Leonard Washington

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 12:36 AM) They're going to give up a ton too. Think so? They're pretty good defensively, and their pitching is decent. Not great, but decent. Especially if their young arms can contribute (Martin Perez?) and they don't have to rely on someone like Brandon Webb.

QUOTE (DOWNTOWN PANTHER @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 08:30 AM) I can definately say that collectively the people who live in Cincinnati DESPISE the Cubs. Cubs fans re the WORST!! This is true, and this is why I root for the Reds (provided they're not playing the Sox). That, and Joey Votto. I used to play against Votto when I was a youngster in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). He was amazing then, but I would have never guessed he'd be as good as he is.

I would argue his strikeouts make him the opposite of overrated.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 11:26 PM) Lol, Sa;e in the bullpen may only be worth 1 or 2 wins this season, we should be able to find a replacement for that which wont kill our chances at all. On the other hand, if you do ruin his progress towards being a 200 inning pitcher youre talking about losing 4-5 wins the next 5 years. In 23 and change innings last year he was worth 0.6 wins. And beyond that, even stat-heads admit WAR doesn't fully do justice to the value of relievers. I agree Sale is a future SP, but I don't see the problem with him sticking in the pen for a season. I agree with the whole confidence thing. Phil Hughes is a recent example. He was a mess until he found his niche in the bullpen, built up his confidence, and felt like he belongs. It's totally possible that Sale has already built up that confidence from his stint last season, but I have my doubts. I think it's a foregone conclusion that Sale is going to struggle, at least for a stretch, at some point. It happens to almost every young player, even the best ones. I would rather see him work through those struggles as the - at worst - 3rd lefty in the bullpen. That's what I think the Ohman signing was meant to be....a security blanket.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 07:48 PM) I'd rather have them go for Thome...he fits in their lineup worse. I oddly agree. He had a great year last year, but I can't see him repeating it. And the fact he's a lefty makes things a lot easier with their lefty-heavy lineup (and Thome's noticeable splits - much more than Vladdy). With 3 lefties in the pen it would make decisions pretty easy.

I've thought the same thing since I first saw those ads. The only thing that throws me off is he's smiling.

The idea that Alomar was a "negative" defender statistically really puts a damper in how I value statistic defensive metrics.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Jan 6, 2011 -> 02:35 AM) Yeah I posted an article that highlighted that USCF had the lowest of 2nd lower BABIP. Thats natural when you play in a park that really inflates HR. Dunn will have more flyballs/linedrives turn into HR's but less Flyballs/Linedrives turn into singles/double/triples. UM OK seems like a double edged sword, but I think batting in the middle of our order to see more fly balls turn into HR is better than more fly balls turn into singles and doubles becuase we dont exactly have the high OBP high AVG hitters throughout our lineup that can stack runs together without power (cough Twins cough). Honestly, it's such a simple concept, and yet it still confuses so many people. The bigger the field, the better the BABIP and the less the HR/FB (Coors aside). Such a simple, common-sense reality that some people just don't seem to grasp.

That's why it was in quotations. It was a struggle by his standard. And I intentionally said "his first go-round" because he was NOT himself in the first half (.284/.349/.489). Why is everybody here so defensive?

QUOTE (earthshiner @ Jan 6, 2011 -> 02:07 AM) or Miguel Cabrera Funny you mention him, because he often comes to mind as a guy that "struggled" his first go round with a new league, although living up to his contract is another possible reason for his "struggles" Sorry for all the digital air-quotes.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 6, 2011 -> 01:43 AM) $8.5M is really pretty cheap for Jackson. Last year, he put up a 3.8 WAR, which is worth about $15M. For comparison sake, Buehrle put up a 3.8 WAR last year, and was making $14M. All Jackson has to do, is put up a WAR of 1.9 next season to earn his contract, and considering he doubled that last year, he is fully capable of accomplishing that. Jackson at $8.5M or whatever he is making is actually a pretty good price, and to be a Type-A, I believe you have to finish in the top 20% in your league. For reference, Bronson Arroyo was considered a Type-A Free Agent, and he put up a 1.7 WAR. So I think the chances of Edwin earning Type-A status is actually pretty likely. I agree that in a vacuum he has a reasonable price tag for 2011, but given the deal I just would prefer he was a better fiscal value. That would really make the deal much more tolerable for me (and again, I like Jackson). As for the Elias rankings, Jackson was neither a Type A nor B coming into this upcoming season. He needs to have a big year to get up there (by traditional metrics).

I'm guilty of commenting on it in the past few days (today included), but I agree that what's done is done and the discussion has likely been exhausted. My only defense is I didn't post here in July/August unless I was drunk (and thus don't remember).

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 6, 2011 -> 01:19 AM) I totally agree. That's the part of the deal that bothers me too. We didn't get any money in return, AND we had to give up another player. I don't mind Jackson/Hudson swap, but to give up extra parts w/ no salary relief sucks. Well I mean Hudson for Jackson straight up was bad enough IMO, but the fact we had to add a decent SP prospect to a trade that was already heavy in the other team's favour, especially in a system devoid of LHS prospects...that's just rubbing salt in the wound. Ugh. Either way, what's done is done, and I'm optimistic about Jackson's 2011. I just wish it wasn't so expensive and wasn't just a one-year return. Even if he has a good year, is he Type-A material? I doubt it. If he was, it would hurt much less. I also remember when I interviewed for the Jays (pre-2009 draft) they asked me about an amateur pitcher I liked, and my answer was Holmberg. That adds a little sentimental value on my end, admittedly.

OK cool. But when exactly did the weakness of a farm system have to be taken in context when ranking them? They aren't, and the ranking was what it being discussed.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 5, 2011 -> 01:11 PM) I'm still dumbfounded that he threw in Holmberg and that no salary relief was involved at all in the deal. It's still the Holmberg part that bugs me the most, purely out of principle.

I also remember when Dunn was a youngster and said he thinks he can steal 40 bags. I really hope Ozzie never saw that article.

Excuse or not, the Brewers are worse than anybody IMO. They had a weak system coming into the offseason, and traded (according to BA's mailbag) their top 3 prospects this offseason.

Yeah, we don't pick until 45th overall, so hopefully Jerry is open to going overslot. He's done it before, but it's definitely a rarity. I imagine we'll rank ahead of the Brewers, but that's it. I like Petricka and Blanke too, as well as Trayce, Miguel Gonzalez, and Jose Martinez.

One of the first comments on that article basically explains Dunn's changed approach, explaining the Nats hitting coach wanted him to have a more aggressive approach. I remember the Reds did the same thing when he first came up for a couple of years, and he struggled then too. Hopefully Walker leaves him alone. Here's the article the fangraphs commenter linked. http://www.masnsports.com/the_goessling_ga...roach-work.html

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/1/5/19...-2011#storyjump

Word was the DBacks wanted to trade Scherzer because they thought he was an injury waiting to happen.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jan 5, 2011 -> 03:13 PM) In a perect world you trade Teahen for a reliever, and for whatever Salary you were able to shed you sign Andruw Jones. I wonder if Teahen + cash or prospect could get someone like Mike Gonzalez? He's owed $6M, but at least he has some upside. Anyways, I wouldn't mind a 4th OF that I'd be OK with playing everyday when/if Quentin gets hurt. I like De Aza, but if we can get Jones at a discount price that would be nice. I'm still hoping Viciedo gets converted to an OF, and he might be an option by midseason if that happens (can't be TOO much worse than Quentin, can he?)

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jan 5, 2011 -> 10:35 AM) i think that's reasonable to happen. I remember when Hawk said when Konerko still young that he would hit 50 homers. The closest he ever go was 41. I also remember when Hawk said Ryan Sweeney would hit 30 homers. At least he was somewhat close with Konerko.

Do they focus only on defense? Because if they don't, Pierre might be there in a player coach (bunting, baserunning, etc.)

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 20, 2010 -> 12:19 PM) He also has had a couple ROOGY-like guys, and mishandled them too. Ozzie cannot be given any sort of highly unbalanced xOOGY, because he will misuse him. It wasnt' so bad with Threets because when he's on, he can actually get some righties out. But some other guys, would be a disaster. I seem to remember an article talking about Ehren Wasserman, and they talked about him as a ROOGIE, and how Ozzie basically used him exclusively against RHB in 2007. EDIT: The numbers support this idea. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8070/s...p;type=Pitching And the RH/LH splits with Williams weren't exaggerated by any means. Threets faced a ton more RHB's, but was also much more effective against them. Ozzie might not be so oblivious.