Wrapping Up the GM Meetings

by The Cheat on Nov 11, 2009 11:31 PM CST

The GM Meetings wrapped up today, and the baseball writers kept churning out content...

Kenny Williams is busy being his usual brutally honest self

"It's the same thing every year at this time of year," White Sox general manager Ken Williams said. "There is nothing to report."
Williams also discussed the payroll, though without offering any specifics, sticking instead to the marketing and ticket sales side of things, and indicated that the Sox won't be players in free agency until later in the off-season.
The White Sox released their spring training schedule, including 5 games with the Cubs and a trip to Vegas.
Fangraphs uses UZR to rank Jermaine Dye as the 3rd-worst fielder over the last three years. Just think how much worse that would be if he played the wall like Podsednik, one of the few areas where Dye was actually pretty good.
Schadenfreude link of the day: Wilson Betemit will reportedly sign with the Royals.

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At least this week makes Royals games more interesting to watch next year when mopey isn't pitching

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by billyok on Nov 12, 2009 12:17 AM CST reply actions

That makes three third basemen for them now. Do I hear four?

Reporter: I was wondering if at any point in my lifetime the Cubs weren't going to be run by a guy who didn't immediately remind me of failure, confusion, or imminent death

by Hazymania on Nov 12, 2009 1:13 AM CST reply actions

dye has a pretty good arm

and catches balls he can get to. He makes some incredible plays (yes i know that other outfielders may not have to go balls out to get there)… but shit I am WAY less nervous when a fly ball is hit out to right than I am when it is hit to left with Peter Pan and Quentin out there. Those guys are butchers.

Kenwo4life=ratings

by KenWo4LiFe on Nov 12, 2009 4:09 AM CST reply actions

Not sure Q! is any worse than Dye

Pods seems to be getting worse each year in judging fly balls….not sure how that is possible.

"Jenks, who was never afraid to say "no" to a hamburger..."

by BobbySouthSide on Nov 12, 2009 7:08 AM CST up reply actions

Q is bad news out there too.

dye can catch if it is hit to him. i think he won a gold glove 20 years ago.

Kenwo4life=ratings

by KenWo4LiFe on Nov 12, 2009 7:41 AM CST up reply actions

they're all just as good as Fields - that's the sad thing

His name is Rios and he dances on the sand

by Nordhagen on Nov 12, 2009 8:19 AM CST up reply actions

I agree completely

I can’t even count the number of times Dye has picked up the ball close to the track and thrown a rocket bullseye to 2nd all in one motion. His range was average but he got to a lot of balls and made some great plays. (oh, and he won the gold glove in 2000, but does seem like 20 yrs ago). I find it hard to believe he’s ranked that low. I’ll ignore this stat.

by shumway on Nov 12, 2009 9:11 AM CST reply actions

good plan

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by The Cheat on Nov 12, 2009 9:21 AM CST up reply actions

so 9 years and several major injuries

aren’t sufficient events to drop someone from being a gold glove quality defense to bag of ass quality defense?

by coffeepac on Nov 12, 2009 9:39 AM CST up reply actions

Yeah just look at Torii Hunter

i'm celebrating the slaughter of the indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere.
what the fuck are you doing? - larry

by Scotty Ballgame on Nov 12, 2009 9:51 AM CST via mobile up reply actions

he had a bad year last year

But he looks to be in the average to below average fielder. he might not belong in CF anymore, but he’s better then Dye.

by coffeepac on Nov 12, 2009 10:00 AM CST up reply actions

Little blurb in BB America re: Vicideo

says he’s 5’11, 240 lbs. working at 3rd w/ Buddy Bell. He also lets too many good fastballs go by at the plate or fouls them off. I can’t see this guy being a middle-order hitter unless he wakes up and stops striking out. The article also implied that BB people are thinking the WS overspent

by RoyEgan on Nov 12, 2009 9:20 AM CST reply actions

I thought they over spent out of the gate.

4 million is a lot.

"I like my DH like I like my women. Fat , slow and full of power."
by soxshenanigans

by e-gus on Nov 12, 2009 1:46 PM CST up reply actions

Cheat - I am not disagreeing with the fangraph

but I do believe there is human error in the calculation. Matt indicted that it is based on the past three years and listed Dye at -80. He goes on to list the last four seasons totals and if you add only the last three seasons up it totals about -60. I think he messed up and included the 2006 season as well.

i'm celebrating the slaughter of the indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere.
what the fuck are you doing? - larry

by Scotty Ballgame on Nov 12, 2009 9:29 AM CST via mobile reply actions

it isn't straight UZR

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/highs-and-lows-of-uzr-2007-9-overview

UZR isn’t adjusted for position and he’s using position adjusted numbers. So, take the UZR total you added up then tack on the positional adjustment for right fielders (-7?) for each year. This lets you compare people in a context-neutral manner. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to compare a SS to a 1b because the SS might miss more plays but the position is about 25 runs per season harder.

by coffeepac on Nov 12, 2009 9:56 AM CST up reply actions

20 runs

2009 is just 2007 in 2008's clothing. - Trooper

by colintj on Nov 12, 2009 2:53 PM CST up reply actions

20 runs is...

the difference between SS and 1B, right? And not the aggregate penalty for Dye being a RF?

by coffeepac on Nov 12, 2009 5:29 PM CST up reply actions

right.

7.5 – -12.5 = 20

2009 is just 2007 in 2008's clothing. - Trooper

by colintj on Nov 13, 2009 12:41 PM CST up reply actions

Oh man, KC is something else....

by homesickalien on Nov 12, 2009 11:02 AM CST reply actions

minor league deal for a guy with that kind of talent?

strikes me as one of their few sensible moves.

by larry on Nov 12, 2009 11:07 AM CST up reply actions

Talent's one thing....what has he done with it? I'm mostly just amused by them picking up all our crap.

by homesickalien on Nov 12, 2009 11:25 AM CST up reply actions

I recall a three-error inning; that does take talent.

"I call Dotel, got his ass kick. I call Linebrink, got his ass kick. Everybody I call is the wrong guy. I guess it's my fault!"

by RWShow on Nov 12, 2009 11:27 AM CST up reply actions

Also, KC and the Sox seem to have a certain ongoing flirtation with one another; constantly giving each other some of their worst ML "talent".

Though this wasn’t a trade, Betemit going there is only fair, considering Horacio and MacDookie.

Teahen better pan out; fucks.

"I call Dotel, got his ass kick. I call Linebrink, got his ass kick. Everybody I call is the wrong guy. I guess it's my fault!"

by RWShow on Nov 12, 2009 11:31 AM CST up reply actions

you'll note that some of these players are ex-braves

and that’s probably the reason dayton signs them. not unusual for GMs to stick with guys they know. as for what the white sox are doing with them…

by larry on Nov 12, 2009 11:48 AM CST up reply actions

he has a career OPS+ of 94.

recently? not much. but he’s 28. maybe he peaked at 25. but this is the sort of value move, with upside and essentially no downside, that smart teams make and is imperative for smaller market teams like KC to do.

by larry on Nov 12, 2009 11:29 AM CST up reply actions

Makes sense... Maybe they plan to use him in a trade package to get Swisher! Then they'd look especially smart.

by homesickalien on Nov 12, 2009 11:35 AM CST up reply actions

KC needs more Pie-In-Face antics

"Jenks, who was never afraid to say "no" to a hamburger..."

by BobbySouthSide on Nov 12, 2009 11:39 AM CST up reply actions

bet they get more out of him than we did!

by Hatchetm on Nov 12, 2009 11:41 AM CST up reply actions

I'm mostly amused by us picking up all their crap.

by Daniel Berlyn on Nov 12, 2009 3:16 PM CST up reply actions

apparently the money for teahen is closer to $1.5 million

Receiving nearly $1.5 million from the Royals as part of a trade essentially will cover the cost of third baseman Mark Teahen’s raise that will increase the Sox’s cash commitments to nearly $78 million.

well, that changes everything.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-12-white-sox-chicago-nov12,0,4177317.story

by larry on Nov 12, 2009 11:09 AM CST reply actions

wow, now we can get figans!

"Jenks, who was never afraid to say "no" to a hamburger..."

by BobbySouthSide on Nov 12, 2009 11:11 AM CST up reply actions

And Halladay!

by homesickalien on Nov 12, 2009 11:27 AM CST up reply actions

I am impressed you were able to work Schadenfreude in your post.

by MrBungle on Nov 12, 2009 11:39 AM CST reply actions

I thought for sure I contributed this word to the site.

However, though the first 7 (SEVEN) “comments” that included it were penned by me (as far back as 10/06), gotta give Cheat props for using it in ’05 in a Post. Look it up.

"don tink about new jork. jus come in ready to wing de gay."

by winningugly on Nov 12, 2009 12:22 PM CST up reply actions

5 errors this year, 1 error the year before

Is that really bag of ass? I have a hard time believing he’s bottom 3. just can’t be. could his bat before July ‘09 have masked this? no, I won’t give in.

by shumway on Nov 12, 2009 12:58 PM CST reply actions

fine, he's great when he actually can get to a ball.

it’s more important for purposes of defensive evaluation how many balls a guy can get to. and dye has essentially no range. keep in mind a statue would have zero errors.

by larry on Nov 12, 2009 1:03 PM CST up reply actions