Kemp and Loney -- Huzzah!

I'm sorry, this list has to be bogus. Kemp ahead of Longoria and Sizemore??? If I were offered either of those players 1 for 1 I would think it's a joke.

2 Just so you know, your questions were answered by Zak in the last thread (who found a much better link than what I was about to post).

No PUJOLS?!?!?

bigcpa is a scholar and a gentleman!

The worst part of trying to search for the Drysdale call was Googling "Drysdale Gibson" and getting a bunch of links regarding 1960s pitching and HBP stuff.

2 Yeah, there's about 10 players below him who I would deal Kemp for... and I love Kemp. How can Loney be in the top 25, but not Billingsley?

4. Peavy, webb, cc? There must be something we are missing about how this list is computed.

7 - Yeah, I agree. It was flawed enough that I thought twice about publishing it, but I figured on a slow day, why not ...

Why is Prince Fielder ranked first? His defense is pretty bad, even for a first baseman.

There is no one over 26 on the list. No good players 27, 28 or 29?

4 ,7
The only thing I can think of is the list is only accounting for years of production in their 20s.

Pujols will be 29 next season, so he only has one more season.

I'm not sure how that is relevant, but it's the only reason I can think of.

4 Maybe because gods are immortal and have no true age.

I like how James lists seven good young players, then says the issue is depth. How many other teams have as many young contributors as the Dodgers? I can think of Arizona, and Tampa Bay off the top of my head. Maybe Florida.

13 By "depth" he must mean "complementary veteran players."

Zak, thanks for that link. Very interesting stuff, I'm thinking about not using that site anymore.

and then takes into account the number of years the player should be at his peak performance.

Here's a bigger question. What's considered peak ages, and has that definition changed in the past 10-15 years? It seems like superstars have peak ages that can be over 10 years. A-Rod, Pujols, etc... you still expect them to be really good hitters say, 6-7 years from now, and I'd bet even more. So, how do you measure peak performance then. It is not unreasonable to expect someone like Webb to have a long streak of peak performance. I don't know how you can account for years at peak performance for superstar players under the age of 30. They all should have about 10 years at least, other than obvious health and injury list.. in which case, Fielder probably shouldn't be top of this list.

Prince Fielding

2006: -18 (31st in MLB)
2007: -15 (28th)
2008: -12 (26th)

I'm not sure how much each play is worth for a 1B, but he's certainly among the very worst at first defensively.

15 No problem. Here's another link I look at from time to time. Just to monitor which sites have a lot of traffic. Sites with more traffic means 1. safety in numbers 2. more reason for site owners to keep things like collusion, cheating, etc. away and 3. more choices in games and it makes it easier to find weak games.

http://www.epokertraffic.com/current.php?q=latest

All that being said, it is an adjustment to sign up at a new site. I used to play at Party Poker exclusively and then they shut down in the U.S. and I was jaded for a while and stopped playing before trying out FTP and PS. I like FTP a lot, easier games. But lately, I'm playing at PS more because I'm running better there lately for some reason.

Kim Ng aint coming to Seattle
Jack Zduriencik (zur-EN-sik) is the man
I was hoping for a new direction up here but at least the Dodgers keep some brains in their front office

18 How is it depositing and cashing out at PS?

Mariners named Jack Zduriencik their executive vice president and general manager of baseball operations.

Kim Ng is still a Dodger!

17 That brings back pleasant memories of Dunn's slip, kick, and fall late in the season on a Dodger bunt [Furcal?]. And speaking of defense, we really should've hit the ball to Burrell more in the NLCS . . .

Disappointng for Kim though.

I'd expect better from Bill James. I assume from the way his list reads that he did not take defense into account. Also, why the under the age of 30 caveat when there are a few 26 year olds and then most of them are 25 and under. Also, would like to see Guo's name mentioned up there with Broxton's. The Huncharm gets no respect. :)
vr, Xei

20 I use a debit card from Wells Fargo for deposits. For withdrawals, I request a check. It usually takes about 4-5 business days, but I've gotten it as soon as 3 days, and once it took 11 days. For the record, they ask you to wait 15 days after request.

Wells Fargo has once refused to accept my check from PS. I went to another branch and another teller and she accepted it without calling her manager like the other branch. I have also used Washington Mutual in the past to deposit the check.

24 Well, to the fair, the injuries caveat does apply to Kuo more than Brox.

Chase Utley turns 30 in December ...

25 My point is that usually depositing the checks is easy, although I do expect more and more scrutiny into this once banks get out from under this economic burden. But that's true for any poker site.

Xei, are you going to put any money on Philly to win the series?

23 I don't know if I'd wish that mess on Ng. They have Ichiro, Felix, Morrow, and a charred crater that Bavasi left.

I guess they wanted someone with a lot of vowels in their name, instead of none. Poor Kim. Selfishly, glad she's still around though. I have a feeling post-2009 she'll be the Dodgers next GM.

Now that Seattle has hired a new GM and I would think Gillick's right hand man, Ruben Amaro will get the Phlillies job if Gillick does leave, the only possible GM spot that might open up is in DC.

So I think for another year, the Dodgers' front office remains the same.

29. I was considering it, but I don't have any online betting accounts. Bodog doesn't offer a W.S. winner bet that I can see. If Vegas was nearby I probably would plunk down $500 or so on the Phillies as a hedge. As it stands currently, I won't be making any hedge bets. I made it this far with the Rays, mind as well stick it out. I have only made four futures bets (bets before the season started) in my lifetime. They were the Dallas Cowboys the first year they won the Super Bowl with Aikman, the Ravens the year they beat the NY Giants for the Super Bowl, the 2008 Rays and the other one ironically was the Phillies the year that they lost in the W.S. to the Blue Jays. I still get shivers when I hear the name "Mitch Williams" spoken. I have a good track record with futures bets, but the Phillies have been the only thorn in my side so far. Hope they don't mess me up again!
vr, Xei

I would trade James Loney for Grady Sizemore.

I remember this article from a year ago and I think he adjusts a ton for age. Something on the order of a 25 year old with the same numbers as a 26 year old would be twice as valuable.

I don't care how it happens, but I love being reminded that Matt Kemp is only 23.

Matt Kemp is now 24.

If it's that age adjusted I'm surprised BJ Upton's not on the list.

33
That's an awesome track record!

I seem to remember Phil Mickelson placing a rather large bet (in the thousands of dollars) in the preseason on the Ravens the year they won the Super Bowl.

If it's age adjusted why is Longoria so low?

36
2008 is his "age 23" season though, since his birthday is after June 30 (September). Although since this is for the 2009 handbook, using his 2009 age seems more appropriate.

36 Bubble burster.

39 Because he bases it on how much you played during the season.

The thing to remember is that Bill James isn't making a best prospect list, he solely bases it on what you have done so far in the majors.

37 B.J. Upton did not have a great regular season.

I'm done trying to figure it out. This list has done nothing but make my head hurt.

43
Upton did have 89 runs created (only 4 less than 2007), and ranks 13th in RC for 2007-08 among players 26 & younger (the de facto age limit for this list).

45
Forgot to add...

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/9fE9

16 - that's a good question. I'm not really sure how you measure peak performance. I think, generally speaking, we figure that athletes in various sports enter their "prime" sometime around 26-30 and that it will last for a few years, usually ending sometime around 32-36. The problem is when you talk in generalities you ignore the individuals. There are guys who have insane training regimens that allow them to perform at a fairly high level well past their "prime" - see, for example, Nolan Ryan striking out 232 batters in 204 innings at the age of 43 (with an ERA+ of 115). And there are other guys who don't put out as much effort that fade very quickly when their natural talent fades - see, for example, Andruw Jones. I really think you have to look at individual players in much more depth (this is really true an any sport, for example in basketball, guys like Kobe who came out of high school have a lot more mileage on their bodies than a guy the same age who went to college for a couple of years, and that doesn't even account for all the extra playoff games he played - of course, Kobe is among the crazy trainers, so that muddies the water some).

Bill James projected Andruw Jones to hit 34 home runs in 2008.

48 - it's much easier to analyze what happened then project (or guess) what will happen. But the second one is always more fun.

48 I think that's about how many Ned projected. I wish he had been right.

48 - Two months left. I'm optimistic.

42

Miggy Cabrera would not be 23rd on this list if that were the case.

48

How many did Andruw hit in AAA and the Majors?

45 How many runs did Ryan Zimmerman (#12) create?

When do Pitchers and Catchers report???

I am tired of this dang hot stove already

Oh, forgot, we have a little baseball yet to play. I must admit a pretty significant man-crush on Evan Longoria.

Do we need a DT caravan to spring training in AZ this year?

I think Cargill has it right -- there's no way to figure out this list. Who's on it, who's off it, and the order are all mystifying. We'll have to wait until James gives us some insight into his method.

But this: no less an authority than Bill James believes that Matt Kemp could become one of the most valuable players in baseball.

55
You'd probably be more excited about the World Series if it were played on seven straight days in Phoenix instead of this moving around between home parks.

56 Kemp as a future MVP candidate has been mentioned by James, Onley, Neyer, and Law just to name the ESPN bunch

Everybody wants to see what this guy is going to grow up to be.

I just remembered today why I sometimes hate being an NFL fan: injuries. Especially when they happen to my team, which is not fair.

I think Bill is failing to take into account the fact that James Loney has already peaked at age 24.

Posted in earlier thread but in case you missed it, MLB Trade Rumors focuses on the Dodgers' off-season outlook:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/10/offseason-ou-13.html

60 Duck.

57 Wow, what a good and novel idea! I bet you didn't think of that all by yourself

Maybe I can find a corporation with a bunch of people who dont watch baseball to take me with them and ply me with golf, hookers, parties, and booze

then none of us can watch the game, all of us can check our blackberries and wave to our familes while taking to them on the phone in between pitches

We will all go home and brag to our neighbors that we attended the world series but not one of us would be able to name 3 players on either team.

Baseball fever...catch it!

63 you should email that to plaschke

NPUT

Jon,
Great job! This is the call that is so forgotten. Thanks for bringing it to everones attention. I've heard it many times but its been awhile. This call is my favorite of all-time! He sounds like he fell off his chair. I loved Drysdale as a broadcaster and believe his call was the best of the two (Buck's and Scully's). It (to me) captures the crowd and fans response better than anyones. I don't know where you got that but I would love to have it on tape.

Taking a quick glance at the list, I find it hard to believe that there's 23 players period in the majors better than Sizemore.

I'm sorry, but these rankings are stupid. Kemp ahead of Longoria, Sizemore and Reyes?! You've got to be kidding me. I have a formula. It's called production. Which puts Kemp way out of this list. Some day, I hope Matty earns that spot. But not today.

Thanks Bigpa and Jon. Don was almost as good a broadcaster as he was a pitcher. I taped Don's call at my home in Tacoma from station KNZR in Bakersfield, CA. The excerpt from Bigpa is much better quality than the tape I have. Tremendous stuff, thanks so much for posting it.

Stan from Tacoma

I think Don Drysdale sounds a bit like Ted Koppel in this clip when he's relating the crowd reaction after the HR.

A wonderful call of the Gibson HR by Drysdale. I spent many, many nights in the Bay Area listening to Drysdale on the radio (only after it got dark, unfortunately, in those days before internet) and his style of calling the game really grew on me over the years. He still a close #2 to Vin in my book, but that is the highest praise possible as far as I'm concerned.