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When youre hitting over .300, leading the league in homers, and a lock to knock in 100 runs, youre going to be in the heart of the MVP discussion. At 24 years old, Kris Bryant has put up these numbers going into the final month of the regular season, not only making his case for top value in 2016, but also making it known that he could be this productive for the next decade.Yet when you try and check his defensive box, you cant. Bryant is one of the best super-utility players of this era, playing multiple positions, each requiring a different skill set and preparation. It has made him an irreplaceable asset in the Chicago Cubs machine and set the tone for all of baseball to take notice of the power of versatility. Bryant is a utility player who isnt just there to give better players a day off. Hes a fixture in one of the best lineups in Major League Baseball.No matter how you slice Bryants stats, hes clearly playing at a superstar level, but his versatility gives him an edge in the MVP race that cant be discounted -- and might be historic.With baseball defenses shifting all over the field to account for hitting tendencies, you can award bonus points toward Bryants MVP case. He has left field, center field, right field, first base, shortstop and third base in the defensive section of his resume. With shifts, he is playing everywhere between those traditional defensive spots, too. According to Baseball Info Solutions, Bryant has at least break-even Defensive Runs Saved at every position he has played. Overall, with five Defensive Runs Saved, Bryant rates fairly well, 89th among all players regardless of position, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He also rates well in his positioning metrics, with the one exception of when balls are hit to his left and he is playing third base. And these days, positioning is every bit as important as skills.Bryant wont be in the Gold Glove conversation for any particular position (maybe this is the year we add utility to the Gold Glove?). Still, looking at Bryant only through this lens misses his true defensive value.If you look at the past 15 years of utility players -- those who played at least 10 games at three different positions, with at least 300 plate appearances -- Bryants 2016 WAR (7.6) ranks second, trailing only the 2009 season of teammate Ben Zobrist (8.6), according to Baseball Info Solutions and based on FanGraphs WAR totals. And we still have another month left in the season.Lets say youre not a big WAR fan as a case for MVP. Well, consider what Cubs manager Joe Maddon calls the hidden value in versatility. The analytics are now refined enough to track every ball and where theyve been hit off every pitcher. From this data, you can produce a weight representing the frequency at which a ball is hit to a certain position on the field, based on real historical evidence. When it comes to the infield, it makes sense to put your best defender where you can now project the majority of balls will be hit.Javier Baez is the Cubs best defensive infielder, so you want him to play where the most action is. Defensively, because Bryant can move around, you can place Baez where he most benefits the overall defense. If Bryant was only a pure third baseman, you could not upgrade third base defensively without losing Bryants bat. Now you can keep Bryants bat and cover, with your best defender, the spot where most of the balls are projected to travel.Utility defense is nothing new to baseball -- the need to have someone on the roster who can play just about anywhere is a time-honored tradition -- but in the case of Bryant, youre adding a deadly bat. It is rare air to be a force offensively while providing so many defensive options for a manager. According to Elias, only once in the history of the MVP award has a winner played 10 or more games at three different positions. Johnny Bench, 1970 National League MVP, played more than 10 games at catcher, first base and left field.Playing a single position used to be an art form, signifying a ballplayer was uniquely suited to his specialty. But now, no infielder has a true position. Even a shortstop knows being called a shortstop may not provide any clue as to where hell physically be on any given play.The impact of Bryants versatility goes beyond defense. It is felt in pitching and bench depth. It reduces the need to use two players for any one move. Whomever pinch hits could play defense at the position of their strength, and Bryant can then just be moved to accommodate him. This can also help in a double switch.New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi expressed the pitching benefit of having a swing man like Bryant. I need that guy. ... It can allow me to carry an extra pitcher.Bryant is an everyday All-Star starter and a versatile bench player all wrapped up into one. Theres no need for a specialist on the bench for every situation, and having one fewer specialist on the bench gives the Cubs an extra arm -- especially beneficial for the playoffs, and before rosters expand in September.This is all outside the actual physical challenge Bryant is undertaking by playing multiple positions. To be up to speed from so many angles on the field, to learn the slices, hooks, dips and dives of a variety of positions both in the infield and in the outfield, and to do it well, is a skill. You must have game-ready knowledge of cut-offs and relays, double-play pivots, rundowns, scooping balls out of the dirt and playing balls off an ivy-covered brick wall. At times, Bryant is navigating all of this in the same game.It was often said during my career, particularly by legendary baseball sage Syd Thrift, Have bat, will travel. Your career goes only as far as your hitting, but now with Kris Bryant, we find that if you know how to use more than one glove while putting up offensive numbers, you -- and your team -- can go even further, and do so using fewer position players.Whether or not Bryant wins the NL MVP Award, to me, this is the very definition of value. Zapatillas Nike Baratas Imitacion . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . 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I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. MONTREAL -- There was no blow-up this time from Joey Saputo. The owner and president of the Montreal Impact, who has been known to sound off after poor performances, had only praise and encouragement for his players and coaches at a news conference Wednesday, despite their feeble 4-0 loss in New York on the weekend. Saputo had met with the players a day earlier to hand them a passing grade on their performance so far this season. The Impact (9-5-4) are second in Major League Soccers Eastern Conference with two games in hand on first-place Kansas City. "Yeah, Ive blown my top a couple of times (in the past) but I didnt feel at this particular time that it was necessary for me to basically lose it with the players because we (were) in first place, were doing great," said Saputo. The Impact are going through their first rough patch of the season with two draws and two losses in their last four games, which dropped them out of first place. They hope to rebound on Saturday at home against struggling Dallas. "The message was positive," Saputo added. "Despite our recent setbacks, theres no reason to panic. "From the start of the year the goal was to make the playoffs (top five in the conference). Were in excellent position to get there. Every good team goes through difficult moments. I believe in the character and experience of this team to get out of it." He said there will not be major changes, but they will be seeking a player or two to add some depth heading into a busy second half of the MLS calendar. They will also play in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, which begins in August. To make room, the team has loaned little-used midfielders Calum Mallace and Sinisa Ubiparapovic to Minnesota United of the United Soccer Leagues. The Impact will likely seek help on attack and on defence, where the veteran centre back pairing of Alessandro Nesta and Matteo Ferrari has been under fire. The team has conceded 12 goals in its last four games. It hasnt helped that Nelson Rivas, a solid centre back when healthy, has been unable to play this season due to a bad knee. Sporting director Nick De Santis said he still hopes Rivas can recover. The Colombian was at practice Wednesday, but stayed on the sidelines. And he defended 37-year-old Nesta, who plans to retire at the end of the season. SSome feel the Italy international has already checked out mentally.dddddddddddd De Santis hopes to convince Nesta to stay on a little longer if Montreal gets through the Champions League group stage against the San Jose Earthquakes and CD Heredia of Guatemala. "He feels in his mind this will be his last year but you never know what the circumstances will be," said De Santis. "If were able to keep going, maybe well be able to convince him." Saputo jumped in with: "Ive heard comments that Alessandro has already retired in his mind and his heads not here. This is a player who has played at the top level and won everything and I think the last thing he wants to do is end his career on a down note. And if you ask anyone in the room which guy wants to win the most and bring this club to the next level, it is Alessandro Nesta." Saputo also backs coach Marco Schallibaum and said talks are in progress on a contract extension. The Swiss coach joined the second-year MLS club this season on a one-year deal. The Impact also plan to put a heating system under the pitch at Saputo Stadium to keep the grass snow-free and in shape for playoff games and Champions League matches in the fall. Saputo joked that it was being done so he would no longer have to shovel snow off the field, as he did before a game after a late snowfall in April. If the team goes beyond the CONCACAF group stage, playoff games in March will be indoors at Olympic Stadium. Saputo added that a goal for next season was to raise season ticket sales from 8,000 to more than 10,000. Ticket prices will not be raised next season. And he said season ticket holders will become club members, who will be invited to an annual general meeting and who will be polled regularly on matters affecting the club. The Impact have yet to sell out the stadium this season, but vice-president Richard Legendre said they are moving an average of about 5,000 more tickets per game than at the same stage last season. Their average of about 21,000 ranks third in MLS behind Seattle and Los Angeles. So far, the team has 12 players under contract for next season: goalies Troy Perkins and Evan Bush; defenders Ferrari, Hassoun Camara and Jeb Brovsky; midfielders Patrice Bernier, Felipe Martins, Justin Mapp, Sanna Nyassi and Blake Smith; and forward Andrew Wenger. ' ' '