A question raging amongst stat-inclined Giants fans is this: does Pedro Feliz’s defensive prowess balance out his offensive shortcomings enough to warrant a starting job? There are a lot of arguments for and against, and everyone has a strong opinion it seems. I was just wondering if anyone had taken a hack at putting it all together. Can a defensive whiz over the age of 30 carry a corner position in the big leagues and have weak offense? I think all stats are fair game - I just ask that if you do answer that you say one way or the other in your conclusion whether you think his defense can make up for his bat.

(Also, just FYI I know that the answer can be “for the Giants it does, cause who else they got” - I’m interested in finding out Feliz’s value independent of the Giants. Would he be a good option for a team like the Phillies, Angels, whoever. Just trying to better gauge Feliz as an everyday player.)

My opinion? No. Pedro Feliz isn’t a below average offensive player, he’s not even a poor offensive player… he’s absolutely terrible. He hits a few HR’s, drives in a few runs, but he absolutely refuses to work pitch counts and he grounds into a lot of double players. His best slugging percentage in the last three years is .428, which is well below average. Moreover, his career .288 OBP is just hideous. His career .246 EqA confirms complete offensive futility.

Maybe on a different team- a contending team, that is- with well above average offensive players up the middle, Feliz could start at third and bat ninth. For the Giants, however, he just doesn’t make any sense.

ZR, RZR, and +/- all rate Feliz as +27 for this year, probably his career best.  By BRAA he is roughly 15 runs worse than the average 3B.  Add the two, and he is average (?).  But I suspect that “average” includes reserves.  Even if you grant that Feliz is worth +20 runs a year defensively for his glove, I’m skeptical that he’s any more than a bottom-third starter.  I would not want to risk signing him to a multi-year deal at his age.  Might compare him to Adam Everett?  Similarly incompetent hitter (relative to positional expectations) who is similarly proficient with the glove.

But yes.  His defense makes him an adequate starting 3B.

He’s close.  He’s close enough to say “yes”.

only at catcher and SS, a third baseman needs a balance

I think it really depends on the overall makeup of your team.  When the Phillies offer very good offense at 1B, 2B, SS, LF, RF (Platoon) and CF, I think the low-cost, low-risk addition of Pedro Feliz makes sense, although he is not the perfect option. 

For example, take John MacDonald (SS) in Toronto.  People complained about his severe lack of offense, but in the field he is a Gold Glove-caliber defender.

Granted, the AL East demands good balance at every position, but I would have felt ‘comfortable’ starting the year with him at SS for Toronto.