Posted by MikeT23 on 7/28/2014 12:51:00 PM (view original):
But, again, that wasn't the point I was making. I believe, back in the day, that teams were more "defense first" at a few positions. They would take a Jeter or a Ripken, move them to 3B and find a Mark Belanger to play SS. I think teams now look at it as more of a plus/minus game. Yeah, Jeter and Ripken are going to cost your some outs in the field but will they more than make up for it a the plate? If so, they stay at SS.
OK. Those are still positions where it's not easy to find many great hitters. It may be easier than it was 50 years ago, but there are still plenty of 1B and RFs who can hit like only a handful of middle infielders, and to a lesser extent, third basemen. Back to my original argument.