Ozzie Ball

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 08:41 PM) Seriously...I'm actually somewhat surprised that all Strasburg got was a simple $15 million. With inflation it's not like he killed Prior's deal, and baseball's profits have risen a lot faster than inflation. I think that it's entirely possible that Boras's desire to totally upend the system for paying draftee contracts by hinting at $25-50 million may well have cost Stras a couple million. The fact that it's a four year deal is very significant, I don't want to weigh on the point too much but people still seem to be ignoring it. While it may 'only' be a guaranteed $15 million the deal will be worth substantially more than that if Strasburg lives anywhere close to his billing.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 05:12 AM) For $15M, I think the Nats have done very well there. They stuck to their principles, and came out on top. Now they've finally got something to build around. It's only for four years though, depending on how the contract is structured, and Strasburg's performances, he could still end up making the $50m they were after over 6 years.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 05:08 AM) Nationals got their man. Assuming they get Harper next year, and Jordan Zimmermann is healthy comes 2011 they've got a decent core to build on. Zimmermann's injury was a tough break, he was easily this years most impressive rookie pitcher for me.

Aaron Fitt reports Strasburg signs. MLB deal worth $15.67 million over 4 years. http://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/3376193396

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 03:20 AM) Kind of outta the loop - is Flowers hurt?He took a foul tip off his right hand on Saturday but was in the bullpen later that day warming up Van Benschoten. Doesn't sound like anything serious.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 02:44 AM) That's pretty crazy considering how low his ba is. Or it goes to show how overrated batting average is. When you walk a lot and hit for a lot of power you're good pretty much regardless of what your BA is.

Upchurch still failing to find the plate; 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 1 K, WP.

Gartrell with his first Triple-A home run. Griffith through 6; 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K.

Charlotte vs. Norfolk Whisler pitching. Birmingham vs. Montgomery No D2 again Winston-Salem off Kannapolis vs. Lexington Griffith dealing. Bristol at Bluefield Great Falls vs. Casper

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 12:56 AM) These blogs are awesome JPN. My only concern is that you cover so much that you might run out of things to talk about after a while, lol. Hopefully not because they're fun to read. Also, from where you sit, how would you rate Santeliz's slider? Is there a good amount of depth to it? And it might be hard to tell because he probably focuses on his fastball, but from what you have seen, what is his best pitch after the fastball? I love hearing about the hot-head on the field, clubhouse clown in dugout attitude. Sounds EXACTLY like the kind of guy I'd want on my team, especially in a (possibly?) future closer's role. And lastly, how does Mabee's curveball look? I got a very negative report on Santeliz' attitude just recently. Apparently everyone in Birmingham wants him gone, he's been stealing, he shows no respect towards team mates, staff or peoples property etc. It was just one report but the source went out of his way to tell me how nasty this guy is.

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 12:56 AM) Morgado is getting bad advice, he is also coming off TJ surgery and we were probably offering second round type money. He will not be drafted that high next year, no chance. Keith Law noted that he has "first-round stuff", a good season next year should see him rise up draft boards. That said, it's a very big risk on his part.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 04:14 AM) Is WAR an actual acronym? Also, I wanted to comment on Dye's complete lack of speed. Anyone notice that play earlier when (I believe) Konerko popped out to short RF and the guy bobbled it? After Dye noticed it had been dropped and began advancing to 2B, he looked like a normal person starting to run up a hill from a complete standstill. Yes. Wins Above Replacement.

QUOTE (picktoclick @ Aug 17, 2009 -> 03:38 AM) Getz is better at second base. Nix is a decent utility player but not an above average fielder at any position. Nix is much better at 2nd base, his UZR per 150 games there this season is +25 which is ridiculously good, and in limited time he's been worth around 8 runs more than Getz (or approx. 1 win) this year alone. It's not close between the two of them. Nix is also a lot more talent from an offensive standpoint with his superior walk rate and power. Basically all Getz does well is steal bases and play hard.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 16, 2009 -> 09:34 PM) Yeah but if you don't spend the money to sign your third rounder (who you draft that high because you think he has legit ML potential) then you are seriously hampering your ability to produce said 2-3 quality major leaguers. This guy had no intention on returning to college after (I believe) leaving this year on a bad note with the team, so you have to wonder why the Sox drafted him and did not sign him. It's not like he is Strasburg asking for the moon, he probably only is asking $500,000 more than the Sox want to give. I wouldn't pay him $500,000 above slot, that would be $900,000+, almost 1st round money. He's not worth that. I'm not sure I would even go to $500,000 which would already be almost $200,000 above slot.

Charlotte vs. Norfolk Harrell back from the DL for the start Birmingham at Carolina Winston-Salem at Frederick Kannapolis at Asheville Bristol at Bluefield Great Falls at Idaho Falls

BA now listing Morgado as "Expected to return to Tennessee". http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft...009/268711.html

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Aug 16, 2009 -> 03:12 AM) For hitters, there is something called LIPS. It stands for Late Inning Pressure Situations, and it's basically the splits of the player from the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning in any game in which the margin between the leading team and trailing team is 3 or fewer runs. What studies of LIPS over the years have found is that the term "clutch" is a myth, as no player's LIPS stats have a large margin of difference from their career stats overall. Yeah The Book debunked the notion of clutch also due to the same reason.

There's a clutch stat on FanGraphs called "Clutch" and here's the definition of it: Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. Vazquez is a -4.58 career, but not knowing the stat, I'm not sure if that's only bad or if it's terrible.

Mitchell finished 3-5 with 3 doubles.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 16, 2009 -> 01:50 AM) Bedards problems have all been injury related, not pressure/failure related. If you are looking for a close comparison, I would have to say Prior. Either he cannot pitch through any amount of pain(and chooses not to), or he is just a truly unlucky individual when it comes to injuries. Right now, they just found out he had a torn labrum, which is not good at all You got that right, I take back my comment of him being a good buy low candidate with this news as pitchers with torn labrums rarely come back at the same level.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Aug 16, 2009 -> 02:31 AM) I hope Flowers is ok. He's warming Van Benschoten up in the 'pen with no apparent strapping on his hand per Jim of Soxmachine.

Tyler Flowers leaves the game after being hit in the right hand by a foul tip.

Thanks^

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The Royals just splashed out $2m on third rounder Will Myers, only a day after signing Chris Dwyer for a 4th round record $1.45m.