Have the White Sox ever had a better defense?

[caulfield12]

From watching Torii Hunter most of his career and even in the minors, I would definitely pick him over Rowand.

 

Now maybe too many think of Hunter as the slowed-down, post Astroturf lingering wear and tear player with the Angels, but that guy was just a game-changing defender.

 

He also had the ability to go over the fence at will and change the composition of numerous games with his athletic ability.

 

Another area where Aaron wasn't as solid was throwing the ball. He had an above-average arm, but he wasn't very effectively in throwing out runners either, I can recall numerous balls that he threw right into the ground, and he had a knack for hitting the mound over and over again.

 

Those Gold Gloves he (Hunter) won were all legit until maybe the last year or so, when he won it on reputation alone. In this situation, it's a lot like Chavez versus Crede, where Chavez was great for the first 2-3-4 years of his career and lived off his early accolades, to the point where Crede never officially dethroned him. I know, I know....someone will bring up Derek Jeter winning, that inevitably happens in any discussion of this topic.

 

Maybe Aaron is a little bit of a victim (to me) of the overhyping, the same thing happened with Brian Anderson...I got so sick of hearing how good they were or how underrated that they were...that they became overrated to me, and while Rowand had one great offensive season with the Sox where he piled up all those doubles (I think it was 04) he was never quite as good as his offensive reputation either (which is why he's one of the worst 10 contracts in baseball, along with Carlos Lee, despite playing in the NL).

Edited July 24, 2010 by caulfield12