Jan

Open Thread: Morgan Ensberg

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Long before the days of the Mark Teixeira, the Yankees used a number of stopgap first baseman during the end of the Jason Giambi era. There was Doug Mientkiewicz, Josh Phelps, Andy Phillips, and even Morgan Ensberg. Ensberg had some huge years in Houston (.391 wOBA in 2003, .395 wOBA and a fourth place finish in the MVP voting in 2005), but he signed with the Yanks three years ago today after an ugly 2007 season (.318 wOBA) with the ‘Stros and Padres. He was supposed to be a righty hitting option of the bench that could fill-in at the infield corners, but that never materialized. Ensberg had just a .228 wOBA in 80 plate appearances for New York before being designated for assignment on June 1st. He finished out the year in Cleveland’s minor league system, and was out of baseball for good by Spring Training of the following season. Ensberg is now on Twitter and runs a fantastic blog, but like many before him and what will surely be many after him, his Yankees career was completely forgettable.

Anywho, here is the night’s open thread. The Nets are the only local team in action tonight, so you’re on your own when it comes to entertainment. You all know what to do, so go bananas.

Categories : Open Thread

35 Comments»

bexarama says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:02 pm

http://www.rotohardball.com/20.....st-3-years

Player A is Frenchy. Who’s Player B?

(Don’t look in the comments section if you are gonna guess.)

Bryan L says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:08 pm

Cesar Izturis?

Reply
- bexarama says:
  
  January 31, 2011 at 7:14 pm
  
  It’s a much, much better player than Cesar Izturis.
  
  Reply
  - Bryan L says:
    
    January 31, 2011 at 7:18 pm
    
    I cheated and looked it up. Wow, that blows me away.
    
    Reply
I Voted 4 Kodos says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:16 pm

I must say, I was a bit surprised, even if I shouldn’t have been.

Reply
Slugger27 says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:26 pm

melky cabrera

Reply
- bexarama says:
  
  January 31, 2011 at 7:27 pm
  
  Nope. Much better than Melky, too.
  
  Reply
  - Slugger27 says:
    
    January 31, 2011 at 7:32 pm
    
    final guess – jimmy rollins… now ill go look
    
    Reply
Matt Imbrogno says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:27 pm

Cano?

/runs to comments

Reply
- Bryan L says:
  
  January 31, 2011 at 7:30 pm
  
  How the hell did you guess that…
  
  Reply
  - Pat D says:
    
    January 31, 2011 at 7:33 pm
    
    I guess it’s not all that surprising given his overall lackluster season in 2008 and his well remembered RISP struggles in 2009.
    
    Reply
  - Matt Imbrogno says:
    
    January 31, 2011 at 7:35 pm
    
    Mostly just ’cause everyone bitched and moaned about his crappy numbers w/RISP in ’08/’09
    
    Reply
    - Bryan L says:
      
      January 31, 2011 at 7:39 pm
      
      True dat.
      
      Reply
- Slugger27 says:
  
  January 31, 2011 at 7:34 pm
  
  heh, nicely done. btw…. .273 in 2008?
  
  YIKES
  
  Reply
- bexarama says:
  
  January 31, 2011 at 7:38 pm
  
  Yep.
  
  Really, it’s not that surprising in terms of which great player you would expect to be that low. He had a terrible year in 2008 and sucked with RISP in 2009. He was a lot better in 2010, obviously (He was at .273 OBP in 2008 with runners on, .288 in 2009, and .388 in 2010). Plus, he doesn’t walk a whole lot.
  
  Reply
  - MikeD says:
    
    January 31, 2011 at 8:22 pm
    
    Hmmm…good trend line. He should be anywhere from .410 to .500 in 2011.
    
    Thinkin’ positive.
    
    Reply
vin says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:39 pm

.273, .278, and .388.

Those are the player’s OBP in ’08, ’09 and ’10.

The important thing for him is that he was plenty good in 2010. Also, he had a .362 OBP in ’07.

Reply

Bryan L says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:08 pm

Me and Morgy got the same birthday. I feel special.

Ok, not really that special…

squishy jello person says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:23 pm

Bloody snow.

CP says:

January 31, 2011 at 8:07 pm

Don’t eat the ~~yellow~~ red snow.

Reply

Pat D says:

January 31, 2011 at 7:31 pm

Stupid snow and ice is going to ruin my birthday tomorrow.

Grumble, grumble, grumble…

bexarama says:

January 31, 2011 at 8:13 pm

well happy birthday in advance

Reply
- Pat D says:
  
  January 31, 2011 at 11:51 pm
  
  Thanks!
  
  Reply

MikeD says:

January 31, 2011 at 8:25 pm

So any feelings on Neyer leaving ESPN to parts unknown?

I haven’t been as big of a fan the last couple of years since they had him create the SweetSpot section since I don’t think it really maximized his skills, plus too many jerks would post, but I will miss him. He and Law are really the main reasons I’d circle back there. He’s done probably as much as any writer to popularize sabermetrics over the years, first with his work with Bill James, and then to a wider audience at ESPN.

Any guesses on where he’s going?

Accent Shallow says:

January 31, 2011 at 9:05 pm

I’ll miss him.

My inside information is that it’s not Baseball Prospectus.

Reply
- MikeD says:
  
  January 31, 2011 at 10:26 pm
  
  The timing of Goldman taking over as Editor in Chief, and his promise for high-profile writers had me wondering if Neyer might be one of them, but the more I thought about it, I doubt BP could afford him. (Not that I have any knowledge of their finances.)
  
  I’m sure we’ll know soon enough where he’s going.
  
  Reply

LET SBGL BACK ON BRACKMAN'S DEBUT says:

January 31, 2011 at 8:38 pm

actually, the nets are sticking it to carmelo right now

Dave the Ox says:

January 31, 2011 at 10:10 pm

What means sbgl?

Reply

Monteroisdinero says:

January 31, 2011 at 8:59 pm

KLong working with Jeter on a new approach at the plate. No more front foot toe tap timing mechanism for the Captain. Hopefully all will be fixed and we can begin the march to 4000 hits and a new contract in ’14.

/dreamin’

Brian says:

January 31, 2011 at 9:00 pm

steroids