As few links to check out before you start your day…
Oppenheimer among the game’s future GM’s
For nearly a decade, GM Brian Cashman was smart enough to make sure that no one in the organization was in a position to replace him, though now that’s unavoidable. Not only was pro scouting director Billy Eppler in the running for the Padres’ GM job this offseason, but scouting director Damon Oppenheimer is also considered a future GM candidate. He’s been on the radar as a future GM since before he took his current gig with the Yanks, and it’s only a matter of time before some team hires away and gives him the keys to the future of their franchise.
Before Stephen Strasburg captured the title of best college pitcher ever, the moniker had belonged to quite a few others throughout the years. As it turns out, none of the more recent Next Big Things were able to really deliver on their promise, with the exception of Mark Prior’s staggering 2003 season (211.1 IP, 2.47 FIP, 7.6 WAR) before his arm turned into a worn down rubber band. Strasburg is better than all those guys ever were, but a reality check is always nice.
There’s no stat yet that measures heart
Surely you’ve heard about Nomar Garciaparra’s mini-rant on Baseball Tonight the other day about how stats don’t measure heart (oh yeah, what’s this?), which of course is the classic argument against advanced stats. You just can’t measure intangibles is how it generally goes, but as Joe Posnanski points out, if that kind of stuff impacts the game, shouldn’t there be tangible evidence of it in the stats? If you only click on one link in this post, make it this one.