Weeks or Belliard?

Ronnie Belliard, a former Milwaukee Brewer, has been back in town recently as his Washington Nationals are visiting the Brewers for a 4-game series (right now, it looks like Milwaukee is going to pull off a sweep). Belliard spent the first 5 years of his career with Milwaukee, and his return got me thinking about whether or not I would want him at second base or Rickie Weeks.

Check out the comparison:

2008

Weeks: .229 Avg, 9 HR, 35 RBI, 70 Runs, 15 SB, .334 OBP, 47 BB, 87 Ks, .980 Fielding %

Belliard: .248 Avg, 10 HR, 33 RBI, 29 Runs, 3 SB, .351 OBP, 31 BB, 43 Ks, .974 Fielding %

Belliard edges Weeks in a few categories (batting average, OBP, strikeouts), but he is also older and actually worse than Weeks defensively. Right now, in 2008, I would stick with Weeks (actually, I would go with a third option, like bringing Escobar up from the minors...or bringing back Trent Durrington).

But Belliard has put up some impressive numbers offensively in his career. His career average is nearly 30 points higher than Weeks', and last season he hit .290. He has never struck out over 100 times in a season (something Weeks can't boast), he was an All-Star in 2004 with Cleveland, and he helped St. Louis in the 2006 postseason - he collected 12 hits in the divisional and league championship series. Defensively, Belliard does have a better career fielding % - .979 for Belliard, compared to .965 for Weeks. Belliard's best seasons are probably behind him now, but he did have a few good seasons while with Cleveland and St. Louis from 2004 to 2006.

It will be interesting to see, when both Belliard's and Weeks' playing days are over, which player has the better numbers.