Around The Majors

[ZoomSlowik]

I didn't say that Beane deserved no credit for the drafts, I'm just saying he isn't some managing god and we should all bow down before his feet. What you're looking for in a player is one thing, finding that player, developing them, and building around them is another. Billy does the first part, the scouts do a lot of the work in figuring out who to draft (with Billy getting the final decision), the coaches focus on the developing, and Billy gets the other players. I'd consider the drafting their biggest area of succes where he gets a lot of help. There are other teams that have had success, but they didn't feel the need to write a book about it. As for the other teams, Boston and LA both have a lot more money to work with, and Toronto has some more money and haven't done much.

 

Doesn't get pitches to hit in RBI situations? I'm sorry, since when do guys groove pitches to Vlad or Tejada? Putting the ball in play in RBI situations is a major part of being an RBI guy, and Dunn doesn't do it very often. He may be young and affordable right now, but until he can hit over .270 for long stretches forgive me if I feel there are better players out there.

Edited July 6, 2005 by ZoomSlowik

[CWSGuy406]

Joe Morgan? Is that you? Billy Beane didn't write the book. An author saw a story, and wrote about it.

 

I'm 99% positive that Toronto has a payroll that's less than New York's, Boston's, and Baltimore's. Almost positive.

 

And, Boston has a lot of money, but so do a lot of other teams. Why isn't Texas in the playoffs every year? Or the Mets? Seattle generally has a high payroll? And our payroll has exceeded Minny's for the past couple seasons, too, no?

 

I'm not saying Adam Dunn is the best player. If you take defense into account, I'm not sure he'd crack my top 20. But offensively, yes. *(Ack -- by "offensively, yes" I mean he's in my top 20. Not the best offensive player in the game, no. Sorry for making that unclear).

 

I don't follow the Reds exclusively, but I've heard that Dunn has been pushed down in the order to 6th/7th. It's a pretty big difference when you have -- I dunno, Rich Aurillia hitting behind you -- as opposed to having Garrett Anderson or Melvin Mora or Raffy Palmiero behind you. If he's not seeing good pitches, he should swing at them? His OBP seems to be higher in RISP situations, so it looks like he's not getting very good pitches to hit.

Edited July 6, 2005 by CWSGuy406

[DBAHO]

A.J Burnett has already given up 3 runs in the 1st against the Brewers. Not a good start when a lot of teams are probably scouting him.

[DBAHO]

Burnett then proceeded to strike out 14 hitters.

[whitesoxin']

Blue Jays fans are ignorant.

[Kalapse]

Blue Jays fans are ignorant.

Blue Jays fans are Canadian. If it doesn't envolve a hockey stick or sitting on a horse they're not interested.

[YASNY]

Blue Jays fans are Canadian. If it doesn't envolve a hockey stick or sitting on a horse they're not interested.

 

I could say something about politics here, but I won't.

[Spiff]

Astros have won 4 straight, Cubs have lost 6 straight, which means Houston is now in second in the Central and 5.5 out of the wild card, with 4 NL East teams ahead of them.

 

                  W    L   Pct    GB
Atlanta         47    37    .560    -
Florida         43    39    .524    3
Philadelphia    43    42    .506    4.5
NY Mets         42    42    .500    5
Houston         41    42    .494    5.5

[southsider2k5]

Astros have won 4 straight, Cubs have lost 6 straight, which means Houston is now in second in the Central and 5.5 out of the wild card, with 4 NL East teams ahead of them.

 

                  W    L   Pct    GB
Atlanta         47    37    .560    -
Florida         43    39    .524    3
Philadelphia    43    42    .506    4.5
NY Mets         42    42    .500    5
Houston         41    42    .494    5.5

 

aka... Lidge, Oswalt, and Clemens are going no where.

[Rowand44]

Astros have won 4 straight, Cubs have lost 6 straight, which means Houston is now in second in the Central and 5.5 out of the wild card, with 4 NL East teams ahead of them.

 

                  W    L   Pct    GB
Atlanta         47    37    .560    -
Florida         43    39    .524    3
Philadelphia    43    42    .506    4.5
NY Mets         42    42    .500    5
Houston         41    42    .494    5.5

The Astros are coming, it's hard to count those guys out with the top 3 in their rotation.

[whitesoxin']

Astros have won 4 straight, Cubs have lost 6 straight, which means Houston is now in second in the Central and 5.5 out of the wild card, with 4 NL East teams ahead of them.

 

                  W    L   Pct    GB
Atlanta         47    37    .560    -
Florida         43    39    .524    3
Philadelphia    43    42    .506    4.5
NY Mets         42    42    .500    5
Houston         41    42    .494    5.5

Bahahhaha. Cubs season = OVER.

[Balta1701]

Right now...I am becoming more and more confident with every passing day that the NL Wild Card will go to either the Nats or the Braves.

 

They're both playing too damn well...and the Braves aren't even close to healthy.

 

I was a bit worried when all 5 teams in that division were screaming above .500 that they'd just kill each other, but now that Philly, Florida?, and NY have fallen back just a little bit, I think there's enough room there for Atlanta and Washington to float up.

 

Houston's hot right now. I'll keep saying this until someone hears me...teams get hot and get cold, but they always average out. When a team climbs in the standings on a hot streak, everyone stares at them and all the media suddenly take note, but at some point they always stagnate. You can't judge too much on 1 hot streak. I need to see them keep hitting for 3 months before I buy into them.

[Benchwarmerjim]

Joe Borowski, who as designated for assingment by the Cubs, signed with Tampa Bay today and will join them after the All Star Break

 

 

He could probably start for that team. Their pitching is horrible

Edited July 11, 2005 by Benchwarmerjim

[Balta1701]

He could probably start for that team. Their pitching is horrible

Their bullpen needs help too, it has an ERA of 5.65. That's the 2nd worst in baseball (which tells you something about how bad Arizona, an NL team, has been).

 

Coincidentally, their starters also have the 2nd worst ERA in the league.

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jul 6, 2005 -> 02:19 PM)

What exactly does batting average mean again?  That a guy can hit a bunch of singles?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:rolly

 

You think Dunn is better than Ichiro?

[Rowand44]

I don't know where to put this put anyways some cub fan on Silvy and Carmen called in and proposed this trade: Cubs trade Jason Dubois, Sergio Mitre and Felix Diaz for Griffey.

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jul 6, 2005 -> 04:09 PM)

The places where Moneyball/Sabermetric theories have been planted in, it's done average or better.  Epstein in Boston won a WS ring, DePo in LA made the playoffs last year (though you can't really call it a success, as this year they've been bad -- but a team with that many injuries should do bad), and Toronto -- they've done about average, considering the division that they're in.  I'd like to see how Ricciardi's talent that's in the system now does before I really judge him.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here's a better idea; why don't you take a look at the Jays' payroll compared to the two other monsters you mentioned? It also didn't hurt the Red Sox that they had Pedro, Schilling, and Lowe pitching out of his mind last October.

[Rowand44]

Here's a better idea; why don't you take a look at the Jays' payroll compared to the two other monsters you mentioned?  It also didn't hurt the Red Sox that they had Pedro, Schilling, and Lowe pitching out of his mind last October.

Ironically they stayed alive in the playoffs because of a stolen base.

Edited July 14, 2005 by Rowand44

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 10:18 AM)

I don't know where to put this put anyways some cub fan on Silvy and Carmen called in  and proposed this trade: Cubs trade Jason Dubois, Sergio Mitre and Felix Diaz for Griffey.  

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Some Cub fan called in yesterday offering minor leaguer Corey Patterson for Jeremy Affeldt and David Dejesus.

[CWSGuy406]

Ironically they stayed alive in the playoffs because of a stolen base.

 

FWIW, I think I've read that James has said that so long as he's good at stealing bases, than it's worth it -- I believe that number is in the range of 70-75%.

 

Oh, and if money is all that matters, where are the Mets every year? Texas always has a good sized payroll, where are they at?

 

As for Dunn vs. Ichiro, depends on what I needed. Leadoff man, I'll go with Ichiro. If I already got a leadoff man, I'll go with Dunn.

 

EDIT: And Santo, I don't know what you expect out of me anymore. You want me to argue something by posing a question, even though you damn well know the stats I'm going to show you, you really don't give a damn about. And, if you don't believe in the stats I show you, only the stats that fit your argument, what the hell do you want?

Edited July 14, 2005 by CWSGuy406

[EvilJester99]

I was surfing the ESPN boards and see the Yanks traded for Chacon for a PTBNL. Anyone else hear or see this?? Supposedly ESPN radio confirmed it. Here is the link though. http://forums.espn.go.com/espn/thread?foru...PostID=11772710

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jul 14, 2005 -> 12:09 PM)

Oh, and if money is all that matters, where are the Mets every year?  Texas always has a good sized payroll, where are they at?

 

As for Dunn vs. Ichiro, depends on what I needed.  Leadoff man, I'll go with Ichiro.  If I already got a leadoff man, I'll go with Dunn.

 

EDIT:  And Santo, I don't know what you expect out of me anymore.  You want me to argue something by posing a question, even though you damn well know the stats I'm going to show you, you really don't give a damn about.  And, if you don't believe in the stats I show you, only the stats that fit your argument, what the hell do you want?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You make a claim that Dunn is one of the top 15 offensive players in the game and you bash batting average (no coincidence it doesn't favor Dunn). I simply asked you if think Dunn is a better offensive player than Ichiro. You simply can't use a couple of stats to compare EVERY hitter in the MLB.

 

As for the payroll issues, look at how they spent their money. When Texas had a huge payroll, most of it was to Park and A-Rod, who cashed in back in 2000, a market that will not likely be seen like that for a few more years. Boston spent big money on Lowe, Schilling, Pedro along with great hitters like Ortiz (who became a much better player by hitting opposite field doubles off the monster, not try to draw a walk,) and Manny Ramirez.

 

The Dodgers had a good starting staff and excellent bullpen last season. It also didn't hurt to have Adrian Beltre slug like a monster during a contract year.

Edited July 14, 2005 by santo=dorf

[CWSGuy406]

You make a claim that Dunn is one of the top 15 offensive players in the game and you bash batting average (no coincidence it doesn't favor Dunn).  I simply asked you if  think Dunn is a better offensive player than Ichiro.  You simply can't use a couple of stats to compare EVERY hitter in the MLB.

 

As for the payroll issues, look at how they spent their money.  When Texas had a huge payroll, most of it was to Park and A-Rod, who cashed in back in 2000, a market that will not likely be seen like that for a few more years.  Boston spent big money on Lowe, Schilling, Pedro along with great hitters like Ortiz (who became a much better player by hitting opposite field doubles off the monster, not try to draw a walk,) and Manny Ramirez.

 

The Dodgers had a good starting staff and excellent bullpen last season.  It also didn't hurt to have Adrian Beltre slug like a monster during a contract year.

 

Well, what am I supposed to use to judge how good or important a hitter is? I like OPS+, but you don't like park adjusted stats. And yes, I do think Dunn is a top 20 hitter -- 152 OPS+ last year, looks like he's on pace to do the same this year. Not many offensive players can do that. And I realize OPS+ isn't the be-all, end-all, but there's a pretty sizable difference in the two's -- last year's, and it looks like this year's as well (as Dunn is basically repeating his numbers of last year's, or, last time I checked).

 

What's your point about the Red Sox? Other teams could have made moves for these same players, and they didn't. I'm not 100% what you're trying to prove... I think Epstein and Beane are good GM's, and am not ready to judge DePo's and Ricciard's teams. DePo's team last year was hardly composed of his players, other than his deadline moves -- and along with what you said, was very lucky to get a superstar-like season out of Beltre, and it seems like Ricciardi is starting to get the players he drafted onto the field, along with a cash infusion from management.

 

Sorry if my post seems rushed, I'm heading out, but didn't want you to think I bailed.

[jackie hayes]

Al Leiter gets designated for assignment. Pretty amazing how quickly it can fall apart on you, no matter how consistent you've been.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

around the horn on espn has officially hit rock bottom...

 

Unless he's been on it before...