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
I was stunned by the news that Pat Burrell had signed with Tampa Bay for $16 million over two years. The former Phillie won't go down as the most feared hitter of his generation, and he gives back some of his value on defense, but at age 31, he has a career OPS+ of 119, and four consecutive seasons above 120 (averaging 152.5 games per year in that time). He has even walked 216 times in the past two years. And he's going to be making less than Juan Pierre.
For that matter, Burrell will make less than Milton Bradley, who has apparently agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract with the Cubs. Bradley is a fine hitter but one who comes with his own set of problems, some of which the media is only too happy to overemphasize. "Bradley's history of temper flare-ups could be cause for as much concern as the injury history," writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, even though his paper reports that Bradley has missed only nine games in his career because of suspension.
Ever since he got caught up in domestic abuse allegations in 2005, I have abstained from weighing in on Bradley's character. Nevertheless, I find that many of those who make a moral case against Bradley are much more forgiving of serious personal flaws in other ballplayers. As far as on-field performance goes, I'd be more worried about Bradley's physical condition than his mental condition.
But my main point is, I think the Rays made a great deal with Burrell. It never occured to me that he could be signed so cheaply. For all the attention the Yankees and Red Sox have gotten this postseason, the Rays aren't going anywhere.
* * *
Chad Billingsley is one of seven pitchers that Peter Bendix of Beyond the Box Score picks out as potential victims of the "Verducci Effect." For a decade, Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci has been tracking young pitchers who increase their innings count by more than 30 from the previous season, finding that they are poised for setbacks. It's admittedly anecdotal, but it's something to keep in mind.
Here are the pitchers that Tom Verducci listed as being possible victims of the so-called Verducci Effect in 2008:
Ian Kennedy
Fausto Carmona
Ubaldo Jimenez
Tom Gorzelanny
Dustin McGowan
Chad Gaudin
Yovani Gallardo
Wow – pretty convincing evidence for this theory. Kennedy was awful at the major league level; Carmona was hurt for much of the year and ineffective when healthy; Gorzelanny's ERA went up nearly three full runs; Gallardo got hurt and missed most of the season (although this is unfair, as his injury was a fluke unrelated to his shoulder or arm).
Jimenez defied the Verducci Effect, pitching nearly 200 innings and showing tremendous improvement. Gaudin pitched primarily out of the bullpen and maintained his production. However, five of the seven players that Verducci identified as being particularly risky were either hurt or very ineffective in 2008.
Of course, caveats abound: there is no control study, and we know that pitchers – especially those under 25 – are inherently risky, not just pitchers who have had big innings increases. Furthermore, this is a very selective sample: in order to accumulate a large increase in innings, you have to be pretty effective – perhaps even more effective than your "true ability," thus making regression more likely. Still, the results are convincing, and Verducci writes of similar results from past seasons as well.
Billingsley, 24, went from 147 innings in 2007 to 212 in 2008 (including the playoffs). Others on the 2008 Watch List include Tim Lincecum and Cole Hamels.
* * *
Update: Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus writes about the outfield market, and invokes the name Jody Reed:
I love Manny Ramirez as a player, and I'm on record making the argument that the off-field problems that predicated his trade from Boston may have been overstated. (At this point, six months and a lot of conversations later, I don't know if I still hold that position. It's not relevant here, regardless.) It's not clear, however, that he's worth twice as much or more per season than the other guys in this pool. More that the others? Sure, he's the best player out of this bunch, even granting the poor defense and the advanced age. He's also the most likely, save perhaps Dunn, to sustain his performance over the next three years. With all that, though, there's just no way he's worth twice as much per season as Bradley is. He's not worth three times what Burrell will make. You're not paying for his Hall of Fame past, remember; you're paying for his future.
Right now, the best contract for Ramirez is the one that he no longer has available to him: his one-year, $20 million option that was voided when he accepted a trade to the Dodgers. At the time, it seemed silly to suggest that Ramirez wouldn't do better than that. Now, looking at the contracts signed by his peers, it seems silly to suggest that he will. The signings of Burrell and Bradley have to affect how the Dodgers, the Giants, and other potential suitors regard the price on Ramirez's head. Of course, the buyers aren't entirely rational, and Ramirez has some markers that these other guys don't. He's fresh off of the two great months for the Dodgers and the perception that he carried them to the postseason. Still, the gap between where the market sits for corner outfielders who can hit but not field—$8 million to $10 million per season for a three-year deal—and the current set of rumors on Ramirez is too wide to be ignored. Abreu and Dunn are still available; there's no reason for a team to spend twice as much as it has to to get maybe an extra win or two. Even pricing Ramirez just off of last year's performance, which may overstate the gap between him and the rest of the field for 2009 and beyond, a reasonable estimate would be approximately $16 million per season on a three-year contract, plus an option on a fourth year. ...
... the chance for Ramirez to break the bank is gone. There's not going to be a nine-figure contract, and Ramirez's AAV (average annual value) will almost certainly drop from his last deal. He took a risk in pressing to ensure that he would be a free agent this winter, and despite his fantastic performance, that risk looks like it will be for naught because of the glut of players with similar skill sets available. It won't quite rise to the level of Jody Reed or Juan Gonzalez, but right now, it seems that Ramirez left money on the table by not taking the first offer — two years and $45 million — made back in November.
I'm not convinced that Ramirez won't beat that November offer, but his final deal still figures to be a comedown from what he must have been expecting.
My first thought was, there were still Three Stooges members alive?
Carlos Lee made $8.5 million in 2006, he signed with Houston and made $26M in 2007-2008 and will now make $18.5M a year through 2012.
Alfonso Soriano signed that same winter, has made $30M in the last 2 years and will make $106M in the six years.
Both Juan Pierre and Gary Mathews Jr. signed five year deals and they will make 3/$28.5M (Pierre) and 3/$33M (Mathews) through 2011.
In 2007, Torji Hunter and Andruw Jones signed multi-year deals worth at least $18M a year. Aaron Rowand signed a 5/$60M with the Giants. The Cubs also signed Fukudome for 4/$48M.
So far, the only outfielder to sign a multi-year deal worth over $10M a year is Raul Ibanez (3/$31.5M). Milton Bradley is reported to be signing a 3/$30M deal with the Cubs soon.
So why is there such a slow market for corner outfielders. I think the reasons are varied but include the teams that normally spend money have spent it elsewhere (Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Tigers, Angels, Cubs), the small and mid-size market teams are not going to spend 10+ million a year on a corner outfielder, defense has become more important and finally and while home runs are still important, with the PED testing, teams are still trying to figure out which players are legit home run hitters.
Clayton went from 122 IP in 2007 to 169 last year, with a few more in the playoffs. Not as steep of an increase as Chad, but something to think about.
It also doesn't help that it's common knowledge now that slow TTO hitters age terribly, so no one would be willing to give him a long term deal.
The other problem for Burrell is every contending team in the AL, except the Rays, has no need for a DH. Tampa Bay saw there was no need for his services anywhere, and took advantage of it.
Should have accepted that arbitration offer there Cabrera....
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9036288/Manny-in-L.A.-still-makes-sense
I think you can legitimately argue that signing a Burrell or Dunn plus better pitchers would get the team a few more wins, but with Manny and lesser pitchers, the team is still the favorite to win the division and has that x factor that drives revenue more then wins alone.
Tampa Bay - .274/.357/.453
Yankees - .289/.364/.468
Boston - .282/.370/.466*
*I used Varitek's 2009 projection at catcher for the Red Sox, even though that position is still in question.
For comparison, here are some potential Dodger lineups, with a few LF choices:
w/Manny - .288/.361/.455
w/Dunn - .281/.359/.452
w/Abreu - .286/.359/.443
w/Pierre - .287/.353/.431
Last years team was .264/.333/.399
The team with Pierre .287/.353/.431
Bill James projections are normally quite optimistic.
Ignoring Jones for a moment, last year's projected club (Martin-Loney-Kent-LaRoche-Furcal-Ethier-Pierre-Kemp) averaged out to a .296/.363/.452 projection.
Only the starting 8 (or 9 in the case of the AL East)
Is the parlay dead after last night?
Yankees sign JJJ!
So last night did not matter.
I have such a negative opinion of Boras that I almost feel he would let Manny go play ball in Japan rather than accept a contract less than the one he convinced Manny to opt out of in Boston.
Does anyone seriously think Manny and Boras would accept a 3-year, $48 million deal?
Sayonara, Maniel-san.
(I saw UD made that guess last night but I did it earlier, so there.) :)
3/72, guaranteed, with a vesting 28M option will get it done.
No, but Bobby Aberu would.
And he was awful in Japan.
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/01/transit_reality_sets_in.php
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/mta-unveils-new.html
1. Manny will sign a contract with an MLB team this offseason.
2. Manny will accept the best offer.
Among other things, these premises mean that he will sign for less than he initially wanted, if the best offer ends up being less than he wanted.
What about Tom Selleck aka Jack Elliot?
Indians sign Carl Pavano to a one year deal.
Which is of course what the players think they are doing.
Fielder went to Japan to get experience since he was just a parttime player with the Blue Jays.
And he likely learned how to gamble too.
46. Well I might accept that if you limit your sample to guys who were above-average major leaguers. But haven't there been a lot of AAAA types (i.e., with some MLB experience, but not staying power) who went to Japan in their 20s (i.e., prime) and thrived there? Or were they all old guys? Cromartie? Bass? Rhodes? Oh yeah, and Cecil Fielder had a good year with Hanshin before returning to glory in the States, right?
They won't, but that's beside the point. The point is that they don't have to worry about Manny going somewhere else or sitting out if he doesn't get his 4/100.
Now then: whether he'll give a 100% on the field after signing for less than 4/100 is a separate question.
My contention is that there has NEVER been a player of Manny Ramirez's stature who has gone to play in Japan while still able to make a comparable salary in the United States.
Manny Ramirez would command a salary so much higher than any of his teammates that it would severely screw up any Japanese's team finances. Even the Yomiuri Giants.
The Marlins had agreed to sell Millar's contract to the Chunichi Dragons, but Millar got a better deal from the Red Sox and then said it was his patriotic duty to play in the U.S. and it might have been too dangerous to play in Japan.
Millar isn't a popular figure in Japan.
vr, Xei
Even the Ham Fighters?
Standing around in the outfield and not running after the ball.
Manny's 2007 Fangraphs Value was $5.1 million.
How many players are in that set? 50? 75? Ever? Including pitchers?
Where DOES Manny Ramirez rank all time? As a hitter? For a start, how many RH hitters have been better than Ramirez? Musial? Mays? Aaron? Um... Foxx maybe? ARod?
A Japanese team would have to pay Ramirez $15-20 million a year although it might just be for one year.
And although Manny Ramirez has a reputation for taking a lot of BP, I don't see him going out every day for the extensive infield practice that the Japanese do or reporting to spring training in early February at some remote island.
He has his own obelisk.
28.3
21.2
26.2
24.6
He did play in a hitters park, but his home road splits last year didnt indicate that. OPSEd .786 at home, but .964 on the road. The year before, it was the exact oppostie (1.016 home, .795 road). 2006 was basically the same for both (.880 home, .900 road). Also, adding in to what cargill said, his defense negated most of his value. Moving to DH will cancel out the negatives, and leaving the hitters park shouldn't have much of an effect. It's also not like the guy is 35 or 36. He's 32 with only a 2 year deal making less than Juan Pierre (had to throw that in). I cant see any way that this isnt a total win for the Rays.
Pass. (Pun intended)
same principle applies in baseball (and hockey for that matter). For example:
Drysdale - regular season 209-166; post season 3-2
Pedro Martinez - reg season 214-99; post season 9-6
Greg Maddux - reg season 355-227; post season 11-12.
Trent Dilfer was 5-1.
If small sample sizes are your thing, I would think Doug Williams did pretty well.
Ok I went off tangent. No doubt I think Peyton is great,but at the end of the day his post season play doesn't justify him in the elite legend category (I'm sure a lot will be a her and ridicue that statement). Superbowl MVP deserves hands down respect, but one can say Eli was just as good if not better in last years playoff run. But nobody would dare call Eli a true great in the same breath as Peyton or Brady and rightfully so since Eli has never posted great numbers like his brother. But post season wise, They are close.
Scott Boras' job is not to keep prices low, his job is to get the best deal for his client and the methods he has to use are almost unlimited.
That said, he is only one side of the negotiation and ultimately he and Manny will have to decide where and when they want to make a stand.
Ahhhh...I have a special place in my heart for him. He coached at Grambling when I worked as an auditor at a hotel in the next town. His divorce attorney stayed there and it was part of my job to hand deliver all of the negotiations that were done via fax to her room. I may have "accidentally" seen some of the details.
Had it been when blogs/internet reporting were the rage, I probably could have sold quite a bit of that info to ESPN ;)
And yes, I'll stipulate that McNabb is/was a better running QB
http://tinyurl.com/7p98dz
How does the dodgers' getting no-hit by the angels and WINNING, not make the 2008 list?
Considering just wins and losses, Eli's record his first 5 years is 42-29. Peyton's was 39-38.
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of football statistics. Unlike in baseball, football has way too many variables (receivers, offensive line, weather, coaching etc.) while in baseball a hitter's value is isolated.
correction. it was even the oddest baseball moments of 2008. adding insult to injury. Is that something you brag about to your grandkids one day? "yup old billy, your gramps got no-hit that day, but SCOREBOARD!"
I just found out the new Nip/Tuck season starts tonight.
I never thought that Eli could ever be mentioned in the same breath as Peyton, but if he wins another title...
Oh, random thought, Peyton and the Colts are very much the Braves of the 90s. Fantastic in the regular season, won a championship, but never quite as good as they could/should have been.
Longtime lurker and first time poster. I suspect the Dodgers will grow tired of the theatre of Manny and secure messers, Dunn (4yr-51m) and Petite (2yr-27m).
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090106&content_id=3734336&vkey=news_ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana&partnerId=rss_ana
I can't see the Dodgers committing 4 years to Dunn.
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary
Update: I heard that Scioscia's extension actually runs through the year 3018 and includes clauses that allow for him to be cyrogenically frozen and then his disembodied head put in a jar so he can manage the blernsball version of the Angels.
102 Welcome!
http://tinyurl.com/7tqzlb
I am getting bored of this story. Just sign him and end this nonsense.
Scioscia in an Angel's jersey is just one more reason I don't like Davy Johnson or Fox.
Boras has to be out of his mind at this point. No one, I mean no one, is going to give Manny that kind of contract. That should've been obvious 2 months ago.
I'm tentatively impressed with how Ned has handled the Ramirez situation thus far.
Hey, they're getting the band back together!
I'm tentatively impressed
The highest compliment you can receive from D4P!
The second highest is "I'm not entirely disappointed."
Colletti should be calling Adam Dunn's agent right now.
Can you get some lemonade and cookies to sell for refreshments?
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20250316,00.html
A-Rod dumped Boras in order to finalize a deal with the Yankees (he did re-up with Boras who worked on the details).
I'd been considering the offer for a while.
No need to worry about Russell Martin's partying ways now!
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20250250,00.html
The second highest is "I'm not entirely disappointed."
Dad? Is that you?
With an older client, I think the AAV is more important than the years to Boras.
"Westside to San Fernando Valley transit project along the 405 Freeway -- 2038"
I hope they won't be falling behind schedule.
I will go move back to Granada Hills in 2038. I'll be 73 years old.
http://www.570klac.com/
They got disengaged, I am sure it was over Manny.
I hope they got disengaged. Dodger Stadium is family entertainment. Not entertainment that leads to families.
"In our case I'm not sure yet. We're monitoring the situation. We've had talks. We have not made an offer. We've talked in parameters of what would be yearwise. It would have to be a perfect fit dollarwise and more so what we're doing to try and build this thing going forward on a younger basis. It's actually not what we're looking for, except that he's such a profound middle of the order hitter. Which we need."
This Manny situation is almost getting out of hands. You know both sides are playing games. Ned refusing to budge from 2 years while Boras refuses to budge from 4/5 years in the $100mil range. That's why we see Ned focusing on Bullpen help and contacting Dunn as to scare Boras but the mastermind at games retaliates by talking about The Hated Ones and Manny is cool with it and still leaving the door open for NY to jump in with a 4/100 deal. I think Boras is winning this game and will prevail in the end. Either Ned gives in and Manny gets a big deal, NY takes him for a big deal or The Hated Ones signs him so Boras can stick it to the Dodgers.
And if we were in their shoes, I wouldn't pay much attention to it either.
vr, Xei
I've thought so since the start of the offseason. He could play 1B.
The only way Ned wins and Boras loses is Manny accepting the offered 2 year deal, very unlikely. If Ned goes higher in years or dollar amount, Boras wins. If NY or another mysterious team jumps in to sign Manny away, Boras wins cause it will be better than 2yrs/$45mil. If SF signs Manny, Boras wins by KO regardless of the contract. Ned is the underdog in this.
Maybe Boras wins in this scenario, but that doesn't necessarily mean Ned loses. An NL team getting Manny for 4-5 years at this point can reasonably be expected to feel like a loser in a few years' time.
Your need to "keep score" between Colletti and Boras seems fairly pointless to me. Who cares?
I really hope that Manny, in his first press conference, when asked about accepting less money than he had hoped to get, responds with a price-of-gas line.
Happy Slapsgiving to him, at least.
Come on--it's obvious Boras will go to any length to exploit contract loop-holes, spread rumors, use gullible sports writers, and much more to inflate his players contracts!
Now this is all accepted business practice and I am not saying he is doing bad business. But he is manipulative, and that is one of his strengths as an agent. I was perhaps trying to highlight the foibles within the very limited community he is dealing with.
He may be a special case.
2. I am just joking, because his quote, unforced, turned out to be pretty unfortunate given both the price of gas and, probably, his services.
3. I like Manny and want him back, but it doesn't matter where he signs, someone will ask him about it.
Alyssa Milano swears off baseball players.
I think Jon wanted to see this earlier. Proctor's deal is finalized.
But which guy will be able to play the Ray Liotta role in the stage version of Goodfellas?
163 I don't know, remember if Manny comes back, for most of the fans, he can do no wrong and he will be the king of Mannyland for as long as he plays here.
The local media (Simers, Plaschke, beat writers) will probably treat him well and even has old-timers like Vinny saying things like "Manny being Manny."
Sure, he won't like the money issue but with Torre as his manager, adoring and non-critical fans and soft media, Manny will have a lot of smiles if he is wearing number 99 in Dodger blue.
Or perhaps I was just reading People for some other reason.
I'm betting Jon wasn't losing sleep over that though.
I'm betting Jon doesn't have any sleep to lose.
I do agree though, that if he comes back, he will be cheered loudly, and righfully so. He is no social menace, and there is nothing wrong with trying to find the best contract for yourself. My only point all along is, it's easy to become a target when you make a quote like he did about the price of gas being up.
I don't know. My favorite Milton Memory is when he called Jason Reid an Uncle Tom, then asked "Where's a bottle at?"
http://tinyurl.com/6ug89b
And this from Diamond:
"The Dodgers will host their second annual Winter Development Program next week. Here's the list of invited players. Viva Tony Abreu!"
http://blogs.pe.com/prosports/2009/01/dodgers-to-begin-workouts.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=law_keith&month=12&year=2008
The Red Sox have made a minor habit of picking up a once-good, broken-down starter on a one-year deal, reaping modest returns but never quite hitting the big score they were hoping to land. Assuming he passes his physical on Jan. 7, Brad Penny's contract would fit that pattern.
I hope the Brew Crew get their man! In a related story, I'm looking forward to "Harvey's Wallbangers," the story of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers. It will air on MLB Network Saturday at 8am.
What could we be possibly be offering Hoffman?
179 - I feel like I should delete that.
179
Nice moves.
What if we think of 179 as referencing such glorious baseball terms as the "5.5 hole" that Tony Gwynn often hit through?
I was suprised you hadn't, I certainly thought it worthy.
That's the silver lining. Not to mention keeping Broxton's arb costs down by him not racking up saves.
Miller, who is out of options, has never regained the form he had back when he first was signed as was touted as the lefty part of the next great righty/lefty duo (Jackson being the righty).
Miller will be someone on the bubble all spring but he has done nothing to indicate that he should be on a 25 man roster come April.
I like the idea of putting the best guy out there more than protecting McCourt's wallet. I hope that Hoffman, if he is signed, will do well as a closer, but I am not sure if the $5-6 million spent on him would best be served on another lesser bullpen arm and adding money to the starting staff.
Just don't Google 179.
Phillies sign Marcus Giles to a minor league deal to help while Utley is out. Mariners sign Tyler Walker. Giambi signing official. Orioles sign Koji Uehara
Miami Heat releases Shawn Livingston
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/01/miami-heat-rele.html
So now I really hope they bring him back, even if it means one more year than they'd like (although hopefully one less year at least than Boras would like).
{exhale}
He has a .993 fielding percentage in 197 games at first, pretty versatile.
Unless they re-sign Nomar, which is doubtful, or give John Lindsey a job this Spring. :-)
Looks like Hoffman is signing with the Brewers.
Maybe the Lakers can take a look at him, he fits the triangle mold and phil likes big guards. He can get spot minutes behind Fisher and Sasha while awaiting Farmars return.
They have made some good moves, but I still don't see them as having that large of an improvement.
Yankees sign Angel Berroa to a minor league deal. What is it with the Yankees with former 2008 marginal Dodgers players?
The only upside I could see with getting The Hoff is if coaches and staff believe Brox still needs another year of mental seasoning.
The only upside I could see with getting The Hoff is if coaches and staff believe Brox still needs another year of mental seasoning.
"I think whenever you represent a free agent player and he signs somewhere, part of the process is one where everyone is going to say they were strung along. Obviously, in my business, you're either called a shopper or a puffer; one of the two, you're going to be labeled with. You do the things you need to do, in good faith, when dealing with teams."
"As far as Boston goes, I think Boston knows they got good faith proposals and they were given proposals, which means, if accepted, the player would have signed the proposal. If teams reject them, they cannot in any way suggest they were strung along."
Suffering Bruin? Stephen Bishop? Steve Buscemi?
How about this random thought they traipsed across my brain pan: Sign Dunn to a 4 year deal, especially if you can get closer to 40 million than 50 million. He is still young and clearly can hit the long ball as consistently as anyone. The best time to do a long term deal is when the market is down, at least for a younger player. Next, continue going after Manny. Where is he going to go now that no team truly needs him? If you can get him for a lot less than previously thought then you have engineered a bargain off-season. If he tells you to go tell it on a mountain and signs with San Fran, fine, we got Dunn and a pocket of money left. If we do sign him, package up Loney and get some pitching. As much as I love Loney, a Manny/Dunn power combo would be fairly sweet.
There, hot stove nonsense out of my system. Continue as before.
---
209 I don't know if people are that high on the Giants; it's more just acknowledgment that the division is still pretty week and thus winnable, and that they have very good young pitching, a few potentially good young hitters (though most of them either don't scare me at all or aren't "there" yet) and they've improved their bullpen a little. My worry as noted above is that if you add to that a guy like Manny that could be enough. As it stands I'm not quite as worried about them. I'd see them as possibly a 3rd place team that could move up, though.
Stan from Tacoma
vr, Xei
At least Angel Berroa will help out the Yankees Triple-A affliate. Berroa posted a .842 OPS last year with the Royals Triple-A team.
Stan from Tacoma
Stan from Tacoma
http://www.bravesjournal.com/?p=3935
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/01/giants-interest.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuf1N2Gvk9A
Having lost one of my brothers to pancreatic cancer a few months ago this story really hit home.
Patrick Swayze on Cancer: 'I'm Going Through Hell'
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6580801&page=1
Report: Yanks inclined to lower $10M Pettitte offer
http://tinyurl.com/8wmrtq
Or the last 5 games?
I need different sample sizes!
I think it's 4 of 6, since they also beat up Washington at home, but the C's have lost 4 of the last 5 on the road
Bringing up Ken Burns' Baseball to me is like telling D4P you think Joe Montana is the greatest quarterback who ever lived.
That's all that needs to be said. Relying on Ray Allen for 20 shots is bad form.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=290106030
I would say the Rockets winning in 1994 or 1995 was a surprise.
"Hakeem was poised" is easy to say now. Not so easy at the time.
Every time there is a surprising result in a sporting event, I await a story from a writer telling how the result wasn't a surprise.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/pac10/0-2-177/No--1-USC-flops-at-Oregon-State.html
Wait till you start hearing Doris Kearns Goodwin talking about growing up as a Dodgers fan. Most of her stories were fabricated.
Wait until you get to the lengthy sections on famous teams like the St. Louis Cardinals.
Just keep waiting.
I believe Stan Musial will appear in the documentary for about 2 minutes.
at some point, in hour 4,891, they play Take Me Out the the M-freaking Ballgame on kazoo or ukelele or whatever and your brain melts. but, you know, in a bad way. i never found baseball annoying before. not even once. then came ken burns. and his haircut. and doris goodwin with obnoxious stories about her father and the dodgers and open windows. and much, much earnestness. and... well, i flipped to wheel of fortune or something.
Also, it's ironic, because I had a pretty good tape deck up til last year and then finally gave up on needing it and needed more space so I donated it. Now I wish I hadn't, but I wonder if it's worth me reacquiring one. Anyway, let me know if you're in the area, I might be tempted. Otherwise, I think I may just try to copy the unique tapes to MP3/CD and save a few of the boxes for nostalgia. Thanks either way, though!
J.C. Romero is not appealing his suspension.
Okay, back to work, TV off, check. 'Net off, check. Cats off lap, check. Desk feng shui cleared... sigh.
This is hilarious.
BC
Tim Brown reports that Dodgers offered Hoffman a one year deal with an option.
I didn't realize it was flawed (until just now, thanks Bob T.) i'm gonna be really honest here, I loved it when I first watched it...
"Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt were honored in this week's edition of the Los Angeles Business Journal, being named L.A.'s Power Couple of the Year."
I guess what I am trying to say is that I miss Saito already...
http://tinyurl.com/7o53nz
It's one year, $2.5M and he "can earn an additional $2.5 million in performance bonuses based on starts from 15-27, innings from 110-170, games from 30-70 and games finished from 35-55."
I'm guessing he doesn't earn too many of those incentives - maybe games appeared in.
101-99 NO 6:45 left.
vr, Xei
Tripon, thanks for that. I don't know if anyone on this board appreciated that as much as I did lol.
Ah well.
Sign Manny. Sign another pitcher -- Sheets, Wolf, or cheaper, Looper. And then I don't mind Hoffman. Sign Dustin Hoffman for all I care!
He was extremely unlucky allowing homeruns on 17.1% of flyballs (over twice his career average, MLB average is 10-11%). which accounts for the high ERA. This is mostly a luck-based stat so he should drop back down next year.
Fangraphs has Hoffman projected for a 3.5 FIP over 54 innings. In this article:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/type-a-relievers
Hoffman is projected to be worth about 1.75 to 1.95 wins next year as a closer, meaning he should be worth 8.5-9.5 million. If we could sign him for 5-6 million he comes as a bargain at little risk while also keeping Broxton's arbitration numbers down. Now if his signing keeps us from getting Manny or a good starting pitcher then that changes things but given that our payroll right now is about 77 million according to Eric Stephen here:
http://www.truebluela.com/2009/1/4/708785/updated-dodger-payroll
we should be able to get Manny, Hoffman, and a SP for 10M or so and still come in no higher than last years payroll. Basically, I think Hoffman is a good signing as long as it doesn't keep us from filling the other needs (Manny and a SP).
I can't stand Burns' plodding tone, the celebrity cameos and the disproportionate share of PBS' budget for documentary films that he consumes. But I do watch "Baseball" just because of the subject matter. Where am I being misled?
Include me out of this universal opposition. I think it'd be great to have him on the Dodgers, assuming the price is right and he's flexible about his role.
Okay I shouldn't have said universal, as evidenced by 307 as well, but it seems like a strong majority are against Hoffman on the Dodgers for even 3-4 million for 1 year, which I think is a steal.
From a Keith Law chat in November:
Mike (San Diego): Hoffman wound't accept the Padres' $4 million one year offer with a club option. Do you think he can really do better on the open market?
SportsNation Keith Law: No. I think that offer amounted to charity.
That seems a little harsh. Especially given the numbers posted by bablue in 308 .
If we lose Manny, they can bring back Ramon, Orel, Fernando, Strawberry, Eddie Murry, Sandy, Raul, Mike, Karros for all I care I will be very very angry.
Maybe, but he's likely to be at least somewhat effective and not very expensive. Just because Ned has a propensity to overvalue PVL's does not mean all PVL's are bad. By the comments you would think Hoffman was awful or something.
Great post.
Thanks.
against signing Trevor Hoffman?
Give me your old - your tired - your broken down.
Give me your players whose best days are far behind them?
His best days are certainly behind him, but if he's still good, it doesn't matter. Besides, we wouldn't be paying him like he was in his prime. We're talking about a 1 year deal for around 5 million here, what better value are you going to get out of that?
I'm mostly with you but my anger
would disappear if they brought back Sandy. :-)
>> The Dodgers will meet or beat their season-ticket sales from last year even if they do not sign Ramirez, chief operating officer Dennis Mannion said.
The club projects to sell about 24,000 season tickets, the same as last year, he said. The sales pace is ahead of last year, he said, citing the Dodgers' first trip to the NL championship series in 20 years and the price freeze on season tickets.
Renewal payments are due Friday, and Mannion said he does not expect the uncertainty over Ramirez to impact most of the roughly 10% of accounts still outstanding. <<
http://tinyurl.com/9jaco6
Is Mannion the offical "Propaganda Officer" of the Dodgers?
The home run stat from last season is not anomalous -
it's no more "fast" on the fastball.
imho - taking $5,000,000.00 out into the parking lot behind the left field pavillion and setting it afire would be about the same value as giving it to this guy.
He wants 600 saves before he retires so he will want to pitch for a few years if he is not the closer.
I dare you to look at Saito's numbers here [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/saitota01.shtml] & tell me those numbers are easy to replace.
vr, Xei
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