to post a picture of Aramis Ramirez. Thank you Mr. Scrabbles for saving me the trouble. Keep up the good work. You are rec’d sir.

He already has more walks than he’s ever had in a single season.

He already has more home runs than he’s ever had in a single season.

He’s on pace to have a higher slugging percentage than he’s ever had in a single season.

And yes, it could be argued that comparing these statistics is sabermetric folly. After all, 2008 will have been only his third full season in Major League Baseball.

But not at 3B.

Have they ever tried him in the outfield?

There’s a vacancy in LF now…

You sir, get a rec.

First, I think davidmac84 is off base. EdE is better offensively than Keppinger. Period. In his 4 years in the majors, Kepp’s OPS+ has been 80, 86, 128, and 72; which one is not like the others. Further, dm84 states "Personally I think Keppinger has more upside than Edwin even though Jeff is 3 years older", using his OPS from last year and his pre-injury performance this year. What missing, though, is that Kepp was much like Patterson this year – his numbers are skewed by a torrid first few games (5 XBH, 4 BB in 39 PA to start the season; 6 HBH, 8 BB in the next 124 PA before his injury). EdE has also been pretty unlucky this year. His BABIP was .310 going into this year, but is only .258 this – thanks to a .230 vs. RHP (89 points lower than last year!) (again, Kepp’s ’07 is out of line with the rest of his career, by quite a bit) . So you have a guy who’s 28 years old, has shown an ability to hit in only a select 315 PA chunk of his 833 PA pro career, and he has "more upside" than EdE?

However, he touches on something that I immediately thought of when reading the lead-in. Maybe the reason EdE hasn’t progressed enough to satisfy people has little to do with him; what if the Reds’ coaches just suck? Name one hitter/defender on this team who’s better than you’d expect given his pre-Cinci numbers. BP? He was the prize of the Bartolo Colon trade; his attitude in Cleveland was his biggest problem. Meanwhile, EdE hasn’t improved a lot over the past 3 years; Dunn, good as he was, never hit any better than he did as a 24 year old; Freel never progressed (though he didn’t play regularly until he was 28); after a great first 3 months in the bigs, Votto’s OPS since May 29 is .693; even though he’s had 2 nice hitting streaks in that time, Bruce’s OPS since the All-Star break is only .662.

So maybe Ramirez didn’t improve when he moved to Chicago because of "change of scenery" or "something just clicked" or other touchy-feely bullshit. Maybe he improved because the hitting coach (and apparently fielding coach) is pretty good, or at least able to relate to him. Maybe if Cinci, and specifically EdE, had such a coach, we’d see the break-out we’ve all been waiting for.

There’s no reason to trade EE unless some team gives an awesome trade offer. Maybe even that high OBP, great D SS I’ve had my heart set on for so long. But he’s under the Reds’ control for three more years, and I don’t see why they shouldn’t take advantage of them.

I thought he’d really break out this year. above average D, 880 OPS, that sort of thing. He hasn’t, but I still like him. He has power, he’s competitive, he seems like he knows what he’s doing. There’s also been a couple of times when he’s gone out to Volquez or (more often) Cueto on the mound to chat them up. I think having a Dominican field player, especially IFer, can be a huge help.

Basically, I don’t see what you’ll lose by giving EdE another year at 3rd. Sure, keep Kepp around, but Kepp ain’t the answer any more than EdE is. I’m an idiot/huge believer in team chemistry. Encarnacion seems to be the sort of fiery, take-it-to-people sort of player that everyone hated Dunn and Griffey for not being. Next year he gets to be a bit of a leader…let’s see how that works out.

6th – 7th a lot. I wonder if he’d maybe see some better pitches w/RISP if the team had a big bat behind him in the order. I am hopeful for EdE but that’s all. This was the year that I thought EdE would bust out and although he’s improving somewhat offensively I would trade him in a minute for a more consistent RH batter, or for a RH batter with better power numbers.

Based on what I’ve seen his fielding deficiencies are the type that can be fixed – inaccurate throws, how he charges slow rollers, etc. His range, which is more athletic/instinctual and harder to teach, looks okay, though I’d like to objective analysis on that.

If by 2010 it’s clear that he can’t handle 3B then we need to think about moving him to LF. Or trading him, if Votto and Alonso develop nicely.

Edwin shouldnt be free from blame at all in that matter, he had the ball he is the 3rd basemen, he looked back at the runner, if we would have noticed fat-Soto was so close to the home plate, he would have actually held him and done his job instead of listening to Bako`s dumbass, yes catcher is the general of the field, but when there is a split second and you see where the runner is (or at least when you look at him you are supposed to see where he is) you should get that run-threatening out, and Bako shouldnt even be getting enough attention to be listened to. Bako however is an idiot and get some of the blame, but not all, that was just stupid.

I have heard that word thrown out a few times here, mostly by d-mac. I am not saying Edwin is a stellar defender but is he really “horrible?” Perhaps I have been a bit out of touch with observing his defense the past couple of months but I remember after a rough start he seemed to get in a groove in May where it seemed he was making a run saving plays once or twice a week.

Perhaps other people who have been watching Edwin’s defensive development closely could comment?

Perhaps other people who know what defensive stats tell the best statistical story about a players value in the field could also comment (with maybe a tutorial or link about measuring defensive prowess with stats)?