09-05-2011, 05:50 PM
Not a trade mod, but I noticed something that has yet to be brought up.
How about the fact that Texas has Bruce Withrow on the bench? He's respectable defensively and can play 3B. In about a half season's work last season he posted good numbers. And I would have to say Texas' assessment of Cobb being a good defender is anything but true. Sure he doesn't make many errors but he has a subpar arm and very poor range.
Next, I would question how good Cobb can be offensively. Contact doesn't equal Batting Average. Have a look at what 2B Ken Smith (now on OAK, I believe) and my current 1B Mike Chitty have as their AVG and Contact ratings. Smith has a much better contact rating, yet came in around a .260 average in COL. In Chitty's time here he's been about a .270 hitter. The reason being is that Smith is about a 55 K guy while Chitty will K around 125 times in a full season. Smith is well above average at avoiding strikeouts (improving contact) while Chitty is below average when it comes to fending off the strike out. I would estimate Smith's true contact to be about 76 while Chitty's true contact is about 80.
When looking at Cobb, he's probably about a 60 K guy per season. This too is well above average at avoiding strikeouts, which means he won't hit for what his contact rating might suggest. A 91 Contact is usually around a .305 hitter, but I wouldn't think he'd be able to consistently hit over .290 unless he's in a hitter's park.
How about the fact that Texas has Bruce Withrow on the bench? He's respectable defensively and can play 3B. In about a half season's work last season he posted good numbers. And I would have to say Texas' assessment of Cobb being a good defender is anything but true. Sure he doesn't make many errors but he has a subpar arm and very poor range.
Next, I would question how good Cobb can be offensively. Contact doesn't equal Batting Average. Have a look at what 2B Ken Smith (now on OAK, I believe) and my current 1B Mike Chitty have as their AVG and Contact ratings. Smith has a much better contact rating, yet came in around a .260 average in COL. In Chitty's time here he's been about a .270 hitter. The reason being is that Smith is about a 55 K guy while Chitty will K around 125 times in a full season. Smith is well above average at avoiding strikeouts (improving contact) while Chitty is below average when it comes to fending off the strike out. I would estimate Smith's true contact to be about 76 while Chitty's true contact is about 80.
When looking at Cobb, he's probably about a 60 K guy per season. This too is well above average at avoiding strikeouts, which means he won't hit for what his contact rating might suggest. A 91 Contact is usually around a .305 hitter, but I wouldn't think he'd be able to consistently hit over .290 unless he's in a hitter's park.
Cleveland Record: 7313-6184 (.542) [2054-2071, 2083-2104, 2110-2153]
AL Post: 24 (ALC), 18 (WC) - ALDS Win: 17 - ALCS Champ: 9 - WS Champ: 5