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Thursday, April 03, 2008
Should Marlins move Hanley Ramirez to another position?
No! Are you crazy?
The Marlins will end up trading Ramirez before he hits free agency. The Marlins exist to turn a profit, before they exist to make the playoffs. The trade value of Ramirez is highest if he plays at SS. Since there will be some MLB out there deluded enough to think that he’s a capable shortstop, Marlins will get the most value by keeping him at SS.
I mean, look at what they just did with Cabrera. He should be a corner OF or 1B, but they managed to convince the Tigers that he is a 3B, even though the Tigers already had one of the best fielding 3B in the game today.
It works out like this:
value = wins on offense + fielding wins relative to position + win value of position
Regardless of position, there will be some MLB team that will have “fielding wins relative to position” equal to zero. The win value of SS is 1.0 greater than a corner OF (MLB teams have figured that one out already). That’s 4.4 million dollars every year of non-free agency right there of overvaluation that the Marlins will trade against.
I can’t wait to see which team will overpay for him.