Scott Hairston

by TRanger on Jan 31, 2006 8:39 PM EST

Whatever happened to him?

Just a couple of years ago he was all set to take over the Diamondbacks 2nd base job, but now you never hear a word about him. (or at least I haven't) Is he still projected to become a quality starter in the majors or has his status went the same way as Brandon Phillips?

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has

hit in minors, seems like his glove has kept him from getting a real chance to win a job. in his brief stints in the majors he hasn't done much of anything. there were some rumors of him being dealt last year, but nothing came of it. a position shift wouldn't be a surprise, with the D Backs signing Orlando Hudson I doubt he would get many ab's.

by SoCalSoxFan on Jan 31, 2006 9:03 PM EST reply actions

I think

I think they already moved him to the outfield last season.

by ultxmxpx on Jan 31, 2006 9:24 PM EST up reply actions

Position shift, injury

Hairston was shifted to the OF last season at Tucson, where he played left and some center.

He again hit well in AAA, continuing to rip lefties (.382), while doing just OK vs. righties, which has been his biggest downfall in his (brief) major league career.

Then Hairston injured his shoulder and had labrum surgery in August.

There are few players who would benefit more from a change of scenery. He's got no chance to crack the D'backs roster, and it seems like they really owe him the courtesy of a trade.

by Mr Met @ Minor League Ball on Jan 31, 2006 9:37 PM EST reply actions

re

Dbacks have bent the kid over and stuck it to him. He hit fairly well here in 2004 (something like 12 homers, had a .270 ave until a late season plunge). His defense was shaky, but he showed some flashes of athleticism and a strong arm which led me to believe he could have become servicable if shown patience. The Dbacks should have let him play all last year at 2b since they were so mediocre any way. I'd rather have Hairtson developing at 2b instead of watching Craig Counsil holding the job for a full year. Instead they switched gears and tried making him into a OFer and kept him in AAA for an entire year. A wasted position switch and a wasted year spent in AAA. He needs to move back to 2b (where he has now lost a year of development) and be given a fresh start somewhere else.

IMO, he could be an offensive 2b in the mold of .270/.330/.450 with 25 homers, 30 doubles, 20 steals. His defense will never be Gold Glove, but neither is Jeff Kent and lots of other "New Generation" 2B.

by ScottAZ on Feb 1, 2006 10:23 AM EST reply actions

Agreed

IMO, the D-backs have screwed this one up. He's probably never going to be a great defensive 2b, but I can't believe how little of a chance they gave him. He probably doesn't hit enough to be a corner OF, so the position change doesn't make sense.

If I needed a 2b, I'd take him on my team and put him at 2b any day. He really could become a lot like Jeff Kent.

by jc3 on Feb 1, 2006 10:26 AM EST up reply actions

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Maybe one of those purpetual rebuilding teams (like the Royals) can trade for him and let him stay at 2b (come on, Ruben Gotay?). Or how about the Marlins? They are rebuilding anyways, and I'd rather watch Hairston hit than Pokey Reese. Marlins offense is going to suck, so at least he would give a little extra sock in there.

by ScottAZ on Feb 1, 2006 10:57 AM EST up reply actions

Marlins sound like a good match

They have tons of pitching prospects that they could give Arizona, so why not? They probably wouldn't need to give them one of their top ones anyway because his stock is so low... If I'm Florida, I definitely make a call.

by jc3 on Feb 1, 2006 11:00 AM EST up reply actions

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Trade makes too much sense to happen. I find that is the Gold Rule: if the trade makes too much sense for both sides, it will never get done.

Much like the Marlins' pursuit of Joey Gathright. Marlins need a young, speedy CF to bat leadoff. DRays need pitching. Should have been easy to complete.

by ScottAZ on Feb 2, 2006 10:16 AM EST up reply actions

nothing is easy with TB

They still seem only willing to trade if they are getting a steal.

Maybe they feel the league still owes them after the Abreu deal.

by cdamon @ Minor League Ball on Feb 2, 2006 11:19 AM EST up reply actions

2b?

Well, it seems somewhat presumptuous to assume that a) Hairston could handle 2b, and b) the D-Backs were wrong in concluding that he could not. That said, they would probably end up paying Brandon Webb a lot less money over the long run if they had Scott Hairston manning 2b.

I know there are various theories about defense, but just going on 2004 Hairston vs. 2005 Counsell, BP stats - Counsell was worth about 1 run above replacement for every 4 games fielded, whereas Hairston was worth 1 run per 11 games. That's a difference of about 25 runs over a full season. Adding to that, Counsell was also worth about 24 batting runs over replacement last year, and Hairston's projected VORP for 2006 is 6.4 in half a season (albeit with R=outfielder).

Not that BP is perfect, but it seems from their metrics that playing Counsell instead of Hairston at 2b last year was worth somewhat more than 30 runs to the D-Backs. I'm all in favor of seeing players develop, but a) I'm not sure that there is evidence to suggest Hairston can handle 2b, and b) Counsell was MUCH better at 2b last year than Hairston would have been.

by BobbyMac on Feb 3, 2006 12:20 AM EST up reply actions

re

Well, it is not really too presumptuous to believe that Hairston can handle 2b. It is my opinion after watching him play over the past eight years as we are both from Arizona (I have followed him from Canyon del Oro High in Tucson, Central AZ College, through minors, now with DBacks). He was a SS in high school and college, and my opinion is he often gets too mechanical defensively. He certainly has the arm strength and athleticism to handle the position. He also looks somewhat non-chalant on the field.

As far as statistics go: How much more runs would Hairston be worth if you factor in hitting? What if Hairston fullfilled projections of a .270/.330/.470 type season with 20-25 homers and 20 steals? Counsell is anemic with the bat. Also, when you are comparing them defensively, you are using about 2/3 of a season when Hairston was only 23 years old. How much improvement would Hairston have shown if given a full time job? How many errors could he have clipped from his 2004 numbers? We won't know these answers, but since the DBacks were so mediocre last year, they should have given him the opportunity to find out. As of now, they basically wasted their top prospect. If they were going to hose him, they should have just traded him after 2004 when he still had value.

by ScottAZ on Feb 3, 2006 10:11 AM EST up reply actions