The early season illness, yes. But this season he’s provided significantly more defensive value than he has for years. At some point ppl are going to have to accept that a 175 lb 33 year old was never going to last as a power hitting RF, especially when he’s the one who wanted to move positions
Yeah but shortstop is more demanding and it can sap your hitting. Especially if you’ve never done it full time. And it made zero sense because the Dodgers had a great defensive shortstop already. Just put him at second and be done with it
who was the great defensive SS?
Rojas
he's a backup, not a starting SS on a good team.
He’s averaged 3 wins per 162 since 2020. Seems pretty reasonable, and a better option than Conforto. Also, they had a host of other infielders too. I would have started the season with Rojas and then seen what the trade market looked like in July.
Has he? Curious where you’re see Rojas averaging a 3 wins over 162. My recollection was that the running in the OF— including going to and from the home dugout on the 3B side— exacerbated Mookie’s hip issues specifically and the infield was less demanding for his particular situation
Baseball reference has him at 3.4 per 162 since 2020
"since 2020" is sort of irrelevant now, as he's 36 years old
3.4 at age 35 in 2024
I think the decision to maximize Mookie’s defensive value (which has worked) and align him with the most pressing team needs makes sense. Scaling Rojas’ value to 162 ignores the fact that he’s largely creating the real value by limiting his exposure to unfavorable matchups