to Nady’s 128 OPS+ (and 108+ as a Yankee, which is a smaller, less significant sample)
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But isn’t the OPS+ he posted in Pittsburgh just as small and insignificant sample size as the several years of data we have on Nady already? If he put up 144 and 108 split between two teams and one was way out of line with his career and the other was right in line with his career, I don’t see how you can argue that we should ignore one but not the other.

Last year, Abreu had a 120 OPS+ to Nady’s 128 OPS+ (and 108+ as a Yankee, which is a smaller, less significant sample). Nady is also a better OF’er, who is cheaper and gives the Yankees better righty balance. Most importantly, Abreu will be 35, while Nady will be 30. A rapid decline for Abreu is far more like than for Nady.

All things considered, the difference isn’t great.

…I sincerely hope his stay in NY is a very short one. I hope he’s gone after 2009…
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I agree with you there. Nady in his peak is a pretty good player. Nady in his decline is not someone you want in your starting lineup.

So I think we’re looking at, I don’t know, three years of “this average pile of garbage” at most. And hopefully fewer.

Which is to say, I’m inclined to think that, yeah, offense plus defense, Nady and Abreu are a push.
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I really just don’t see how. I’m sure there’s some stats that says you’re right but I just don’t see how average defense in RF makes up so much ground. If we were talking about CF or SS I could see it. But in RF?

Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Whether rational or not, I choose to dislike Nady and I sincerely hope his stay in NY is a very short one. I hope he’s gone after 2009 and the Yanks don’t suffer the consequences this year for having this average pile of garbage.

Given that the metrics say Abreu’s awful, my eyes say he’s awful, and his reputation is far from stellar, I think it’s pretty safe to say that he is, in fact, pretty bad.

Nady is supposed to be about average, and my eyes agree.

Whether the gap in defense makes up for the gap in offense, I’m not sure, but I do think that defense has a tendency to be undervalued sometimes. Which is to say, I’m inclined to think that, yeah, offense plus defense, Nady and Abreu are a push.

All that said, Nady is a really boring sort of guy, which is kind of disappointing, considering his awesome name.

Two words: money and defense.
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True enough about the money. I don’t really “get” the defensive metrics so I’ll just take it on faith that Abreu is actually that bad in RF. He doesn’t look good out there but I don’t get how the drop from Abreu to Nady offensively really makes up for it either.

But, like I said before, I can’t stand Nady so I’m not the most objective person on the subject either. I just cringe when I think about this career-average dullard as a critical cog in a rapidly-decaying offense.

Put it this way, I think the Sox got the superior Pittsburgh outfielder.
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Sure. But it didn’t cost the Yanks their Manny-equivalent either.

One thing I noticed about Nady is that his SLG has gone up every year of his career. That could be a good sign that he might at least be able to duplicate last season SLG wise.