This Conversation Is Over

So, I’ve seen a lot of people recently say some stupid things. Something like Jack Hannahan is a bad player…

 

I did alittle tweeting previously but decided that with the down time at work this morning I would take a bit of time and show you why he is better than most people think, and why he will give Tui some serious opposition come Spring Training for that starting job. Because let’s face it Adrian Beltre is not going to resign with us.

 

Jack is 29, (ironically has the same birthday as me, not the reason I’m defending him) and he will be hitting 30 during spring training. This is important to know and acknowledge when writing about someone who is going to be comparative in a third basemen spot against someone who is 7 years his younger. I’m not in any way saying he is the long term solution. But, Maybe he’ll help push Matt Tuiasosopo into being that Third basemen of the future.

 

Jack Hannahan is currently hitting wOBA of .286, BB% of 10.2 and has a WAR of 1.3, what is even more confusing is he is hitting a solid .285 BABIP and the lowest LD% of his 3 year career at 18.9%.  Why is he not a better hitter? Why is everyone so low on him? Simply because his K percentage is stuck in between 25-30%, which really is disturbing for someone who is not a home run hitter. Should he cut that down I think we would see a lot more production out of his bat. However, with the exception 3 game apperence with the Tigers in ’06 he has never posted anything lower than a 27.1% strike out rate (to include his time in AAA)…hopefully the M’s can fix that.

 

ZIPS has Hannahan finishing the year some where around .296 wOBA which puts him in the Kevin Kouzmanoff and Emilio Bonifacio company. However both of those guys walk about 4-6% less and yet striking out less too. While Kouzmanoff isn’t a bad person to be compared with Bonificio is, however don’t be too concerned because this is all offensive comparions.

 

Offensively when he’s on he’s a C+ at worse he’s a D-  … Bad player? I wouldn’t go that far.

 

Defense is a whole other story.  This guy is one of the best defensive players in the league, he has a UZR/150 of 26.8 and a career 16.5 at Thirdbase. He is currently posting a 11.9 Fielding RAR which compared to the rest of the league ranks second only to Ryan Zimmerman’s 12.7. While Beltre’s career line is (only) (I’m a jerk lol)  13.5 UZR/150 he has also fielded approx. 1300 more games at third than Hannahan.

 

While it’s really only a sample size compared to what Beltre has done, it’s enough to know what we are going to get. Hannahan is a good defensive players one of the best in the league. Yes his bat is below average but, I hardly would call him a bad player…