fans love that.

Lets not get into this again. (Even though I agree) :D

But only if he hits for power. The OBP can be a problem if the power isn’t there. The defense is great and is hard to replace. It ain’t the easiest thing to upgrade the SS position from a guy like Khalil. You either need to wait for the right offseason to throw money at a great player, wait for a team to go into rebuild/payroll cutting mode to trade for one or develop one yourself. The Padres don’t have a guy being developed and the other two scenarios aren’t really options at this point so you stick with Khalil or you downgrade the position. It’s not rocket science, it’s baseball.

About the only thing I agree with that you said is that he is in the wrong park, and he has no plate discipline. Petco Park absolutely destroys his numbers. Since his first full season at shortstop in 2004, he has posted EqA of .281, .260, .263, .264 and last year .215. It would appear to me that last year was the fluke year, and he is actually a slightly above average hitter, with well above average defense.

I don’t have access to his EqA splits (although I think I posted something on them before), but going a simpler route, he has posted a .802ops on the road and a .658 ops at home. Adrian had about the same difference in OPS at home and away the last couple of years. Anyway, it has been gone into in depth many times by many people about the different hitter he is at home and away. He is an average to above average hitter with good defense, for pretty cheap. I don’t think it is quite as easy to upgrade as you make it out. As for Eckstein vs. Greene, not even close. Greene is the better hitter and fielder.

With my own statistics:

2000
Damian Jackson 80 Starts.
Desi Relaford 42 starts
Kevin Nicholson 24 starts

2001
D’angelo Jimenez 84 starts
Donaldo Mendez 34 starts

2002
Deivi Cruz 133 starts
Ramon Vazquez 28 starts

2003
Ramon Vazquez 102 starts
Donaldo Mendez 26 starts

2004
Khalil Greene 134 starts .273/.349/.446 15 HR

The goodwill he built up for me in 2004 — mostly because of the very small shoes he had to fill — will last me throughout his career. I can still cheer for the padres even though we’re terrible, and I can still cheer for Khalil even though he’s, well, he didn’t play so hot this year. In fact, I’d say that up until 2008, Khalil was bringing us forward, not setting us back. Although 2008’s performance would be easy to replace, his years prior, not so much.

As osbug pointed out, if he’s gone, we might end up with someone like eckstein.

And really, I don’t mind the whole even-keel, emotionless robot act. I interpret it as focus and self-reflection. I infinitely prefer that to when Nevin was striking out for the bajillionth time and getting pissed off. How was getting angry preventing himself from making the same mistake the next time?

but when someone calls your number, I guess you gotta respond.

As many have pointed out (osbug, especially), 2008 was a fluke year. His BABIP was way down from his previous years and he was still on pace to hit at least 15 HRs this year (which was his seasonal best before his explosion in 2007).

Khalil’s never gonna be an OBP guy. Ever. So if that’s a deal breaker for you, then you’ll never be able to understand why he has value. But if you’re willing to look at the other aspects of his game, you’ll understand his value.

I’ve totally made this argument before, but when you compare Khalil’s career offensive numbers to a “superior” player like Furcal’s, their park-adjusted numbers are almost identical. Khalil’s career OPS+ is 95, Furcal’s career OPS+ is 96. While Furcal has the higher career OBP of .352 (Khalil’s is .304), Khalil outslugs Furcal .427 to .412. When you consider that both SLG and OBP are NOT park-adjusted, it’s astounding that Furcal’s raw OPS is only is only 33 points higher (764 to 731) despite routinely playing in parks that are more favorable to offense than the park’s Khalil has played in.

Defensively, you might consider them a wash. I think that Khalil has a better arm and better instincts but that Furcal has better range. Furcal certainly adds a stolen base element of the game that Khalil does not possess, but there is a storied-tradition amongst sabermetricians who disregard the impact of stolen bases as they relate to a player’s true value.

In summary, if you only get hung up on Khalil’s miserable OPB skills, then I can see how you might consider him to be one of the worst shortstops in the game. But when you look at his complete range of skills (and when you realize that 2008 was a terrible year for him, which appears to be a fluke since 2007 was his best year ever as a pro), it becomes apparent that Khalil is one of the top-5 overall shortstops in the league.