I decided to compare the fielding suggestions so far with the ratings from Tangotiger's 'wisdom of crowds' scouting reports, one of the more interesting fielding rating systems out there (
http://www.tangotiger.net/scouting/s...sults2006.html ). Here goes:
Aaron Hill- should definitely be above average in range, but not spectacular; 135-145/200 perhaps (I'm assuming an avg 2B has range around 110-115);
Josh Barfield- again, above average but not spectacular, similar rating to Hill. His hands (error) below average, however;
Ramon Santiago-well above average defense across the board; top 20% in the league type of fielder;
Carlos Guillen- pretty much just slightly above average fielder at this point;
Jeff Francoeur- above average range, yes, and phenomenal arm;
Edgar Renteria- now below average in range;
So far, all the comments in this thread are largely in agreement with the Tangotiger results, but some of the rating suggestions seem a bit extreme to me (160+ range for Hill is probably going too far). One exception:
Matt Diaz- ranked in the bottom 15% in the majors in every fielding category; not a good fielder.
Well, that's what the Tangotiger reports say- believe it if you like! His methodology is certainly interesting, albeit debatable.