C.C Sweeptakes over goes to Brewers

[filihok]

No, it's not, unless you don't understand the concept of positional value and the difference between the defensive value of each position.

Either you are misunderstanding me, or I am misunderstanding you because I know you can't be telling me that, defense aside, Pierre in center and Kemp in left is better than Kemp in center and Pierre in left. Impossible.

[HoustonGM]

Either you are misunderstanding me, or I am misunderstanding you because I know you can't be telling me that, defense aside, Pierre in center and Kemp in left is better than Kemp in center and Pierre in left. Impossible.

Yes, I can.

The offensive threshhold in center field is lower than that of left field by a somewhat substantial margin. The average left fielder in the NL this year has hit .263/.342/.441. The average NL center fielder has hit .259/.328/.413. This has a direct relation to the value of players.

If you play a hitter hitting .259/.328/.413 in left field, you're getting substantially less value out of him than if you play him in center field. That's because as a left fielder, he's pretty substantially below average, while he's an average center fielder. Pierre is substantially below average as both a left fielder and a center fielder, but he's closer to average at center field. Kemp is basically hitting the same as an average left fielder - .283/.339/.436.

Rather than getting slightly above average production in center field and vastly below average production in left field, you'd be getting average production from left field and below average production from center field. Adjust that further for the fact that Juan Pierre's range is more valuable in center field, and it's pretty clear that playing Juan Pierre in left and Matt Kemp in center isn't maximizing the value of both players. (Kemp in center field, alone, is actually a great value play. It's just that Pierre is so bad that he really doesn't have business as a starter at this point in his career)

[filihok]

I understand that the average left-fielder has higher numbers than the average centerfielder.

I also understand that if you have the exact same two players batting in the same place in the order your team is going to do exactly the same offensively.

No, it wouldn't. That bad of a bat in left field can't be evened out. You're getting a huge substantial dropoff in production out of that position as compared to the rest of the league.

This statement, and others, led me to believe that we were not considering defense in this discussion. Both Pierre and Kemp have good speed and less than great abilities to react to the ball. So, I'm considering them as equal defenders.

[HoustonGM]

I understand that the average left-fielder has higher numbers than the average centerfielder.

I also understand that if you have the exact same two players batting in the same place in the order your team is going to do exactly the same offensively.

Yes, that's true, and I haven't said otherwise. I'm speaking in terms of overall value the players provide though, which is relative to the league and position.