I think we've come out the other side of that era pretty well, and the methods of quantifying defense are getting better and better, which means we'll be able to separate good defenders from bad defenders much more accurately. Once that happens, teams will begin to pay for it. That's already started to happen though. One need only look at the Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, and Alex Gordon deals for proof that the market is starting to value defense.
Meanwhile a slugger like Pedro Alvarez is waiting around for a phone call because he just can't field.
