Comments on: Selected exchange from yesterday’s post-game post-post discussion

By: Rusty

Rusty — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:26:16 +0000

Any baseball analysis that winds in a reference to Tristram Shandy is just flat out cool. Once, while driving across Ireland, I heard a cool radio documentary on Laurence Sterne, the author, and how he was a big influence on Samuel Beckett and especially James Joyce.

By: Spanky

Spanky — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:21:38 +0000

Hey…maybe the 520 bridge should go to Vidro to memorialize his OPS this year!

By: Dave in Palo Alto

Dave in Palo Alto — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:21:42 +0000

I nominate the former Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco. Nobody wanted it in the first place, it collapsed in the 1989 earthquake, was never rebuilt and is missed by none.

By: JMHawkins

JMHawkins — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:17:24 +0000

The next major windstorm should be set aside for Sexson. That would be the Richie Sexson Blow.

I think we should retroactively name either the 520 floating bridge or the Alaskan Way Viaduct for him. Both were useful in their day, but everyone has known they were past their prime and needed replacing for a while now.

By: msb

msb — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:15:57 +0000

FWIW, McGrath has taken up the ‘why are they still playing’ banner, and has been flying it pretty much every other column…

By: Steve Nelson

Steve Nelson — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:49:41 +0000

I suggest that we reserve the next landslide on Magnolia for memorializing Vidro. We can dub it the Jose Vidro Collapse. The next major windstorm should be set aside for Sexson. That would be the Richie Sexson Blow.

By: Spanky

Spanky — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:04:44 +0000

Nobody…I repeat…NOBODY wanted Vidro three years ago when Washington was shopping him. They couldn’t give him away until BB came along. Why would anyone want him now? Why are the M’s DHing and hitting 4th someone that no other sane team would offer a bag of balls for?

Baseball Fever! SoMojo style! I feel sick!

By: JMHawkins

JMHawkins — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:29:08 +0000

They tossed a lot of other players overboard for poor, career-end performances. Edgar had a huge amount of organizational goodwill that Vidro/Sexson donâ€™t.

Plus, y’know, Edgar was still really good, right up to the last year. His last four years, he posted OPS+ of 160, 139, 141, 92. The 1500 ABs immediately preceeding his last year were productive ones. There was no long-term trend of getting worse.

With Sexson, it’s 144, 117, 84, 90. That’s three years since he was really productive, and two years since he was marginally productive. That’s a long-term trend going in the wrong direction.

For Vidro, it’s 104, 96, 109, 56. Fifty six! That’s three years of terrible production (for a DH), followed by dropping off the cliff. Both the long and the short term are bad news here.

By way of comparison, Olerud’s last four years with the M’s: 136, 140, 95, 85 (pretty close to Sexson, except Olerud played good defense). For Boone: 114, 140, 94, 85. They were a couple of years older than Sexson and Vidro however (but didn’t have quite the same injury history either).

By: bratman

bratman — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:26:22 +0000

this team really is a joke

By: north

north — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:22:37 +0000

This is pretty sad for Vidro as well. Unless he is preternaturally stupid, he will be aware of how bad he is. But he can’t quit because the funny money in his contract is his livelihood.

I used to really like Vidro back when he was in Montreal. He was one of those players that had to work very hard to become a productive player – which he was for a few years.

But as with all players of his ilk – the dearth of natural athleticism results in fewer peak years and an early drop off.

The Mariners would be doing him a favor by cutting him.