Tigers sign Prince - 9/214 - Heyman

[Rob]

The quality is most definitely there and thank you for sticking with it.

 

I think you're right in that there really isn't much to write about. Perhaps semi-related things like the transition of Cuban players to America or something, given the Cubs' interest in Cespedes, Soler, Concepcion?

 

Thanks! I'm glad to hear that.

 

Actually, that's a pretty good idea. I think I may just have to steal it. ;)

[Rob]

I kinda wish Rob had his own blog. I guess this is kind of the same thing.

 

Not many Cubs blogs out there with that type of analysis.

 

Or maybe a Rob/TT combo deal, but that might be asking too much.

 

This is basically my own blog. Only difference is I'm not swearing as much as I probably would otherwise.

 

When Tim approached me about writing for the site, he asked who else I would recommend. TT was at the top of that list. I also seem to recall recommending almost everybody that posts in the minor league forum too. And I know I recommended imb, cause that would be funny as hell. I wonder where Tim is with getting new writers...

[Guest]

I kinda wish Rob had his own blog. I guess this is kind of the same thing.

 

Not many Cubs blogs out there with that type of analysis.

 

Or maybe a Rob/TT combo deal, but that might be asking too much.

 

This is basically my own blog. Only difference is I'm not swearing as much as I probably would otherwise.

 

When Tim approached me about writing for the site, he asked who else I would recommend. TT was at the top of that list. I also seem to recall recommending almost everybody that posts in the minor league forum too. And I know I recommended imb, cause that would be funny as hell. I wonder where Tim is with getting new writers...

 

 

I second all of this.

[StarlinOnYou]

you've got to be kidding me. 9 years?

 

He's 27 years old.

 

Of course it is not the smartest thing, but with the DH he's going to be great for at the very least 6 of those years.

 

He hasn't even been "great" for all of the last 4-5 years.

 

Career 930 OPS. Close to a 400 OBP. 35+ HR a year.

 

I'd say he has been great.

 

I wouldn't have given 9 years @ that average salary per season, but the guy is a great hitter and young.

[SABR Gamer]

you've got to be kidding me. 9 years?

 

He's 27 years old.

 

Of course it is not the smartest thing, but with the DH he's going to be great for at the very least 6 of those years.

 

He hasn't even been "great" for all of the last 4-5 years.

 

Career 930 OPS. Close to a 400 OBP. 35+ HR a year.

 

I'd say he has been great.

 

I wouldn't have given 9 years @ that average salary per season, but the guy is a great hitter and young.

 

He has been a good, but inconsistent, hitter. The game is also played with more than just a bat, and Fielder is a very poor defender who is likely to continue to get worse, and him getting on base a lot is partially negated by the fact that he is a terrible base runner. Fielder is solid, but as the numbers in Rob's excellent article show, he is in the good to great category and not the great to outstanding category. Just read Rob's article, it says it much better than I can.

[davearm2]

My take on it

Nicely done Rob. Even if you forgot to mention my article on Fielder's projected value ;)

 

I think in the coming days, all of the media's experts and insiders will be presenting the same conclusions you did.

Edited January 25, 2012 by davearm2

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Rob's article pretty much nailed it.

 

It's really hard to get your head around how bad of a baserunner Prince Fielder really is. In a good year, his bat is worth 50 runs above average, and his glove and baserunning give back about 15 of those. And he's been erratic enough as a hitter that you can't count on that 50.

[davearm2]

you've got to be kidding me. 9 years?

 

He's 27 years old.

 

Of course it is not the smartest thing, but with the DH he's going to be great for at the very least 6 of those years.

 

He hasn't even been "great" for all of the last 4-5 years.

 

Career 930 OPS. Close to a 400 OBP. 35+ HR a year.

 

I'd say he has been great.

 

I wouldn't have given 9 years @ that average salary per season, but the guy is a great hitter and young.

Being a great hitter counts for a lot, but the rest of his game is starkly below average.

 

And while he may be young in a strict chronological sense, his physique puts him on a much different, accelerated aging curve. He's not 27 in "baseball years", for lack of a better term.

[crazycooter]

FWIW, they just had Olney on Sports Center talking about this. He insinuated that Boras made this deal with the Tigers ownership, not Dombrowski.

[soapy]

Haven't posted in a long time because of a job change resulting in far less time, but I'm...tipsy?...and wanted to chime in on a few things.

 

1. If Rob had a blog (preferably with a twitter feed), I'd be all over it every day. I would encourage that, whether it's through NSBB, or independently. As stated, most of the people from the minor league forum would be great contributors. If the front page will be featuring more blog-like articles, I'll be checking in more often.

 

2. I'm really glad the Cubs avoided this Fielder deal.

[Guest]

FWIW, they just had Olney on Sports Center talking about this. He insinuated that Boras made this deal with the Tigers ownership, not Dombrowski.

 

I guess his book worked. :lol:

[Sammy Sofa]

My take on it

Nicely done Rob. Even if you forgot to mention my article on Fielder's projected value ;)

 

Hence all of the praise.

[Coach.]

FWIW, they just had Olney on Sports Center talking about this. He insinuated that Boras made this deal with the Tigers ownership, not Dombrowski.

 

Then Dombrowski needs to step up, show ownership who's got the real baseball brain, and deal Turner and Castellanos for Garza. That'll show 'em!

[Tracer Bullet]

My take on it

 

I liked it too. Solid article. I would have liked to see you flesh out how you came to the +3 win conclusion at the end (not that I disagree). Are you saying Fielder's bat = 50 runs; Fielder's glove/running = -13 runs; Cabrera at 3B = -13 runs (is that 13 runs worse than what his value at 1b was?) so net is + 24 runs = +3 wins? Or am I missing something?

[crazycooter]

FWIW, they just had Olney on Sports Center talking about this. He insinuated that Boras made this deal with the Tigers ownership, not Dombrowski.

 

I guess his book worked. :lol:

 

He must have put some kind of voodoo magic in that book.

[Rob]

Holy crap, bunch of praise popped up this thread. Thanks everybody!

 

soapy, I do have a twitter account. It's @RHickey66. I currently have 7 followers. But I announce my articles when they go up, so follow me if you'd like.

 

davearm, I quite liked your Fielder article actually. But I didn't see it on the front page and assumed it had been deleted. I didn't realize it was from that long ago or else I would have clicked back a page.

[Rob]

My take on it

 

I liked it too. Solid article. I would have liked to see you flesh out how you came to the +3 win conclusion at the end (not that I disagree). Are you saying Fielder's bat = 50 runs; Fielder's glove/running = -13 runs; Cabrera at 3B = -13 runs (is that 13 runs worse than what his value at 1b was?) so net is + 24 runs = +3 wins? Or am I missing something?

 

Oh, I totally ballparked the estimate on 3 wins. I probably should have gone into depth to figure out exactly how much better it makes them, but my intent was just to write about why the contract is worrisome.

 

My half-assed thinking, for what it's worth. An Inge/Kelly platoon at 3B is probably worth about 1 WAR. Cabrera at 3B is probably worth about 6 WAR. At 1B he'd have been worth about 7. Fielder stays worth about 5.

 

So 2 wins worse at 1B, 5 wins better at 3B. 3 wins better.

[Guest]

I intend to get back to writing for the front page, but I've been on a project in real life that's consuming me for 80+ hours a week right now. Just haven't had the time to write anything with enough thought + quality to post. The project ends after the first week in Feb, so hopefully I'll be back at that point (and get other things done like the FA contest standings and the propsect rankings).

 

For the record, I've invited several people to write for the site, including TT. Unfortunately, most people that I've approached are just similarly busy right now to make a commitment. I'm very interested in recruiting authors, but I want to keep the quality as high as possible. What NSBB offers over starting your own blog is an instant readership of around 20+K unique visitors per month that hit the front page.

 

I've also kicked around the notion of approaching IMB, Trey + Rocket about doing a FJM-type commentary on the media's coverage of the Cubs. I'm just not quite sure I want to piss off the media that deeply!

[seanimal]

My take on it

 

good work dude

[seanimal]

I've also kicked around the notion of approaching IMB, Trey + Rocket about doing a FJM-type commentary on the media's coverage of the Cubs.

 

time to kick it in to high gear my man

[seanimal]

i mean, the fjm thing gets aped all the time, but the rosenblooms, sullivans, and kaplans of the world provide enough material that creativity really shouldn't be an issue

[Rob]

Also, that Rob guy is a pretentious douchenozzle just begging to be mocked.

[Clem Fandango]

I've also kicked around the notion of approaching IMB, Trey + Rocket about doing a FJM-type commentary on the media's coverage of the Cubs. I'm just not quite sure I want to piss off the media that deeply!

 

Covert website startup separate from NSBB. They'll never know... but we will

[Clem Fandango]

Also, why the [expletive] are the Tigers insisting that both Cabrera and Fielder play the field when they have a wide open DH spot that both of them would be perfect for? Do they not want them to get their fielding rusty so when Martinez comes back a full year later they won't miss a step in their crappy defense?

[slieb85]

I intend to get back to writing for the front page, but I've been on a project in real life that's consuming me for 80+ hours a week right now. Just haven't had the time to write anything with enough thought + quality to post. The project ends after the first week in Feb, so hopefully I'll be back at that point (and get other things done like the FA contest standings and the propsect rankings).

 

For the record, I've invited several people to write for the site, including TT. Unfortunately, most people that I've approached are just similarly busy right now to make a commitment. I'm very interested in recruiting authors, but I want to keep the quality as high as possible. What NSBB offers over starting your own blog is an instant readership of around 20+K unique visitors per month that hit the front page.

 

I've also kicked around the notion of approaching IMB, Trey + Rocket about doing a FJM-type commentary on the media's coverage of the Cubs. I'm just not quite sure I want to piss off the media that deeply!

 

 

I don't know the personalities of those three well enough to say whether or not I'd approve of that segment, but I still go to FJM every couple of months and read old stuff and laugh, so if you think they could pull it off, by all means encourage it. The personal feelings of the media in Chicago be damned, they know that whatever they write/say is fair game for criticism, and maybe, just maybe, it would make them slightly better at their jobs.

 

From time to time, because of the message board culture, and especially if there is not much news to argue over, this website slips a notch or two on my rotation. I think that more frequent front-page articles would be beneficial in terms of getting people to come to the site more frequently.

 

Just my $.02