Goldschmidt there, he still completed 7/15 Unlikely plays (and even managed to complete a remote play for good measure). I’m not saying that DeJong is a bad defender, he’s still leaking at this point, but I firmly believe that Goldy made him look like a better defender than he actually is. I can’t research that currently, because I don’t have access to play logs of Goldy’s 26 scoops, but I’d be willing to wager that a good amount of those are from DeJong.
Highheat WAR is rather silly. Dejong is being given more credit and it may be because he is a Cardinals player. First of all your talking about a career 251 hitter and as of late a 233 hitter in 2019 to go along with poor contact and on base percentage. But if you love homers then he can hit them, although, his career high 30 is not alarming. I rememberAdam Dunn hitting 40 homers and hitting 230 and not getting the credit that Dejong is surprisingly getting. The funniest thing of all is reading that he is an excellent fielder. Making routine plays consistently give it to you the Babel of excellent fielder. I’ll buy that if you’re a first baseman but shortstop is a demanding position that depends on range and speed which he lacks. I got to say if I was Cardinal brass I would try to trade him right now since the word on the street is that he is a great SS. Get a dummy to give you a good package right now before it’s too late, before he is subpar play is known.
You are an idiot, to put it nicely.
Hahahaha sorry little Willie. Didn’t mean to get rise out of you.
I’ll take deJong’s better glove and track record with the bat over Anderson’s one good season with the bat.
Any chance you cardinals fans wanna send DeJong over to Cle for Lindor? Please and thank you haha
Throw in Flaherty and maybe you start that conversation. lol.
There’s a lot more that goes into BABIP then “he got lucky.” Anderson’s speed factors on which he showcases with infield hits. His infield hit percentage will be higher than most base runners beating out I field hits when others would be thrown out. Another case and point is Byron Buxton. His blazing speed allows him to get on base frequently negating the necessity for walks. That said, I expect the average to continue to be in the high .200 or low .300 factoring in the adjustments that pitchers will make. I’d rather take Anderson for his grit and of course entertainment.
Anderson brings more to the table.. His defensive short comings are two sided.. yes he makes errors.. he also gets to balls most SS do not because of his range.. Saw him make amazing plays and his bat NEVER Stopped.. He motivated everyone.. He motivated baseball in general. This kid is going to keep getting more and more impressive. He has the talent and now he has the lineup behind him to produce at an even higher clip.. You won’t find too many players with the skillset and the motivation that Tim has not to mention he is clutch. You put it all together and it isn’t even close.
In other words he boots more balls that others don’t get to. Got it. Nobody cares about Anderson’s clutch bombs against the Royals in May.