Offseason Baseball Thread

[Arrian]

I forgot OPS+ included park factor. Well, then, there you have it. Young was better. Like I said, that's a pretty big difference in SLG.

...

LoA - for the moment, you appear pretty lucid. What if I bring up Theo?

-Arrian

[Lawrence of Arabia]

LoA - for the moment, you appear pretty lucid. What if I bring up Theo?

ddddooooooooooooooo it.

[Imran Siddiqui]

we coulda kept Cabrera, who had similar batting stats

Bull. Renteria had 91 OPS+ while Cabrera had an 82 OPS+. That's a decent clip.

Throw in the defense and you've got a near-wash, and Cabrera was both beloved AND cheaper.

Renteria's park adjusted OPS was ~10 points higher than Cabrera's.

And Boston is not a hitter's park. The park effects were 101/101 last season (100/100 being average). Anahiem is slightly a pitchers park at 96/96.

And don't forget, this was Renteria's first year in the AL. It sometimes takes a while for a player to get acclimated to a new league.

[Arrian]

Renteria's park adjusted OPS was ~10 points higher than Cabrera's.

And Boston is not a hitter's park. The park effects were 101/101 last season (100/100 being average). Anahiem is slightly a pitchers park at 96/96.

Hmm, both parks were more neutral than I thought. Is a 91 OPS+ vs. an 82 OPS+ really that big a difference (both suck, btw, ouch!)?? And surely Cabrera was better with the glove - enough to perhaps mitigate some of that 9 point advantage on the hitting side? And then there's the cheapness factor...

Anyway, I have to be more careful about accepting conventional wisdom like "Fenway's a hitters park."

-Arrian

[Lawrence of Arabia]

10 points aint **** when you commit 30 errors. or is that also adjustable by park? is the an E+ in the books guys? or does going to the AL mean playin defense is much harder.

face it, renteria is a 40 million dollar albatross around ex-gm theo's neck. saving 4 million a year is a lot.

[Arrian]

LoA - I already brought him up. Thoughts?

While I'm at it:

What are your thoughts on the big trade (Beckett/Lowell)?

What are your thoughts on Manny's annual "I'm a whiny b*tch, trade me?"

-Arrian

[Lawrence of Arabia]

i say give renteria the lead glove, cuz he left his gold one in stl.

[Arrian]

How many years did Cabrera get on his contract, btw? It's not just the per-year cost, it's also that Rent-a-wreck got 4 years.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Wow, I made a sig. I'm on a roll today.

-Arrian

[Lawrence of Arabia]

LoA - I already brought him up. Thoughts?

While I'm at it:

What are your thoughts on the big trade (Beckett/Lowell)?

What are your thoughts on Manny's annual "I'm a whiny b*tch, trade me?"

-Arrian

I think its a real shame he left, but I understand. Lucchino screwed up somehwere along the line I think. I did something similar once, but it was the right thing to do, and if he feels he cant trust management, then I perfectly understand.

big trade could be a huge thing or a real flop; it probably hinges on how lowell does because at 9 mn a year, hes untradeable at current statistics. even if beckett is on the DL 4 times next year, we;re payin him $4 mn for 15 wins, which isnt bad at all, consideredin all the money we put into clement who didnt even make it to 15 wins. mota is also apparently good, but I have no idea

manny is such a headcase, but unless we get a comparable player back, I wouldnt trade him. And it wouldnt be good for us to unload him and have to pay part of his contract either. hes getting paid enough to give up some privacy.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Just looked at Philly (to see about this Michaels kid), and I didn't realize but Philly has one HELL of a lineup! Even Kenny Lofton had a good year in center. Their pitching definetly killed them, though I wonder how they would have done with a healthy Randy Wolf. And, of course, they have to replace Wagner.

I'm happy Gillick didn't throw away money on Wagner. As for the lineup.... you have to realize that Lieberthal and Bell both deserve to be #9 hitters. Bell can move up in the order against lefties, but other than that, they both SUCK.

Lofton had an awesome year - they should have played him every day. Michaels is a chump and I'd be glad to see him go to New York so he can beat up their cops instead of ours.

Originally posted by Arrian
Philly is a team that always looks good on paper and always seems to underperform due to one or more subtle flaws.

And there lies the problem of the last several years in Philly. They look good on paper. Baseball games are played on grass, not paper. Unless you're in some hick town that still uses plastic turf.

Plastic turf.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

i think it was comparable 4 year contracts, except cabrera was 6 million a year and renteria was 10 million (but not sure)

[Arrian]

Manny needs to be told to shut the **** up and play. There is no way they can trade him and get enough value back to make the trade sensible. He needs to take his meds.

As for the rest - I agree, but I don't think the trade has much chance of being a real flop. Lowell is expected to suck. Beckett will either be a decent #3/#4 (low end) or better, with the best-case scenario is him achieving "ace" status. Mota I know nothing about.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Michaels is a chump and I'd be glad to see him go to New York so he can beat up their cops instead of ours.

So he's a thug, eh? What did he do?

Speaking of thugs, I've heard people throwing around Milton Bradley's name. Now THERE is a headcase maniac. But the man can hit...

-Arrian

[Stuie]

Michaels can hit too as long as there's a cop in front of him. He's very high-strung. Beat up a cop outside a local niteclub after being told to "move along". I went to a game once with my then-five-year-old, and had to explain why Michaels was screaming his head off at the umpire. That's NOT what I want in a baseball player.

Then again, Ugie isn't having a banner off-season either, but they've already said he won't be back.