Offseason Baseball Thread

[Stuie]

Nice (for the White Sox) - they got Thome and re-signed Konerko.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-whitesox-konerko&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Imran Siddiqui]

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...

Yes, it is a pretty significant factor. Each point is roughly a 1% difference. So Jeter, who is 121 is about 21% better than an average hitter (similar with ERA+, both are designed so that 100 is average and a 1 point movement away from it is roughly a 1% increase or decrease). For example Rafeal Furcall is an even 100. He was the average player last year in terms of hitting the ball. Chipper Jones, who had the highest rated OPS+ of anyone on the Braves (yes, even more than Andrew Jones, and by a good deal.. though Andrew played 50 more games) had 147. That means that Chipper was about 47% better at getting on base and slugging than Furcal.

With that in mind, that means Renteria was about a 10% better hitter last year.

In perspective, Barry Bonds had a 260 OPS+ last year (2004), which equates to 160% better than the average batter .

Renteria had 30 errors and a range factor of 4.08. Compare that to just the year before where he had 11 errors and 4.30 range. It seems that Renteria hit some growing pains in trying to figure out the AL. I think he'll rebound next year. Remember, Renteria had a God awful beginning to the season and was playing pretty decent by the end of the year.

Also recall that Renteria is one year YOUNGER than Cabrera.

And interestingly, using the "Similar Batter" measure used on baseball-reference.com, comparing stats through the ages that each player is, Renteria is most similar to Alan Trammell through age 29, and Cabrera is most similar to BJ Surhoff through age 30.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

they should move jeter to centerfield and then we can watch him get another BS goldglove.

[Arrian]

Why not, Bernie got a couple he didn't deserve.

Moving Jeter to CF is a dumb idea that people like because it strikes them as bold or something. He's already 31 (or 32?), and his major problem is range. With A-Rod at 3B, Jeter is playing a pretty decent SS, so don't mess w/what works.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Imran,

I understand what OPS+ means. Cabrera was 82% as good as the average SS (hitting-wise) and Renteria was 91% as good. 9% isn't nothing, but if you factor in defense (and I admit I'm making a vague assumption that Cabrera's was better), that might close the gap somewhat. Renteria is still going to come out slightly better, and he had a particularly bad year, so yes, I still think he's the better player. Just not by a whole heckuva lot - which is worrisome for a team that paid $40 million for him. You want someone quite a bit better than Cabrera for that.

-Arrian

[rah]

Go White SOX. I'm surprised they went 5 years for 60. They must have realized that 4 years just wasn't going to cut it.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

jeter's 32? damn when did he get so old?

Also recall that Renteria is one year YOUNGER than Cabrera.

yeah officially, but we all know how those birthday certificates work in the carribean. just like that guy who plays for DC united, everyone says hes 17 or whatever, i'll eat my hat if he's less than 20.

Renteria had 30 errors and a range factor of 4.08. Compare that to just the year before where he had 11 errors and 4.30 range. It seems that Renteria hit some growing pains in trying to figure out the AL. I think he'll rebound next year. Remember, Renteria had a God awful beginning to the season and was playing pretty decent by the end of the year.

fielding is fieldin, thats why theres no E+ for ballpark of league adjustments.

[Arrian]

Proper Name: Derek Sanderson Jeter
Born: June 26, 1974

So he will be 32 on June 26, 2006. Currently 31. Wow, time flies.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Arrian
I understand what OPS+ means. Cabrera was 82% as good as the average SS (hitting-wise) and Renteria was 91% as good. 9% isn't nothing, but if you factor in defense (and I admit I'm making a vague assumption that Cabrera's was better), that might close the gap somewhat. Renteria is still going to come out slightly better, and he had a particularly bad year, so yes, I still think he's the better player. Just not by a whole heckuva lot - which is worrisome for a team that paid $40 million for him. You want someone quite a bit better than Cabrera for that.

Like you said, Renteria had a bad year. I think it was problems adjusting and his batting as well as his fielding will improve next year. Remember, this was a guy that put up some very impressive numbers with the Cards.

As for $40 mil, if you are Boston, how much does that really matter (remember this was the team willing to take on A-Rod's salary)? They had to overpay to get him away from St. Louis and no other big time SS was available.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Speaking of Shortstops... if you want a good young SS that a lot of people don't know yet, Jhonny Peralta is going to be a good one:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/peraljh01.shtml

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Remember, this was a guy that put up some very impressive numbers with the Cards.

yeah 3 times in 10 years, the last time was three years ago. his OPS+ average is less than 100 over his carear, which means hes a ****ty hitting shortstop. you dont throw 40 million at a ****ty hitting shortstop, you throw 24 million at them.
hes not a bigtime shortstop, and never was except for a two year aberration.

[Arrian]

What is the Red Sox rotation looking like for next year?

Shilling
Beckett
Wakefield
Papelbon
Arroyo

Is Wells still under contract? I forget... if so, clearly he slots in as the #4, and Papelbon is the 5th starter, with Arroyo going to the pen or being traded.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Speaking of Shortstops... if you want a good young SS that a lot of people don't know yet, Jhonny Peralta is going to be a good one:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/peraljh01.shtml

Correction: Jhonny Peralta is ALREADY a good one. Man, Cleveland has a group of good young players, eh?

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Arrian
Correction: Jhonny Peralta is ALREADY a good one. Man, Cleveland has a group of good young players, eh?

-Arrian

It's only been one year... lets hold off until he can do it again

[Lawrence of Arabia]

+ he is already known.

sox starting rotation is filled with mediocrity. dump wells, trade him for dave roberts and a bag of base balls, wakefield is prolly done afte this year, put papelbon in the bullpen i guess, and then if wake or arroyo struggle/go on the dl, have him spot start.