however, was with a freak accident.

I don’t think we’ll have Hudson back next year, unless the injuries drive down the price.

Now, if I remember right, Dan Uggla is a free agent after the season, and given the rending of veils over the fact that we lost him… =)

that the FO is probably going to make a run at him. What should happen and what will are not necessarily overlapping circles.

is fun!

a better response would have been: “oh… you’re right… oops!”

Here are his main fielding stats, Fielding Percentage, Range Factor, and Fielding Runs Above Average for the past four years:

2005: F% .991, RF 5.32, FRAA 36
2006: F%. 984. RF 5.23. FRAA 38
2007: F% .985, RF 4.71. FRAA 34
2008: F% .982, RF 4.61, FRAA 27

No matter what you may want top think, Hudson has been in decline defensively for a couple of years now, and since he’ll be 31 the next time he faces pitching, odds are he’s going to keep getting worse. Offensively, the drop-off is usually a couple of years later, but it’s going to happen too. I’d not be averse to a one-year contract, two at the most, but this is O-Dawg’s chance for a big, long payday and he’s going to get it from someone else: I’m happy to let another team pay over the odds for his declining years and spend our money somewhere more useful.

do you have any objective proof that O-Dawg was having an “incredible year” defensively? Or are you just spitting out what the TV voices tell you? Firstly, Hudson made 9 errors this year — in 105 games. Two years ago, he made 13 in 157 games, and last year he made 10 in 137. Of course, errors are largely a subjective stat, but bear with me for a bit. In terms of fielding %, O-Dawg’s .984 in 2006 was above the league average for a 2B, which was .982. Last year, his .985 was slightly closer to the league average .984, but this year, his .982 is exactly the league average. Over the 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons, using Baseball-Reference.com’s numbers, Hudson’s range factor by games played has dropped from 5.23 to 4.71 and then 4.61 this year. Over the same period, the league average for a 2B was 4.37, 4.23, and then 4.07 this year — so, in ‘06, Hudson outranged the average 2B by .86 points; last year, it was .48, and this year he’s outranged the average by a slightly better .54; granted, his range has also declined every year since he’s been a Dback.

In comparison, among qualifying MLB second basemen, a stunning eleven players have a better fielding % this year — Mark Ellis leads with .993. Heck, Dan Freaking Uggla’s .980 is the next best after Hudson, and we all know what a defensive wizard Dan Uggla is. O-Dawg is 12th out of 17 qualifying 2B. Using ESPN’s range factor #s, Hudson is again 12th of 17, with a 4.82, while Ian Kinsler leads with 5.77. The numbers REALLY get shocking when you look at his zone rating, however — O-Dawg comes in dead LAST, 17th of 17, having converted 79% of balls in play in his zone into outs. That’s behind Jeff Kent and Dan Uggla, among others. Mark Ellis again leads at 86.8%.

I love O-Dawg as much as the next Dback fan. But his defense has actually regressed since he’s joined Arizona, almost consistently across the board. Gold Gloves are won on reputation, more than anything else; as are contracts, and O-Dawg’s no longer playing up to his.