First off all, get a hold of yourself buddy. I know message boards can be frustrating, but a little patience goes a long ways.
Secondly, you seem to be making one of two arguments, one of which is circular, the other of which is not based in facts.
One argument, which you seem to have made in your most recent post, is that because Keppinger has not ever been given 500+ PA in a single season at the major league level, that he is a part time player. As a definitional argument, I suppose one can't disagree. But prior usage patterns are hardly a good way to judge worthiness or else nobody could ever be a full time player because they would have had to be one first... an obvious ontological problem.
However, if you mean to suggest that Keppinger does not play baseball well enough to merit a full time starter job, then I disagree with this assessment. You cite Bako and Hairston's inflated batting averages over a short period fo time. Yet both of these guys have substantial track records establishing a much lower level of performance, which suggests that their brief hot streaks were just that, temporary hot streaks. Keppinger has a track record of over 2200 minor league and 600 major league plate appearances suggesting that the performances we've seen from him are completely sustainable and founded in a pretty rare skill set.
And given that, we can compare offensive his performance (.313/.368/.441) to players with similar skill sets and performance records to find comparable players, like Michael Young (.303/.348/.448, poor SS defense), Placido Polanco (.304/.349/.414, good 2B D), and Freddy Sanchez (.301/.339/.417, good 2B/3B D), and Mark Loretta (.297/.362/.399, good 2B/3B D, weak SS D).
For reference, here are the average SS, 2B and 3B from 2007 and 2008:
Code:
Pos Year BA OBP SLG OPS
SS 2008 .263 .319 .375 .694
SS 2007 .274 .336 .418 .734
2B 2008 .266 .332 .398 .730
2B 2007 .277 .339 .417 .756
3B 2008 .267 .338 .437 .774
3B 2007 .273 .341 .442 .782
Jeff Keppinger is a major league starting caliber 2B, without question. At SS, his bat is significantly above average, even if his defense is somewhat below. At 3B, where his defense plays better, his bat is
merely average.
In any case, I can understand your reticence to compare Keppinger to "established" players, guys who have been given full-time jobs and even made the occasional all-star team. But it's important not to confuse opportunity and recognition with actual ability. Keppinger has been grossly under-utilized over the last 3 or 4 years. It's also importance to understand that there's a significant amount of room between perennial all-star and backup. I understand the particulars of the Reds 25 man roster are such that he might best be utilized in a utility, but that doesn't mean his ability is less than that of a starting major leaguer.