Here’s your open thread for the evening. The Islanders already won, but the Devils still have to play. The NBA Skills Competition is on tonight, as are the Olympics. Anything goes, so have fun.
Open Thread: Rethinking the box score (part II)
A week ago today, Dave Allen at Baseball Analysts presented a new box score of his own, which Joe passed along as that night’s open thread. The new linear layout basically told the story of the game, starting at the first inning and continuing through to the ninth. It showed what batters each reliever faced, how they did against them, who came to the plate with who on base, all things the traditional box score lack.
Allen revised his creation a bit today, which you can see below. Click for a larger view.
This one does a better job of showing how the runners advanced around the bases and stuff, or at least I think it does. Some of baseball’s traditions are so firmly in place that we’ll have to wait for generations to pass before some fans and media are open to changing something as sacred as the almighty box score. For shame.
Anyway, here’s the open thread. The Olympics start tonight, while both the Devils and Rangers play their last games before the two week break for the games in Vancouver. The Knicks and Nets are off for the All Star Break. Talk about whatever you want, just be nice to each other.
Thursday Open Thread
Sorry for the delay, but here’s your open thread. Have at it.
Open Thread: Death By Snow
Apparently someone upstairs screwed up and sent all the extra snow to the Northeast instead of Vancouver for the Olympics. It started late last night and it hasn’t stopped since. Good thing the store on the corner is open, otherwise I might go hungry.
All the local teams sans the Knicks are in action, but I’m honestly not sure if any of the games have been postponed due to the weather. Use this open thread to keep yourself occupied while you wait for the end of days snow to subside.
Open Thread: Who has the best rotation in baseball?
In his daily blog post this morning, Buster Olney opined about the five best starting rotations in the game, led by the Red Sox. The Yankees placed second, followed (in order) by the White Sox, Angels, and Cardinals. The Phillies also received an honorable mention.
We could argue about who has the best rotation from here until Opening Day, and there’s no right answer. However, what we do have are CHONE projections, so I rounded those up to see how each rotation is expected to perform next season. He’s the four non-New York teams…
All we’re doing is adding, so it doesn’t matter what order the pitchers are listed in. Olney has no idea who the Cardinals’ fifth starter is, and neither do I. And frankly, neither does the team. Regardless, they don’t have any other pitchers projected to be worth over a win, so it doesn’t make much of a difference anyway. Obviously, the BoSox have the best projected rotation among the four teams, with five starters set to be at least league average (two WAR is basically league avg). You have to like the balance in the ChiSox’s rotation though, minus the Freddy Garcia eyesore.
Now, what about the Yanks?
Olney thinks Phil Hughes will be the fifth starter, though most others think it’ll be Joba Chamberlain. For whatever reason, CHONE has Joba projected as a reliever in 2010, a reliever worth just 0.9 WAR at that. Even if we swap Hughes out for a 0.9 WAR pitcher, the Yanks still outpace the pack by a full win. They have the two best projected starters among the five teams in CC Sabathia and Javy Vazquez, and are the only team besides Chicago with four 3.0+ WAR pitchers on the staff.
Remember, these are just projections, far from gospel. They’re not telling us what will happen, but what could happen based on past data. Don’t take them to heart, they’re just for fun. That said, I like the way the numbers worked out.
Anyway, here’s your open thread for the evening. The Islanders, Nets, and Knicks are all in action. Anything goes, just be cool.
Open Thread: Winn comes cheaper than originally thought
When the Yankees first reached an agreement with Randy Winn a few weeks back, reports indicated that he would receive the last $2M left in the budget. Not long after that, the Dodgers landed Reed Johnson for just a six-figure payout, and I said the Yanks overpaid to get their man, even though he was the right player.
Well guess what? It turns out Winn’s deal isn’t quite as rich as originally reported. Take it away, Joel Sherman…
The Yankees today also officially signed Winn to his one year contract for a $1.1 million base with $900,000 available in incentives: $100,000 each for 50, 75 and 100 plate appearances, and $150,000 apiece for 125, 150, 175 and 200.
Yes, the incentives add up to $900,000 which would make the total value of the deal the original $2M. However that money is far from guaranteed, and if Winn pockets it, it means either a) something bad has happened in the outfield, or b) he played well enough to earn the playing time. Remember this is a very easy deal to back out of. If Winn’s not producing, they’ll just dump him.
Bottom line: Randy Winn at $2M was an overpay, but Randy Winn at 55% of that with some incentives is just fine. No reason to cancel your season tickets.
Update: Commenter Cecala points out that Winn’s incentives are based on plate appearances against lefty pitchers only. Even better.
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Once you’re finished disagreeing with me, go ahead and use this as your open thread for the night. In case you haven’t heard, we have a perpetual off-topic post now, available at the end of the nav bar above. You don’t have to wait all day to talk about something we don’t have a post for anymore. Anyway, the Devils are the only local team in action tonight, but there is a new hour of 24 on. Enjoy the thread.
Open Thread: Super Sunday
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