Poor average, low OBP, Some pop, a lot of strikeouts, and good defense. Who am I describing?
I just think Espinosa is one of those players that proves that WAR is a flawed measurement of a player. Espinosa is a bad hitter who has some power. He's a very good defender at second and an above average to good defender at shortstop, from what little we saw last season.
A more accurate description of Espinosa's offensive value would be:
Poor average, average OBP, great pop for his position, a lot of strikeouts, and excellent defense at both middle infield positions. If you don't see how that's worth 3+ wins than you are grossly overestimating the offensive capabilities of middle infielders around the league.
Espinosa is much better than pre 2012 Desmond both with his glove
and bat. Desmond failed at everything except baserunning. The only thing Espi is truly bad at is making contact.