Khalil Greene Watch

The Cardinals traded for Khalil Greene this offseason, committing 6.5 million dollars to a shortstop who is coming off a season where he ranked, offensively, among the worst full-time players in all of Major League Baseball. Greene had one season in which he showed a considerable amount of power and a several other solid seasons with the bat, but it seemed to be a really strange deal when you consider that the team would be paying Greene more than twice as much as Cesar Izturis, last year's starting shortstop. Izturis is very offensively-challenged, yet even he managed to outhit Khalil last season.

I watched Greene as a young Portland Beaver and rooted for him, so I am definitely conflicted. While he didn't turn out to be as disappointing as, say, Sean Burroughs, he definitely seems to fall more towards the category of mildly disappointing prospects that San Diego has turned out since the Beavers return in 2001. (Jason Bay and Xavier Nady were among the actual successes, but of course, like Greene, they no longer play for the Padres.)

For my crude statistical analysis, I'll accept the defensive comparison between the two players as a wash and just use two offensive categories: batting average and OPS. Please note that I am not trying to make the case that the Cardinals should have retained the services of Cesar Izturis. I just think - at this point - that the money could have been spent more wisely and that there were better alternatives out there. Prove me wrong, Khalil!

Cesar Izturis, 2008: 135 G, 414 AB, .263 BA, .628 OPS
Khalil Greene, 2009: 6 G, 21 AB, .190 BA, .530 OPS