Archive for February 2010

Read the quote below, and think about how strange this sounds if applied to a sport like baseball: “I have seen skaters forget to change lanes, but I have never seen a coach forget to tell a skater to change,” said Dan Jansen, who won the 1,000-meters gold medal for the United States at Lillehammer […]

Baseball America released their newest Top 100 Prospects list today, and of course I’m now here to complain. BA ranked OF Fernando Martinez 77th overall, a forty-seven rank drop from last season. Why? Let’s take a look at Martinez’s 2009 season: Triple-A (190 Plate Appearances): .290/.337/.540, .316 BABIP MLB (100 Plate Appearances): .176/.242/.275, .197 BABIP […]

Via the LoHud Yankees Blog: Cano hit just .207 with runners in scoring position last year, but Girardi wasn’t upset with his approach in those situations. “There was a streak when he had made about 10 or 11 outs in a row with runners in scoring position, and he hit nine bullets,” Girardi said. “Over […]

Prompted by Richard Lederer’s article at TBA, in which he discusses how the Angels have consistently outperformed their PECOTA-predicted record, and the discussion that has ensued over at The Book Blog, I have a simple request for the baseball community: Somebody figure out what the heck is up with the Angels. If this has been […]

The latest Bill James Gold Mine will be shipping soon. The Gold Mine is full of Bill’s essays—the “pure gold” part of the book—as well as ten-to-fifteen special statistical insights for each team—the nuggets. Yours truly contributed nuggets for five teams; see if you can guess which ones. The Gold Mine is available from ACTA […]

Only three links to share today but that’s just because I feel that this video starring Jim Bowden and friends needs to be viewed by as many possible eyeballs as soon as possible. Your eyes will also be soothed by Jayson Werth’s new beard. As for an actual analytical piece about baseball, Mike Podhorrzer uses […]

How much this entry has to do with baseball, I’m not sure yet, but it certainly relates. The more I observe, the more I conclude that for every passion in this world, there is a group that equates posturing and doctrinaire stances to purity within that passion, i.e. taking a hardline stance is the way […]

The other day over at Fangraphs, R.J. Anderson responded to a quote from Dodgers’ GM Ned Colletti about Colletti’s desire for a legitimate fifth starter. “We’d love to have a bona fide 5th starter,” Colletti stated. Anderson responded by making the case that the Dodgers already have their “bona fide 5th starter” on their roster. […]

We’re on the cusp of spring training. As such, every player is in the best shape of his life. Some have had LASIK, while others have taken up yoga. A player who didn’t meet expectations the previous season has renewed his commitment to the game, looking to atone for a lackluster performance. You know the […]

I could write a book about Brady Anderson. I feel terrible for the guy. It’s not that we’re accusing him of having taken steroids. I have no problem speculating. Joe Posnanski wrote a piece where he compiled lists of players we strongly suspect used, players who probably used, and players who adhered to “fair play.” […]