I’ve been looking at a pitcher’s “stuff” using pitchf/x data recently, and here’s how I would rank the top five starters of 2009 by stuff: 1. Clayton Kershaw 2. Brett Anderson 3. A.J. Burnett 4. Felix Hernandez 5. Zack Greinke Kershaw might be a step above the field. Relievers 1. Matt Thornton 2. Jonathan Broxton […]

The staff at THT Live has decided to crew up and start slinging links. Pat Andriola told me that he thinks we have the muscle to knock off Tommy “Prince K” Bennett, Rob “Avon” Neyer, and BBTF (the entire New-Day Co-Op) . I told him we got our thing, but it’s just part of the […]

The Mets have signed Jason Bay, reportedly their #1 target of the offseason. The price tag is said to be $66 million for four years, or $16.5 million a year, with a vesting option for a fifth year. I’ll leave the in-depth analysis to Evan Brunell, the folks at Fangraphs and others, but I wanted […]

In a post over the summer, I looked as to whether Joel Pineiro was getting lucky with his walks. His BB/9 at the time was astoundingly low (1.00), and I figured that it would go up based on his ball:strike ratio (it did, by 14%). This isn’t rocket science at all: Pineiro was maintaining a […]

We’re happy to welcome a new writer to the THT fold. Joshua Fisher, who maintains the wonderful (and spot-on) Dodger Divorce blog has agreed to write for us on a weekly basis. We’re thrilled to have Josh on board, and you can read his introductory article here.

What do the dates January 13 and January 26 have in common? Those are the dates that Scott Boras clients Carlos Beltran, Derek Lowe (both 1/13), and Alex Rodriguez signed free agent contracts with the Mets, the Braves, and the Rangers, respectively. I mention it because that thumping you hear is the quickening of many […]

In a post entitled, “wRC+ = Follow the Money Trail,” Mike Silva of NYBD figures out the dastardly plans of the online saber community: make that money. Take it away, Mike: We need more advanced statistics just like we needed Cool Ranch Doritos, New Coke, or a colorful cover for the iPod. What I mean […]

except during October. Evaluating catchers is notoriously difficult. Offensively, it’s no different than evaluating other position players so when discussing the best catchers in the game, we tend to look to catchers who are productive at the plate. This is true particularly because so many catchers simply aren’t productive offensively. Thus, we are most aware […]

In a marriage that made sense the moment the Pirates non-tendered Matt Capps, the right-hander has inked a deal with the Nationals. Capps being non-tendered by Pittsburgh caught some by surprise, with their general manager defending the move saying that Capps wasn’t worth what he stood to earn in arbitration… roughly $3 million. So much […]

The Toronto Blue Jays acquired RHP Brandon Morrow from the Seattle Mariners in a bit of a surprise, surrendering major-league reliever Brandon League and minor league outfield prospect Johermyn Chavez. It seems like the Mariners didn’t get value for Morrow back in the trade. Given that the Mariners have resident genius Jack Zduriencik at the […]