Phil Rogers stupid statement # 1,564,987

[anemic offense]

from: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=rogers_phil&id=2305617

 

RHP Kevin Millwood | Age: 31

Contract: 5 years, $60 million

2005: 9-11, AL-best 2.86 ERA

 

Sure, Scott Boras did his usual tap dance to the bank, getting the maximum value for another one of his clients. But give first-year Texas general manager Jon Daniels credit for landing his franchise the rare pitcher who walks and talks like an ace.

 

That's what Millwood was when he left Atlanta after 2002, and he has only grown mentally tougher in the three seasons he spent in Philadelphia and Cleveland. He used his sinker-slider combination well enough at Jacobs Field to lead the American League in ERA last season, and his ground-ball style should help him at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. The Rangers need someone to show their collection of young power pitchers that you can succeed at this hitter's park, and Millwood will provide a good example.

 

With Michael Young, Mark Teixeira, Hank Blalock and Rod Barajas, the Rangers have a core of players to compete with Oakland and the Angels in the AL West. They needed to change the face of a defeated pitching staff, and Daniels did that. Millwood might not have five good seasons in him -- no pitcher in his 30s is a good bet for that -- but this deal will be worth it if Millwood helps a floundering organization re-establish its credibility.

 

Let me get this straight. An enigmatic pithcer who smatters a few good seasons in between years of mediocre to horrid performance deserves $60 million dollars over 5 years??? I'm surprised Jaques Jones didn't make his list.[/url]

[Transmogrified Tiger]

FJM's take:

 

Junior[/url]"] Does Anyone Think Kevin Millwood at $60 Million Over 5 Years is a Good Deal?

 

Look, there are no certainties when it comes to long-term contract values. It's possible that Kevin Millwood will be worth $12 million a year when he's 36. I just don't think it's likely.

 

Phil Rogers, however, thinks the Millwood signing was one of the best of the offseason.

 

RHP Kevin Millwood | Age: 31

Contract: 5 years, $60 million

2005: 9-11, AL-best 2.86 ERA

 

You know what his defense-adjusted ERA was? 3.61. It was good. Jarrod Washburn's DERA was 3.48. (His contract seems bad, too. But it's a for a lot less total money than Millwood's.)

 

Sure, Scott Boras did his usual tap dance to the bank, getting the maximum value for another one of his clients. But give first-year Texas general manager Jon Daniels credit for landing his franchise the rare pitcher who walks and talks like an ace.

 

Some might say that there are too many stupid lists on FJM. Not me.

 

WALKS LIKE AN ACE

Roy Halladay

Randy Johnson

Mark Buehrle

Kirk Saarloos (great walker, cannot pitch well, though)

 

TALKS LIKE AN ACE

Curt Schilling

Pedro Martinez

Ozzie Guillen (Surprise! Not even a pitcher or an active player. Still, ace talker.)

 

WALKS AND TALKS LIKE AN ACE

Roger Clemens

Kevin Millwood

 

So you see, the Rangers were very fortunate indeed to land Millwood.

 

That's what Millwood was when he left Atlanta after 2002, and he has only grown mentally tougher in the three seasons he spent in Philadelphia and Cleveland. He used his sinker-slider combination well enough at Jacobs Field to lead the American League in ERA last season, and his ground-ball style should help him at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. The Rangers need someone to show their collection of young power pitchers that you can succeed at this hitter's park, and Millwood will provide a good example.

 

That's great, but really, how much is it worth for him to "show that you can succeed"? $1 million a year? 2? Will Kameron Loe and Juan Dominguez suddenly lower the ERAs by half a run once they see Millwood post a 4.30 ERA at home next year?

 

With Michael Young, Mark Teixeira, Hank Blalock and Rod Barajas, the Rangers have a core of players to compete with Oakland and the Angels in the AL West. They needed to change the face of a defeated pitching staff, and Daniels did that. Millwood might not have five good seasons in him -- no pitcher in his 30s is a good bet for that -- but this deal will be worth it if Millwood helps a floundering organization re-establish its credibility.

 

He's one year removed from a 4.85 ERA (90 ERA+) and he's essentially been league average or worse for five of his eight full seasons in the major leagues.

 

At least Phil is consistently wrong, though. He also hates the low-risk, one year Dodger deal for Nomar Garciaparra and loves the $16 million given to 41-year-old crazy person Kenny Rogers.

 

Same article, in re: Raffy Furcal.

 

"There's no doubt Furcal is a very good shortstop and a solid leadoff hitter. But his skills were always secondary to the likes of Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones and others in Atlanta."

 

You see guys, when it comes to evaluating free-agent signings, it doesn't matter how good a player one is, it only matters how good one is relative to the other players on one's former team.

 

That's just straight-up Rogersball. And if you can't handle it, get your [crap] out of Phil's kitchen.

[anemic offense]

LOL TT. Who runs that forum? I had no idea what FJM was until I clicked on the link.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

LOL TT. Who runs that forum? I had no idea what FJM was until I clicked on the link.

 

There's a group of guys that do the blog, someone on here discovered it in the middle of last season. It's well worth looking through their archives if you're looking for a funny read.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Also, they had a follow up post:

 

Phil Rogers Follow-Up

From the post below, which tracks Phil Rogers's thoughts on Kevin Millwood:

 

"...[Millwood's] ground-ball style should help him at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.

 

The funny thing about this is, Millwood's not a GB pitcher. His career GB/FB ratio is almost exactly 1.00. His 1.34GB/FB ratio last year was 38th highest in MLB, just after Mike Maroth. (For comparison, Brandon Webb's last year was way over 4.00.)

 

Millwood is, if anything, a K/FB pitcher. But I wouldn't expect Rogers to know that, because he is not a sports columnist. He is a certified auto parts technician. Right? Oh, no -- wait. He is a sports columnist.

 

Addendum: Maybe this is just piling on at this point, but I'd like to add that I timed myself, and it took me 91 seconds to compile the information about these two pitchers and their GB/FB ratios. But I guess I can't expect Phil Rogers to conduct 91 seconds worth of research before writing his article, because he's not a sports columnist. He's a Vermont-based Bed-and-Breakfast manager. Right? Oh, shoot -- nope -- forgot again. He's a sports columnist.

[Marco4]

LOL TT. Who runs that forum? I had no idea what FJM was until I clicked on the link.

 

There's a group of guys that do the blog, someone on here discovered it in the middle of last season. It's well worth looking through their archives if you're looking for a funny read.

 

I've had tears rolling down my cheeks a number of times recently; their analysis of columns is the thing, for me anyroads.

[TheDude]

I read that Rodgers article, and numerous things just made me shake my head. But the one that really got me was...

 

It's hard to figure how having Hernandez will make Baltimore better than it was with Javy Lopez and Geronimo Gil sharing the catching duties.

 

Lopez has more of an upside as a hitter than Hernandez, who hit .290 with 12 homers in San Diego and figures to be helped by the move to Camden Yards.

 

So Javy Lopez, at age 35, has more upside than Ramon Hernandez, age 29? You could argue that Lopez might outproduce Herndandez, but upside? Come on.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Phil Rogers stupid statement # 1,564,987

 

That one actually came many, many years ago. I believe the number has more than tripled since. :lol:

[TheRaven]

I would say in context to the market, it wasn't an absolute horrible deal. I don't even mind the 12 million per season average the deal has. The five years is what would have made me walk away from the table, but like I said, comparing to the deals that were being thrown around for other players this offseason, it wasn't that outrageous I guess.

[ToupeeOnFire]

Reading a Phil Rogers can be challenging because once you read the first paragraph or two, you can't help but begin to nod off, that or you become distracted by thinking about what you had for breakfast that morning or by some other mundane detail in your life. The temptation is to want to skim the rest of the column until you come upon something interesting or he finally makes a point of some kind. By then, it's the end of the column, the contents of which you immediately file into that area of your mind under "garbage in, garbage out" and forget about entirely. So it takes a special kind of perseverance to make it through and actually contemplate what Phil is trying to say. After which you realize, under closer analysis, what you've just read contains no less than half a dozen headscratching comments and jaw-droppingly non-sensical observations (and that is on a good day). Thus the careful reader is "rewarded"; it's part of the genius that is Phil Rogers, the Sam Smith of major league baseball writers.

[Omar]

Phil Rogers stupid statement # 1,564,987

 

That one actually came many, many years ago. I believe the number has more than tripled since. :lol:

 

Officials say we will run out of numbers.