The Tampa Yankees (A+) are up on our examination of TotalZone defense. Here again is the primer:

TotalZone invented and calculated by Sean Smith of Baseballprojection.com. "Runs" is relative to league average. The meaning of specific numbers varies from position to position, but in general, +10 is a very good fielder, +15 or more is outstanding. Below -10 is not very good at all. Runs/150 estimates runs saved per 150 games, and is shown for players with at least 1/3 that playing time at a position. This article describes preliminary work in translating across levels.

The article describing the translation is a must read for fully understanding what these numbers represent, but in short, infield numbers are slightly more reliable than outfield ones and sample size issues are in play with any infielders with less than 350 chances and outfielders less than 1000 (2 full seasons roughly). Also these performances are relative to their league, so a AA third baseman would be slightly worse than a AAA third baseman. Reading the whole article is definitely recommended.

Tampa Yankees

Infield

NAME	POSITION	CHANCES	RUNS	RUNS/150
David Adams	2B	203	+3	+7
Brandon Laird	3B	213	+4	+7
Damon Sublett	2B	156	-1	-3
Kevin Smith	1B	105	+3	+7

Outfield

NAMES	POSITION	CHANCES	RUNS	RUNS/150
Daniel Brewer	RF	219	-6	-14
Damon Sublett	CF	199	-12	-
Eric Fryer	LF	178	-8	-23

Tampa really shuttled some guys around in terms of defense throughout the course of the season. David Adams posted almost identical numbers between Charleston and Tampa which is obviously a good sign in terms of confirming his numbers. They also fit with the +5 runs he posted in Staten Island last season. Laird dropped a lot weight and a lot of reports said he looked better in terms of defense and once again, these numbers seem to confirm those reports. Kevin Smith is a non prospect but he’s always been a plus defender, consistently posting runs around 5 runs above average at 1B.

Brewer was never heralded as much of a defender and his numbers don’t look so hot. He’s either going to have to hit more or play better to have any shot to carry RF. Sublett is another guy who is never mentioned among great defenders for a reason. The Yankees are skeptical of his ability to play 2B so they tried him out in CF as well. Seems like their going to keep at it in terms of CF to see if he can stick, although the numbers would indicate he has quite a bit of work to do.

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