Is John McDonald the best example of a great fielder who can't hit?

Friday, December 01 2006 @ 01:31 PM EST

Contributed by: TangoTiger

On my blog, I'm holding up the Jays' McDonald, and the Expos Angel Salazar as possibly the best fielders around who couldn't hit MLB pitching.  When discussing McDonald, I said:

It must be a virtual certainty that he’s a great fielder, since he’s never had 300 PA, has come into the league at almost age 25, is now 32, has 1146 career PA, his career OPS+ is 56, with a career high of 75.  His career high in salary is 500,000$. He’s also had SIX different managers on three teams.

And, here is the criteria:

1 - has been in the league for at least 5 seasons
2 - has played in at least 300 games
3 - has averaged less than 4 PA per game (preferably under 3)
4 - has a career OPS+ of under 60
5 - is a 2B,SS,3B,CF (i.e., not a catcher, and I’d be shocked if you could find anyone at another position)
6 - better than league average fielding percentage

Peter Bergeron of the Expos is another that qualifies.  So, are we in the midst of seeing McDonald be the best at this?

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