Archive for Omar Vizquel

While perhaps not universally accepted, it is generally acknowledged that Ozzie Smith is the greatest defensive player of all time. With 13 Gold Gloves at the most important defensive position that doesn’t require extra equipment, his ability to generate outs was second to none. Back when we had few defensive stats, eight times Smith led the league in assists and still has the record among shortstops with more than 8,000 in his career.

Omar Vizquel was not quite Ozzie Smith as a fielder. He did receive 11 Gold Gloves. He also played in 200 more games at shortstop than Smith, which is the record, and he’s third all-time in assists by a shortstop — around 700 behind Ozzie. Vizquel comes up on the Hall of Fame ballot a year from now, and he’s likely to be regarded as nearly, but quite, Smith’s equal as a defender.

Being nearly as good as Ozzie Smith might be enough to get Vizquel in the Hall of Fame, given just how good Smith was, but there are considerable questions regarding Vizquel’s bat.

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Paul Konerko is sitting at 381 home runs. The 35-year-old has averaged 32 homers per season in his last six, and he looks to be on pace for 30 to 35 more this year. Erring on the conservative side, let’s say he finishes with 30 dingers — 14 more than his current total. He would finish the 2011 season with 395 career home runs. He has two years remaining on his contract, and as long as he continues to hit like this, he should have no problem DH’ing for another few seasons after that.

Is it far-fetched to think that Konerko couldn’t average at least 21 homers from 2012 to 2016? Because with that average, he’d reach the 500-home-run milestone.

Along with achieving 3,000 hits, or winning 300 games as a pitcher, getting to 500 home runs — insert generic PED disclaimer here — tends to trigger automatic election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. But as Chris Cwik covered earlier this week, Konerko is obviously not a Hall-of-Fame player. Even if he joins the 500-home-run club, he’s unlikely to garner much HoF support, which is interesting because it would mean the milestone isn’t what it used to be.

With that idea, let’s discuss other players who might buck the milestone trend. These players would have achieved grand milestones almost under the radar, and would be considered longshots for the hall of fame despite their accomplishments.

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After a solid enough 2007 season that saw the Padres come within one game (resist urge to make Holliday slide comment) of making the playoffs, the team took a large step back. In 2008, Bud Black’s bunch finished 63-99, four games worse than the Pirates. They managed to outperform the Nationals, but some minor league squads could have accomplished that feat. Offensively, the team not only struggled but lacked consistency and durability. Only Brian Giles, Adrian Gonzalez, and Kevin Kouzmanoff played 145+ games. The same can be said of their pitching, where nobody made over 27 starts.

GM Kevin Towers cut ties with Khalil Greene this offseason, opening up a spot at shortstop. According to reports, that void may be filled as soon as this weekend, as the team has been talking to Omar Vizquel. Omar is not going to sign a 5-yr deal to become the new face of the team, or anything along those lines, but as a one season stopgap, the deal potentially makes sense.

Vizquel turns 42 years old on April 24 and is coming off of a disappointing, injury-plagued season. We all know his value primarily comes from the defensive side of the spectrum, as outside of the 1996 and 1999 seasons, his wOBA has been average at best. Even last season, when he partook in just 92 games, Vizquel managed a +5 UZR rating. Granted, he hit .222/.283/.267 with a .235 wOBA, but he was anything other than a liability defensively.

In 2007, with a full season under his belt, Vizquel saved just about +20 runs defensively. From 2004-07, he provided solid defense in 145+ games, and save for a couple of seasons, has been very durable. In fact, the value he gains above replacement simply for the number of plate appearances amassed generally counteracts his lack of offensive prowess.

Take a look at that 2007 season as an example. His offensive worth fell to -22.7 runs, but he produced a win total above average. How? Outside of the +20 defensive runs, he earned +6.7 runs for a positional adjustment and +19 runs for his number of plate appearances. All told, Vizquel played +2.3 win baseball that season, a number that fell below his marks from 2004-06. Over the last five seasons, his win values are +2.6, +3.4, +3.6, +2.3, and -0.3.

If Vizquel played more last season and lacked the health issues, he would have earned more runs for both of the adjustments. It is also likely that his UZR would have risen. Suffice it to say, the -0.3 wins is not, on its own, an accurate representation of what the Padres would receive. Most likely, they would be getting 140+ games and 600+ PA of +9 fielding and -17 hitting. With adjustments similar to those received in his durable years, Vizquel’s projection pegs him as a +1.8 win player next season.

Even at 42, Omar will be right around the league average given his ability to play stellar defense at the toughest non-catcher position. His fair market value would be in the $8 mil range. If Towers can ink Vizquel to a 1-yr deal for $8 mil or less, go for it. Anything requiring more funds or commitment would not be very wise, though. And if injuries are a big concern, an incentive-laden deal in terms of plate appearances would protect their investment.

The move does not have anything near the flash value of the major signings this offseason, but has the potential to improve the Padres while simultaneously providing them nothing more than a stopgap veteran. One has to wonder, though, if the team does not project to perform that well next season, why not give some younger players ample playing time? With Brian Giles also on the club, adding Vizquel makes the team even older, seemingly counterintuitive to a team trying to rebuild. Perhaps, then, the rebuilding will not impact the major league club until the trading deadline, or even 2010. Bottom line, though, in a vacuum, signing Vizquel would provide an overall upgrade over the departed Greene while not requiring much commitment.