I dont care much about defensive metrics, because they just don't agree. In fact, they often aren't even close. I'd much rather see with my own eyes. Since I've never seen ARosa, they are all I can go on.
I do know this. He was totally mishandled in NY, and things snowballed from there. Off the top of my head, the only player I've seen that was handled worse was Casey Blake, who should have been in MLB three years earlier. It is unfathomable that three orgs let him slip away for nothing.
I know this, too. As a prospect, he is the highest rated position prospect weve had since probably Sandy Alomar. Had he not been called up at least a year too soon, and we had traded for him two years ago, the same folks that dismiss him now would have been drooling.
He was the ultimate buy low candidate, and if the general concensus is true, we got him as a throw in. (I have my doubts)
And the FO thinks enough of him that he isn't in Cincinnati's lineup right now.
My hope is that he becomes our new Casey Blake, playing full time at whatever position of need we have at the moment...which right now is shortstop. It could be 2B next year....or an outfield spot. Or, he could build up value as a regular this year for a trade after the season.
Since nobody on here has spent much, if any, time watching him play, the only things we can go on are stats, scouting reports, and narrative. The narrative out of NY is totally negative, just like it was on Peralta here and on Blake in Minnesota....and in the latter two cases, the narrative was completely false.
IMO the prospects can wait. Lets put Rosario at short and see what happens, because he was a far better prospect...far better...than anybody we have today.
In fact, the FO and Tito could show him some real love and tell him he's gonna be an everyday player. If you look at his statcast numbers, you see a clear progression across the board...AEV trending up, the same with launch angle and hard hit rate. Then, everything fell off a cliff last year as the Gimenez hype increased.
Think JRam when he was our starting SS and kept hearing about Lindor. Jose really struggled in that situation, but took off as soon as that pressure was gone.
We are all hoping that somebody on this roster blows up into a suddenly productive player this season. The most likely is Amed Rosario.
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