Comments on: Game 153, Mariners at Blue Jays

By: John D.

John D. — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 02:57:16 +0000

Re: (# 172) GROUNDBALL/FLYBALL PITCHER – There seem to be a couple of Greater-than signs ( > ) missing. (That @#$%^& secretary.)
It should read: FLYBALL PITCHER = FB/GB of > 1.0.
Anyway, I take full responsibility–whatever that means.
And I’m trying to put this behind me–whatever that means.

By: Alexey

Alexey — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:54:28 +0000

Good article. Very interesting and useful. Thanks.

By: Goose

Goose — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:38:32 +0000

171

Yeh but look at Cleveland now, they are a powerhouse, who not only has a good chance of making the playoffs this year, and possibly winning it all, but stands a hell of a chance of being a powerhouse for the next 5 years.

I’d take 2-3 more years of this if we can produce teams like the Indians have the last 15 years.

By: John D.

John D. — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:12:25 +0000

On Wednesday night, I heard Mike Blowers say-I hope that he wasn’t talking about Felix–”He’s neither a fly-ball pitcher, nor a ground ball-pitcher; I’d say he’s 50/50.”
Isn’t 50/50 (1.0 to 1.0) the accepted defnition of a fly-ball pitcher?
[I'm telling you. The inmates are running the asylum.]

By: LB

LB — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 06:57:09 +0000

#171: It seems to me that it would have to depend on the “haul of other prospects” you’d get back for Sexson. And you’d have to look on it as part of a long-term plan (think Cleveland), meaning you’d ‘fess up to the fans that the 2006 team is likely to be no better than this year’s model.

Does Bill Bavasi have the luxury of that kind of time? Cleveland told their fans after 2001 that they were not going to contend for years, and the fans rewarded them by not buying tickets to games. I doubt Bavasi can keep faith of upper management for three lean years.

It would also have to depend on whether you could convince the Phillies that Joel PiÃƒÂ±eiro was a “bonafide major league starting pitcher.” Ooh, boy, would his numbers look ugly in that little league park they play in in Philly.

By: Colm

Colm — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 05:51:40 +0000

Where are we going to find a spare major league starting pitcher? Last time I looked at the M’s rotation, we had only one, and an assembly of scrubs (apologies to Mr Moyer).

By: Kelly M

Kelly M — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 05:31:38 +0000

A few weeks ago we were having a thread about young players around the league, and the name Ryan Howard came up. I looked up his stats and offered that he was terrible against lefties.

I now want to revise and extend my remarks and give credit where credit is due.

Last night Mr. Howard hit a grand slam off – you guessed it – a southpaw. His OBP is now .170.

Stay tuned for this year’s Winter GM Meetings where the Phillies will reveal their strategy for next season.

Keep Thome, trade Howard, and try to win it all next year.
Keep Howard, attempt to trade Thome’s bad back and his mammoth salary ($12.5 in 2006, $14 in 2007, $14 in 2008) in exchange for prospects.

I’ll point out that Phillies LHP Cole Hamels is one of the top ranked prospects in the game even though this year has been a waste: started the year with a broken hand from a fight, then had a bad back midway through the year that shut him down for a month. Other than Hamels, the Phillies have nothing else in their farm system for 2006 when their nucleus of Thome/Abreu/Burrell/Utley will continue to be productive.

Baseball Prospectus 2005 says Howard’s comps include Sam Horn, Franklin Stubbs, Carlos Delgado, and Derrek Lee. The key is whether or not Howard can improve his walk rate. Had he played a full season (extrapolated stats from ESPN) this year he would have drawn 50 walks with an OBP of .353 and 35 HR.

Sexson’s line this year: 70 walks, .352 OBP, and 39 HR.

So, if you could get 1B Howard and Hamels for a bonafide major league starting pitcher + a minor league pitcher, AND if you could get a haul of other prospects for Sexson, would you do a deal like that?

By: troy

troy — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 05:11:44 +0000

Well said Dave. And I for one appreciate the honesty and realism as opposed to being spoonfed plastic “optimism” that has as much chance of actually happening as Jose Canseco does of landing a job as Bret Boone’s agent. Keep giving it to us straight. There are plenty of sugarcoated places to visit if you want to believe Joel is an ace and Bloomquist is the future and Fairly is a decent announcer.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 05:03:49 +0000

The blog has a “sense of failure”?

The last two years, the team’s record is 129-186. Last year, they were the third worst team in baseball. This year, they are the fifth worst team in baseball.

Have you considered that the blog may just have a sense of realism? The team has been a total failure for the past two years. Perhaps you’d be happier if we just ignored the fact that the team is terrible and discussed only the positives?

By: argh

argh — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 03:22:22 +0000

I think it’s a miracle the M’s did as well as they did tonight. Afterall, the first 4+ innings they had to face Morpheus on the mound. And, we got no Agent Smith in the line-up.