Just to bring it up because most of the big ones are off the board: Jed Lowrie. He could have provided slightly or significantly better value in these years as long as you were willing to move him around the infield a little:
2012: Mike Aviles (however, Aviles played 136 games to Lowrie's 97...evens out a bit given Aviles's OPS/OPS+ were .663/77 that year and Lowrie's were .769/107)
2013: Middlebrooks (.696/87 in 94 games vs. Lowrie's .791/119 in 154 games)--but we probably don't want to mess with that year...Middlebrooks' signature moments that season as I remember them were a bases-clearing, go-ahead double with 2 out in the 9th at the Trop early in the season, and a ringing double that was part of the rally in ALCS2 that culminated in the Ortiz slam.
2014: Middlebrooks (it got uuuuuuugly: .522/46 in 63 games, Lowrie: .676/94 in 136 games--obviously not great, but close to league average at 3B would have been amazing by comparison))
I think after that it gets a little unclear where you'd put him, and he was injured and mediocre for a couple years after anyway (though he's had a nice renaissance with OAK a couple times over!).
2012: Mike Aviles (however, Aviles played 136 games to Lowrie's 97...evens out a bit given Aviles's OPS/OPS+ were .663/77 that year and Lowrie's were .769/107)
2013: Middlebrooks (.696/87 in 94 games vs. Lowrie's .791/119 in 154 games)--but we probably don't want to mess with that year...Middlebrooks' signature moments that season as I remember them were a bases-clearing, go-ahead double with 2 out in the 9th at the Trop early in the season, and a ringing double that was part of the rally in ALCS2 that culminated in the Ortiz slam.
2014: Middlebrooks (it got uuuuuuugly: .522/46 in 63 games, Lowrie: .676/94 in 136 games--obviously not great, but close to league average at 3B would have been amazing by comparison))
I think after that it gets a little unclear where you'd put him, and he was injured and mediocre for a couple years after anyway (though he's had a nice renaissance with OAK a couple times over!).
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