Jake

Tyler Flowers

In his last prospect year, Baseball America had this to say: Baseball Prospectus gave him a 1.9 FRAA (fielding runs above average), which is not great but is indeed above average. FanGraphs had him as -1.1 runs above average. His -2.4 UZR/150 (not "awful" in itself) is almost completely dragged down by his 16 errors, which at times appeared rather flukey and, at worst, correctable. Even if not, there are no metrics calling what he did last year bad. His worst statistic is the not-all-that-well-regarded Defensive Runs Saved, from which he got a -4, which is between what Bill James calls average and below average. They use the word "awful" to describe a player that gets -15, FWIW

I highly recommend this article from FanGraphs: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/masahiro-ta...pect-valuation/ The gist of it is that baseball today really, really values prospects and Tanaka is proof-positive of that. Teams are not happy with the whole "pay for past success and hope for some present" system and therefore go balls out when they can throw money at anticipated production rather than past-prime production. My favorite part was when he brings up the idea of what other prospects would get on the open market. How much is Xander Bogaerts worth? He's younger, less injury risk as a position player, and just as highly regarded in prospect rankings. That got me thinking...instead of a struggling team trading prospects, why not sell them? If a small-market team had a prospect that, for whatever reason, didn't fit, why not sell? If the A's had Xander Bogaerts but also great, cheap players blocking him, why not just send a notice to the other 29 teams asking for bids? A small-market team could benefit immensely from selling a player for $100 million.

To call Conor Gillaspie's glove "awful" is quite a stretch. I'd say "solid" or "adequate" or "a tick above Keppinger." He was having an excellent year until a weird, De Aza-esque run of errors late in the season

FWIW, Hahn said on the day we signed Paulino that they aren't expecting him to be ready for opening day

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 12:41 AM) I'm not a libertarian. I'm not trying to be edgy when I say this, but libertarians are way caught up in trying to prove that what they want benefits the greater whole. It won't. People will suffer pretty hard if the safety net is cut out from under them. I just couldn't give a care in the world about those people and whether they can't find work or put food on the table or whatever does not matter in the slightest to me. In the long this will benefit the country as those people either adapt to a world where they have to earn something or just die off, but the transition will be nasty. Libertarians idiotically believe everything will be perfect right away. You're a libertarian. The people you're talking about are also typically called libertarian, but they're really interested in free markets. You're interested in personal liberty above all else. While free markets are a related idea, those who are into free markets often feel that way because they think it's better for the whole, as you say. Put another way, you like free markets because you see them as a logical consequence of a liberty-maximizing society. The people you disagree with really like free markets and see personal liberty as a consequence of a working market economy.

Flacco is easily the worst QB of that trio, regardless of circumstance. I've tried to defend Romo with all of the 4th quarter stats and this and that, but the dude just excels at f***ing up in a big way when it matters most. It is unquantifiable. At least Cutler spares us by dicking things up early.

Bennett doesn't even get to be like Kwame Brown because nobody ever thought Bennett made sense in that stratosphere of the draft.

Let's not use passer rating too liberally here. QBs don't play in a vacuum and I'm not convinced it measures them well, even in a vacuum.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 04:18 PM) What about companies who sell marketed products but pay customers more? If they pay customers, I'm buying.

I really don't think Garcia can hit well enough to even be a bench player at this point. Roll with Elmore. Might take Elmore over an OF, even, and have a normal 4 man bench.

If only Cutler could find the end zone like Favre... Let's be real though, Favre put up some absolute duds in several seasons. His worst seasons were sub-Cutler, but his best seasons got you rings.

It shows you that a good DH will be worth paying for -- of course, that will tempt you to overpay for a bad one. In the non-steroid era, teams are really struggling to figure out what to do with that spot.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 02:28 PM) 1) Who were they? 2) If four have, how many haven't? 3) What about 29 year olds or 31 year olds? Yeah, seemed like an odd statistic

2-seamer/cutter is really a great combo, though like you I would probably prefer changeup if I had to have him pick one. Changeups can be really difficult to learn, of course. I don't think his cutter will automatically be bad because he throws a natural 2-seamer. I actually think it will be better, if he can throw it, because it will be such a change from the normal fastball trajectory without appearing much different out of the hand.

Why don't unemployed people go get jobs? Don't apply at Wal-Mart!!! If you give them unemployment benefits until they get a good job, they'll never look for a job!! Maybe they should lower their standards. But don't apply to places like Wal-Mart, one of the largest employers in the USA It would be heresy to raise the minimum wage also ----> working economy

If you don't have enough money, you can't act rationally and be a part of a market correction. The vast majority of people don't have the means to make the choices that the free market system demands of them

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 11:36 AM) Presumably in the call someone else was supposed to release over the top, perhaps the CB playing to the outside of Conte. Instead if that CB got the blitz call and went into man coverage, staying with the receiver on the sideline, it removed the help that Conte would have had in the original playcall. Right, I'm assuming we had three deep on the original zone call -- two CBs and Wright. Conte was to cover the flat near the first down marker. I wouldn't think too deeply about the wisdom of that call since we audibled out of it...there's some chance it was never intended to be the play we actually stuck with.

I would like to make it official that Bulls fans are now demanding that JR be tight with his money

I think we can assume the play called asked something different of Conte than normal Cover 2 deep coverage. He thought he had the flat, which means he probably thought they were in Cover 3 with corners and Major Wright in deep coverage

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 11:54 AM) But that's the problem -- we need a guy that can play SS. If Davidson makes the team out of ST, right now the bench looks like: 1B/DH Konerko C Flowers/Nieto OF De Aza/Viciedo IF Keppinger ?? That fifth slot, which they probably would rather not even carry in lieu of another reliever anyway, absolutely must be someone that can play SS, as that's the only position not covered. Battling for that final slot will be Garcia, Danks, Gillaspie, and Semien at a minimum. Semien can start in AAA, and Garcia is the only other one that can handle SS. That leaves both Gillaspie and Danks without a job, and I'd be surprised if we didn't lose one or both to waivers because neither has anything to prove in AAA. I'm thinking they would like this, at this point: Konerko [backup catcher TBD] 4th OF that isn't ADA or Viciedo 3B/2B/1B/emergency LF Gillaspie Jake Elmore or similar player (RH bat, all IF positions and in his case OF as well, eliminating need for Gillaspie to be emergency player ther)

It's Jerry's money. If he demands that we only trade Deng to bring talent to the club, then so be it. If we can't trade Deng for talent and Jerry doesn't care about wasting money, that's his prerogative

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 10:44 AM) Martellus Bennett was on B&B monday, and it really seemed like bringing his brother to the team is a big priority for him. I'd like him, but I might rather switch to a 3-4. Not sure that he is a 3-4 DE. Wootton and Melton would make ideal 3-4 DEs. Today's passer did indicate they were going to evaluate "scheme" but that could just be talk. QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 10:50 AM) That's a lot of money for a guy that hasn't played a full season in 4 years and has played 10 or 11 games in 2 of the last 3. And for a guy that's 1-9 against the Packers. And for a guy that has won, what, one playoff game? It's definitely a deal laden with risk. However, if I trust Trotman, that means I trust that he knows what he needs under center.

Jesus Christ is that a s***-ton of money. How much did they think he'd get in FA?

I hope it isn't like AJ. I've never head of a more universally reviled player. At least Swisher has been liked under the right circumstances. I never minded Orlando Cabrera at all.