Preseason awards (semi-interesting article)

[Bote McBoteface]

Sorry if it's been posted already:

http://www.sportsline.com/columns/story/10739994

 

Some interesting quotes:

 

After everything broke just right for him in 2007, though, I worry -- less about Peavy than about the team around him. The defensive downgrade in centerfield from Mike Cameron (he of the loping gait) to Jim Edmonds (and his insistence on making easy plays look difficult) matters a whole bunch, especially for a team playing 81 games in a spacious home park. Balls caught or cut off before they reached the gaps in 2007 will make their way to the wall in 2008. That alone downgrades Peavy from first-round consideration.

 

A bold prediction: Ryan Theriot will be one of baseball's best shortstops in 2008 if he develops some power and learns to lay off crappy breaking pitches and stops running the bases as if blindfolded and increases his range at shortstop. To sum up: If Ryan Theriot becomes the precise opposite of Ryan Theriot, he'll be awesome.

We aren't the only ones who realize it =D>

 

The Ben Grieve ("Jesus Christ, this #&$@in' guy can't #&$@in' play. How much more evidence do you need?"): Corey Patterson, currently sitting atop the depth chart in center field and leading off for a team managed by Dusty Baker. Let's move on.

[TruffleShuffle]

edmonds' diving for easy plays is the least of his troubles these days. the bigger problem is that he's old, slow and gets hurt all the time.

 

as for theriot, he isn't that good, but i don't see where he's the worst player in baseball, as it seems he's being made out to be in this article. i don't recall him being a bad baserunner or swinging at a ton of bad breaking pitches last year. his bb/k ratio last year was 1/1. perhaps it's just some backlash at him for being not as good as some people think, but if people keep writing stuff like this about him, he'll actually end up becoming underrated.

[ToupeeOnFire]

His biting appraisal might of have had the sting of truth to it if Theriot...

 

a) was a poor base runner

b) had poor range

c) constantly flailed away at breaking pitches out of the strike zone

 

Oh well, one out of four ain't bad.

[Rob]

His biting appraisal might of have had the sting of truth to it if Theriot...

 

a) was a poor base runner

b) had poor range

c) constantly flailed away at breaking pitches out of the strike zone

 

Oh well, one out of four ain't bad.

 

Theriot has abysmal range. His arm is so poor that he's playing in a few steps, which severely hampers his ability to get to anything. He's solid on what comes right at him... but he wont get to anything else.

[CubColtPacer]

His biting appraisal might of have had the sting of truth to it if Theriot...

 

a) was a poor base runner

b) had poor range

c) constantly flailed away at breaking pitches out of the strike zone

 

Oh well, one out of four ain't bad.

 

Theriot has abysmal range. His arm is so poor that he's playing in a few steps, which severely hampers his ability to get to anything. He's solid on what comes right at him... but he wont get to anything else.

 

Theriot also has quick instincts to respond to the ball being hit, which allows him to get to a few more balls even when playing in. I wouldn't call his range good, but it's probably average. And I was one of the ones who thought he'd be absolutely terrible defensively there.

[17 Seconds]

His biting appraisal might of have had the sting of truth to it if Theriot...

 

a) was a poor base runner

b) had poor range

c) constantly flailed away at breaking pitches out of the strike zone

 

Oh well, one out of four ain't bad.

 

Theriot has very poor range.

[Bote McBoteface]

Yeah, I was kinda taken by surprise by the flailing at curveballs, I decided he was criticizing him for not being patient but wanted to give it strong wording (and in doing so made a completely incorrect statement. As was his bad baserunner statement), but Theriot does have bad range and a weak arm.