Gregory Pratt

I like this.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jan 23, 2009 -> 11:59 AM) The same way I dont understand why everytime Cubs ownership is brought up you have to interject "here comes Peavy" I think, or hope at least, that fathom is putting jinxes on the Cubs when he posts ten times a day that the Cubs are going to the World Series or are going to make a deal for someone. It's kind of sad.

QUOTE (philadelphia sox fan @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 10:48 AM) I can't see a good reasoning to pick any of the pitchers. I know they're great, but they are all either too old or not proven yet. Thank god I'm not a GM. I picked Utley simply because I see him play every game and he's a monster out there, especially for his position. I was torn between him and Longoria... I'd like to see a 2nd season with Longoria before I anoint him king. Utley is a good pick only because he's much, much, much better than anyone else at his position. For everyone else, there are comparables, even Pujols -- people who could do less with the bat, perhaps, but more defensively, or who are better overall players than someone at that specific position (there are better shortstops than Hanley Ramirez, for instance, because of his weak defense). But I don't really buy the positional comparison in this. I think Pujols is obviously the best player in baseball.

I do not seek, and shall not accept, your nomination to defend my prestigious awards of last year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 14, 2009 -> 09:53 AM) You mean Jeter and won't be unanimous, correct? There is no way those guys won't be first ballot HOFers. That is what I meant, yes.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jan 13, 2009 -> 01:52 PM) He's comedy gold anything that could possibly fuel that I'm all for. I think Maddux has a shot at getting 100%, once someone cracks it you will see a few more. A-Rod should be, but he won't get it. As long as Jeter doesn't get 100% i'll be fine, he's already ruined the gold glove for me (it's a flawed award, he was just the one that cemented it for me) I hope he doesn't give the HOF a bitter taste for me. Don't get me wrong, at the end of his career he'll deserve HOF, but not 100% or the dick sucking he is going to get. Jeter will not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. There will be at least one writer who says, "Jeter is overrated because he's a Yankee; Jeter dates better-looking women than I do; Jeter didn't deserve the Gold Glove!" Same with Maddux. "He spit on the ball," or someone will say, "He played in the steroid era," or who says, "Maddux never gave straight answers to questions. He always gave Bull Durham nonsense." I hope you don't seriously think it's a possibility, especially not for someone like Jeter. No one is going to get 100%. Ever. By the way, I don't know why people care about the exact percentages. Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb weren't unanimous; Walter Johnson, no. No one has ever been and to worry whether or not they should be is to worry about something ultimately unimportant and unrealistic.

I was recently thinking about how disappointed it makes me that fewer American pitchers are particularly excited or willing to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic... and then Roy Oswalt signed on to be the team's ace, and I think my heart stopped. Oswalt's one of my very favorite pitchers, and the thought of him being hurt in these exhibitions is rough, especially after he hurt his hip last year and had a bad first half as a result. But still, the rational side of me says that the WBC isn't really that bad for players, and that it's a fun game. I'm looking forward to it.

I concede that the Dodgers did not need him and shouldn't have signed him. My contention is simply that signing Jones to that deal was not a terrible gamble. It didn't work out, but it wasn't poor decision-making and risk-hedging.

That's after-the-fact assessment, though. Know what's a bad contract? GMJ's. Nobody in their right mind would've thought he'd do what he did again; it was a career year in Texas, and I'm sure there must have been some rumors within the business about PEDs, too. Jones' had a bad result but it wasn't a stupid move. It just turned out wrong.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 06:10 PM) Who cares what some USA Today writer said....a lot of Colts fans are still happy with what they accomplished and still really love the organization that's been assembled. It's an Indianapolis Star writer, I believe.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 04:26 PM) Cassel to be franchised. The New England Patriots have decided to ensure that quarterback Matt Cassel won't be an unrestricted free agent, as scheduled in March. Sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that the Patriots will use a franchise tag on Cassel that will give the team two options: Trade him if all goes well with Tom Brady's rehabilitation from a knee injury or keep him because all is not well with Brady. The Patriots' intention to franchise Cassel was first reported by the National Football Post. That would mean the Patriots would have about $29 million in salary cap space tied up in two quarterbacks, with Brady earning almost $15 million and Cassel guaranteed over $14 million. However, the cap jumps to $123 million per team, which gives the Patriots $94 million to manage the rest of their roster. "That's a smart move. You don't want to go into a season with uncertainty at that position," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison told ESPN's Rachel Nichols. "We figure Brady is going to be all right, but it always helps to have two great QBs." http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3809444 I wonder who's going to bite when the Patriots try to trade Cassel. He can't replicate his results on any team that isn't NE, Dallas, Arizona or some other team with a great receiving corps, but what team in the league will just look at the numbers and say, Hey! Let's get him!

I enjoyed this article:

QUOTE (scenario @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 05:08 PM) Imagine how badly KW would getting barbequed on this board if he had signed Jones to the type of deal the Dodgers did. I've been one of KW's biggest critics -- though I've mellowed out in the last year and a half -- but signing Andruw Jones to the contract the Dodgers gave him wasn't terrible. It's a short deal, big money but not crippling money, for one of the best defensive players in the history of baseball at a fairly young age and who could be fairly guessed to have something left. Nobody thought he'd slug lower than Adam Dunn's batting average.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 11:46 AM) tribute night to one of the greatest person in Sox history Nancy Faust. She's really sweet. Great organist and all that, but a really swell woman.

I don't want the Colts to win, ever, and I am glad that they lost.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Dec 27, 2008 -> 07:53 PM) You know Rickey Henderson got caught stealing more than anyone? With an outstanding caught stealing percentage. The relevant number for a strikeout pitcher, K/BB, is lousy for Ryan (2.04 K/BB); further, he leads MLB history in wild pitches and walks. They're not really comparable.

This article is the first in a series of "Dispatches" from Iceland, where, for those of you who don't follow the news, the economy collapsed completely and terribly, leading to heavy "Saturday" protests against the government. I'll excerpt the relevant paragraph to the White Sox:

Happy trails, Eric Mangini.

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 22, 2008 -> 02:25 PM) The problem is that Ryan was a freak of nature and now he expects everyone to be able to do what he could do. That's a recipe for disaster. I love the part where the man who walked more hitters than anyone talks about how pitching in a four-man will improve control. How would he know? . That said, I wish we could go back to the day when pitchers paced themselves and could breeze through the centerfielder, shortstop, second baseman, and catcher, too -- when everybody was Adam Everett and Brad Ausmus -- but that isn't going to happen. Offense is easy these days: the strikezone is made for the hitters, and so are the ballparks, even the biggest in comparison to the old parks. Factor in steroids and better equipment, and it's obvious why pitchers don't pitch more. It's not because they're sissies, though some of them sure are.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/mi...723&ei=5087

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Dec 13, 2008 -> 12:59 AM) Weaver on Strategy. You know from 1986-2001, the World Series winning team never had a hitter with more than, I think, 36 HR?

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Dec 13, 2008 -> 10:22 AM) You left out arguably the best pitcher in the entire AL, Roy Halladay. Fixed.

QUOTE (BaseballNick @ Dec 12, 2008 -> 11:21 PM) He comes to play at the Cell. When a guy steals 5 bases and doesn't score once, I would put the onus on his teammates. Willy T did all he could do to get himself into scoring position that day. Our battery couldn't hold a moderate-to-good-to-great runner if its life depended on it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 10, 2008 -> 01:34 PM) They may well be operating in the red, but yes, they're that much richer than everyone else. They have by far the most wealthy media market in the country in NY, and they've used the Yankees to build a complete television network around them and featuring them. Their ballpark is constantly sold out, and they're adding in enormous value in terms of luxury boxes now. Actually, old Yankee Stadium didn't sell out that much. They had so many seats, though, that it was the equivalent of sellouts, but not quite sellouts.

OPS+ inherently adjusts for era.