Eminor3rd

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/11/roya...ky-cabrera.html

At this point, you HAVE to give Santiago a shot. I firmly believe that Thornton is still good, but he's old enough that there's a good chance he won't be a couple seasons from now. You can't build around him and a lefty bullpen arm is among the last piece to be added to the puzzle of a team on the verge of making a postseason run.

I'd love to see Cooper take a stab at Brackman, assuming he could be had at a minimum-type contract.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 04:25 PM) So Jeff Manto's silly little stat -- (R+RBI-HR)/G -- tweaked to account for the fact that a HR earns you both a run and an RBI as opposed to just one or the other -- (R+RBI-(HR*2))/G -- when calculated for last year's team looks something like this: 0.815 De Aza 0.797 Pierre 0.766 Ramirez 0.752 Konerko 0.695 Quentin 0.566 Rios 0.560 Beckham 0.543 Pierzynski 0.517 Viciedo 0.516 Morel 0.500 Flowers 0.459 Dunn 0.448 Vizquel 0.423 Lillibridge 0.314 Teahen Now, what have we learned? Absolutely nothing. We've learned that people who bat closer to the top of the lineup get more RBI and R opportunities. Which tells us very little about how well a player performed. Which is why we don't pay attention to formulas like that.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 01:07 PM) You want impact players to make an impact, especially in big situations. During a crucial AB, most umps are going to give the pitcher the benefit on pitches an inch off the corner. You have to earn runs, especially in the playoffs. Impact players don't make an impact by swinging at bad pitches. And wtf does 'You have to earn runs, especially in the playoffs' mean?

Sickels on Brackman, lol: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/8/5/23...pects-in-review

QUOTE (Fantl916 @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 01:54 PM) Andrew Brackman released by the Yankees today. Sign em up, Coop will fix him! Wow, he was a decent prospect, wasn't he? Am I think of someone else?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 05:17 PM) Your zone is not necessarily the same as the strike zone though, correct? Yes, if you're looking to punch it into RF. The way I read his quotation, however, was that by citing Jason Bay, a homerun hitter, that he's talking about people smacking extra bases around. Literally every hitter in the majors can punch singles into RF, Jason Bay or Eugenio Velez. And, secondly, there is no situation where a walk is not more desirable than swinging at a pitch where you increase your chances of getting out. The point is this: No one should ever 'look for a walk' but everyone should always be willing to 'take a walk,' no matter what the ideal type of hit for the situation is. You go up there with a mission, and the pitcher tries to stop you. You put pressure on the pitcher by forcing him to play into your mission.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 05:05 PM) Unfortunately that's not the question at hand. The question is whether you would take a walk over swinging at a very hittable pitch just in or off the plate with a runner on third and one or two outs. No one is espousing swinging wildly at s***ty pitches. Not sure where you got that idea from his comments. Swing at good pitches, take bad pitches. That never changes. The situation can dictate how you define a good or bad pitch, but there are no wins in swinging at pitches outside of your zone, no matter who you are or who is on base.

Oh god. Dude, really? The value of the walk is not JUST getting on base, it's having the plate discipline to only swing at good pitches. You want a case study on this? Watch 35 yo Paul Konerko hit. Bat speed diminished, and it doesn't matter because he never swings at anything except the pitch he wants to hit. The only time he ever even swings at a breaking ball is when it hangs or when it fools him. The idea behind the 'Moneyball' approach is to not make stupid outs by swinging at bad pitches just because you're Jason Bay and there's a man on third. Guess what? I'll take a walk over a broken bad drippler or a K in absolutely every situation. If you show you're willing to take your base, the pitcher has no choice but to throw you strikes, and THAT's when guys mash. Why do all the elite hitters have high OBPs? Because they know which pitches to swing at and aren't afraid to let the pitcher put them on if they won't throw it. This in turn forces the pitcher to put on down Main Street when he gets behind in the count. If you get aggressive because of the situation, the pitcher can just throw you sliders and let you get yourself out. I'm sick of the BS Ozzie Guillen-style ego-ball. Yeah, let's tell Adam Dunn to swing at MORE bad pitches because he's a 'run producer.' The reason he sucked last year was because he couldn't even hit GOOD pitches. His plate discipline is what made him awesome and preserving it is his only hope at bouncing back.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 07:54 AM) Seriously...how far was Beckham behind these guys in the fielding stats? Right about where he landed in the voting, according to Fielding Runs Saved: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...0&players=0

Reds are an interesting possibility, they've got the need and he won't be too expensive. The Brewers have to spend their money on SS and 1B, though. Maybe Buerhle decide he wants to post the best numbers of his career and signs with San Diego to pitch in lefty soft-tosser heaven. He might have a Cy Young in him if he goes to Petco, haha.

I'm pretty sure that Mark Parent will have absolutely no effect on anything, good or bad, and is therefore not worth being upset about.

Good move. Him or another RP can now safely be traded between now and July 31.

QUOTE (mataipaepae @ Oct 31, 2011 -> 12:55 PM) how about giving this guy a 1 year deal and see if he can be our centerfielder and leadoff? if he can remain healthy he could really help out our offense alot. I think he'll be a popular buy-low guy, and therefore not as cheap as you're guessing.

Absolutely have to take advantage of the shallow pitching market and move Danks now.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Oct 27, 2011 -> 03:49 PM) other than the LHP/LHH v RHP/RHH what does the manager do. Wastes outs with bad steals and bunts. EDIT: I'm agreeing with you

You guys are making way too big of a deal about the manager. The players respect him and he's not going to argue with KW. That's all that matters. He can't be worse than Ozzie at in-game strategy.

QUOTE (Cali @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 04:49 PM) I was a KW backer over Ozzie for the 2011 offseason and was pumped when Ozzie quit....until this SHAM of a managerial search with KW pulling a guy who had no interest in managing a team so soon to lead the team when better options were (and still are) out there. I want him to follow Ozzie out the door. I made it a point to try and not be so negative and pessimistic before the 2011 season cause I felt like I wasn't enjoying my favorite team/sport, but man did the 2011 season just suck that out of me, and the managerial choice for 2012 just made it soooooo much worse. Nothing short of Kenny signing Pujols (read NOTHING AT ALL) will make me excited for the 2012 season and I HATE it. A couple good trades will make me excited (Danks/CQ). My expectations are so low for next year that if they DO actually win some games (very possible with some bouncebacks) it will be a pleasant surprise instead of the status quo. When they lose, I can be excited about the prospects instead of devastated at the disappointment. Give it a month, it'll be alright.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 03:10 PM) Wow, our minor league system stinks... http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/ar...;vkey=news_milb Are you implying that it doesn't stink?

The plate discipline and his ability to adjust constantly to both injuries and pitching styles (remember when they figure out they could get him out by pounding him up and in?) make me think he might be good at it. His particular stance and swing don't, but that quote about understanding that his style might not apply is good.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 09:27 AM) We also have some great right handed bullpen arms in the system. If they are looking to cut costs, it is a great place to look. We can't forget that part of rebuilding is leveraging spare parts. His past results indicate that he'll likely rebound next year, and a good first half makes him a valuable trade commodity at the deadline. Worst case, he probably ends up a type B at the end of the year. At $3.75m, that's foolish to let go, IMO.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 18, 2011 -> 01:01 PM) This is the exact opposite of what I wrote. The Advanced metrics think 2 guys with fewer innings pitched and ERA's nearly a run higher were just about as valuable as Mark!. The advanced metrics hate him. Oh, I thought you meant they all sucked. Regardless, my initial point was that Elias doesn't use advanced metrics, so Elias hating Mark doesn't necessarily mean that advanced metrics hate him. K rate is a proponent of both though, yeah.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 18, 2011 -> 02:04 PM) I think the experience one impacts a manager's job a lot more than a hitting coach's job because the manager is much more about dealing with personalities than the hitting coach's job. Both the manager and the hitting coach have a technical side (actual moves, actual mechanics), but a manager has to massage egoes and deal with crises in a way I don't think a hitting coach must do. I'd just like to know that they're evaluating him as a coach, and not just as a hitter or popular guy. There's a HUGE difference between being able to do something really well and being able to evaluate others' ability and properly coach them to success with said thing. That's totally different than game strategy.

Nice. I wouldn't have the heart to blame him for any failures no matter how lost our hitters might look.