Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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The Dodgers' xx-xx record in 2006 rested mostly on the shoulders of ...
The Dodgers finish the season AT San Francisco.
I mean, oops, thanks.
And anyways, it's probably more likely that they move the games to LA avoid rising coastal waters at AT&T Park than Repko wins the season with a home run.
Homefield for tiebreakers is determined by a coin flip unless there is a three team tiebreaker and then head-to-head-to-head record is used to give one team the advantage of playing just one game.
Not that I'm a big "names on the unis" agitator, I'm just asking.
After a succesful first half in the mexican league Fernando Valenzuela triumphantly returns to the Dodger rotation after Odalis Perez is released from the team after being caught coddling with Shannon Daugherty. Chad Billingsly is also called up in May due to Tomko having to take emotional leave after the loss of his secret lover Seo who stayed behind in Korea after the WBC to play Cricket. Fernando and Billingsly Guide the Dodgers to a perfect August and they win the west by a landslide.
When the dodgers have to go to the middle relief they are going to lose alot of games.
The offense isn't going to be powerfull enough to make middle relief a non factor.
I'm expecting good years from penny lowe perez seo and baez will be a great setup man and of course gagne is going to be a great closer.
(Hey, sounds good to me!)
Quite a stretch to predict the Dodgers best hitter and best pitcher make the most impact on the season, I know. However after being unceremoniously dumped from the playoffs by the NL Central champs, the StL Cards (again!), neither Drew nor Gagne return to LA in 2007. The Dodgers, though stinging from the early playoff exit followed by the loss of their two best players, are better off for it long-term, saving $77M over the next 3 years (Drew opts-out, goes to the Cubs for 3/$36M, Gagne goes to the BoSox for 3/$45M).
NL East: Mets
NL Central: StL
NL West: LAD
WC: Milw (!)
AL East: NYY
AL Central: Cle
AL West: Oak
WC: ChiSox
I'll be really amazed if Boras lets Gagne sign for less than 5 years.
As far as Gagne goes, I don't think anyone gives him a 5 year deal, though I could be wrong. Boras also wanted Weaver to get a 5 year deal.
Maybe you're right, but there's a huge canyon between Jeff Weaver and Eric Gagne.
I'd think with a good season Gagne gets at least what A.J. Burnett got.
After a season of record setting injuries, the Dodgers found themselves in unusually good health, with all 8 position players posting career numbers. Upon fan and media favorite Cesar Izturis' hasty return and a pressured Ned Colletti mandating that he get regular innings, Grady Little proclaims "this is the kind of problem managers love to have." After giving up 2 home runs and hitting 4 batters in 2/3rds of an inning, both Colletti and Little were praised by columnist Bill Plaschke for "giving the kids time to grow. Indeed, there is a learning curve."
"We knew that coming back from Tommy John surgery wouldn't be easy for a shortstop," Colletti explained, "but with the number of successful relief pitchers who have recovered from the surgery we figured it was the perfect fit." The Dodgers showed faith and understanding through Izturis' ups and downs, ultimately watching him finish with a 19.72 ERA and become the first relief pitcher to win a Gold Glove award.
Following a heartbreaking, season-ending home run to Barry Bonds (Izturis' 47th in 45 innings), the dodgers were edged for the division title by a jubilant Giants Team, who finished with a dismal 81-81 record. "We can't say that this has been a total loss. Building a championship team takes time, and I think what we've done this year, what with the guys we brought in mid-season, we've really set ourselves up for a solid 2007," said Little, referring to the trade that brought in superstar Alfonso Soriano from Washington for little-used Hee-Seop Choi and minorleaguers Chad Billingsley and Joel Guzman, who were then sent to Oakland for an injured Frank Thomas.
The Dodgers showed faith and understanding through Izturis' ups and downs, ultimately watching him finish with a 19.72 ERA and become the first relief pitcher to win a Gold Glove award.
Izturis also became the first pitcher (either starter or reliever) to bad leadoff in, well, a really long time.
My real prediction is 92-70. I think they can go 47-26 (.644) vs. the west and 45-44 outside the division. I picture the offense around 8th in runs and the pitching around 4th.
After being presented in the immediate ceremony with, among other items, a Jeff Kent autographed motorcycle from his Austin dealership, Barry was interviewed over the PA by Pedro Gomez starting out with "Man, I don't need this #@%# anymore." When asked by Gomez to explain, he said, "It's you,", pointing at Gomez. He continued, "and you, and you, and...", pointing at and singling out every body in the stands. When he finished, he turned to his son, standing next to him and still wearing his Payton jersey and said "I'm tired. Let's go home." Whereupon they climbed aboard the Kent-cycle and rode out of Phone Booth.
The incensed fans began throwing their 3 oz. Chardonnay bottles onto the field and, in the ensuing riot, tore up the field. Due to the damage, Bud had no choice but to cancel the homer, declare the game a tie, and move the series to DS for Repko's decisive inside-the-park grounder that rolled thru to the left field wall.
The Dodgers haven't lost 100 games in a season since 1908. That was also the last year the Cardinals lost 100 games and both teams are tied for the longest stretch without 100 losses.
The Astros, Angels, and Rockies have never lost 100 games in a season.
I don't expect Penny to regain pre-Dodgers '04 form, or Lowe to be what he once was, and see them both being a little better than '05. I don't expect Gagne to be "82 1/3 inning Gagne." He'll probably be a solid and exciting closer, but I think we'll see more than 4 BS in '06.
To take it a little further: The Dodgers' #1 finish in the NLW rested mostly on the shoulders of an only somewhat healthy Barry Bonds, who plays "only" 400 innings. This arrangement barely beat out "The Dodgers' #2 finish in the NLW rested mostly on the shoulders of a dominant Matt Cain.
Well, technically, I already belong to a born-again religion, but I've only been born in the physical sense once.
You know, take another baptism for the team?
Frank McCourt takes advantage of the situation by engineering a stunning deal to build a new Dodger Stadium at the corner of Western and Wilshire, incorporating the Wiltern Theatre into the design of the new, state of the art, deco-styled stadium. This new construction in the heart of the Wilshire corridor leads to the construction of a new monorail system along Wilshire from Downtown to the coast. The nonorail eventually expands from the South Bay to the Valley, becoming the truly viable and vital public transportation system that Los Angeles has long lacked.
The first place Dodgers (91-71) were carried the whole was by (drumroll please)
Hee! Seop! Choi!
Somebody else can explain what combination of injuries and ineffectiveness will warrant Hee his long-delayed shot.
BTW "was" = "way".
Something to think about.
Are you close to the stadium? Are you a good cook? Will I get my own bathroom?
I think he's built a baptismal font in his home.
That would be fun. We could take turns dressing our Hee Seop Choi dolls. His life-size Jim Tracy voodoo doll might freak me out, though.
Let's put it this way: I've had my body altered in such a way that I cannot produce offspring.
I am trying to be optimistic with the Dodgers in my pre-season predictions.
Translation: I am not a fan of changing diapers.
- Garciapara made a solid contribution at first or Left
- Kent didn't decline (much)
- Furcal improved a bit
- Drew played 135 games or more
- Lofton and Cruz/Werth put up productive offensive numbers
- Penny and Lowe had strong, front of the rotation innings
- Perez and Seo put up strong, middle of the rotation innings
- They found a combination of arms to pitch in the #5 starter role
- Gagne and Baez combined to make a formidable end-game
- Middle relief didn't blow more than 10 holds.
The statistical "elite", however, points out that the expected outcome with all that performance was north of 95 wins, and blames Grady Little. Little is accused of not playing Hee Sop Choi enough (settling for mediocre first-base performance), and making questionable bullpen decisions, sticking with Brett Tompko late into games/late into the season.
Absent a front-line rotation, the Dodgers got creamed in the playoffs. The L.A. Media still calls for Paul DePodesta's head but held a luncheon in Ned Colletti's honor.
We shall not speak of them here again.
Bob Timmermann, a man who aced his Reformation history class in college. Although was the presence of about 20 football players in the class evidence of a lack of academic rigor?
http://tinyurl.com/dnvvv
Lots of things have to go right for this team to get 90 wins. There isn't much reason to predict that enough of them will. Actually, I think the liklihood of failure is greater, on each element, than the liklihood of success. So, while lots of them really could work out, it might be as likely that none of them will, all together.
The offense needs to stay relatively healthy.
Or, if not, the Dodgers will win 86 games.
From Jim Callis, Baseball America Chat on espn.com:
What infield prospect on the west coast is going to be dealt to the Red Sox for David Wells? I would think a team like S.F. or L.A. could really use a pitcher of his pedigree in that tight N.L. West race... Sox need to get some youth on the infield dirt since they dealt Hanley and Marte away.
Jim Callis: The Dodgers are in better position to deal an infielder than the Giants, who have Marcus Sanders but probably wouldn't deal him. The Dodgers could afford to part with a Chin-Lung Hu or a Etanislau Abreu and maybe a Justin Orenduff or a James Loney to get Wells.
In game seven of that series, Penny and Ben Sheets duel through six and a half scoreless innings. Then, in the bottom of the 7th, Sheets loads the bases. Nomar Garciaparra doubles home two runs before Sheets gives way to Tomo Okha, who escapes the jam.
Penny, who has clearly been flagging since the sixth, comes out to start the eighth for the first time all year. Gagne and Baez, exhausted from each being used in four of the last five games, sit idly in the bullpen, spitting sunflower seeds. When Penny walks Prince Fielder on four pitches, stirrings are seen in the bullpen. Blue-clad fanatics wait with bated breath: Rick Honeycutt trudges out to the mound, while in the pen . . . Odalis Perez, scheduled to start a hypothetical game one of the World Series, has begun to loosen up. Where's Yhency Brazoban? Couldn't Gagne or Baez take one for the team? Lance Carter, he of the 8.09 post-season ERA, is clearly not an option, but . . . Perez?
Penny opens Geoff Jenkis with two consecutive balls in the dirt, the second of which skitters past Dioner Navarro to the backstop, sending Fielder to second. Dodger faithful everywhere scream for relief. Penny's cooked. Stick a fork in him. His next pitch, an 87-MPH sinker that doesn't sink, turns around at the plate and doesn't come down until it's reached the right-field bleachers. The crowd screams with rage. Televisions across California are flung from living rooms to kitchens. Incidence of heart attacks and strokes skyrockets. There is rending of garments, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Oh yeah, and Rick Honeycutt finally comes out again, signalling for Perez.
Perez, who has not appeared in relief since 2001, comes on and is clearly out of his depth with a short warmup. Brady Clark doubles past a hobbling Werth in left. Pinch-hitter Bill Hall singles Clark home. After J.J. Hardy grounds into a fielder's choice, Rickie Weeks nails it shut with another home run, this one just clearing the fence in left.
The Brewers pen has no trouble holding onto the three-run lead, stranding pinch-hitter Hee Choi in the 8th and J.D. Drew in the 9th.
Grady Little has the strangest sense of deja vu as he is tarred, feathered, and once again ridden out of one of baseball's biggest markets on a rail.
96. Matt Kemp - ETA 2007
89. Andre Ethier - ETA 2006
82. Blake DeWitt - ETA 2008
63. Jonathan Broxton - ETA 2006
55. Scott Elbert - ETA 2008
They only ranked 51-100 today, 1-50 tomorrow and I am assuming that Chad, Russ, Andy and Joel will be listed within that group.
Any guesses on their ETA, Chad and Russ in 2006 and Joel and Andy in 2007, perhaps?
For comparison, based on BA's top ten prospects for each team, the Angels will have 7 players in the top 100, Diamondbacks 6 players, Padres have 1 prospect.
The surprising Milwaukee Brewers advance to the World Series to face the also-surprising Cleveland Indians, who ran away with the AL Central and have been a playoff juggernaut, marching past the Red Sox and the heavily-favored Oakland A's to the tune of a 7-2 record in the playoffs.
It turns out to be the most boring World Series since the Padres were demolished by a clearly superior Yankees squad in 1996. With Sheets unable to pitch after he got dizzy, fell, and sprained his shoulder during the celebrations after the NLCS victory, the Brewers are helpless to prevent the Indians from scoring and are mercifully put out of their misery in four games, over the course of which the Indians score 34 runs.
Another WS draught is quenched in spectacularly uninteresting style. Dodgers fans are left to assume that they could have won at least ONE game against those guys, dammit, if not for Forrest Gu -- er, Grady Little.
Wouldn't it make more sense to run two separate simulations: one with Flanders' Dodgers and one with Depo's?
"Chai really came through for us. We're grateful to have a veteran presence like Nomar back in the line-up," said Manager Grady Little. "It's not that Chia didn't play well during the year but veteran leadership is what counts in the postseason."
The Dodgers are upset in three games by Houston. Columnist Bill Plaschke puts the fault for the loss largely on the shoulders of Choi for his 0-3 performance as a pinch-hitter.
"Where is all the talk now of a great player?
Where are the DePodesta Trekkies?
They are silent.
They know now what we all have always known.
The regular season is for show.
The post-season is for pros.
When it counted most, Choi was the wrong choice for the Dodgers.
Wrong choice, indeed."
In a related story, Plaschke was kidnapped by a South Central Los Angeles teacher and forced to write two-sentence paragraphs before he could be released.
Plaschke is still missing.
vr, Xei
vr, Xei
What? Really?? I gotta go, guys.
Oh, man, that was priceless.
I'll predict that we go 83-79, ending the season with a productive but not spectacular Choi at 1B, Nomah out with injury, Ethier in LF, and Billingsley posting a 8-4, 3.95 ERA after being called up mid-season to replace Perez, who tears his labrum. However, we do win the division.
WWSH
88-74 The season hinges on pitchers Odalis and Gagne and position players Drew and Nomar.
They win the division contingent on Bonds being out a portion of the year.
Video tape of Little's comments is interpreted by many as blatantly racist, and by others as criminally stupid. Thuogh it is commonly thought to be Angelenos of Korean descent who are calling for Little's head on a stick, the resentment is in fact much more widespread.. The video creates a sensation across the nation. Plaschke's disappearance is assumed to have been orchestrated by members of the city government, or perhaps Frank McCourt himself, as a ruse to keep the columnist out of harm's way.
Finally, after months of waiting for a verdict, Frank McCourt appears on television to announce that, not only is Grady Little going to remain as Dodgers manager, but the Dodgers will be hastily constructing a new ballpark in the San Fernando Valley, specifically in a town called "Idioton", known to be populated by nothing but drooling morons. The city erupts. Little and McCourt are burned in effigy. Mobs of baseball fans descend on the Dodgers' offices. The "flashpoint" of the ensuing protest is the west parking lot of Dodger Stadium, where the crowd spots someone who looks kinda like Grady Little driving away in a Range Rover. Unable to catch the inept manager as he speeds off, the crowd turns its rage on the infrastructure of the Stadium itself. Finally, President George Bush must send in the National Guard to protect the landmark.
At the peak of the violence, Hee Choi appears on local television to say, "Can't we all get along here? Can't we get along?"
In the aftermath, an ashamed Frank McCourt offers to sell the Dodgers to Choi for the low, low price of one dollar. Choi, citing a lack of playing time and subsequent disillusionment with the American game, opts instead to take a contract with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League, which has promised him a full season of at-bats as their starting DH. Arte Moreno swoops in and, through some extremely shady back-room dealing with MLB, is able to purchase the Dodgers. He then melds the Dodgers and Angels into a superteam that wins the World Series for seven years running. Angelenos are never quite sure what to make of the Los Angeles Dongels of Idioton and Anahiem.
I have, but I can't speak for everyone.
Not that I haven't before.
It's really Scotland, not Great Britain. The announcers call them the "Scottish side".
With measured words, manager Grady Little discussed the repercussions on a player who leaves, even for a patriotic cause. Choi and Robles could be trade material if they don't make the club as reserves.
"I tell them all the same thing. Just know your priorities," Little said about the advice he gives his players, particularly young players fighting for roles like Choi and Robles. "There's 57 players in camp and 25 jobs. You do the math. There's a difference in a player that has a job and a player that doesn't have a job."
This was true in 2005, though in a Twilight Zonish sort of way.
I'm not wild about WARP because, among other things, I doubt its ability to capture defensive value. Still, I've been very pro-Aybar and believe Pecota could be tapping into Aybar's production for someone who is still pretty young.
With all the hullabaloo over the Top 10 lists for the Dodgers, I thought Aybar got overlooked, assuming his MLB time didn't precluded his eligibility.
He can do a lot of things fairly well. I love the durability he's shown. Could he be a bust? Sure. The power numbers are weak for his position. May not be the best of situations for him here -- it's asking a whole lot for any young player to adapt to a bench role (further, he's got to maintain two swings).
they always have been high on aybar. decent average, good walk rates, low K rates. they have hoped his power would have developed by now. it still can i guess but i have my doubts.
also,pecota is very biased towards players who have played in the upper minors. im not real big on pecota predictions for prospects because i think there are too many variables that prospects have to accurately predict performances 5 years down the road.
I agree about the five-year forecasts being pretty flimsy. And I think the defensive valuations are suspect as well. And as BP admits, the health factors aren't well captured by Pecota (there, I think Aybar actually could get a little undervalued, given his strong durability record).
Still, the system has its merits. Lots of compelling aspects to its ability to filter and apply many aspects of a hitter's statistics within his career and ballpark track.
Yes, I remember being pleased that BP thought more of Aybar than BA last year. I think Aybar played closer to his BP ranking, if you include his strong month in the majors.
One good thing is that I think Little will give Aybar a fair shake. Little is the rare veteran manager who has a strong grasp of evaluating young talent and handling young talent. His time as a manager in Atlanta's system gives him a leg up over many veteran managers in that area.
it's like billy bob thornton. you wouldn't just call him billy thornton, or even billy. he's billy bob. choi's name is hee seop.
Couldn't [Duaner] be reasonably expected to match the production of, say, [Baez] for the next two years?
........
....... damnit, back to the drawing board.
"but steve, ty cobb is dead!"
perry comes out with 21-30
22 is billingsley
27 is laroche
i guess guzman will be in the 11-20.
The Dodgers are tied for first in the NL West with the Giants with 2 weeks left to play in the season. With series against the lowly Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Rockies coming up, the Dodgers are confident they can go into San Francisco with a lead in the NL West race.
But everything changes when Jim Tracy, Yurendell DeCaster, and Mike Edwards come to town for a 3 game series on September 19th.
Following Jim Tracy's MO of playing unknown prospects instead of better players, Tracy benches Sean Casey in favor of Yurendell, starts Mike Edwards instead of Joe Randa, and sends Oliver Perez to the bullpen to give Tom Gorzelanny a few starts to see what hes made of.
In the first game of the series, Gorzelanny starts and pitches a gem. Up 2-0 and running on serious fumes, Gorzelanny puts two on with 1 out in the bottom of the eigth inning. Instead of bringing lefty Oliver Perez in to face Kenny Lofton and JD Drew, Tracy sticks with Gorzelanny who promptly gives up a single to Lofton, which scores 1 run. At this point, Tracy wakes up, and decides to play the percentages, bringing in Perez to face JD Drew. But Little is on his toes, sending in reserve outfielder Jason Repko in to bat for Drew. Repko promptly singles to center to tie the game.
The game goes into extra innings, where Lance Carter comes in to pitch the top of the 12th inning. Yurendell, 0-5 on the game, homers to center, the Dodgers are retired 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the 12th, and they fall 1 game behind the Giants, who shutout the Rockies 2-0 behind a complete game shutout by Brad Hennessy.
Game 2 follows much the same pattern. With Ryan Voglesong tiring, Tracy brings in Damaso marte to face Jeff Kent in the bottom of the ninth, who promptly hits a 3 run homer to tie the game. In the top of the 13th, DJ Houlton gives up a 2 run Double to Mike Edwards, playing LF today instead of jason Bay. The Dodgers fall to the Pirates 7-5 on Wednesday the 20th. The Giants, who win 9-5 giving Matt Cain his 18th win of the season, surge 2 games ahead of the slumping Dodgers.
Thursday is a total nightmare for the Dodgers. Victor Santos pitches a complete game, 3 hitter, Jose Hernandez hits a 2nd inning grand slam, and the Pirates cruise to a 9-0 win, behind a 4-5 performance by none other than Yurendell DeCaster. The Giants beat the Brewers 3-2 after Barry Bonds scores from 2nd on a wild pitch by Mike Adams that skirts through the legs of Damian Miller in the top of the 10th inning in Milwaukee.
Reeling from the beatdown the Pirates gave them, the Dodgers go on to lose 7 out of their last 9 games, falling short of the Giants in the NL West.
steve is pro repko.
I hear he's quite fond of yard work.
There was a cute girl in my high school named Katy Bunting. You may have been pro-her.
She's probably not, anymore.
He doesn't make the team unless one of the projected IF starters gets hurt and possibly Robles/Aybar too.
Colletti and Little know Martinez is washed up.
He's strictly an emergency addition to camp. With WBC siphoning away some players, including Robles, you need the extra bodies.
The kids should get enough innings to state their case and get ready.
Left field.
His long, slingshot throwing motion doesn't fit at first base -- where you need to be very quick with your throwing. Maybe he can adapt, but he's been throwing that way his whole life.
He should be OK at picking the ball and fielding grounders -- but there's a pretty sharp learning curve overall, being on the other side of the field. It's not good when the throwing is a poor fit (besides the obvious, alterating his throwing increases the injury risk).
Not sure he could judge a flyball, but his throwing is more suited to LF than 1B.
It's tough to learn two positions in one camp at his age. Very challenging spring ahead for Nomar, who has enough trouble staying healthy.
But I think it would be best if Little gives Nomar a game or two per week in LF.
We'll find out in five weeks -- but I'd be stunned if he's on the 25-man roster, unless there are significant injuries.
Not only can Martinez play all of the infield positions and all of the outfield positions but he used to be a pretty good pitcher. Taught his younger brother Pedro a lot. We may have to keep him on the roster to mentor all players except catchers.
I hear Kafka is now in the mix for the #5 starter's job.
Many of the worst athletes in baseball history were able to play a decent first base.
So let me see if I understand your position correctly. Are you saying that with very few exceptions, all relief pitchers are more or less interchangeable and it's ridiculous to pay them very much or trade a good player for one because you can find a replacement on any street corner?
Interesting way to look at it.
-& all the rest of you smart-@#$ess-
Haven't laffed that hard in ages!
Thanx
-FP
Nomar's athleticism isn't the issue on the move to first.
It's his throwing. Have you seen much of him?
Long, slingshot action. He wasn't very accurate at short. His arm is very strong -- but he's not a quick, accurate thrower. Never was. He was a great hitter. He was tough. He was good at fielding grounders and he showed impressive arm strenght.
You'll see when he has to make quick throws to second base. Or to home plate.
Comparing Baez to Martinez still doesn't fit.
163 -- "Interesting" is the new "Stupid" :) But I'm stuck with it.
BA's top rated RHP the last 10 years.
2005- felix hernandez
2004- edwin jackson
2003- jesse foppert
2002- josh beckett
2001- josh beckett
2000- john patterson
1999- brad penny
1998- kerry wood
1997- kerry wood
1996- paul wilson
a lot of repeats, but the noteable busts are paul wilson and foppert.
I like Oscar and would really like to see him make the team. I love the way this guy works the count. If he gets four ABs agame he is going to make the opposing pitcher throw 20+ pitches to him alone.
I didn't say that arm accuracy is more important at 1B than LF.
I said that Nomar's lifeling habit of flinging the ball with a long motion is not conducive to the throwing demands at 1B.
His inaccuracy problems likely would be less harmful in LF -- from there if you get it near the base or home you're doing OK. There, his arm strength, which is good, plays better.
A first baseman has to be more precise, and he has to get rid of the ball quicker.
It's going to be a tough adjustment, tougher than throwing from LF would be for him. (Who knows if he can read a flyball)
One reason clubs backed off on putting Nomar at 2B is that his throwing motion isn't a good fit there for the pivot, where you have to be quick and able to throw flatfooted. (The Dodgers had no such concerns when Depo, according to Gammons, unwisely offered Nomar $27m guaranteed last offseason -- a deal that Nomar turned down, after which Kent signed).
For the record, I expect Tomko will turn out to be better than most of us predict. I beleve Nomar will be very good and healthy. Kent will be good but not as good as last year (how could he be). So it comes down to Drew.
Having said that keep in mind that last year I believed Nakamoura deserved more playing time and was the answer at 3B.
There's a lot of room for that prediction to be successful.
I went to see Foppert pitch once in Philly. That game ended up being memorable for an entirely different reason...(go Bob go!)
183 - Ask Jeff Bagwell. Or his agent. Or the hitman the 'stros have hired to take care of him...
Also saw that the Diamondbacks have six in the top 50. That team scares me.
Josh brynes is probably the luckiest man alive. he hardly has to do anything for the next 6 yrs or so besides get some pitching.
--anonymous scout
i love anonymous scouts!
Our careers really went into opposite directions after that encounter.
"Light tower power!"
"You've got to be an owner of a baseball team to understand what it means to be an owner of a baseball team, and to fully internalize the notion that you're really not an owner, you're a steward."
On Nate's suggestion to put Guzman in center field, that wouldn't work. Guzman is not just slow, he lacks the agility to make the quick jumps in reaction to hit balls that center fielders need. Frankly, Guzman isn't even quick enough to play first base or third base well. Line drives down the lines get on first basemen and third basemen very quickly, and I have heard that Guzman is very slow to react to such drives. Right field is the place for him, just as it was the place for Juan Gonzalez, to whom Guzman has so often been compared.
Obviously a 1B doesn't throw often.
But those throws are more apt to be critical than a typical throw by an IF.
Less of a safety net.
I suspect the most common throw for a 1B is to 2B on either a pickoff or a sac bunt.
Those are pretty much assumed outs -- and if you goof, you've got a guy on 2B or 3B with fewer than two outs. That's a good way to start a big inning.
Obviously a misfire to home results in a run.
Is that a prohibitive cost?
Of course not.
But it drops the defensive scale farther than people may be thinking when they envision Nomar at 1B.
Given that his offensive value as a 1B is probably average, that sort of weakness on the margin is one of the reasons Nomar should be prepped at LF.
Guzman is CF would be a huge reach.
Scoutting reports are he is slow as a shorstop, that the game's too fast for him there.
If it's too fast for him there in Double-A, he's more suited to a corner outfield spot as a big leaguer.
Guzman in CF would be a huge reach.
Scoutting reports are he is slow as a shorstop, that the game's too fast for him there.
If it's too fast for him there in Double-A, he's more suited to a corner outfield spot as a big leaguer.
Josh Byrnes still has a lot of work to do.
The team's defense stinks.
The bullpen was wretched last year.
The rotation stinks.
Lot to like about Stephen Drew but he's far from a sure thing at SS.
Injuries caused Drew to miss significant time with three teams last year.
It's unrealistic to expect Upton to help much before 2009.
Conor Jackson is a nice hitting prospect, but he's a defensive liability.
There's a perfectly good reason to move Nomar to LF. Why do we need a new one?
How much of an impediment is Nomar's throwing style? Remains to be seen, but I've seen a lot of Nomar and believe it'll be a tough transition, one that I have yet to read about in Dodger accounts (could've missed it, though). Again, major league clubs, Cubs included, deemed him a poor fit at 2B for the same reason.
I expect it to add a negative component to his profile at 1B, less so than it would in LF, and I believe his arm would be OK there.
Obviously that's not the only reason to put anyone in left.
This is a debate on the margins of his skill set and where things fit, but it's still important, especially when you're projecting him as a starter.
Smaller point: given Nomar's history of injuries, altering his throwing mechanics isn't optimal from a health standpoint -- and he'll need to alter them as a 1B.
2006: 90-72 Kent and Furcal, and Penny
I think the coming season turns on having consistency and dependability up the middle, if Furcal or Kent miss more than a few games I foresee lineups too much like last year (in number and in kind). If Kent and Furcal and Drew produce like they can and the corners can offer up anything over replacement player value, things look good. Well, I guess depending on the #5 spot in the rotation.... and the #4 spot.... and the #3... lookout if Lowe doesn't deliver. Maybe I should revise down to the 80s range. I suppose 100 losses is imaginable.
I'm at least interested in the possibilities.
Also, I think the Milwaukee organization is on the rise. The difference between them and Pittsburgh is like UT basketball last year and this year.
Been out with a bad back for several days, it was tough catching up, but worth it.
1. You're wrong.
2. You're right, but it's a relatively tiny problem, not worth two runs a year. Sure, better to have those two runs, but: oh well.
3. You're right, and the whole thing is over my head.
My money's on two.
A bad-throwing 1B can cost you that in a week.
Whether a bad-throwing 1B can cost a team two runs a week or not (it could happen, but I'd be amazed if it could happen averaged over a season. Two runs a week from the 1B's arm? Maybe, but I don't buy it), isn't the question. It's what Nomar's arm will cost if he's left at 1B. My guess, next to nothing, if not nothing itself.
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