10/28 - Catching Up and Slowing Down
by bdalebs on Oct 28, 2009 5:00 AM EDT
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Since I missed the Filter for yesterday (sorry, couldn't see straight because of a pounding headache), here's some of the links that would have worked better yesterday:
5 YEARS AGO TODAY...WE WERE KINGS - Masshole Sports
Amazing to see the immediate reactions again with more hindsight.
2004: Where Are They Now? - Full Count
Excellent link if you want to see how much things can change in five years.
Chat with Jacoby Ellsbury - ESPN Boston
Darn, I would have asked him about his reads. Oh well, maybe someone will catch him next time.
Aroldis Chapman and a bucket of cold water - Yawkey Way Academy
Calm it down, peeps. Even if he is visiting and throwing for us today, doesn't mean we're going after him - especially because we probably shouldn't, based on the information available.
Bloggers Assemble! - The Bottom Line
Any views expressed in there that you'd like to comment about? Interesting to see how different sites form different opinions.
After the jump, an MVP ballot, talking about defense, and more nostalgia (but not about the same subject).
My AL MVP Ballot - The Joy of Sox
Grienke. Not even close. I don't care what other people are voting, Grienke deserves it.
Yankees' combo of Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher has been quiet during playoffs
The Red Sox are going to be looking to upgrade their offense this winter and have apparently decided not to try to re-sign Jason Bay - whose rep, Scott (Avenging Agent) Boras, has had a long, acrimonious history with them, most recently on display during last winter's Mark Teixeira negotiations
FAIL.
Rob Bradford | In Defense of Jason Bay's Defense
"I think the only defensive statistic that I know for sure that is easily measurable is outfield assists and errors committed, and Jason is just the third outfielder in major league history to lead the league in outfield assists while not creating an error all season, the last guy being Carl Yastrzemski," the agent said. "It used to be that those statistics were enough. In baseball we all need a better evaluation of defensive ability but the defensive metrics we have out there are so debatable, and in most cases proprietary, that it is hard to quantify a player’s ability to play defense.
GET A NEW AGENT, JAYBAYBAY. Just because the data isn't 100% perfect doesn't mean we should rely on the traditional statistics that have been proven, both numerically and logically, to be less-than-effective indicators of defensive ability. Aside from all the issues with the scoring of errors, there's a major issue with comparing Bay's assists to most other fielders': he plays in a very short field that also traps runners by causing them to misjudge hits off the Monster. Even if you don't like UZR, there are plenty of statistics that wipe the floor with errors and assists:
Bay's not on this list (fortunately), but there are a few shocking names; most of them correlate with UZR though, so they may not be too amazing.
Dustin Pedroia's hidden improvement - Yawkey Way Academy
MVP!
Trade Market: Catchers - MLBTradeRumors.com
Talkin' Baseball with Seth Swirsky [Owner of the Buckner Ball] - The Hall of Very Good
Much like the Bartman incident or Gibson hobbling around the bases, that ball going under Buckner’s mitt is one of baseball’s most widely known images and to one man…it is the cornerstone of a rather unique collection.
Trades Of The Decade: Griffey To The Reds - MLBTradeRumors.com
Interesting to see where the pieces drifted off to.
Comments, links, suggestions, etc. You know the drill.
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About the Bloggers assemble
Man you just see some HUGE gap in intellect between Troy Patterson and the rest of the other bloggers!
"That was a lot of fun… You just keep pounding balls into the gap. The one thing you don’t want to do is hit a home run. That’s a rally-killer." Jeff Francoeur
I wouldn't say intellect.
It’s just a different way of looking at the game. I’m open to all interpretations, as long as they can be defended.
@bs_uf15bosox9be 12 pieces of bacon, a Red Bull, and go get 'em; Learn to use SB Nation
I posted this on another thread but you have to check
Urbon’s (Bay’s agent) talk to WEEI. It’s hilarious when he’s trying to make the case that Bay plays elite defense like when he states that:
I think the only defensive statistic that I know for sure that is easily measurable is outfield assists and errors committed, and Jason is just the third outfielder in major league history to lead the league in outfield assists while not creating an error all season, the last guy being Carl Yastrzemski
"That was a lot of fun… You just keep pounding balls into the gap. The one thing you don’t want to do is hit a home run. That’s a rally-killer." Jeff Francoeur
Its kind of the guy’s job to make his client sound as good as possible, reagardless of if it is true or not.
"Ninety percent [of my salary] I'll spend on good times, women, and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."
-Tug McGraw
I'm just amuzed by the arguments
I found them obsolete and at some point he’s like “since when defense is taking into account when it comes to evaluate a player?”…I was like Wow!
"That was a lot of fun… You just keep pounding balls into the gap. The one thing you don’t want to do is hit a home run. That’s a rally-killer." Jeff Francoeur
There are multiple people saying that
the Red Sox are going after Chapman and is the top suitor. His former teammate is Jose Igelsis and he only costs money not precious prospects. Something the Red Sox and Yankees have but most teams in the MLB do not.
Red Sox and Yankees have made an effort to buy up all the young talent possible with the economy putting the hurt on most teams.
I expect Chapman to be a Yankee, Red Sox or White Sox in 2010. They are the only teams willing to pay.
I am not a big fan of the guy, he got shelled twice in the WBC, but he can throw 100 mphs and is a lefty with very little major league training. If the Sox farm system can take Tazawa (arguably with less tools) and turn him into a possible MLB player, i have faith they can do the same with Chapman.
Ill put another question out into the mix. IF the Red Sox can sign this guy for a reasonable price, lets say 20-30 million which is nothing, maybe this is a move that lets the Sox make another move in a trade for a bat like AG or an arm like King Felix? Having Chapman in their system makes another player tradeable.
i'm really not very interested in throwing a ton of money
at a prospect, especially one who looks to be a huge injury risk with his weird delivery and velocity. of course he could work out, but i don’t have much faith in international pitchers. japan is the best, cuba not so much.
Cubans are great, without the posting costs of japanese players.
Just off the top of my head: El Duque, Livan Hernandez, Kendry Morales, Yunel Escbar and Alexei Ramirez have all been succesful. Even Jose Contreras (oftentimes considered a failure) was as good or better than Dice-K has been for half the cost.
"Ninety percent [of my salary] I'll spend on good times, women, and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."
-Tug McGraw
In terms of catchers, Doumit interests me a little.
He had a broken wrist last year, so his numbers weren’t great. Although, he put up an OPS of .858 and a wOBA of .367 in 08. These aren’t superstar numbers, but he might be someone the sox want to look into.
You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time. ~Jim Bouton, Ball Four, 1970
Thoughts:
1) re: NYDailyNews article.
Reporting: You’re doing it wrong.
2) re: Bay’s agent.
He’s not saying these things to convince Theo et al. He’s not saying them to convince OTM and the like. He knows you are already aware of all of this. He’s talking to Joe Six Pack, who doesn’t know or doesn’t care what VORP, WAR, UZR, LMNO, or any of those things are.
He’s handling this perfectly. You need to be able to shut off the “stat-guy” every once in a while.
3) I was shocked to see Orlando Cabrera on the list of worst defenders. You know that I don’t follow the different stats like you guys, but one of the worst in the majors…at all positions?? WOW.
That’s all I got for now. Maybe I’ll skim through the next half of the links later…
Goddamn that DeMarlo Hale.
2) Then what's the point of saying it?
It really wouldn’t take much effort to explain why errors and assists aren’t very good stats – I took like 2 minutes to type a minimal explanation in case we got any newbies. It would have been awesome to see his agent called out in the MSM; I actually kinda feel like they missed a chance to draw a lot of attention. There’s a reason why ESPN announces random stats like BABIP every once in a while – because it gets interest from the poor souls who have to go look it up.
If someone in the MSM chose to call out a BS statement like JayBayBay’s agent made, they would likely get noticed, because the average fan would start telling his buds about it.
@bs_uf15bosox9be 12 pieces of bacon, a Red Bull, and go get 'em; Learn to use SB Nation
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