Editorials

ESPN’s Buster Olney Ranks Dodgers Infield Among Top 10

MLB: San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers
After the departure of Hanley Ramirez and the trading of Dee Gordon, it was expected that the Los Angeles Dodgers would have some issues in the infield.

Andrew Friedman and the front office took no time to replace the two, as they made two separate deals that brought in veterans Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick. Both are former All-Stars that bring both offense and defense to Los Angeles. The duo improved the infield overall, despite the loss of power and speed in Ramirez and Gordon.



ESPN baseball analyst Buster Olney ranked the top infields in all of baseball and the Dodgers made the top-10:

2. Los Angeles Dodgers
First baseman Adrian Gonzalez finished seventh in the NL MVP voting, after driving in 116 runs, and won a Gold Glove Award for the fourth time. Second baseman Howie Kendrick is seen as a solid defender, and his consistency has been worthy of envy — in his nine seasons in the big leagues, he’s never hit lower than .279; last season, Kendrick’s play was a worth 4.6 WAR, not far behind Jose Altuve and a little ahead of Dustin Pedroia, according to FanGraphs. Among shortstops, Dodgers newcomer Jimmy Rollins ranked fourth in WAR, and third baseman Juan Uribe seems perpetually underrated, with his steady defense and personality obscured by the big hacks he takes at the plate. In 103 games last season, Uribe batted .311, with a sturdy .777 OPS. This is a great group.

While the infield possibly ranks as one of the oldest, it’s one of the best defensive crews in the game. Last season the Dodgers had issues on defense with Ramirez at short, and Gordon tailed off towards the end of the season on defense. At the plate, the four bring a veteran approach to the plate that should result in better at-bats.

If this quartet can deliver a World Series title to Los Angeles, it will be the best infield the Dodgers have had since “The Infield”.

[divide]

Dodgers Introduce Jimmy Rollins — Part 2

Vincent Samperio

Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.

13 Comments

  1. Paper….this is all on paper….you are rating guys who have never made a play on the diamond together…means nothing until the season starts, then we will see if they jell.

      1. That’s what I said..a lot of people counting chicks before they hatch…..injuries and eroding skills could seriously upset the so called apple cart…..

    1. If you don’t like pre-season ranking articles then stop reading them.

      Also, no one knows who will win the World Series until the final out of the last game of the season anyway, so why bother following baseball until then?

      1. For the sake of argument, why do you bother replying? If you do not like my post, don’t read it,.,,,,otherwise kiss off.,…I like everyone am entitled to my opinion…

        1. I just hate to see someone so unhappy and depressed all the time while most of us are excited about the new season.

          1. Unhappy? What a dumb statement…..I am not unhappy or depressed…I have seen more Dodger baseball and worse teams than this many times……I just do not tow the company line…and I know for a fact that it is way too early to judge this lineup or roster……They think they are doing great and have made changes for the better…….fine…..they can believe that if they want….But a total makeover? Well that is a little much…and in my estimation the only improvement is 2nd base as far as fielding and hitting…..Kendrick is a solid player…..not a speed guy like Dee…who I think in the wide scheme of things they will miss…Hanley? well they won’t miss his glove, but they will miss his bat……and in my world, the OF is the biggest question mark…..pencil in the kid….but he still strikes out too much…lot of pressure to win the job. Puig and Crawford will do their jobs…..bench is ok…BP, still a question mark, and outside the front 3 starters….that is a question mark too

  2. Here is one for you stat geeks…..which Dodger or former Dodger has the highest WAR…?????/the answer may surprise you

      1. Don Drysdale….WAR is 67…..followed by Pee Wee Reese 66 Duke Snider 65 Jackie Robinson..61 and Zack Wheat..59…Kershaw is 14th with a 41..Fernando makes the list at # 16 with a 37…..probably the biggest surprise to Dodger fans would be Jr. Gilliam at #15.. 10 of the top 20 were more Brooklyn than LA…another surprise is that Willie Davis and Don Sutton are both ahead of Koufax..but not by much…..most of that is because Sandy was a mediocre pitcher his first 6 years. even at that his WAR is 48….Kershaw is only current Dodger on the list….but Garvey, and Cey are there …..along with Hershiser…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button