A very Peanuts open thread
By
A timely comic strip from 1969. (Click to enlarge).
Next month, the comic strip world will mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Charles M. Schulz, creator and illustrated of Peanuts. His ragtag bunch of characters are a part of American culture, and nothing embodied that more so than Charlie Brown’s attempts at baseball. I say “attempts” in the loosest of ways because Charlie and his team made the Kansas City Royals look great.
Year in and year out, Charlie Brown will lead his team to the baseball diamond, and year in and year out, his team would lose badly. This week, Larry Granillo at Wezen Ball decided to figure out just how bad Charlie Brown’s teams really were. Granillo offered up this introduction:
For fifty years, Charlie Brown took the field with his makeshift ballclub – the piano playing Schroeder behind the plate, the apathetic Lucy in centerfield, the blanket-toting Linus at second, and Snoopy, the slobbery superstar, at shortstop – and took beating after beating. Finding themselves on the wrong side of scores like 123-0 and 93-0 on a regular basis, the Peanuts crew was just never the talented powerhouse that Charlie Brown hoped for. But boy did they try. Few managers, and few teams, would have the heart to go out there day-after-day against such odds, but Charlie Brown and his crew were forever optimistic. It was endearing.
But losing takes it toll – if not on Charlie Brown’s spirits then, at the very least, in the record books. After decades of losing and seemingly-countless knockdown line-drives up the middle (the first one came in 1963), the stats can’t look too favorably on Team Peanuts. However, save for a short time when Linus was also team statistician, no one has ever taken the time to compile their stats. Granted, they aren’t going to be pretty, but someone should find the answer to the questions: how many games did Charlie Brown’s team lose? how many did they win? how many times did Charlie Brown get knocked over by a line-drive? and so on…
As anyone familiar with the Peanuts could tell you, the results are not pretty. So far, Granillo is through two decades, the 1950s and the 1960s, and Brown’s Nine are on par with the Mets. They managed to win a game in 1958 but ended the decade 1-25. By the end of the 1960s, they are a cumulative 7-85 in definite outcomes.
Anyway, check out Larry’s work. He traces the losses, the forfeits, the wins and even a mention of Charlie Brown’s walking 11 batters in a row. Eat your heart out, Retrosheet.
So this is your open thread tonight. Be good to each other. The Islanders are at home against the Red Wings, and the Devils and Rangers face off in the World’s Most Famous Arena. In light of this, it might be worth tuning in to the first ten minutes of Conan’s Tonight Show also.
Tweet
what dya guys make of this?
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....pn_4819982
I think the Yankees should demand a refund.
Wait until midnight, and my post on it will be up.
“‘The Marlins have consistently made every effort to put the best product on the field, and our record supports the fact that we have been successful in that regard,” team president David Samson said.’”
No they haven’t. Does that phrase even mean anything anymore? That phrase is missing the necessary conditions that would help make it factual.
I don’t want to step on Ben’s midnight post, so I won’t elaborate any further. Just wanted to throw that out there.
I already did my post–more than welocme to comment there in the mean time =)
(Not to detract from Ben, of course)
My alternative emphasis added:
“‘The Marlins have consistently made every effort to put the best product on the field, and our record supports the fact that we have been successful in that regard,” team president David Samson said.’”
Jettisoning players when their salary value exceeds their production value and replacing them with far younger, cheaper players is not necessarily “not making every effort to put the best product on the field”. Particularly if those younger cheaper players are very talented themselves, which they invariably are.
The Florida Marlins have been a far better product than several other teams who spend far more than they do. The Royals spend 150-300% of the Marlins budget and have less to show for it.
agreed. However, given the extraordinary amount of talent that has flown through that organization over the past decade, they do seem to have a lot of bad years, and really only a couple of very good ones. The team seems to refuse to capitalize on its own plethora of talent and instead settles for being ok but exciting every year. I think it’s perfectly understandable that fans (and the union) are frustrated by the fact that the team never takes the financial risk to cash in on the excitement it generates, instead continually replacing it’s exciting young players who are about to become stars with exciting prospects who are about 4-5 years away from stardom. If I were a Marlins fan, I’d be pretty fed up with being the world’s best AAA team too.
That said, I have no idea what the exact numbers are around their financial circumstances, so I can’t say whether it’s them being overly frugal or merely necessarily frugal.
They’re pieces of crap. Here’s a nice article by the late John Brattain.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/m.....ort-of-it/
Loria and Samson are sacks of human excrement, and I really hope that Selig put the screws to them.
That said, the Marlins have a fine record for an expansion team.
anyone suggested acquiring the struggling Brandon Jones who was at one time called the “left fielder of the future” for the Braves. (just on a minor league deal to see if he pans out?)
id sign off on any player coming on for a minor league deal
Good for Conan. Jay Leno is terrible.
Amen. And screw NBC.
“Ten years ago next month, the comic strip world will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Charles M. Schulz, creator and illustrated of Peanuts.”
So February of 2000 was the 50th anniversary of Schulz’s death?
My head hurts.
So ESPN’s side of the article “headline” reads:
Rumors: Damon back to the Bronx
this is the link it follows
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb.....lb_xxx_xxx
Nowhere does it say that Damon is headed back to the Yanks. Very misleading. It just mentions the Sherman article (with KLaw’s take on it), and has another (older) heading from Olney’s blog – where he points out the plainly obvious.
I’m so tired of ESPN.
So, do we think the Jets have a realistic shot at beating the Chargers?
Really?
j-e-t-s, jets jets jets jets
nahh i think there gonna lose, but they were fun for a while
They better beat them. No me gusta Los Chargers
I also don’t like the Chargers, but you’ve gotta love LaDanian Tomlinson.
If you didn’t before, you will after watching this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAm8gVVc5iY (safe)
Wait, this one’s a better version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
Awesome.
San Diego can’t stop the run, and the Jets’ D will always keep them in the game. They’ve got a chance. A small one, but they have a chance.
If it’s at least a billion to one shot, PLAY BALL!
A realistic shot?
Yes. I think the Jets have a realistic shot to beat every team in the NFL. Our defense is good enough to limit/control/shut down any single offense, even the high-powered Colts/Chargers/Saints/Vikings/etc. Our offensive line and runningbacks are good enough to run on any defense. The only wildcard is Sanchez. If he plays well, we win. If he turns the ball over, we lose.
Right now he’s playing well, so we can beat anyone.
That being said, we have three potential games left in this playoffs. Every single game is basically a Sanchez coin toss. One of these weeks, it’s gonna come up tails.
We can win, we can lose. Total tossup, Sanchez-style.
Great analysis. Really simple. But great.
Great, if you like your analysis completely one-sided. He made it seem as if winning the game was completely up to the Jets (specifically the Jets QB) as if the other team had nothing to do with it. He only referred to the Chargers once as being “high-powered” with no details whatsoever.
One-sided analysis is what blind fans get mocked for, and rightfully so.
He made it seem as if winning the game was completely up to the Jets (specifically the Jets QB) as if the other team had nothing to do with it.
No, what I did was examine all the factors in play and identify which factor is the most important.
I acknowledged that other teams have great teams. We also have a great team, however. And our team, outside of our quarterback, has performed better than every other team in the NFL this season.
When Sanchez has played well and not made turnovers, we’ve won. When he’s played poorly and made turnovers, we’ve lost, often narrowly. It’s not “one sided analysis”, it’s factual analysis. We’ve shut down elite offenses all year long. The fact that we have the best defense in the NFL is not an accident. We either win close games or lose close games (or win by blowout). The variable there is Sanchez.
I said he’s the only variable that matters because he is, in fact, the only variable that matters.
Don’t mind me, I’m in a crappy mood. But your post still sucked.
I’m a Jets fan looking for a biased Jets fan’s take to get my spirits up.
Hence, great post.
I am a Jets fan. That post was not biased, though.
I didn’t say we’re 100% awesome and we’re going to win. I said we have some awesome parts of our team, a statement verified by statistical evidence, and that we have a chance to win.
Great post/topic Ben. I enjoyed it immensely. (This coming from the guy who dragged his stuffed Snoopy everywhere as a kid in the 70′s)
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
And we all know that by “as a kid” you really mean “in my 20s.” Nice try.
Damn man, you see right through me
Random, but I was just wondering why everyone seems to be calling Javy Vazquez the yankees’ “4th starter”? I think it’s a bit unlikely that Pettitte outperforms Javy this year, and there’s a decent chance that Javy is even better than Burnett because of his consistency. I know it’s totally semantic, but it’s a little misguiding to call somebody the “best 4th starter in baseball” when he may be the 3rd or even 2nd best starter on his own team.
That’s where he’ll slot in, but yeah it doesn’t mean anything until October. By then Joe will know who to slot in where after CC. Hell, it’s not impossible that Joba could be our 2nd best pitcher by then.
you read my mind. I think the october rotation looks something like this: CC, Joba, AJ, with Andy, Javy, and Hughes in the BP as rescue-men for Joba and AJ. In 7 game series, either Andy or Javy is in the rotation, though I can’t predict which. You gotta have AJ in the rotation though, simply because he’s capable of giving you that 8/0/0/12 line, which Javy probably isn’t and Andy certainly isn’t, when the strength of playoff lineups is considered.
Javy certainly has the stuff to obliterate a major league lineup the way Burnett can. He’s also got much better command.
Unfortunately, they don’t call him “Home Run Javy” for nothing.
JJ Abrams really loves Greg Grunberg, doesn’t he? He’s probably trying to steal him from Heroes to put on Fringe right now.
On the heels of us signing Rose Royce and Oprah Winfrey for depth, I decided to spin it forward and foolishly try to anticipate who goes where.
If today was Opening Day, and we don’t add anyone not already attached to the organization, here’s what I’ve got. Tell me where I’m wrong and who I left out.
—————
Yankees (MLB):
C- Jorge Posada
1B- Mark Teixeira
2B- Robinson Cano
SS- Derek Jeter
3B- Alex Rodriguez
LF- Brett Gardner
CF- Curtis Granderson
RF- Nick Swisher
DH- Nick Johnson
Bench (4)
Frankie Cervelli, Ramiro Peña, Jaime Hoffmann, Juan Miranda
Rotation (5)
CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Javier Vazquez, Joba Chamberlain
Bullpen (7)
Mo Rivera, Phil Hughes, Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Al Aceves, Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre
—————
Scranton (AAA):
C- Jesus Montero
1B- David Winfree
2B- Reegie Corona
SS- Eduardo Nunez
3B- Kevin Russo
LF- Colin Curtis
CF- Reid Gorecki
RF- Jon Weber
DH- Jorge Vazquez
Bench (4)
Mike Rivera, Richie Robnett, Chris Malec, ?????
Rotation (5)
Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova, Kei Igawa, Jason Hirsh, Jeremy Bleich
Bullpen (7)
Jon Albaladejo, Edwar Ramirez, Mark Melancon, Romulo Sanchez (SP), Boone Logan, Royce Ring, Ryan Pope (SP)
—————
Trenton (AA):
C- Austin Romine
1B- ???????
2B- David Adams
SS- Justin Snyder
3B- Brad Suttle
LF- Austin Krum
CF- Damon Sublett
RF- Dan Brewer
DH- ???????
Bench (4)
P.J. Pilittere, Matthew Cusick, Marcos Vechionacci, ???????
Rotation (5)
Hector Noesi, Wilkins De La Rosa, Jason Stephens, Lance Pendleton, DJ Mitchell
Bullpen (7)
Pat Venditte, Humberto Sanchez, Adam Olbrychowski, Eric Wordekemper, Kevin Whelan, Josh Schmidt, Grant Duff
—————
Tampa (Hi-A):
C- Mitch Abeita
1B- Luke Murton
2B- Corban Joseph
SS- Addison Maruszak
3B- Brandon Laird
LF- Neil Medchill
CF- Melky Mesa
RF- DeAngelo Mack
DH- Mitch Hilligoss
Bench (4)
Brian Baisley, ???????, ???????, ???????
Rotation (5)
David Phelps, Manny Banuelos, Trent Lare, Adam Warren, Sean Black
Bullpen (7)
Tim Norton, Jonathan Ortiz, Brad Rulon, Cory Arbiso, Dickson Marquez, Ryan Zink (SP) Amaury Sanit
—————
Charleston (Lo-A):
C- Kyle Higashioka/J.R. Murphy
1B- Neall French
2B- Hector Rabago
SS- Carmen Angelini
3B- Rob Lyerly
LF- Justin Milo
CF- Slade Heathcott
RF- Abe Almonte
DH- Kyle Higashioka/J.R. Murphy
Bench (4)
Garrison Lassiter, Jose Pirela, Taylor Grote, Kevin Mahoney
Rotation (5)
Jose Ramirez, Andrew Brackman, Brett Marshall, Jairo Heredia, Caleb Cotham
Bullpen (7)
Sam Elam, Daniel Kapala, Brandon Baboy, Graham Stoneburner, Manny Barreda, Gavin Brooks, Fransisco Rondon (SP)
—————
Minor League DL:
George Kontos (AAA), Chris Garcia (AA), Dellin Betances (Hi-A)
Too young/raw for full-season ball, or number-crunched out of a roster spot on one of those five teams and thus, ticketed for EXST and Staten Island or the GCL
Gary Sanchez, Kelvin DeLeon, Brett Gerritse, Matt Richardson, Nik Turley, Bryan Mitchell, Shaeffer Hall, Fransisco Rondon
Who’s Jason Hirsh?
The buddy sittin’ next to ya?
See below.
Damn, you put so much work into that I feel like stealing this for a post tomorrow.
http://www.tiricosuave.com/200.....snt-exist/
BTW-Jason Hirsh? I nevah herd ah no-bah-dee named Jason Hirsh!
I expect a hefty finder’s fee.
Why not do a guest post? I’m sure Mo won’t mind.
Meh, you can do it and just hat-tip me. And Mike.
We hold exclusive guest posting rights for Mr. smithjohncarlos.
Sorry.
I’ll have my people get back to your people.
You need a gig with the Yanks, man.
Not sure Miranda makes the 25 man roster. I’ll bet if they sign super-sub Jerry Hairston, they carry an extra pitcher.
I doubt they would keep thirteen pitchers, especially with 3 guys (Ace, Gaudin, Mitre) who can go long. At that point, a power hitting pinch hitter > an 8th guy in the pen.
Duh. You’re right, I miscounted. I thought it was 12 with the extra pitcher.
Some thoughts:
1. Bleich and Pope go back to Trenton, Romulo gets a AAA rotation spot.
2. Kevin Smith probably plays 1B/DH in AA.
3. No way Suttle starts in AA. He was in A- in 2008, then missed all of 2009 with shoulder surgeries. At best, he starts in A+.
4. Jason Stephens is gone, MiL FA. I think he’s with the Braves now.
5. Sean Black’s a reliever going forward, so swap him with Zink.
6. Tim Norton hurt his shoulder again, he’s probably done. Like done done.
7. I think Murphy starts in XST, then SI.
8. Jimmy Paredes plays 2B everyday for someone, likely A-. He’s actually got a chance.
9. I think Lassiter will start at some position, somewhere. Just to try to get him going and justify the investment.
10. Marshall’s out until mid-season with TJ.
11. I think it’s time to give Turley a shot in full season.
12. Brooks probably goes to A+.
13. DeLeon probably goes to A- to play RF.
14. Almonte finished strong, he probably goes to A+. Ray Kruml will take his spot with A-.
15. Jon Ortiz might end up in AA.
16. Amaury Sanit’s going to AAA. He threw in 19 games there last year, and dude’s like, 32 years old.
Thanks. This is exactly what I was expecting from you. You’re the best, Axisa. I take back that nasty comment where I called you a fascist.
You’re a corporatist, at best.
17. Forgot about Javi Herrera. AA outfield, they’ll all do the rotating DH thing.
too many long men on the big club–send Mitre back to AAA and give the last bullpen spot to Melancon, or whoever wins it out of ST
No.
I would. Mitre needs to pitch, and Melancon just needs some MLB experience. I thought MMs control problems last year were totally a result of nerves. It’s something so atypical for him, we’ve never seen him be so wild at any level.
Did we confirm that Mitre had an option left?
I put him with the big club because I believe he’s out of options.
I’m not even sure it was a major league deal he signed. We’ll need someone to confirm.
Meh, we have no reason to believe it’s not.
He’s out of options and it’s a ML deal. Declining his 2010 option and offering arbitration doesn’t remove him from the 40-man.
Even if he agreed to a MiL deal, they’d have to go through the process of releasing him (which involves clearing waivers) in order to re-sign him.
yes.
Would there be any chance the Yanks decide to turn Miranda into a super utility type player? I mean, the one position he plays can be played by 3 people already(excluding Posada). If he isn’t going to start at his position, they might as well have him learn others. Making him a left-handed Derosa(although I’m sure Derosa will be/is better at multiple postions while Miranda IMO would be average at best at those positions).
Meh, I’m sure that if they thought he could play well at multiple positions, he would be doing so. But, based on scouting reports, it does not seem like he’d really fit anywhere but first, DH or MAYBE rightfield, though he would probably be a well below defender out there.
well below average defender*
Uhhh. . . . he can barely play 1B. He’s an awful defender.
we should also turn jesus montero into a center fielder and kei igawa into a pokemon
kei igawa already is a pokemon.
source: fangraphs.com
Man, the upper minors — woof.
I hope Mack, Medchill, Brewer and Almonte can go a bit of a ways towards solving this system’s deficiency in corner OF bats.
Yeah, it aint pretty.
I think Trenton should put Adams at 2 and Romine at 3. That could be a nice combo.
I assume you mean batting order positions, because you can’t possibly be suggestion that Adams catch and Romine play 1B.
Duh.
Wow, Angelini’s star has really fallen. Is he still considered a prospect? Can’t be, huh?
He’s hanging on by a thread.
jose pirela to high A starting SS and mojica maybe starting at short for low a
I think they’re having Angelini repeat high school. Other than that, nice.
I do think Jairo will start in High A. Guy pitched 100 innings in A-.
I still think the loser of the Hughes/Joba competition will start the season in the AAA rotation. Right or wrong, the Yankees seem very hesitant to move young pitchers from the pen to the rotation in midseason (probably due to the Joba and Aceves injuries the past two years). With that as the basis, I can’t see them giving up on one of them starting in 2010 before the season even starts. I could see a midseason move from the AAA rotation to the major league pen depending on how things go, but not for opening day.
ESPN says Lane Kiffin’s going to USC
enjoy the sanctions and lost scholarships.
The common media narrative surrounding Mark McGwire is that “he wasn’t a great player until he starting using the juice when he started breaking down around mid-career.”
http://www.baseball-reference......html?redir
I don’t know when he started using, but he was HOF player before 1994. He had two huge seasons in 87 and 92 and three excellent seasons in between. 5 of his first 6 seasons were HOF quality.
That being said, he probably wouldn’t have been physically able to stay on the field once he started breaking down without the winstrol, so he very likely would have not had a HOF career.
That last sentence doesn’t read well.
He would have needed another 4-5 big seasons to be a HOF player, and he probably wouldn’t have been able to do that physically.
Between ’87-99, he had only two seasons of an OPS+ under 130. Dude’s a Hall of Famer.
Problem is you can’t trust any of his numbers. Though he was clearly an elite player of his generation.
Problem is you can’t trust any of his numbers.
You can trust all of his numbers. You just choose not to.
Until you can prove that he never faced any hitters who were using PEDs, then there’s no reason to doubt his numbers. He hit 49 homers as a rookie looking like this:
http://www.homeruncards.com/im.....re87tp.jpg
“Until you can prove that he never faced any
hitterspitchers who were using PEDs, then there’s no reason to doubt his numbers.”Made the same mistake myself earlier today.
but without the PEDs…does he stay healthy long enough to accumulate such good numbers ?
Who knows. Maybe he broke down because of the PEDs.
thats possible, a little later in life he will probably break down more
I’m sorry, but that’s just a lazy cop out. Hopefully we can apply a little more thought to analyzing a players career than the all or nothing approach.
Specifically, the argument that we have to take all of his numbers at face value because he faced pitchers that were also on PEDs is bogus. One of the most often cited stats is OPS+, which is normalized to the league averages. That means that a hitter on PEDs would have a better OPS+ than a player not on PEDs when facing the same group of pitchers – whether the pitchers are also using PEDs or not is irrelevant.
For anyone who missed the McGwire interview and/or doesn’t have MLB network, here’s the link-
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.....id=7148421
He comes across as a decent guy, but he was clearly coached. His assertion that he would have hit as many HRs without the juice is at best delusional, at worst self-serving and laughable.
i gotta say, i’m more disenfranchised with Mark McGwire because of that interview than i am because of his steroid use. Not because of anything he said, but because him breaking into tears on national television is pretty much destroying the Paul Bunyon image I had of him in my mind. sissy bitch.
I think that’s part of the PR plan. It’s hard to beat someone up who crying and groveling.
Also, I counted 5 “Hand-eye co-ordinations” and 12 “so sorry”-ies. Needless to say, I don’t think it was all heartfelt.
You’re disenfranchised with Mark McGwire? Why? Did you deny you the right to vote or something?
No, he and Big Mac owned a MacDonalds restaurant.
i lol’ed at this
Also, for those interested, at 1PM tomorrow, a second post in my Moose v. Tommy G “series” is going up and this one has a graph!
WOO-HOOO!!!
I don’t need a graph to judge 2 baseball players I’ve seen with my own two eyes to know who had a HOF impact.
/Heyman’d (who if he followed his own rules would vote for Canseco)
ooh, graphs
more Moose ammo–
nearly identical W/L (268-152), 126 ERA+, 1.180 WHIP, 7.6 H/9, 0.7 HR/9, 3.0 BB/9, 5.0 K/9, 1.69 K/BB
that’s Jim Palmer
No way do any of the writers equate Moose with Palmer — Palmer has multiple Cys, at least one ring, and several 20 win seasons.
Moose certainly was better than people realize, but I feel like his time with the Yankees will hurt him in HOF voters’ eyes — few Cy votes, no WS wins, and a lower level of performance than in Baltimore. However, he’ll probably go in by the 6th ballot or so.
3 rings, 3 Cy Youngs, and 8 20-win seasons, hence the slam-dunk candidacy
just saying the two pitchers weren’t really all that different, for all that most writers would never equate them. Moose would have won 20 a few times if he was in 4-man rotations, and it isn’t his fault he pitched at the same time as Clemens and Pedro
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/.....nment.html
If he gets through till the yanks, they should go for that, no?
Yes. He won’t though, he won’t make it through the NL.
true. they’ll probably be able to trade him even
Ben, Joe, and Mike,
I have to give you guys credit — blogging is difficult. I started a blog in October or so for my own benefit, and it’s a bitch to focus my entries, even though I’ve always considered myself as someone who writes well. So, again, kudos to you for churning out multiple daily entries of what feels like homework to me.
+1.
I never really appreciated how hard it is to write something worth reading until I tried blogging myself. They really do a great job, and even the fact that Joe’s a drunk and Mike’s a convicted child molester doesn’t change my mind about his fine analysis one bit.
Technically, Mike’s not a convicted child molester.
They don’t discriminate between young farm animals and adult farm animals, they’re all the same class of felony.
My pets are like children to me. Mike gave a whole new meaning to ‘giving the dog a bone’ and it was just wrong.
Isn’t Ben a little old to be reading ‘Peanuts’?
No one is too old to read Peanuts.
any way melky mesa learns how to hit? cause it appears that he is ridiculously toolsy, he is an outfielder, and his name is melky
anyone else with the initials IPK in the system too? that would be pretty amazing
His given name is ‘Melquisedec Mesa’. Unfortunately, the other Melky we know and love is apparently just ‘Melky’.
eh, not like anyone would actually call him mequisedec
I would. That name is fucking awesome.
http://www.dustygroove.com/ima.....o_101b.jpg (safe)
My mind?! B-L-O-W-N!
ELIAS!!!!
http://img227.imageshack.us/im.....ias8fd.jpg
IETCVM
Fiddlesticks. :/
What a great game!!!! Brodeur with 51 saves then 4/4 in the shoot out for shut out 107!!! Go Devils!!!
Maaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttttyyyyyyyyyyyyy’s Beeeeeeeettttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrr.
Suck it, Garden.
Can we get Elias into the top 3 shooters in shootouts from now on? The guy’s awesome in the shootout, I don’t really get why he’s not one of the first three shooters every time.
In re: the defensive spectrum
While it’s typically shown as C-SS-2B-CF-3B-RF-LF-1B, I think there’s an argument to be made that C should be removed from the spectrum entirely, as the skills required to play catcher at a high level aren’t necessarily related to the skills that will help one succeed as a plus defender at lower levels of the defensive spectrum.
As an example, we’re relatively confident that Derek Jeter could have, in his younger years, been a fine 2B or 3B, or CF. However, Yadier Molina, despite being an excellent defensive catcher, probably can’t play any of the other positions, except 1B. The same goes for many other fine defensive catcher, and exacerbates as they age, whereas aging SS or CFs can move to 2B, 3B or the outfield corners and still be defensive assets.
I’ve articulated this previously and ineleganty (mostly in Montero-related threads), but I thought this is something worth throwing out here.
Throughout his career, Johnny Bench started a couple of dozen games a year in the OF, 1B and 3B.
With no DH in the NL, guess it was Sparky’s way of giving his legs a breather while keeping his bat in the line-up.
Also, Joe Torre played 3B after his catching days were over.
My point is, who’s to say Yadier couldn’t do the same?
I think he’s speculating, Would a good fielding catcher translate into a great fielding SS in the same way a good fielding CF translates into a great fielding RF or LF.
Well, I think today’s catchers (and ballplayers in general) are better athletes than those of previous generations, and hence they would be more likely to be able to hold their own at another defensive position.
Didn’t Posada start as an infielder?
Yea he started as a 2nd baseman. While I think they’re are many catchers who would do great in any other position, (Joe Mauer comes to mind) it is not a rule in the way that it is a rule in the way that a CF is good at RF or a SS is good at 2B. Therefore, I agree with Accent Shallow in that catching is not comparable to other positions, and should be considered outside the normal defensive spectrum.
ugh, there not they’re*
Johnny Bench is certainly an exception. Not that great defensive catchers are going to be completely inept at other positions, but the skills are less likely to translate.
Another NRI signee: Zack Segovia
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com....._id=434564
He’s awful. He’ll be pitching in Newark by June.
As a follow up on today’s strikeout I searched for the highest strikeout totals in a season by position(minimum 100 games), and this lineup would absolutely mash.
1b Howard 145
2b Bellhorn 107
3b Reynolds 123
ss Hernandez 120
lf Dunn 146
cf Wilson 109
rf Bonds 134
c Posada 139
dh Cust 129
Sorry, those are the OPS+’s.
If strikeouts are considered neutral for the hitter, then how can they also be considered beneficial to the pitcher?
Because hitters aren’t pitchers and pitchers aren’t hitters.
Casey Kelly begs to differ.
What about Swish?
Again, it’s a trade off. You live with a batter striking out excessively he does other things well. It’s been historically shown that pitcher’s with below average K rates do not have a long shelf life.
That team is offensively the worst of the worst when it comes to striking out yet would be a force offensively. They would also wear the hell out of starting pitchers.
Or, put differently:
Low K rate is highly correlated to unsuccessful, unproductive pitchers.
High K rate is highly correlated to successful, productive pitchers.
Low K rate is highly correlated to successful, productive hitters.
High K rate is highly correlated to unsuccessful, unproductive hitters.
However, the weakest correlation is the last one. There are more high-K-rate hitters that defy their expected statistical correlation and are successful, productive hitters despite their bloated K rates.
Pitchers who strike guys out: generally good.
Pitchers who don’t strike guys out: generally bad.
Hitters who don’t strike out: generally good.
Hitters who do strike out: a mixed bag of good and bad (at least, far more of a mixed bag than the other three groups.
California’s dead broke, the unemployment and housing markets are disasters. So if you’re out of work and out on the street, you might as well get stoned.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news.....22877.html
So I guess you’ll be able to buy a joint at your local 7-11?
When you’re $20 billion in debt, you can’t overlook any source of potential income.
That state is such a shithole, thank goodness I got out when I did. “Hey, the economy is awful, but at least the weather’s nice in most parts.”
I couldn’t agree more. A well run state would spend it’s time attracting high paying jobs so it’s residents would have a future. Legalizing pot just shows me how desperate they are for cash, and how lost they are for leadership.
As a former habitual smoker, I think this is great news.
I do wonder though how they would grandfather it in if the bill ever went through. How many people in Cali are currently imprisoned or facing future charges for possession of marijuana.
Note to self: move to California
Okay, Mike, I took your suggestions, and a few from other posters, and refined my post. Here’s the revised minor league rosters:
—————
Scranton (AAA):
C- Jesus Montero
1B- David Winfree
2B- Reegie Corona
SS- Eduardo Nunez
3B- Kevin Russo
LF- Colin Curtis
CF- Reid Gorecki
RF- Jon Weber
DH- Jorge Vazquez
Bench (4)
Mike Rivera, Richie Robnett, Chris Malec, ?????
Rotation (5)
Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova, Kei Igawa, Jason Hirsh, Romulo Sanchez
Bullpen (7)
Jon Albaladejo, Edwar Ramirez, Mark Melancon, Boone Logan, Royce Ring, Kevin Whelan, Amaury Sanit
—————
Trenton (AA):
C- Austin Romine
1B- Kevin Smith
2B- David Adams
SS- Justin Snyder
3B- Brandon Laird
LF- Austin Krum
CF- Damon Sublett
RF- Dan Brewer
DH- Javi Herrera (OF rotation)
Bench (4)
P.J. Pilittere, Matthew Cusick, Marcos Vechionacci, ???????
Rotation (5)
Hector Noesi, Wilkins De La Rosa, Lance Pendleton, DJ Mitchell, Jeremy Bleich, Ryan Pope (SP)
Bullpen (7)
Pat Venditte, Humberto Sanchez, Adam Olbrychowski, Eric Wordekemper, Josh Schmidt, Grant Duff, Jonathan Ortiz
—————
Tampa (Hi-A):
C- Mitch Abeita
1B- Luke Murton
2B- Corban Joseph
SS- Jose Pirela
3B- Brad Suttle
LF- Abe Almonte
CF- Melky Mesa
RF- DeAngelo Mack
DH- Neil Medchill (OF rotation)
Bench (4)
Hector Rabago, Addison Maruszak, Brian Baisley, Mitch Hilligoss
Rotation (5)
David Phelps, Manny Banuelos, Trent Lare, Adam Warren, Ryan Zink
Bullpen (7)
Gavin Brooks, Brad Rulon, Cory Arbiso, Dickson Marquez, Sean Black, Fransisco Rondon (SP)
—————
Charleston (Lo-A):
C- Kyle Higashioka
1B- Neall French
2B- Jimmy Paredes
SS- Carmen Angelini
3B- Rob Lyerly
LF- Justin Milo
CF- Slade Heathcott
RF- Kelvin DeLeon
DH- Ray Kruml
Bench (4)
Garrison Lassiter, Taylor Grote, Kevin Mahoney
Rotation (5)
Jose Ramirez, Andrew Brackman, Nik Turley, Jairo Heredia, Caleb Cotham
Bullpen (7)
Sam Elam, Daniel Kapala, Brandon Baboy, Graham Stoneburner, Manny Barreda,
—————
Minor League DL:
George Kontos (AAA), Chris Garcia (AA), Tim Norton (AA), Dellin Betances (Hi-A) Brett Marshall (Lo-A),
Too young/raw for full-season ball, or number-crunched out
J.R. Murphy, Gary Sanchez, Brett Gerritse, Matt Richardson, Bryan Mitchell, Shaeffer Hall,
New questions:
1.) I have 6 starters for 5 rotation slots in AA Trenton.
Noesi, WDLR, Pendleton, Mitchell, Bleich, Pope.
Who doesn’t make it, Pope? If he goes to the Trenton pen, who gets bumped down to Tampa’s pen, Olbrychowski? Wordekemper? Duff?
2.) In order to bump Suttle down to Tampa’s starting 3B spot, I bumped Laird up to Trenton. Would they actually do that, on the heels of his arrest? I’d imagine the org would want Laird close to the Tampa complex.
3.) I can’t figure out where to start Lassiter. Suttle and Lyerly would appear to have Tampa and Charleston’s starting 3B spots locked. Would we move Lyerly over to first already just to get Lassiter a spot? Benching French?
4.) Giving a starting spot to Paredes moved Rabago to the bench (albeit up a level) from my first attempt. Rabago’s ticketed for superutility anyway, but wouldn’t we want him starting somewhere everyday?
5.) I now have two spots left in the Charleston bullpen. Who gets them? Shaffer Hall, maybe?
1) Noesi only made nine starts in Tampa last year, so I bet he at least starts there and bumps Zink to the pen.
2) I really don’t know about Laird. His performance warrants a promotion, but they came down hard on Kontos when he got pinched (that was during the season, though). I’m guessing he starts in Trenton. Just a hunch.
3) French is just an org guy and can be benched.
4) Rabago playing basically fulltime with SI, at a different position almost every day. I bet he does the same next year, likely with Charleston to start.
5) There’s a zillion candidates. Ryan Flannery, Ben Watkins, Kelvin Perez, Charles Nolte, Dan Miller, Ronny Marte, Craig Heyer, Julian Arbalo, there’s way more bodies than spots.
Gracias.
Last one, people, here we go. This should be our collective best guess. I also added a blank spot at the big league level for whomever we sign with that mysterious 2M for LF (like Reed Johnson or something).
Feel free to cut and paste this shizz for your post, Nostra:
—————
Yankees (MLB):
C- Jorge Posada
1B- Mark Teixeira
2B- Robinson Cano
SS- Derek Jeter
3B- Alex Rodriguez
LF- Brett Gardner
CF- Curtis Granderson
RF- Nick Swisher
DH- Nick Johnson
Bench (4)
Frankie Cervelli, Ramiro Peña, Jamie Hoffmann, _________
Rotation (5)
CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Javier Vazquez, Joba Chamberlain
Bullpen (7)
Mo Rivera, Phil Hughes, Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Al Aceves, Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre
—————
Scranton (AAA):
C- Jesus Montero
1B- Juan Miranda
2B- Reegie Corona
SS- Eduardo Nunez
3B- Kevin Russo
LF- Colin Curtis
CF- Reid Gorecki
RF- Jon Weber
DH- Jorge Vazquez (1B)
Bench (4)
Mike Rivera, Richie Robnett, Chris Malec, David Winfree
Rotation (5)
Kei Igawa, Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova, Romulo Sanchez, Jason Hirsh
Bullpen (7)
Jon Albaladejo, Edwar Ramirez, Mark Melancon, Boone Logan, Royce Ring, Kevin Whelan, Amaury Sanit
—————
Trenton (AA):
C- Austin Romine
1B- Kevin Smith
2B- David Adams
SS- Justin Snyder
3B- Brandon Laird
LF- Austin Krum
CF- Damon Sublett
RF- Dan Brewer
DH- Javi Herrera (OF)
Bench (4)
P.J. Pilittere, Matthew Cusick, Marcos Vechionacci, _________
Rotation (5)
Jeremy Bleich, Wilkins De La Rosa, Lance Pendleton, DJ Mitchell, Ryan Pope
Bullpen (7)
Pat Venditte, Humberto Sanchez, Grant Duff, Adam Olbrychowski, Jonathan Ortiz, Josh Schmidt, Eric Wordekemper
—————
Tampa (Hi-A):
C- Mitch Abeita
1B- Luke Murton
2B- Corban Joseph
SS- Jose Pirela
3B- Brad Suttle
LF- Abe Almonte
CF- Melky Mesa
RF- DeAngelo Mack
DH- Neil Medchill (OF)
Bench (4)
Addison Maruszak Brian Baisley, Mitch Hilligoss, _________
Rotation (5)
Hector Noesi, Manny Banuelos, David Phelps, Adam Warren, Trent Lare
Bullpen (7)
Gavin Brooks, Sean Black Brad Rulon, Cory Arbiso, Dickson Marquez, Ryan Zink (SP), Fransisco Rondon (SP)
—————
Charleston (Lo-A):
C- Kyle Higashioka
1B- Rob Lyerly
2B- Jimmy Paredes
SS- Carmen Angelini
3B- Garrison Lassiter
LF- Justin Milo
CF- Slade Heathcott
RF- Kelvin DeLeon
DH- Ray Kruml (OF)
Bench (4)
Hector Rabago, Taylor Grote, Kevin Mahoney, Neall French
Rotation (5)
Jose Ramirez, Andrew Brackman, Jairo Heredia, Caleb Cotham, Nik Turley
Bullpen (7)
Manny Barreda, Graham Stoneburner, Sam Elam, Daniel Kapala, Brandon Baboy, Ryan Flannery, Ben Watkins
—————
Minor League DL:
George Kontos (AAA), Chris Garcia (AA), Tim Norton (AA), Dellin Betances (Hi-A) Brett Marshall (Lo-A)
Too young/raw for full-season ball, or number-crunched out
J.R. Murphy, Gary Sanchez, Brett Gerritse, Matt Richardson, Bryan Mitchell, Shaeffer Hall
—————
Let’s all laugh at how incorrect this is later with the benefit of hindsight.
If you wind up being 80% correct, would that be good?
Great list. I agree for the most part. My changes are in bold.
—————–
Yankees (MLB):
C- Jorge Posada
1B- Mark Teixeira
2B- Robinson Cano
SS- Derek Jeter
3B- Alex Rodriguez
LF- Brett Gardner
CF- Curtis Granderson
RF- Nick Swisher
DH- Nick Johnson
Bench (4)
Frankie Cervelli, Ramiro Peña, Jamie Hoffmann, _________
Rotation (5)
CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Javier Vazquez, Joba Chamberlain
Bullpen (7)
Mo Rivera, Phil Hughes, Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Al Aceves, Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre
—————
Scranton (AAA):
C- Jesus Montero
1B- Juan Miranda
2B- Reegie Corona
SS- Eduardo Nunez
3B- Kevin Russo
LF- Colin Curtis
CF- Reid Gorecki
RF- Jon Weber
DH- Jorge Vazquez (1B)
Bench (4)
Mike Rivera, Richie Robnett, Chris Malec, David Winfree
Rotation (5)
Kei Igawa, Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova, Romulo Sanchez, Jason Hirsh
Bullpen (7)
Jon Albaladejo, Edwar Ramirez, Mark Melancon, Boone Logan, Royce Ring, Kevin Whelan, Amaury Sanit
—————
Trenton (AA):
C- Austin Romine
1B- Brandon Laird
2B- David Adams
SS- Justin Snyder
3B- Marcos Vechinacci
LF- Austin Krum
CF- Damon Sublett
RF- Dan Brewer
DH- Javi Herrera (OF)
Bench (4)
P.J. Pilittere, Matthew Cusick, Kevin Smith, _________
Rotation (5)
Jeremy Bleich, Wilkins De La Rosa, Lance Pendleton, DJ Mitchell, Ryan Pope
Bullpen (7)
Pat Venditte, Humberto Sanchez, Grant Duff, Adam Olbrychowski, Jonathan Ortiz, Josh Schmidt, Eric Wordekemper
—————
Tampa (Hi-A):
C- Mitch Abeita
1B- Luke Murton
2B- Corban Joseph
SS- Jose Pirela
3B- Brad Suttle
LF- DeAngelo Mack
CF- Abe Almonte
RF- Melky Mesa
DH- Neil Medchill (OF)
Bench (4)
Addison Maruszak Brian Baisley, Mitch Hilligoss, _________
Rotation (5)
Hector Noesi, Manny Banuelos, David Phelps, Adam Warren, Trent Lare
Bullpen (7)
Gavin Brooks, Sean Black Brad Rulon, Cory Arbiso, Dickson Marquez, Ryan Zink (SP), Fransisco Rondon (SP)
—————
Charleston (Lo-A):
C- Kyle Higashioka
1B- Rob Lyerly
2B- Jimmy Paredes
SS- Carmen Angelini
3B- Garrison Lassiter
LF- Justin Milo
CF- Slade Heathcott
RF- Kelvin DeLeon
DH- Ray Kruml (OF)
Bench (4)
Hector Rabago, Taylor Grote, Kevin Mahoney, Neall French
Rotation (5)
Jose Ramirez, Andrew Brackman, Jairo Heredia, Caleb Cotham, Nik Turley
Bullpen (7)
Manny Barreda, Graham Stoneburner, Sam Elam, Daniel Kapala, Brandon Baboy, Ryan Flannery, Ben Watkins
—————
Minor League DL:
George Kontos (AAA), Chris Garcia (AA), Tim Norton (AA), Dellin Betances (Hi-A) Brett Marshall (Lo-A)
Too young/raw for full-season ball, or number-crunched out
J.R. Murphy, Gary Sanchez, Brett Gerritse, Matt Richardson, Bryan Mitchell, Shaeffer Hall
——-
Also, I wonder what they’ll do with Barreda and Stoneburner since imo the Yanks might still want to develop them as starters for now.
Hypothetical foot race:
Jason Giambi
Jose Molina
Hideki Matsui
Vlad Guerrero
Who wins?
Matsui and Vlad are nothing without the segways, so it’s a toss up between Giambi and Molina. I’d go with Molina because he’s much faster (relatively speaking) than JG.
[...] the Florida Marlins are very adept at building a very good team for little amount of money. As TSJC said earlier tonight, the Marlins have simply decided not to spend on players after free agency and instead have built a [...]
Wow! you guys really take advantage of the “open thread.” Finally, a fun piece & the comments never once address it. My Charlie Brown & Lucy Van Pelt standees are highly pissed. “Rats!”
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