Archive for January, 2010
Football Open Thread: Jets at Chargers
Posted by: | CommentsWith 11 wins in their last 11 games, the Chargers are the hottest team in football. The Jets, however, come in with some momentum, beating the Bengals twice to make it this far. Can Darrelle Revis shut down Vincent Jackson? Can the defense that allowed the fewest points this year stop the offense that scored the fourth most? Well, they say defense wins championships. Let’s see if the Jets’ takes them closer to one.
Football Open Thread: Cowboys at Vikings
Posted by: | CommentsWe have a few Cowboys fans who read RAB, so there will be some interest in this one. We also have some Jets fans who are a bit bitter over the way Favre ended last season. Any Vikings fans in the house?
Implicit advice to Posada regarding Joba
Posted by: | CommentsWhile Jorge Posada‘s compatibility with A.J. Burnett came into question during the 2009 season, that’s not the only pitcher-catcher combo on which we commented. Jorge also had a hard time working with Joba Chamberlain, though many of us pinned that on the younger of the pair. That was understandable. Joba spent too much time shaking off Jorge’s calls, and not enough time throwing strikes.
In his blog entry today, Buster Olney points us to the blog of former catcher Brent Mayne, who has been writing about catching. It’s promotion for his book on the subject, but he does offer up useful tips for catchers. Today has to do with the basics of setting up around the plate. His advice for catchers:
This is how you can help. Work fast. Put the signs down quickly and intuitively. Get the pitcher in a good tempo and remember the less time he has to think, the better. DO NOT set up too far on the corners! Unless your pitcher’s name is Greg Maddux or Cliff Lee, setting up away from the plate is an excellent recipe for a walk-a-thon. Only split the corners of the plate with your crouch when you are way ahead in the count. Make the pitcher throw good low strikes yielding weak ground balls. Set up around the plate and make the offense put the ball in play right now.
Easier said than done, of course, and your pitcher can always mess up the rhythm by shaking off too many signs. Still, it’s advice I like. Whether it actually works I’m not sure. But I’d feel a lot better about Joba if Posada handled him like this.
Lower deck removed from old Yankee Stadium
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Tom Kaminski of WCBS 880 has done a good job of keeping us apprised of the latest in the destruction of Yankee Stadium. The above photo comes from his latest gallery. As you can see, the lower deck appears almost gone. Tom has some up close photos of the empty space where the lower deck used to be.
Open Thread: Ravens at Colts
Posted by: | CommentsRay Lewis and his homies murdered the Patriot’s dynasty last week, and now they’ll deal with the team that was too cool to go undefeated. This should be a good one, chat about it here and enjoy.
Open Thread: Cardinals at Saints
Posted by: | CommentsThis should be a good one. If the Pack managed to drop 45 on Arizona’s D last week, I wonder if Saint Drew & Co. could hang 70+ on ‘em. Should be a fun game, chat about it here.
Report: Committee forming to work on draft changes
Posted by: | CommentsVia Bob Elliott, a committee is being formed to work on changes to the amateur draft, most notably making it world-wide and instituting a slotting system. “This time it has a chance,” said Elliott’s source, a scouting director.
The current CBA expires after 2011, and I have a hard time believing they’ll open it up to implement these changes before then. The 2010 draft is now less than six months away, and it just doesn’t seem reasonable that the two sides could get away with making any changes before then without giving the club’s plenty of notice. Then again, what do I know.
Unconfirmed Rumor: Yanks reach agreement with Baldelli (UPDATE: No they don’t)
Posted by: | CommentsUpdate (11:23am): Cashman on the news: “That would be false.”
11:06am: Via Rocco Baldelli’s Facebook page, the Yankees have reached an agreement with the free agent outfielder. Joe wrote up the case for Baldelli earlier in the week, and of course it’ll all come down to his health. If he can stay on the field and produce in a platoon role, then there’s nothing not to like about this move.
We’re still looking for more confirmation on this, so don’t take it as gospel just yet. For all we know, that could be a fake page.
A-Rod sought out Gaborik for reassurance about hip surgery
Posted by: | CommentsVia Mark Herrmann, Yanks’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez sought out current Rangers’ star Marian Gaborik last March for reassurance about having the torn labrum in his hip surgically repaired. Gaborik, who had his hip repaired by Dr. Marc Philippon (A-Rod‘s doc) last January while playing for the Minnesota Wild, spoke with Alex face-to-face in Vail about what to expect.
“It was the doctor who did everything,” said Gaborik. “But I know that for myself, it was always good to hear from somebody who had it done and got through things. And [A-Rod] had a great year.” Gaborik said the two haven’t spoke since.
After missing about three months total due to the injury, Gaborik signed a five year, $37.5M deal with the Rangers during the summer (that’s a huge deal in the NHL). He’s currently among the league’s top five in both goals and total points, so it’s not like A-Rod’s the only world class athlete to come back from this procedure and excel.
Yes, Eric Byrnes is a left field option
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Just last night I used this space to make a case for the Yankees potentially acquiring Conor Jackson, and now I’m going to write about another Diamondbacks’ outfielder, Eric Byrnes. Arizona designated the fan favorite for assignment yesterday, signaling the end of one of the most ill-advised contract extensions in recent memory. The deal was so absurd at the time it was signed that it almost had to be ordered from ownership, who was probably trying to use Byrnes’ popularity to keep fans around following the team’s recent run of futility.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear right now. I am in no way advocating a trade for Byrnes, nor am I saying the Yankees should claim him on waivers as part of the DFA process. There is one, just one scenario in which the Yankees should look at Byrnes, and that’s if the D-Backs’ are unable to trade him within the ten day window, he clears waivers, and they release him. That’s the only way, period. In that case, Arizona would be on the hook for Byrnes’ entire $11M salary in 2010, less the pro-rated portion of the Major League minimum, which is what whatever team signs him would have to pay. That’s it, that’s the only way the Yankees should even think about bringing Byrnes aboard.
So why should the Yanks even have interest in Byrnes in the first place? Well because they’re looking for a righty hitting outfielder for under $2M, and Byrnes fits both criteria. He’s been limited to just 482 plate appearances over the last two seasons because of hamstring issues and a broken hand suffered on a hit by pitch, during which time he hit just .218-.271-.382. Certainly it’s nothing to get excited about, and any team that picks him up would be banking on Byrnes returning to his pre-2008 levels, when he was moderately productive.
Prior to the injuries and extension, Byrnes was a .268-.330-.452 hitter in his five full seasons, good for a perfectly average OPS+ of 100. However, he excels at hitting lefties, posting a .284-.354-.511 batting line against them during his career, and the small sample size data from 2008 and 2009 actually drags those numbers down a bit. Byrnes isn’t going to walk a ton (236 unintentional walks in 3,170 career plate appearances) but he won’t strikeout a ton either (16.7% of his plate appearances have ended with strike three), and in general we know what he is. He’s at best a league average offensive performer, perhaps less now as the hand injury and hammy trouble has presumably slowed him down.
Defensively, Byrnes has been superb in left and center fields throughout his career, posting +5.6 and +11.1 UZR/150′s, respectively. Jeff Zimmerman’s age-adjusted UZR projections have him at +5 and +4 UZR in those spots next year, though the Fan’s Scouting Report isn’t as kind. You probably already know that Byrnes is a complete nut job, and will run into pretty much anything on the field to make a play. For the sake of argument, let’s assume he’s now slightly below average defensively in left following the leg issues.
On the bases, Byrnes been an extremely successful basestealer, swiping 128 bags in 151 attempts (84.8% success rate, which is amazing). Baseball Prospectus’ stats say he’s been worth just about 4.5 runs on the bases over the last four years in non-SB baserunning situations, which is very good. Again, for the sake of argument, let’s assume Byrnes is just a league average baserunner now because of the injuries, however remember that running from bag-to-bag has more to with instincts that just raw speed.
So, after all that, we’re saying that Byrnes is a bit below average both offensively and defensively, and just about average on the bases. That’s basically a one win player, which has a lot of value at the league minimum. If Byrnes were to rebound somewhat, he might even be a bit of steal since the D-Backs are footing the bill. He’d be a fan favorite, and give the Yanks a bit of insurance in case Brett Gardner and/or Jamie Hoffmann poop the bed in Spring Training. And the best part of all is that there’s zero strings attached. The Yanks could sign Byrnes, give him a nice long look in camp, and if they don’t like what they see, they can cut him loose with zero consequences. There’s no risk at all, and frankly I don’t see why anyone would be against bringing Byrnes about under those circumstances.
Photo Credit: Chris Park, AP
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
