Peek at the Prospects: Ehire Adrianza

Ehire Adrianza
Position: SS
Opening Day Age: 21
John Sickels' Grade: C+
Fangraphs Estimated Peak WAR: 3.5
ZiPS Projection: .232/.295/.311

Ehire Adrianza is an excellent defensive shortstop. As Marc Hulet of Fangraphs says, "In the field, he displays outstanding range, excellent hands, and a solid arm." How he will perform offensively, however,
remains to be seen. While he displays excellent plate discipline -- a 9.3% BB rate over the past two seasons -- he lacks power. He does have good speed though, having stolen 33 bases in high-A last season. Ultimately, his upside appears to be as an Elvis Andrus-type player: outstanding fielder, good speed (although he certainly won't steal as much as Andrus), weak power, good plate discipline.

The ultimate consensus with Adrianza is great defense, questionable offense...as Hulet states, "At worst, he should develop into a solid utility player or a Cesar Izturis-type middle infielder."

John Sickels: "Love the glove, but not sure he'll hit enough to get beyond a utility spot."

I like what Adrianza brings to the system. It'd be nice to have his speed, and if he can hit like a league average shortstop in addition to playing excellent defense, he could be quite valuable.

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Other posts in the PatP series:

• Brandon Belt
• Francisco Peguero

A sad, sad day in San Francisco

The Los Angeles Dodgers have just signed Juan Uribe to a 3yr/$21MM contract. 

And with that, the San Francisco Giants legacy of Uribe has come to an end. It was a fun ride, which culminated in a World Series victory, but it's over.

But now all we're left with is memories...like this. And this. And this.

Uribe has joined the dark side. This really sucks.

Now the Giants have the remaining shortstop options:

• Orlando Cabrera
• Cesar Izturis
• Miguel Tejada
• J.J. Hardy
• Edgar Renteria
• Jason Bartlett
• Marco Scutaro
• Jed Lowrie (not going to happen...)
• Stephen Drew (not going to happen...)
• Jose Reyes (not going to happen...)
• Derek Jeter (not going to happen...)

At least the Dodgers signed him to a three-year deal. I doubt that he will provide much value in 2013. They paid him too much; gave him too many years. But it was the price they had to pay to deprive the Giants of their beloved Uribe. And it sucks.

Why the San Francisco Giants Shouldn't Even Consider Cesar Izturis

Kevin Dame, who writes Visual Baseball, developed a graphic which he calls 'Bat Slicer'. Here's how he explains it:

We start with strikeouts (represented by a hole in the bat, and then show walks, singles, doubles & triples, and home runs in successive rings. These stats are based on production per plate appearance, with a minimum of 200 PA’s, and then converted into percentile rankings, with 100% being the best, 0% the worst. The legend on the bottom right of the visual gives you a sense of scale.

This is the bat slicer graphic for Cesar Izturis:



I think the graphic pretty much speaks for itself. That's essentially the bat that Izturis brings to the table. His defense, while pretty great (career 7.1 UZR/150), certainly does not outweigh this terrible offense. He's produced more than 1.5 WAR in just one season, and he produced -0.3 WAR last season. Keep in mind that 2.0 WAR is considered average.

There was even a post on the Baseball Reference blog that came to the conclusion that Izturis was one of the least valuable players in the majors in 2010. His OPS+ of 50 was the worst in the majors.

So, no, Brian Sabean, please don't consider Izturis to be a viable option.

A few offseason notes...

MLBTradeRumors:

• The Giants aren't expected to bid on Tsuyoshi Nishioka
• The Giants met with a shortstop yesterday -- presumably Orlando Cabrera or Cesar Izturis
• Brian Sabean has told Pat Burrell that he will revisit his situation later...