We didn’t have a leadoff hitter all of last year and we somehow made it.

whaddya thinkin?

\\

I’d rather see him speak his mind, get shipped out, and get a chance elsewhere. Perhaps he’ll never be more than a 4th OF, but he deserves to find out.

Written as a BA fan. BoyCrush and all..

Any idea what a team would have to trade for Brian Anderson?

neither of these bums should play CF

is having to discuss (again) our CF options. This is, like, at least 2-3 years old, and it hasn’t changed. Fer Chrissakes, BA is not going to become 30 year old Jim Edmonds, and Jesse isn’t going to morph into Upton.

Goddammit anyway. They is who they is – cheap 4th-5th OF’s. Not good enough to start except in our lovely situation.

http://deadspin.com/5132761/if-your-new-commemorative-mets-patch-doesnt-arrive-in-30-minutes-its-free

Encouraging news for the White Sox: Right-hander Jose Contreras, recovering from a ruptured left Achilles tendon, has lost 25 pounds and already is throwing off a mound. Contreras was expected to miss at least nine months after undergoing surgery in August. His timetable could be accelerated.
…
The White Sox are willing to offer free-agent right-hander Freddy Garcia a spot in their rotation even after signing another physically questionable pitcher, Bartolo Colon. The Mets, too, envision Garcia as a potential starter even if they re-sign lefty Oliver Perez; they could move another recent addition, righty Tim Redding, to the bullpen. The Rangers also are in the Garcia sweepstakes, and the pitcher’s decision likely will hinge on which team offers him the best opportunity and best contract. Garcia would prefer a major-league deal, which would guarantee him termination pay if he were released in March, but he could accept a minor-league deal if he receives a better chance to start.
…
The seeming lack of interest in free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson has been one of the biggest mysteries of the offseason, but it’s still too soon to jump to conclusions. The Indians explored signing Hudson before trading for Mark DeRosa to play third base. The Nationals, White Sox and Giants all have needs at second base, whether they admit to them or not.

http://foxsports.com/mlb/story/9090020/

Posted by Dave Studeman

Former A’s and Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson will be sharing his pitching thoughts with Full Count Pitch twice a month. Here is the first installment, in which he talks about four basic areas of pitching: the pitch count, evaluating pitchers, getting ahead of hitters, and the makeup of a successful pitcher.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/rick-peterson-speaks/

here’s a bit:

But, which is more important, swings and misses or inducing groundballs? Coach Peterson explains, "If you had to choose, inducing groundballs is more important. Consider that the batting average of a ball put in play on a 0-0 count is over .325. If the count moves to 1-0 or even 1-1, it jumps to over .500. It only makes sense that you want the ball to get hit on the ground."

http://fullcountpitch.com/2009/01/16/pitching-perspectives-with-rick-peterson/#more-1373

Then this?

# Not only did the new Mariners front office create a “statistical research and analysis department” run by SABR member Tony Blengino and bring on friend of AG.com Tom Tango as a consultant, they use The Hardball Times’ defensive stats. On a related note, during a KFAN radio appearance last month my comment that the Twins are one of the increasingly rare MLB teams without any sort of department focused on statistical analysis apparently drew the ire of the front office.

Assistant general manager Rob Antony brought up my comment on the air a few days later while being interviewed by LaVelle E. Neal III and noted that the Twins do in fact use stats in their decision-making. However, my suggestion was never that the Twins completely ignore stats, because that would be silly. Rather, my point was that for better or worse they don’t employ the more advanced statistical tools that have become available recently and are now in fairly wide use among other teams (like the Mariners).

In other words, my point was about things like PitchFX and Zone Ratings rather than home-road splits and fielding percentages. There’s a big difference, so in an effort to clear the air I sent Antony an e-mail. To his credit he responded with an explanation of the Twins’ stance on the issue, but also confirmed that they indeed “do not have a department devoted to statistical analysis” and are not using the type of advanced tools I was talking about. Whether that’s good or bad is up for debate, but it’s definitely true.

http://www.aarongleeman.com/2009_01_11_baseballblog_archive.html#7883616173876104289

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hof09/columns/story?columnist=law_keith&id=3825493

Part of most everybody’s method of hitter evaluation includes a look at the player’s BABIP. “Were they lucky or unlucky?” is the typical question trying to be answered. Is the BABIP above or below league-average, their career BABIP, or some expected BABIP?

That’s good and all, but today I want to discuss a new idea to consider when looking at BABIP. Here’s my hypothesis:

Hypothesis

Some hitters are more reliant on their BABIP than others. Remembering that BABIP stand for Batting Average on Balls In Play, reminds us that BABIP only accounts for balls put into play—balls between the foul lines and in front of the fence. Some hitters, like Adam Dunn for example, rarely put the ball in play and therefore are not as reliant on their BABIP’s as hitters who make their living punching the ball in play, such as Juan Pierre.

As you would expect, the Adam Dunn’s of baseball have lower values in the denominator of their BABIP equation because, well, the bottom half of the BABIP ratio is balls in play and we established before that these hitters do not hit a lot of them. Lower values in the denominator means more fluctuation; think about it.

Let’s say two hitters both have 100 hits and get their one-hundred and first hit in the same game (none of the hits are home runs). Hitter A is primarily a ball in play hitter and has 800 balls in play, while Hitter B is more of a true outcome hitter (because his plate appearances often result in what are known as the three true outcomes: walks, strikeouts, and home runs) and only has 400 balls in play. If you calculate the effect the added hit has on each player’s BABIP, you will realize that it has a larger effect on Hitter B’s BABIP, by .0007 to be more specific.

In this example the difference in BABIP appears statistically insignificant, but with real numbers perhaps a meaningful difference will be realized. Let’s see if this theory—and remember it is still just a theory—hold true when tested by the numbers. …

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/babips-differeing-relationship-with-different-hitters/

Dexter Carter, RHP, Chicago White Sox
Bats: R Throws: R HT: 6-6 WT: 195 DOB: February 5, 1987
  
SLEEPER ALERT!! Dexter Carter pitched horribly for Old Dominion during the spring of 2008, but the White Sox saw potential and selected him in the 13th round anyway. They made some mechanical adjustments, then sent him to the Pioneer League, where he was a completely different pitcher. His command was awful in college, but it was much better at Great Falls, as he threw strikes much more consistently with his 90-93 MPH fastball. His curveball and changeup still need some work, but the turnaround was impossible to ignore, and he was particularly effective in his last few starts, giving up just one run in his last 18 innings. Carter will have to prove he can maintain this at higher levels, but he’s definitely a pitcher of interest. I don’t want to go higher than Grade C without more data, but he’s certainly got higher potential and should be on your sleeper list.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2009/1/17/726778/some-book-excerpts#comments