Brewer Fielding Rankings

Fangraphs.com (the best site on the internet) added UFZ to their site, which gives us an idea of how good of a fielder a player is at his position. So I will quickly look at the 2008 Brewers, and see where some improvements can be made.

Prince Fielder (1B) -7.5 UZR/150
Prince is basically costing the Brewers 7.5 runs per 150 games, but there is nowhere else to put the slugger, so the Brewers will have to live with it for the time being. He had the 3rd worst rating of NL 1B only beating James Loney, and Mike Jacobs (who is now with the Kansas City Royals). Fielder was 2nd of the NL 1B with 17 errors, only beating Ryan Howard (who had 19 errors).

Rickie Weeks (2B) -5.3 UZR/150
Not only is Weeks not producing with the bat, he isn't doing much to help the team defensively. He has improved from his horrible defense in 2005 and 2006, but Weeks is starting to look more and more like a bust for the Brewers.

Bill Hall (3B) +9.5 UZR/150
Bill Hall can get to the ball at 3B, and led NL 3B with a +9.5 UZR/150. His .939 Fielding Percentage isn't great, only beating out Jorge Cantu, Edwin Encarnacion, and Mark Reynolds (who is completely awful at 3B). Hall can play the position with the best of them, but it seems to be a circus at times with him at the hot corner.

JJ Hardy (SS) +12.2 UZR/150
Hardy was ranked 3rd in UZR/150 behind Jimmy Rollins (13.4) and Cesar Izturis (12.5). Everyone focuses on Hardy's batting skills, but his defense is just as impressive as his stick. He must have great insticts and reactions because his foot speed is well below the average shortstop in the game.

Ryan Braun (LF) -4.0 UZR/150
A lot was made of Braun shifting to left field and not having any errors, and that is impressive given the number of games that he played. However, his UZR/150 shows that he isn't helping the team much in LF either. His bat more than makes up for his lack of defensive ability, and his UZR/150 should improve with more experience in LF, but the Brewers made the right move by shifting him from 3B to LF for the 2008 season.

Mike Cameron (CF) +13.3 UZR/150
Mike Cameron is the premier defensive CF in the National League by far -- his league leading +13.3 is more than twice of 2nd place Carlos Beltran's (+6.2 rating). Much is made of the number of strikeouts that Cameron posts in a given year, but his power, speed, and defensive ability are all assets. The Brewers made the correct move by using their team option to keep Cameron around for the 2009 season.

Corey Hart (RF) -0.7 UZR/150
Hart is basically a defensive neutral player, who doesn't have much on an impact to help or hurt his team throughout the course of a season on the defensive side. Everyway that you look at Hart's defensive game shows that he is average: UZR/150, assists, errors, and double plays.

Overall:
The Brewers left side defense is as good as any NL teams in the game with Hardy and Hall locking down SS and 3B. The right side is a work in progress as Weeks and Fielder are both below average. Mike Cameron makes up for the raw Ryan Braun in left, and the average Corey Hart in right.