Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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TV and more ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
Dodger outfield prospect Andre Ethier jammed his shoulder in a first-inning dive during the Dodgers' 3-1 exhibition victory over St. Louis today, according to The Associated Press. Dodger manager Grady Little had hope that the injury was not "very serious."
No immediate word yet on how Joel Guzman did in his left field debut, though we at least know from the boxscore he wasn't charged with any errors. I'd mention how some Dodgers did at the plate, but it's already making me uncomfortable that people are putting too much weight into exhibition statistics, particularly now when players are just getting loose.
Update: Guzman done did swell, writes Faran Fagen of MLB.com.
Guzman was tested in the first inning on a shallow fly ball, which he tracked down and caught one-handed with the sun in his eyes. Later in the game, he snared a line drive that sliced toward the left-field line with a backhand grab.
"You can't ask for too much tougher conditions," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "The sun was right in his face, and the wind was blowing. And he handled all the plays he was supposed to."
Federico Baez that is.
Uh....don't choke!
Actually I just want to sound the horn of James Freakin' Loney.My dream scenario:one of the hordes of fragile infielders goes down.Nomah moves to say third,Loney gets a callup and has a Rookie of the year season in helping the Dodgers deep into the post season.
Ethier is picking up where Bradley left off anyways.
"I kind of get nervous if I don't give up any runs..." -- Jeff Weaver after allowing a pair of three-run homers in the first inning of an 11-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants. (source AP)
.................. and repko.
2006 las vegas 51s
C russ martin
cf andre ethier
3b andy laroche
rf joel guzman
1b james loney
lf delwyn young
2b willy aybar
ss ramon martinez II
Man oh man, I hope I'm Mini-Steve...
Ah yes, baseball is back.
greg miller and joel guzman for barry zito?
some of the reports from mlbtraderumors.com
not that i believe any of it, but something to talk about.
Not me.
He can play all 3 positions and play them well and he might learn to mash lefties.
Actually, he plays those positions quite poorly, according to my own observation and those fancy defensive metrics Jon posted a couple weeks ago.
He also quotes Frank Robinson, waxing a bit poetic about Dodger Stadium: "'I hope our new ballpark sets a new trend and doesn't just follow one,' said Robinson. 'When Dodger Stadium arrived, I think it was the first big league park that looked out into the landscape -- at the [San Gabriel] mountains.'"
http://tinyurl.com/ggzk2
Because sometimes even a banjo can play the most beautiful music.
I see the logic behind packaging him with Choi, Choi's underrated while Repko is probably overrated. But not to the Giants, watching Choi morph into an Asian Big Papi in the bay area would be among my worst nightmares.
I give Repko maybe a five percent chance of evolving into a decent reserve outfielder.
The Freel comp is a long reach. Freel is a pretty good 2B to go with decent OF skills. He's also faster. And he probably has a better track record of getting on base.
Why do I give Repko even a 5-percent chance?
For one, he can hit a decent MLB fastball over the wall.
Two, major league personnel deem him a decent CF.
Third, he took a few unpredicatble leaps forward in recent years. Maybe he somehow takes a few more. Three years ago, I doubt many folks would've given him a five percent chance of doing what he did last year.
Repko never produced in the minor leagues. Nothing in his past shows he has the skills make it in the MLB's. He's a free swinger without power.
That takes it down to 2.5%
to be fair, his 2004 season between AA and AAA was pretty good for a CFer.
Link me. A league average OF'er?
Repko's 2005: .221/.281/.384- .665 OPS
Repko's 7yr: .270/.323/.426 .749 OPS
What could Pecota possibly be basing this on? I assume a league average OF'er OPS'ed around .800 or so. Repko will never sniff .800 or ever .750...at least nothing in his past would suggest he would.
.221/.281/.384--He shouldnt have been in the major leagues with numbers like this.
a lot of players have crappy first years and go on to have decent careers.
im not saying repko will, but hes only 25ish.
Besides, he's on track to be average in 2008, give him a break.
Any chance we can trade him for Jason Restko? He's like Repko, but a better hitter, a 1B, and has a "st" instead of a "p"
he needs to improve his control if he wants to make the bigs though. he was "effectively wild" here at uofA last year. He has decent stuff though. great knuckle curve.
because i want the LV 51s to win the PCL championship and be the highest scoring team EVER.
Well what's the record?
If he becomes a decent reserve OF who can spark a team now and then, while bouncing between 3A and the majors, that seems more likely.
Ummmmmmm...yeah. Perish the thought.
Carlos Beltran
Jim Edmonds
Brad Wilkerson
Bernie Williams
Jose Cruz Jr.
Steve Finley
Pierre's highly batting average dependant self actually had a decent OBP that year.
Not to many CF are posting an OPS of 800 these days. Not using OPS+ but normal OPS I show only 3 NL centerfielders in 2005 with an OPS > 800 (Griffey, Jones, Edmonds) and only 6 > 750(Clark, Wilson, Wilkerson). Wouldn't surprise me at all if Repko is used in a platoon with Lofton for him to post a 725-750 OPS. I figure him for a guy who can smack lefties but this is strictly subjective from observing him. I know his splits don't show any difference but I think it was a small sample size of 102 at bats against lefties. Last year he did post an OPS > 750 in 3 months and an OPS < 600 in the other 3 months so he does have the ability the real question is his consistency and being a 1st year player I think we should be giving him more of a chance then just dismissing him because JT played him to much last year in the corners.
e..x..c..r..e..m..e..n..t
huh? choi doesnt hustle and doesnt play hard? I mean, just because choi isnt running in zig zag lines to the baseball like your 1 yr old golden retriever, doesnt mean he doesnt have "heart"
Hustler - Far, far below average ML hitter last year (76 OPS+).
Doesn't change the past. In 2003 and 2004, he was a good player for low salary (sub $2.5 million). His durability was exceptional, and that has extra value for a low-payroll team playing in brutal heat. You can assume the Yankees wish Pierre had sat out the 2003 World Series. OPS-plus is nifty. So is a World Series title. And it was pretty funny watching the Flying Frenchman agitate the bloated Yankees.
Hustler -- Short, white guy with beard.
Any questions?
The Dodgers scoring runs brings me excitement. This prevents me from supporting Repko.
I'm an Aybar backer who sees almost no chance of him making the team -- barring injuries.
http://dodgermath.com/?p=277
56 - I really can't let this go. This has nothing to do with Repko. Show me one instance where Choi didn't hustle on a play. Show me one example of him not playing hard. Show me one example of Choi not having a great attiude.
Three home runs in a game? Fans chanting his name, fans who have never heard of this website? I'll take that kind of excitement.
And once again, the phony strawman is brought out - that Choi supporters think he's the second coming. No, we just think he's adequate - but some people aren't even willing to concede that - they're too busy praising a certifiably below-average outfielder.
I just hope that if Aybar is in Triple-A, he plays every day. I get the sense he's more comfortable at 3B, but if LaRoche is there, that's out.
Willy, by the way, has been awful since the MLB season ended -- brutal in winter ball, and so far, zilch in the exhibitions.
Sure, these exhibitions are of little value, but with the WBC thinning the ranks, it's a good opportunity, and someone in Aybar's position probably needs to get going.
Didn't the current tree get fired for public intoxication a few weeks ago?
Any argument in support of Repko should have to do with his contributions as an outfielder. Is he the best option for 4th outfielder or is there someone else on the team who may do better?
Same thing with Choi. Is he the Choi/Saenz platoon better than Nomar? Is there a spot for Choi on the team? Is he the best option as a left handed pinch hitter? Etc, etc.
Anything else is really just noise.
Thanks, I knew someone on this board would know the song. My wife is always amazed at what info I gleam from a baseball blog. In another minute I'll amaze her again.
I guess I was spoiled by Milton Bradley and thus have higher expectations. Bradley OPS'ed .786 in 2004 and OPS'ed .834 in 2005.
So at least 7 NL CF'ers OPS'ed above .750. If there are only 16 teams in the NL, it would seem to me league average CF'ers would need to at least be at .750 or above. Anything less would mean you have a below average player in CF. If Repko OPS's .720 and he's like the 13th best CF'er out of 16, that still isnt good. Ideally you'd strive to have the very best player at each position. And at the very worst, be above league average.
2nd baseman starting this year. A smart move if he can handle it. He was a HS SS but then who wasn't.
he played 3b all last year but in instrux, he played a bunch of second. it seems they may be shifting him to 2b because of laroche. in HS, he played SS and the reports say he could move to either 2b or 3b when he was drafted.
If Mueller gets hurt, I'd give Aybar a shot, then LaRoche.
We won't find out until we grow
Well I don't know if all that's true
'Cause you got me, and baby I got you
Babe
I got you babe I got you babe
They say our love won't pay the rent
Before it's earned, our money's all been spent
I guess that's so, we don't have a pot
But at least I'm sure of all the things we got
Babe
I got you babe I got you babe
Yikes, ignore everything I said. My sort was all messed up and my numbers blow chunks.
thats not really accurate. hes being moved because of laroche infront of him. He was as reliable there as any other prep 1st yr 3b.
steve-
sutherland will probably go to single A columbus this year and proceed to hit 2 homeruns during the whole year.
If they move Dewitt to 2nd then we have the following depth:
Aybar - AAA
Abreu - AA
DeWitt - High A
Denker - Low A or do they move him now to the outfield and let him play in high A?
The above is just a guess.
Are you referring to Cory Dunlap? If so, he had a very crappy season and is just not developing the power he needs if he's going to be a major league 1st baseman. His luster really lost some shine.
Thanks. I'll pray for him.
Hard to 'hustle' when Scott Rolen is plowing into you. Why not credit Choi's heart for not taking a dive and just standing there? If we're to make up reasons for liking Repko, lets make up some for liking Choi. He did hit a 3HR in the one game the Dodgers beat the Cards in at Busch. Capped a pretty large rally.
Repko played OF and OPS'ed like .670 as a starter.
Choi played 1b and OPS'ed like .820 as a starter.
Sure Choi has more experience than Repko, but Choi was also pretty good right when he came up to the Big leagues. He didnt distinguish himself much with the Cubs, but he sure played well with the Marlins. Repko just doesnt have the minor league history to be optimistic about.
You are confusing 'propping up Choi/bashing Repko" with optimism/pessimism.
People here are optimistic about Choi putting up numbers. Pessimistic about Repko putting up numbers. Has nothing to do with style of play. Has everything to do with prior history of each's accomplishments.
AVG 0.309
OBP 0.358
SLG 0.478
320AB 9hr 24bb 49k
why june 1st? the first two months of the season, dewitt was given the wrong contact lenses and he couldnt see the ball at night time. he also had bruised ribs in may which put him in a massive slump. when he was finally healthy and could actually see the ball, he hit really well. Callis, Manuel, Sickels and others peg a laroche style breakout season for dewitt next year. they really like his raw power and BA rated him as the best hitter for average in our system.
Beltran didn't reach .750. But Dave Roberts did!
Even better. I'll expect him to be the next Chase Utley.
So far he's more then held his own so I'm not sure what 101 is talking about. He's a number one draft pick and when drafted was considered the best HS hitter in the nation. He has since been outhit by several other HS players taken in the same draft but he has done just fine. He's moving up the ladder at a decent pace for his age and was promoted to high A last year and proceeded to knock the snot out of the ball but in a very limited sample size of 31 at bats. This was at the age of 19. A line in low A of
283/333/428 in 481 at bats followed by
419/438/619 in 31 at bats in High A is not "not a lick" by any stretch of the imagination.
thats actually what im hoping. dewitt was rated as the best pure prep hitter in the 2004 class as well. Although billy butler seems to have taken offense to that.
besides billy butler, which prep hitter has out hit him from the first 3 rounds?
when did dewitt put up that line? you might have looked at repko's stats.... zing!
283/333/428
Doesn't matter if Walker stays at catcher or not, both Walker and Butler have done more so far with their careers. I think Dewitt might be able to surpass Walker but Butler is going to be an offensive force that will wreck havoc upon the AL.JMO
Not that it matters, but DeWitt was pretty unrelable as a 3B with Columbus. I'll try to get some numbers for 2004, but in 2005 he made 22 errors in 109 games at 3B. He had 267 total chances -- .918 fielding percentage. Buzz was he didn't have the greatest actions for 3B, better off at 2B. Pretty irrelevant now -- he profiles as a decent 2B who can hit.
Take the basic line and then adjusted for league and park.
125
Just using what BA said when we drafted Dewitt.
i agree about butler. Hes going to be an absolute beast. the royals are going in the right direction with a 3/4 combo of gordon and butler.
too bad grienke is an absolute headcase though.
283/333/428
those are dewitts numbers from his SAL season.
EqOBP, or Equivalent On Base Percentage, is calibrated to an ideal major league with an overall EqOBP of .340. While a major league hitter's equivalent stats should not differ substantially from his actual numbers, a minor league hitter's equivalent stats undergo translation and may differ significantly. Equivalent stats also account for park effects.
i realize that dewitt wasnt that great defensively at 3b, but that is not the reason they are testing dewitt out at 2b. usually, 3b prospects drafted out of HS dont fare very well defensively in their first year or two. the most notable cass of this is chavez.
the Dodgers needed all 5 of his home runs to win those two games.
153 -- What do you mean where would we put Greinke? Where do you think we would put Greinke? Don't go all Jim Tracy on us now! ;)
What exaclty are his "issues". All ive heard or read is that he's frustrated with how his career has gone thus far and is questioning his desire to continue. Id feel the same way if I were playing for KC.
the reason zack left royals camp was because he was going to be sent down to AAA.
The list should included Baird, Bavasi, Minaya, Bowden and the Hicks/Showalter cadre. I'm not trying to be smart alecky -- this should be part of the GM 101 textbook.
Of course, didn't the mighty Royals sweep the Dodgers last year?
Followed by a mighty lot of commentary about how "in the race" we were
1. He doesn't want to pitch anymore
2. He doesn't want to pitch for KC anymore and is tired of them messing with his delivery when he was quite successfull before they got ahold of him.
3. Was told he'd be pitching in AAA no matter what he did in ST and then became agitated and left the team.
I'm betting on number 3 because KC is just stupid enough to do something like that and that is something that would trigger the kind of response he had. He's an independant thinker and if KC is trying to teach him a lesson he just might be saying something Jon won't let us print.
izturis to bowden for patterson.
They have Sweeney, Huber and probably Butler in a year, so how are they a good fit?
They don't need Izzy, they already have their own version of a GG SS who can't hit by the name of Blanco. The guy is a whiz with the glove.
they need to trade sweeney. baird should have traded him last deadline if he wasnt pulling a lamar and asking for the moon. I would stick butler in left, have huber and choi play 1b/dh
Ethier, Carter (what team cant use a veteran presence in the bullpen), Repko and Izturis. Is their anymore crap we can send to KC.
Seems like Jackson and/or Tiffany would be pretty good trade bait for Greinke right about now.
hopefully they pick the right college pitcher in this years draft. I think it would be good for baseball if the royals somehow manage to get back on track.
lets trade for him!
33 Starts
5.80 ERA
1.13 HR/9
2.61 W/9
5.61 K/9
1.56 WHIP
This guy is the Royals best pitcher? They must be horrible.
Orenduff and Izturis for Greinke
I think Orenduff is better than Greinke right now. And Orenduff is only 6months older. Sure Greinke was in the majors last year, but he was getting bombed. Also, the only thing that stands out numbers wise about Greinke in the minors is his low bb/9. He's not a big strike out pitcher, and he also gives up home runs. He's just not a dominant pitcher.
Stay away from Greinke would be my advice. I have more confidence in Orenduff pitching for the Dodgers than Greinke.
Izturis for Greinke would be a substraction by substraction. They both at this point have little value, other than hype. Greinke's being his high draft status, Izzy's being his GG/All Star label.
I'd keep both. Jackson and Tiff could just as easily get blasted at the mlb level as Greinke does. If Greinke was a great talent, he'd have better K/9 numbers and a much better HR/9 numbers.
Those numbers tell me he's not missing enough bats, and when the ball is put into play its absolutely crushed.
The only good thing I see out of him is his low bb/9. But there's more to pitching that just that.
And that nothing stands out about Greinke's game other than his good bb/9.
I dont really think pichers that rely on their defense are that valuable. Especially pitchers that wind up giving up the HR ball so frequently. Thats how I see Greinke.
Maybe Greinke picked up to much expertise from Lima.
No. I tend to not give any credence to wherever a player is drafted. And you see it alot in baseball. Players that are 1st rounders get special treatment even if they arent good (cough..repko..cough..loney..).. I think the hype for these young pitchers comes from where they were drafted.
I dont care about the draft spot, so I dont care about the hype/scouts projections/ either.
Keep in mind his minor league numbers come from when he was 19 and 20.Greinke still has a lot of room to improve.
Greinke has more going for him than great control, as if that isnt good enough; Greinke's PERA (expected ERA based on peripheral stats) in 2004 was 4.66 when he had a 3.97 ERA, while in 2005 it was 4.63 while posting a 5.80 ERA. That, combined with his .340 BABIP, makes me think that last year was a fluke and he's basically a league average pitcher. I like the chances of a pitcher who can pitch 328 innings of league average ball before his 22nd birthday.
As far as his statistical profile goes, his walk rate is good and his k-rate is around league average. His weakness is fly-ball tendencies. If any pitcher can pitch above his peripherals, its a pitcher a unique as Grienke. But even if he settles in as a league average innings eater, its easily worth a package of B prospects. I mean, we just signed Brett Tomko to a multi-year deal, you can never have enough cheap starters.
Wow, Cora's scrappiness factor just went up a notch for that play.
Of course, he hasn't made a good move for the last several years, but man was he good when he started.
How in the heck does KC know who will or will not be in their rotation this early in spring training. they have all 5 spots locked up? Is there something in his contract that would be triggered and they don't want him playing? do they have 5 better pitchers?
ESPN just moved ahead in the PR/PAN game "due to time constraints" What?! Mike and Mike in the morning can't be joined in progress? Actually it's seven hours of sportscenter rebroadcast. Stay Classy ESPN.
I just dont like the idea of trading anything for 'league-average' talent. I agree with you I'd rather have Greinke than Tomko, bc there is more upside. But ideally I'd want neither. Is there more upside with the B prospects or Greinke? To me it would depend on how many B prospects we gave up. But talking about giving up Choi or Orenduff? No way. And the whole counting stats before a certain age thing reminds me too much of Beltre.
I prefer quality or at least projected quality. I'm not sure if you can reasonably project more quality from Grienke than Orenduff at this point.
Take that! And that!
Boom! Pow! Ziff!
But then, I'm biased.
The gray hair can come fast. I just noticed a big patch of it today.
But I recalled Saenz as having some gray hair last year.
http://tinyurl.com/mu4pn
"In some cases he struck himself out," Tracy said. "Brad Eldred is going to strike out. But it can't be on a pace to strike out 200-plus times a season."
Tracy would settle for, say, a pro-rated 130 strikeouts.
"That means he puts the . . . puts the ball in play 70 more times. Of those 70, how many does he hit the bleep out of, and what happens to the home run total as a result of that?" Tracy said. "I guarantee that number will come down if he does not walk up there and strike himself out."
221 Eldred and Choi will start a support group. Either that or a boy band. A really big boy band, with bad feet and hole-riddled dance moves.
I see it's 3-1 in the 3rd, but what happened? I know Billingsley started.
From washpost chat with Nationals' beat writer Barry Svrluga:
New York Ave: Any rumors on who the owner will be? I read that Lerner was with Bowden the other day. Is he in the lead to own the team?
Barry Svrluga: Lerner is definitely a solid candidate, and he would be the most likely to keep Bowden as the GM. I think we'll be hearing about this sooner rather than later.
As a kid, I thought my Dad was moonlighting as Barney Miller. Scary resemblance with Hal Linden (and both were clarinet players). I'm now pretty sure that wasn't true.
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=129469
112 ERA+ almost a 4:1 K:BB ratio 1.16 WHIP as a 20 year old! The guy has amazing talent and he's a very smart pitcher. He can get his fastball up to 95 MPH, but his real gem of a pitch is his big loopy curveball, just like Dave LaRoche's. He'll throw a 95 fastball and then come back with a 55 MPH curve. He's fun to watch.
"The latest 'news' on Bonds isn't shocking, revelatory or even terribly interesting."
These things are interesting. Not noble, but they well and truly captured my interest.
I would say that I'm interested in the story but that it's not interesting, like a friend (baseball) getting a root canal.
Poor Cody Ross, a good spring and he probably still won't have a job.
C
Eric Gagne worked a perfect fifth inning, retiring all three batters on 5 pitches. He had one strikeout.
I wonder if Gagne already pitched, seems like all the other pitchers today are doing well.
Saenz just made a nice play at 3B by the way.
9-3.
The following are the career achievements of two players as of the end of the 1998 season, one of these players is 28 and the other is 33, my question, were both of these players headed to the HOF?
363 HRs, 9 Gold Gloves, 9 All-Star Games, 4 HR titles, 1 MVP
411 HRs, 8 Gold Gloves, 8 All-Star Games, 1 HR title, 3 MVPs
Ken Griffey Jr. had 48 less home runs than Barry Bonds and he had 5 years on him, if there was anyone who was on track to beat Aaron, it was the Kid. Bonds' career high was 46 and he did that back in 1993. The Kid had averaged over 50 for the past 3 seasons. So while others may argue that Bonds was a sure HOF back in 1998, I don't buy it.
Also, it mentions that Miguel Cabrera is on the block. I can't see how they'd even talk to us unless our conversation started with Billingsley and Guzman....
Dodgers win 9-3. Yeah for spring training
I don't remember of all Bill James arguments when he raised the HOF first in his Baseball Abstract and then in his book but I do recall that a Level 1 HOF was reserved for someone who could argubly be considered the best ever in his position. In the last 25-30 years, I can think of just a few that have played, Joe Morgan at 2B, Mike Schmidt at 3B, possibly Bench at C and Roger Clemens at P. Barry Bonds made that cut when he started hitting those home runs, he was among Ted Williams, Stan Musial as the best ever LF. If you take his last 5-6 seasons away or taint them, he does not belong with those players even with his great power/speed numbers.
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