| Player | EqA | Position | Avg EqA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hinske | 0.304 | RF | 0.272 |
| Longoria | 0.301 | 3B | 0.27 |
| Upton | 0.299 | CF | 0.263 |
| Floyd | 0.287 | DH | 0.257 |
| Navarro | 0.281 | C | 0.252 |
| Riggans | 0.277 | C | 0.252 |
| Aybar | 0.277 | 3B | 0.270 |
| Gross | 0.274 | RF | 0.272 |
| Pena | 0.272 | 1B | 0.276 |
| Crawford | 0.263 | LF | 0.269 |
| Iwamura | 0.262 | 2B | 0.262 |
| Gomes | 0.261 | DH | 0.257 |
| Bartlett | 0.221 | SS | 0.249 |
The players colored in gold are the ones performing above their expected averages, the rest are either borderline or within .006 points with the exception of Jason Bartlett. Hinske being that good was a bit of a surprise to me, I suppose his .877 OPS has crept past me. Longoria, Upton, Floyd, and Navarro were no surprise, but having two catchers above average? At no time prior in Rays history have we really had one above average catcher, now two?
And for those wondering, here's a definition of EqA:
Equivalent Average. A measure of total offensive value per out, with corrections for league offensive level, home park, and team pitching. EQA considers batting as well as baserunning, but not the value of a position player's defense. The EqA adjusted for all-time also has a correction for league difficulty. The scale is deliberately set to approximate that of batting average. League average EqA is always equal to .260. EqA is derived from Raw EqA, which is (H + TB + 1.5*(BB + HBP + SB) + SH + SF) divided by (AB + BB + HBP + SH + SF + CS + SB).
Returning to Hinske I have to ask, should we start talking about re-signing this guy or simply sell high?
He's not Wigginton, in the way that Wigginton was never quite this good and in 14 less games -- albeit 20 or so more at-bats -- Hinske has walked more times than he did last season. Nearly everything about Hinske, minus his slightly high HR/FB%, is right on career par, in fact his BABIP/xBABIP actually suggest he's been unlucky (.280 BABIP, league average is around .300, and 20% line drives suggest around .320 xBABIP), and yet players like Hinske, Wigginton, and Dan Johnson are almost always available.
He likely won't bring back Class-A compensation, ditto for trading him, and really can we even afford to trade him? I know Dan Johnson is down there in Durham and he has a few service years remaining before free agency, but in the end he's only two years and five days younger than Hinske.
It's just hard to see a scenario where Hinske, Johnson, and Gross can co-exist on the same team unless Hinske is re-signed as a DH type, replacing the likely retiring Cliff Floyd. Even then you'd be discussing two lefties "platooning" in right field, and it's very possible the platoon ends within a few weeks as it stands now unless the team has Gross/Murton or Nady or whomever envisioned in a similar role.