2038.05 - The Long Beach Independent - Building an Infield

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COMPTON, CHON HEADLINE NEW-LOOK INFIELD

December 1, 2037
Long Beach, CA

On the heels of the Greenwood and Rios signings, Long Beach announced the signing of not just one, but two of the premier infielders available in this year’s free agent class. SS/2B Brett Compton and SS Dong-soo Chon bring excellent gloves to what was already a superb offensive infield.

Compton, whom fans of the team are familiar with, returns on a 6 year $36 million deal with no options or opt outs. Able to play any infield position, Compton played 31 games at SS following last years trade from Mexico City. He’s good but not great there, and with Chon signed as well, he’ll slide over to second base where he’s a two time Zimmer award winner.

About average with the bat on his career, Compton performed very well in his brief stint with the Surfers last year, hitting .350/.406/.462. He’s played in Vancouver and Mexico City previously, both parks know to be pitcher friendly. With Long Beach more neutral, it wouldn’t be surprising to see his offense output increase with a full season in a better park. At just 26 years old, it wouldn’t be out of the question that his best offensive season remains ahead of him.

The other headline addition is Dong-soo Chon who will see a lot of time at shortstop this season. He’s even more glove-centric than Compton but not a complete black hole. His career 79 OPS+ is acceptable given that he’s consistently above average at SS with the glove. As with Compton, Long Beach will likely be the best offensive park he’s played in, as Edmonton certainly did his right-handed bat no favors. We could see a 20/20 season with a .330 OBP as a reasonable expectation for the next few seasons. At 6 years and $24 million, he’d be quite a bargain at that level of performance.

You may be wondering about the fate of Sloan Daniel if Chon and Compton will play the field most days. Daniel has been acceptable in the field, but with a groundball centric staff, it was imperative that the team acquire better gloves up the middle. We’ll likely see Daniel at DH most days, and he’s got just enough bat to justify that. Of course Chon and Compton can’t play every day, nor can third baseman Michael Best, so there will be plenty of playing time to go around.