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Rainy Day Reading: Defending Omar
Typically I am in favor of the writing of newspaper sportswriters as they in front the sport on a daily basis and typically they provide informative articles that not only tell you what you need to know, but also often give you some little tidbit of insight into the the thinking of those in the game. One of these writers is StevePopper of NorthJersey.com. I follow his Twitter feed regularly to catch some insight into New York baseball. It’s a good Twitter feed without too much inconsequential information.
However, one of his latest articles, entitled ”Omar Minaya’s scout skills will be his saving grace“, immediately raised my eyebrow. In the article Popper opens with the open admission that Omar Minaya has made some mistakes in his tenure as the GM of the New York Mets, but says his scouting background will help him out in the final two years of his deal.
UGH.
The article briefly “sums up” the two main cons of Minaya’s “scorecard” in the contracts for Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, $60 million worth of contracts that had some critics cringing when they were signed, let alone after the first few games under those new contracts were played out. Also, what about Jason Bay? The Red Sox knew there was something wrong with his knee, but the Mets obviously didn’t think it would be that big of a thing. Yet, wouldn’t scouting have played a role in the decision-making on these signings?
It also defends Omar Minaya’s actions, stating that he is “…..bound to restricted access to the Wilpons’ checkbook.” When Minaya took over the reigns in 2004, he accepted a team that entered the season with a $ $96.66 million payroll. In 2009 he went into the season with a $149.37 million payroll, an over $50 million increase in five years. Let’s put aside the nearly $150 million figure that 28 other GMs would love to have at their disposal and look at the net increase the Mets have had at their disposal since Minaya walked in. Cot’s Baseball Contractshave the 2010 Mets payroll at $126,498,096, an approximate $29,800,000 increase from what Minaya inherited when he came into the position in September 2004. Only nine teams enjoyed more of an increase over that span (interestingly the Yankees are not one of them). But only five of those teams currently have payrolls in excess of $100 million.
He also states, “The scout in Minaya will come in handy if he sticks out the final two years of his deal…” Although Minaya has been able to stock his team with players through the draft and the international market, the volume of prospects in the Mets system has handcuffed the Mets ability to acquire top talent through trades.
Jon Heyman of SI.com discussed in a recent column that Minaya’s job situation isn’t secure. It shouldn’t be.
Rainy Day Reading: Yuni and Strasburg
Tom Verducci of CNNSI.com wrote an article shortly after Stephen Strasburg‘s debut discussing Strasburg’s impact and his interesting connection with Yunieski Betancourt. Yes, Verducci actually made a connection between the best pitching prospect to come along in years and a shortstop that amazes me that he’s still starting in the major leagues.
Back in 2008 the Seattle Mariners and the Washington Nationals were in a heated race to see who could be the worst in Major League Baseball. With two games remaining in their 2008 schedule, the Mariners had a 59-101 record, giving them a half-game lead over the woeful Nationals at 59-100. But Betancourt turned it on and hit like a man possessed the last two games, going -for-7 with a walk, two runs and two RBI. The Mariners won their last two games and the Nationals won the rights to draft Strasburg.
Even when Yuni played well, he was screwing over Mariners fans. If only Mariners Jack Zduriencik had suckered the Royals into taking Yuni earlier…
Rainy Day Reading…Watching: MSG Picks All-Time Best NY Lineup
The Lineupis the new original series on with MSG Network airing on Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. The show looks at each position around the diamond and will determine NY’s All-Time Best. All-time greats Donnie “Baseball” Mattingly and Alex Rodriguez are already on the list.
They’ve already completed the infield, now they’re into looking at the outfield positions. The next shows airs Tuesday, April 27th at 10:30pm (EST).
Rainy Day Reading: Rider, slurve and… Titanic
While perusing through my RSS links one day I came across an interesting article about pitching….more specifically the pitches that are thrown. Max Marchi over at Hardball Times wrote an article entitled Rider, slurve and….Titanic that goes in-depth about the numerous types of pitches that are thrown. It is a very interesting read if you have the time.
In addition to going in-depth about the different types of pitches thrown, Max throws in quotes to further his points. My favorite was from Bob Gibson:
“It was said that I threw, basically, five pitches—fastball, slider, curve, change-up, and knockdown. I don’t believe that assessment did me justice, though. I actually used about nine pitches—two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, change-up, knockdown, brushback and hit batsman.”
Bob Gibson, Stranger to the Game.
As I was growing up, I only knew of four main pitches. The fastball, curve, slider, and change up was the basic arsenal (though I did occasionally throw a screwball in wiffle-ball). But the vast array of pitches out there is truly interesting once you really break it down. From the basics like the fastball, to the elusive gyro, the list goes on and on. Max categorized all of them into 14 groups:
I especially like his comment about fast/slow curve balls being two different pitches. It’s a totally different experience when stepping into the box against either one of the two.
It’s a good thing that catchers don’t have to use this system though. Imagine the signals that would have to go down for a slurve when there is a man on base.
Ranking the GMs
Tim Marchman over at SI.comrecently wrote an article on something that about every baseball writer eventually does (whether it’s published or not), ranking the GMs. I thought I would put my opinion into his rankings.
Before picking apart his rankings, I need to highlight a statement that he provided near the beginning of his article:
“One problem is that it’s hard even to tell what general managers should be judged by. Each has different goals, different resources and a different amount of control over his team, and for these reasons it’s not rare for an empty suit to run a good club, or for a bright spark to run a lousy one.”
Pretty decent ranking overall by Marchman. There were only two significant under-rankings in Rizzo and Amaro Jr. Noteable over-rankings would’ve been Smith and Minaya (although Minaya can’t go much lower).
USA Today’s List of Names You Need to Know
Each year USA Today puts out a list of the 100 Names You Need to Know, a list of the prospects you should know of going into the upcoming season. It’s not a top-100 list, as many prospects in the top-100 will not be ready during the upcoming season. As I see it, the list is more of a “what rookies will have the most impact” in the upcoming season.
It’s an interesting list that gives you a little background on each of the prospects and when they might start making an impact at the Major League level. But I do have my own opinion on some of the rankings:
Pedro Alvarez(7): Though a great prospect, he still has some work left he needs to do in the minors. Andy LaRoche also took a good step forward (finally) in the second half last season as well. I could see Neal Huntington letting the market develop and see if he can get much for LaRoche (unless he plans on moving him to second, as rumored) before bringing up Alvarez.
Jon Niese(12): Niese is over-ranked in this list. His positive impact on the Mets will be significantly less than some of the others lower on this list. Many media outlets are high on him, but I have my doubts.
Brett Wallace (27): I really think that Brett’s going to force his way into the Jays’ lineup at some point early in the season. He could have a bigger impact than Daniel Hudson or Jeff Clement.
Stephen Stasburg (31): Stephen is underrated at 31. Although the Nationals will have him settle in during a short period in the minors, they’ll likely be itching to bring him up mid-season. He’s good enough to make the jump and possibly pitch as well as Tommy Hanson did last season for the Braves.
Desmond Jennings (59): He’s a little underrated here. If Jennings performs well enough and B.J. Upton continues his sluggish hitting of 2009, the Rays could hook Upton at mid-season.
David Freese(60): Barring a significant change (Like a Felipe Lopez signing), Freese will likely get the majority of the playing time at third base. He could have a bigger impact on the Cardinals’ overall offense than some of the players above him on this list.
These are just the more notable arguements about the rankings in this list. But there’s players that USA Today left off this list that I haven’t mentioned. Who’s been left off that deserves to be on this list more than Allen Craig (100)?
Rainy Day Reading: The Gambler and the Investor…
Nearly every night before I fall asleep I read a few articles from other blogs in glow radiating from my Blackberry. One of the sites that I often head to is FanGraphs, a great site to conduct statistical analysis and to read great commentary from some very good writers.
A little while ago I came across an article entitled, “The Gambler and the Investor: Two Models of Fandom“. Written by Carson Cistulli, this long but very well written article immediately grabbed my attention. He discusses how he used to put “emotional wagers” on a team. Being emotionally connected to a team and how his emotions would change with the team’s fortunes. Now he’s more interested in a variety of players from various organizations. As they come up through the minors and succeed he gets the satisfaction of having followed the player since he was signed. But if they fail and are eventually out of baseball it isn’t as much of a loss as enduring an depressing losing season where your team is at the bottom of the scrap heap.
This immediately sunk in with me as I remember watching Sid Bream sliding across home plate to score the winning run in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS. From that point on I was a die-hard Atlanta Braves fan. Each year I would go from the high points of getting into the playoffs, to the disappointment of not taking home a World Series crown (except for 1995). There were even points where I wouldn’t watch a game after the 7th inning if the Braves were in the lead, thinking it was bad luck as I could possibly see the other team come back to win. This may have been more of a self-preservation thing as I emotionally didn’t want to deal with the possible gut-wrenching late inning loss.
But as time wore on, my interest in other teams grew. Although I still had a love for the Braves, younger teams with low payrolls and prospects on the way drew me in their direction. Through the years, teams like the Athletics, Rays, and Brewers caught my eye as they each had spurts of prospects rising through their system as the Braves once had during the 90s. But it didn’t hurt so much when these teams would fall out of a pennant race late in the season or get knocked out of the playoffs. Really it was more about an interest in rising players. Sure, there was still the interest in how well a team scouted and developed players, but there wasn’t as much of an emotional connection with the team itself.
It hasn’t been the star prospects either that I have followed. The lower ranked prospects with good peripheral stats and decent reports drew my attention. One player that drew my interest that has really blossomed has been Dustin Pedroia. He was never ranked higher than fifth on the Boston Red Sox prospect lists, but his stats initally drew my interest. The fact that he’s short like me and a dirt dog furthered my interest in the scrappy second baseman. But I never thought he’d be the 2008 AL MVP.
Here are some other players that haven’t been top prospects that I have been following a little closer than others over the past couple years:
P Cole Rohrbough
1B Kila Ka’aihue
OF Nelson Cruz
P Blake Hawksworth
1B Rhyne Hughes
3B Andy LaRoche
IF Matt Antonelli
OF Michael Taylor
P Johnny Cueto
P Wade Davis
IF Eric Young Jr.
An odd mix, that’s for sure. But each of these players have piqued my interest over the past couple years for one reason or another.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-gambler-and-the-investor-two-models-of-fandom
Rainy Day Reading: Bad Contract White Elephant
Dave Cameron’s work on FanGraphs is always a good read. A couple months ago I came across yet another good article from him called, “Bad Contract White Elephant“. In it, he gives a light-hearted suggestion for a bad contract version of the White Elephant gift exchange:
…..the 28 teams that don’t qualify for the World Series send their General Manager to a large conference room, not unlike what the NFL uses for the draft. Each GM brings one contract, places it in a pile, and prepares for Bad Contract White Elephant.
Read the entire article if you have a chance. It’s a funny concept but one that makes you really think….what would’ve the 28 teams not involved in the World Series brought to the table? Here’s some suggestions:
Red Sox – Mike Lowell, David Ortiz – Lowell’s defense has declined and he’s injured.
Rays – Pat Burrell
Blue Jays – Vernon Wells….Duh
Baltimore – Ty Wigginton
Twins – Matt Guerrier – Just arbitration eligible, but they don’t really have a bad contract.
Tigers – Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, etc. – There’s a number of bad contracts, but Willis’ is the worst.
White Sox – Scott Linebrink or Paul Konerko – Neither is awfully bad.
Indians – Travis Hafner, Kerry Wood, Fausto Carmona- Has to be Hafner.
Royals – Jose Guillen
Angels – Gary Mathews Jr.’s remaining salary - Silly Mets took the player and some of his salary already.
Rangers – Michael Young
Mariners – Milton Bradley
Athletics – Eric Chavez
Marlins – Logan Kensing – How can you cut and slash from a team without much for high played players?
Braves – Derek Lowe
Mets – Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo – Oliver Perez, hands down.
Nationals – Christian Guzman
Cardinals – Kyle Lohse
Cubs – Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Silva – Long, expensive contract or batting practice?
Brewers – Jeff Suppan
Reds – Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo – Similar contracts, similar inconsistent pitching.
Astros – Carlos Lee
Pirates – Paul Maholm – Not that bad of a contract, but most of their bad contracts are gone.
Dodgers – Manny Ramirez? – His production has dropped, he’s not worth ~$20 million anymore.
Rockies – Todd Helton
Giants – Barry Zito
Padres – Chris Young – Only because they are cost-cutting and he’s injured too much.
Diamondbacks – Chris Young – Eric Byrnes was DFA’d, so it’s Young, who they’re stuck with for a while.
A few teams don’t have much for bad contracts. I had to pick arbitration eligible players on the Twins and the Marlins that have a chance to be non-tendered. There’s a few teams that you may actually have to think about it a little.
New Year’s Resolutions
The other day I read a funny post from More Hardball entitled, “New Year’s Resolutions“. The article goes over some New Year’s resolutions that a few baseball players, and a couple teams, should have. When you need a laugh go over to their site and check it out.
But there’s a few others that I thought I would add on some General Mangers:
Padres GM Jed Hoyer
- Send the entire 40-man roster out on the street to ask for donations to sign a free agent.
- Nab a better return for Adrian Gonzalez at the trade deadline than the Mark Teixeira trade.
Tigers GM Dave Dombroski
- Find a taker for Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, Carlos Guillen, etc, etc, etc.
- Develop the farm system beyond just relievers.
Braves GM Frank Wren
- Try not to piss off any more former Braves stars. (at least he’s moved on to current players like Lowe)
- Don’t trade Tommy Hanson for a two year rental on J.D. Drew. (You know what I mean)
Giants GM Brian Sabean
- Try to sign at least one free agent under 35 years old.
- Actually pull off a trade.
Mets GM Omar Minaya
- Do not to sign Joel Piniero to a Oliver Perez-like contract.
- Try not to overpay for Bengie Molina since there really isn’t much of a market out there for him.
Royals GM Dayton Moore:
- Don’t sign Scott Podsednik…..ooops!
- Find players with decent defense and OBP.
Looks like these GMs have their work cut out for them if they are going to meet these resolutions.
Rainy Day Reading: “The McCourt Divorce: Readers’ Digest Version”
While thumbing around in my nightly RSS feed reading, I came upon an article from The Hardball Times writer Craig Calcaterra. He wrote a hillarious article entitled, “The McCourt Divorce: Readers’ Digest Version“. If you have time to read it (although it’s a “Readers Digest Version”, it is pretty lengthy), it’s worth the time.
In it, Craig summarizes some of the details of the divorce and what each party is wanting out of it. This looks like it will be a brutal and drawn-out war between Frank and Jamie McCourt. Throughout it, he takes makes cracks about players and owners alike. These two were a couple of the best:
- Jamie made $2 million a year when she worked for the Dodgers. You can look at this one of two ways: as an awful damn lot of money to pay a person for coming up with stupid stuff like “Dodgertown, California” or as a total steal considering she made 1/6 the money Jason Schmidt did and actually, you know, did stuff.
- “Since I was a young girl, I dreamed of owning a Major League baseball team.” David Glass says the same thing all the time. Verbatim.
Of course, every time that I hear of a disgruntled woman possibly taking over partial ownership of a team, I think of the character Rachel Phelps in the movie “Major League“. With this possibly being dragged out in court over many months, what affect will it have on the Dodgers? Could GM Ned Colletti be forced to dismantle like Kevin Towers was in San Diego? Doubtful. But hopefully it won’t come down to Joe Torre taking puzzle-like pieces of clothing off an image of Jamie McCourt to push his team to the playoffs next season.
