Random Baseball Musings

[jersey cubs fan]

I agree with the idea there, but for reference, the 2008 Cubs had 2 players with an OPS+ below 100, and 5 above 115. The 2013 Cubs had only 2 below 100 as well when you consider the platoons(Valbuena/Murphy, Lake taking DeJesus' spot after the trade), but they had zero hitters with an OPS+ above 115. The good news is that there's already potential for several of those 115+ guys(Rizzo, Castro, Sweeney or Nate platooning with Lake, maybe Castillo), so if they add another they should be decently balanced offense, especially once Baez comes for Barney(or whoever is manning 2B).

 

Also, not really relevant, but interesting to me: Theriot had a 93 OPS+ in 2008 with a .745 OPS, Castillo had a 104 OPS+ with a .746 OPS.

 

The point is the 2008 Cubs below 100 were at 93 and 89, while the 2013 Cubs had guys at 56 and 72, plus a 94 and 99 getting lots of time. The scale matters, not just whether they were above or below 100.

 

And on top of that, the 2013 strongest regular was at 107. They combined black holes with no studs. The 2008 guys who weren't good, weren't black holes either. And they also had some really good guys, but not top 10 OPS+ hitters.

Edited November 20, 2013 by jersey cubs fan

[Cubswin11]

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell on why Cobb County Residents didn't get to vote on public funds going into building the Braves new stadium.......

 

"I don't want to say there's no way, but if we did that, the November city elections are already past us. So in order to do a referendum, I don't know if we could do it, with the holidays coming up, it would have to be a special election. And we don't have any elections scheduled until May of next year. It would have to be a special election, and that would cost taxpayers 300, 400 thousand dollars."

 

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/24015350/memorandum-of-understanding-finalized-between-cobb-county-and-the-atlanta-braves

 

http://24.media.tumblr.com/d1fbddf198fd49c70cf256c4547b0e9d/tumblr_mmrfpbW0Ey1sqqdgdo1_250.gif

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Has this been brought up here?

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-most-startling-trend-in-baseball/

 

I wonder if that has something to do with why older hitters are falling off faster.

[SouthSideRyan]

*Snip* Beane piece on no bad players

 

Doesn't this process of team building lead to higher variation from year to year and make it more difficult to build any sort of sustained success?

 

ETA: What I mean is having a stud player gives you more margin for error when guys fall off. When you don't have a cushion in place and your 105 OPS+ falls to an 80 in one year, then what? It's easier to replace an 80 that drops to a 55 in-season than the 105

[Guest]

*Snip* Beane piece on no bad players

 

Doesn't this process of team building lead to higher variation from year to year and make it more difficult to build any sort of sustained success?

 

The opposite, I think. If you have stars and scrubs and a star goes in the tank or gets hurt, then you're more or less screwed. With "no bad players" that risk is distributed across a larger pool.

 

Of course, I think there's a little bit of a difference in perception too. No bad players doesn't mean no good/great players. The A's got an MVP season from Donaldson and had 4 players above 3.5 fWAR(Cubs had 0), plus they had an elite bullpen and platooned the bejeezus out of people.

[SouthSideRyan]

See my edit, though I see your point that an injury is a different animal than a decline/cliff jumping

[jersey cubs fan]

*Snip* Beane piece on no bad players

 

Doesn't this process of team building lead to higher variation from year to year and make it more difficult to build any sort of sustained success?

 

The opposite, I think. If you have stars and scrubs and a star goes in the tank or gets hurt, then you're more or less screwed. With "no bad players" that risk is distributed across a larger pool.

 

Of course, I think there's a little bit of a difference in perception too. No bad players doesn't mean no good/great players. The A's got an MVP season from Donaldson and had 4 players above 3.5 fWAR(Cubs had 0), plus they had an elite bullpen and platooned the bejeezus out of people.

 

I think no bad players allows you to stay in the race every year and prevent horrible seasons. It also allows for flexibility in terms of which players from the outside they can target, whereas black hole positions force you to address specific players.

[Guest]

*Snip* Beane piece on no bad players

 

Doesn't this process of team building lead to higher variation from year to year and make it more difficult to build any sort of sustained success?

 

The opposite, I think. If you have stars and scrubs and a star goes in the tank or gets hurt, then you're more or less screwed. With "no bad players" that risk is distributed across a larger pool.

 

Of course, I think there's a little bit of a difference in perception too. No bad players doesn't mean no good/great players. The A's got an MVP season from Donaldson and had 4 players above 3.5 fWAR(Cubs had 0), plus they had an elite bullpen and platooned the bejeezus out of people.

 

I think no bad players allows you to stay in the race every year and prevent horrible seasons. It also allows for flexibility in terms of which players from the outside they can target, whereas black hole positions force you to address specific players.

 

I think in a way that also answers SSR's question. If you have a 105 OPS+/ERA+ guy who drops to 80, it's a lot easier to fill him in at the deadline with the Scott Feldmans and David DeJesii of the world, or even a top prospect if you have one. When the star declines from 130 to 110, you have to go plug other holes to get that relative improvement(that you weren't able to plug before), or pay through the nose for another elite player.

[Gmoney08]

*Snip* Beane piece on no bad players

 

Doesn't this process of team building lead to higher variation from year to year and make it more difficult to build any sort of sustained success?

 

The opposite, I think. If you have stars and scrubs and a star goes in the tank or gets hurt, then you're more or less screwed. With "no bad players" that risk is distributed across a larger pool.

 

Of course, I think there's a little bit of a difference in perception too. No bad players doesn't mean no good/great players. The A's got an MVP season from Donaldson and had 4 players above 3.5 fWAR(Cubs had 0), plus they had an elite bullpen and platooned the bejeezus out of people.

 

I think no bad players allows you to stay in the race every year and prevent horrible seasons. It also allows for flexibility in terms of which players from the outside they can target, whereas black hole positions force you to address specific players.

 

Diversification of Risk...

[SouthSideRyan]

*Snip* Beane piece on no bad players

 

Doesn't this process of team building lead to higher variation from year to year and make it more difficult to build any sort of sustained success?

 

The opposite, I think. If you have stars and scrubs and a star goes in the tank or gets hurt, then you're more or less screwed. With "no bad players" that risk is distributed across a larger pool.

 

Of course, I think there's a little bit of a difference in perception too. No bad players doesn't mean no good/great players. The A's got an MVP season from Donaldson and had 4 players above 3.5 fWAR(Cubs had 0), plus they had an elite bullpen and platooned the bejeezus out of people.

 

I think no bad players allows you to stay in the race every year and prevent horrible seasons. It also allows for flexibility in terms of which players from the outside they can target, whereas black hole positions force you to address specific players.

 

As an end result, yes. Problem is, how easy is it to find 8 averagish-moderately above average players versus finding 2 superstars + varying supporting cast. I get why Beane has to do it. The Chicago Cubs certainly shouldn't have to.

 

When it works as planned, you get the '08 Cubs or the '13 A's. When it doesn't, you get the 1 playoff appearance out of 8 years from the '04 A's - '11 A's. This obsession with winning efficiently when there's no need to is maddening.

[jersey cubs fan]

As an end result, yes. Problem is, how easy is it to find 8 averagish-moderately above average players versus finding 2 superstars + varying supporting cast. I get why Beane has to do it. The Chicago Cubs certainly shouldn't have to.

 

When it works as planned, you get the '08 Cubs or the '13 A's. When it doesn't, you get the 1 playoff appearance out of 8 years from the '04 A's - '11 A's. This obsession with winning efficiently when there's no need to is maddening.

 

I don't think it is all that hard actually. It's just that when you are the A's you have to let average guys go when they are poised to make $5-7 million. The Cubs can hold onto and pay average guys but also pay for a couple stars, and they absolutely should.

 

I'm certainly not advocating the avoidance of stars. It's foolish unless you absolutely cannot afford them. And no matter how hard they pretend, the Cubs are not in the A's situation. Those guys help you go from contention to domination, and the 1 seed.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm going to wait and see how long Beane can keep this up. It sometimes feels like "no bad players" is just code for "we got lucky and none of our players had bad seasons."

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm going to wait and see how long Beane can keep this up. It sometimes feels like "no bad players" is just code for "we got lucky and none of our players had bad seasons."

 

 

If it is code for anything it is "we are poor". And their financial situation is going to guarantee they can't keep it up in perpetuity.

[Post Count Padder]

Hall of Fame ballot revealed. Jacque Jones can tell his grandkids he was on the ballot.

 

http://bbwaa.com/

[UMFan83]

Hall of Fame ballot revealed. Jacque Jones can tell his grandkids he was on the ballot.

 

http://bbwaa.com/

 

Maybe its because the players of my teenage years are on the ballot but I could vote for like 20 players on that ballot, especially if you ignore steroids and HGH.

[apete6]

Hall of Fame ballot revealed. Jacque Jones can tell his grandkids he was on the ballot.

 

http://bbwaa.com/

 

Maybe its because the players of my teenage years are on the ballot but I could vote for like 20 players on that ballot, especially if you ignore steroids and HGH.

 

I believe that if stats alone were the decider, it would be 18 players based on the Baseball Prospectus HOF indicators. 18!!!!!!!

[Guest]

David Cameron @DCameronFG

There are nine players on this year's HOF ballot with a lower career WAR than Mike Trout.

[Cubswin11]

http://deadspin.com/deadspin-buys-hall-of-fame-vote-will-turn-it-over-to-d-1467003665

[CubInOK]

http://deadspin.com/deadspin-buys-hall-of-fame-vote-will-turn-it-over-to-d-1467003665

Jacque Jones is pretty much guaranteed to get a HOF vote now.

[Guest]

At Coors Field in 1996, all Major Leaguers hit a collective .323/.391/.540/.931.

 

Holy [expletive] [expletive].

[fromthestretch]

At Coors Field in 1996, all Major Leaguers hit a collective .323/.391/.540/.931.

 

Holy [expletive] [expletive].

 

 

Does that include pitchers, as well? If not, I'd really love to see the stats for just position players.

[Cubswin11]

Hall of Fame ballot revealed. Jacque Jones can tell his grandkids he was on the ballot.

 

http://bbwaa.com/

 

Maybe its because the players of my teenage years are on the ballot but I could vote for like 20 players on that ballot, especially if you ignore steroids and HGH.

Yeah no kidding. I have 19 I'd vote for.

 

Bonds

Clemens

Maddux

Schilling

Mussina

Bagwell

Thomas

Palmeiro

Walker

Raines

McGwire

Biggio

Martinez

Glavine

Trammell

Piazza

Sosa

McGriff

Kent

 

And it's going to be glorious when they only vote like 3 guys in and this log jam keeps growing every year. By 2020 there's going to be like 40 guys worthy.

[Guest]

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/197ki371lkj8xpng/ku-xlarge.png

[XZero771679666304]

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/197ki371lkj8xpng/ku-xlarge.png

 

David Price, chauvinist

[TruffleShuffle]

so here is an extremely unflattering article about the mariners' jack zdurnienik, or however it is spelled.

 

http://seattletimes.com/html/mariners/2022420240_mariners08xml.html