Harry Dunne said:
I agree with most of your post, but last year he tied for 1st for the Fielding Bible award as the best LF in all of baseball. I don't think he's as good as that implies and I also don't think he's as bad as you're saying he is...but at the very least he's a capable corner OF.
I know OF can fall off a cliff pretty quick in their 30s defensively (Reddick) and I don't think his fielding is a plus anymore, but I don't think it's a strike against him yet.
I'm going with the sight test of the games I watched, which was all of the playoffs and maybe 2-3 innings per night of the rest. I don't know what the Fielding Bible is, butthe two things I see from Brantley in the OF are TYPICALLY - an average to below-average arm and an average to below-average approach to pursuing balls in the gap or down the line.
I don't see him making a lot of plays where it appears he understands how balls are going to bounce off the wall at MMP or anywhere else, nor down in the corner. I don't think he has the arm to threaten anyone against taking the extra base on a ball in the corner or stretching first to third or scoring from second on a single to left.
Fielding percentage is a pretty frustrating statistic because guys with incredible range and play-making ability are inherently going to produce more errors simply by getting to more balls and attempting more throws than the middle-of-the-road guy. I feel like at some points in the 80s/90s, Ryne Sanderberg had a long errorless streak but ESPN had the balls to point out it wasn't that impressive because his range had declined and he was not close enough to make a play on a lot of balls that could have been a great play or an error depending on how he handled them.
I love Uncle Mike the hitter, and he's clutch as hell, but if it comes down to keeping Springer/Correa, he had to be let go and a cheaper/younger/better fielding replacement found, even if it comes with the acknolwedgement of a dropoff in production.