QuickJones81

QUOTE (buckweaver @ Dec 27, 2015 -> 10:45 AM) David Wells wins this "award" hands down, for me. Because not only was he terrible with the Sox with a God-awful contract, he was also a complete horse's ass and egomaniac to boot. Just terrible. Another name to add that fans liked to loathe, perhaps fairly, perhaps not...Juan Agosto. And the 1983 Jerry Dybzinski base running gaffe in the playoffs has to earn him a mention in this thread. The one thing that struck me with Wells' tenure with the White Sox is every shot during the broadcasts when someone else was on the bump showed a young Mark Buehrle attached to his hip, and Buehrle making a huge leap forward. I always wondered if that was cause Mark was picking his brain and learning from the vet. Also, the White Sox deserved a bad year from Wells after sending a damaged Sirotka in return for him.

Everyone associates Moneyball with OBP, but OBP was Beane's focus because it was an aspect of the game that was undervalued in the marketplace. So as soon as OBP became valued by all, it was time to move on to the next market inefficiency. At this point in time there seems to be a bubble if you will on defense. I call it a bubble because I believe that while defense is good, it is being dramatically overvalued. To me this is most evident in outfielders. When you see people comparing Heyward to a shutdown corner in the NFL you know this facet of the game has jumped the shark. It's good to have, but its impact does not appear to track at the current cost of attaining it. So with this premise I pose the question, is poor, or at least below average defense according to the latest trendy defensive metrics, the new market inefficiency? While others are willing to pay top dollar for lighter hitting defensive whiz outfielders like Heyward, Gordon, and Inciarte, should the smart money be on people with solid oWARs but below average defensive metrics that come at a relative discount?

On paper I like Cespedes for the production and I believe he won't cost a pick. On the negative side he's older by 2 years, who knows maybe more coming from Cuba. Also, his first two clubs seemed to imply he was a clubhouse cancer. I'm not sure if Detroit saw him that way, and the Mets seemed to like him, but Oakland and Boston grew sick of him. Not sure that's worth it considering we already have Eaton and Lawrie potentially creating distractions in that locker room. I like CarGo if the trade price is fair personally.

For the minors portion what are the requirements to keep a player? Do they have to stick at a certain level the whole year?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 9, 2015 -> 05:20 PM) You know...I just want to win the regular season. I don't need to be the off-season winner. For once, lets put out a good product on the field. If it isn't sexy but works, great. 05 offseason wasn't "sexy", but it certainly worked. It was eventful. Mags leaves, Carlos Lee traded for Pods, Iguchi, AJ, Dye I think too

QUOTE (hi8is @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 01:18 AM) It sounds like something crazy... And is... But this s***s real. Have a court date tomorrow morning, actually.... And then Thursday / Friday I'm moving into a new house that cheerleader woman's gonna move into soon. I guess on here my names hi8is but when it comes to the ladies... None shall be taken. Hard to pass up a first love reunited in any form - especially when it's a flipping calendar swimsuit edition. Bye bye crazy lady, hello beautiful. I rest my case. Just remember, and this has held true in my life, no matter how gorgeous a girl is, there is some guy somewhere that is sick of her sh!t.

Nice article, I enjoyed it. What are your thoughts on using things like pitchfx to metricize "stuff"? Have you seen anyone develop models that can be used to indicate how good someone's stuff is, and then calibrate the model against scout evaluations to see if there's agreement?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 29, 2015 -> 01:26 PM) Not really. LaRoche is a whipping boy, but he'll hit again. Wasn't too long ago Melky's contract was an albatross. I was told by one, he wouldn't put up a 4 WAR total from his low point for the balance of the contract. He is already 25% there. He has eked his way back to a positive WAR. LaRoche will hit again. On one hand you have Melky bouncing back, on the other Adam Dunn.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 03:59 PM) If they wouldn't...then we don't trade him there, or at all. That's why I'm not thinking a trade with the Dodgers involves him.

The thing about Q is that his value is high based on his performance relative to his contract. This holds a lot of weight for most teams...except the Dodgers. Since the Dodgers don't seem to be afraid of paying a lot is it really fair to say they value Q like other teams would? To that end, do we really think they would give up Max value for him in prospects?

Zach Fish on a hot streak.

So did they burn an option bringing him up and sitting him in the pen for one day?

If it's a quick up and back down, maybe they chose him over EJ since Johnson has already used options.

Looks like Castillo is on the AZL roster. This will be a fun team to keep an eye on this year. The system needs a few unexpected bright spots to emerge with the downturn it is having this year.

Is Luis Castillo schedule to play for the AZL team. I noticed he wasn't even playing for the DSL team.

The line score from the pen yesterday jumps off the page. Combined innings 7, 8, & 9, Jennings, Duke, Robertson: 3.0 IP 0 R 0 ER 0 H 1 BB 8 K That's what wins are made from my friends.

Ok, help my sanity, I thought it was row-don, these guys are pronouncing it ruh-doan (like shane doan). Have I been wrong all along, or do these guys really know this little about the pitcher the entire league was salivating over for nearly 2 years?

So is Adams now out of the top 100 with Moncada signing?

If the Dodgers land Moncada, does that vault them to the position of top farm system? Moncada, Pederson, Seager, Urias, Holmes, Verdugo

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 29, 2015 -> 02:19 PM) The Tigers are the big loser in that trade, which is what sane people have said since it happened From every angle as well. Not only did they give one of their best prospects to a division rival, but they facilitated sending Peavy to Boston to help them in the playoffs against themselves, potentially. And what'd they get? The modern day Rey Ordonez. Big losers of every phase and facet of that trade.

Depends on price. No to a trade, if he hits the open market and can be had at low cost, perhaps. I think he's still owed like $20M on his current contract.

Anybody else feel like the Padres over the past couple days are a real life version of when you start a franchise mode in a video game and make a flurry of moves in one day to completely change your roster?

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 03:15 PM) I actually liked Robinson Leyer- thought he had potential. Did they get Robinson or Euclides?

Matt Davidson........bwahaha, sorry guys a little loopy from all the news today

It's been brought up several times that running such a system would be problematic when trading and bringing in new players. I can't help but think that this will end up not being an issue by taking a look at football. 3-4, 4-3, cover 2 defenses don't use players interchangeably across schemes (nose tackles, DEs, OLBs), and it still works because the player pool is so vast that while you are limiting your options, you still can find people to fit your scheme. The biggest trouble comes at the point where you decide to switch schemes and need to overhaul personnel. Being the trailblazer of a new scheme is very risky from the standpoint of minimizing your margin for error with your bosses simply because you deviated from the norm. However, if you find a scheme that places value on skills and traits that aren't valued in traditional schemes, suddenly you're tapping a talent pool with no competition to drive up cost. The essence of Moneyball. Victory goes to the bold my friends, not the cautious trend followers.