Back in February, not long after the Cardinals acquired Nolan Arenado from the Rockies, I speculated, with the help of some flawed statistics, that this team might be the best defensive team of the last 50 years.
That’s some serious speculation since entire decades of Cardinals play was known for its elite defense, including the 1980s and the 2000s. With modern defensive analytics unavailable and unreliable for by-gone fielders, I turned to Fangraphs DEF stat to tell the tale. DEF is an aggregate defensive stat that adjusts for both position and league. So, while it certainly has its flaws, it’s useful for a fun debate about defense between generations.