bukie

Your point: It's too early to give up on Minor, because Roy Halladay had similar struggles early in his career. Response: Well, judging from the other 61 examples of highly regarded players struggling early in their career, odds aren't good for Minor. But sure, misinterpreting, laughs, whatever makes you feel better about it.

Another alternative would be to have technology in each stadium that would immediately indicate fair/foul based on the landing of the ball, and just to consider the play live until the stadium indicator shows foul. In tennis, when players challenge line calls, it takes those systems about 5 seconds to indicate whether the ball was in or out.

They could always do as they do in tennis when an "out" call gets reversed: replay the point.

Yes, a season-long DL spot would be great to have. Keep it in March, maybe even run it alongside the major league draft so we don't run out of time. No to positional outfielders, yes to eliminating errors, unless there was some positive value to be added defensively (for which there just isn't a good statistic to use)

(and Matusz) ??? Matudz is a third pitcher that got off to such a start and made the list, and is often referenced as a trade reclamation project.

It is Norichika Aoki's world, we are just experiencing it today.

I wasn't really happy with the list I got yesterday of people that started out as bad as Roy Halladay, since it was pretty era-specific. I changed the parameters to an ERA+ of 80 or lower for age 23-24 seasons with at least 25 starts, and that got 62 results (including Minor). Then I sorted the list by the player's career WAR. Here are the results: Rk Player WAR From To Age G GS CG SHO IP ERA ERA+ 1 Roy Halladay 62.9 1998 2012 21-35 389 363 66 20 2603.1 3.25 137 2 Ed Brandt 26.2 1928 1938 23-33 378 279 150 18 2268.1 3.86 100 3 Al Benton 21.7 1934 1952 23-41 455 167 58 10 1688.1 3.66 115 4 Mike McCormick 14.8 1956 1971 17-32 484 333 91 23 2380.1 3.73 96 5 LaTroy Hawkins 14.4 1995 2012 22-39 833 98 2 0 1270.0 4.46 104 6 Arthur Rhodes 13.7 1991 2011 21-41 900 61 5 3 1187.2 4.08 109 7 Jason Isringhausen 11.6 1995 2012 22-39 695 52 3 1 982.2 3.59 117 8 Melido Perez 9.7 1987 1995 21-29 243 201 20 5 1354.2 4.17 97 9 Bob Rhoads 9.6 1902 1909 22-29 218 185 154 21 1691.2 2.61 100 10 Pete Falcone 8.7 1975 1984 21-30 325 217 25 7 1435.1 4.07 91 11 Dan Spillner 7.8 1974 1985 22-33 556 123 19 3 1492.2 4.21 92 12 Mark Davis 6.1 1980 1997 19-36 624 85 4 2 1145.0 4.17 89 13 Andy Hassler 5.6 1971 1985 19-33 387 112 26 5 1123.1 3.83 97 14 Oliver Perez 5.3 2002 2010 20-28 206 195 3 2 1111.2 4.63 90 15 Pete Schourek 4.7 1991 2001 22-32 288 176 3 1 1149.0 4.59 92 16 Pete Smith 4.4 1987 1998 21-32 231 163 12 4 1025.2 4.55 86 17 Colby Lewis 4.0 2002 2012 22-32 148 110 4 1 698.2 4.80 95 18 Jack Fisher 3.2 1959 1969 20-30 400 265 62 9 1975.2 4.06 88 19 Jeff Robinson 2.3 1984 1992 23-31 454 62 2 1 901.1 3.79 96 20 Chris Haney 2.1 1991 2002 22-33 196 125 8 4 824.2 5.07 91 21 Hal Wiltse 1.9 1926 1931 22-27 102 65 23 2 500.1 4.87 85 22 Marty Bystrom 1.6 1980 1985 21-26 84 79 4 2 435.0 4.26 87 23 Paul Wilson 1.6 1996 2005 23-32 170 153 3 0 941.2 4.86 88 24 Brian Matusz 1.1 2009 2012 22-25 63 63 0 0 333.1 5.32 79 25 Roy Sherid 0.3 1929 1931 22-24 87 44 20 0 413.0 4.71 87 Rk Player WAR From To Age G GS CG SHO IP ERA ERA+ 26 Steve Dunning 0.3 1970 1977 21-28 136 84 7 1 613.2 4.56 82 27 Don Johnson 0.3 1947 1958 20-31 198 70 17 5 631.0 4.78 84 28 Phil Ortega 0.1 1960 1969 20-29 204 141 20 9 951.2 4.43 75 29 Bill Parsons 0.1 1971 1974 22-25 93 82 22 6 520.1 3.89 85 30 Allen Watson 0.1 1993 2000 22-29 206 137 3 0 892.0 5.03 86 31 Doug Waechter 0.0 2003 2009 22-28 113 54 1 1 384.1 5.34 83 32 Luke Prokopec 0.0 2000 2002 22-24 56 37 0 0 231.0 5.30 80 33 Biff Schlitzer -0.2 1908 1914 23-29 44 29 16 2 217.1 3.60 71 34 Ed Walsh -0.2 1928 1932 23-27 79 38 11 0 331.0 5.57 78 35 Gerry Janeski -0.4 1970 1972 24-26 62 46 4 1 280.0 4.72 78 36 Frank Bertaina -0.5 1964 1970 20-26 99 66 6 5 413.0 3.84 85 37 Happy Townsend -0.5 1901 1906 22-27 153 125 107 5 1137.2 3.59 83 38 Kyle Drabek -0.6 2010 2012 22-24 32 28 0 0 157.2 5.37 80 39 Wayne Simpson -0.7 1970 1977 21-28 122 107 13 2 636.0 4.37 86 40 Beany Jacobson -0.9 1904 1907 23-26 88 70 53 1 612.1 3.19 83 41 Chris George -1.0 2001 2004 21-24 47 44 1 0 237.1 6.48 75 42 Santo Alcala -1.3 1976 1977 23-24 68 33 3 1 249.1 4.76 77 43 Elmer Myers -1.5 1915 1922 21-28 185 127 78 8 1102.0 4.06 80 44 Mike Minor -1.6 2010 2012 22-24 34 33 0 0 181.1 5.46 71 45 Doug Konieczny -1.7 1973 1977 21-25 44 38 4 1 221.0 4.93 70 46 Todd Van Poppel -1.7 1991 2004 19-32 359 98 2 1 907.0 5.58 80 47 Mike Campbell -1.8 1987 1996 23-32 51 41 3 0 233.1 5.86 74 48 Ken Cloude -1.9 1997 1999 22-24 71 45 0 0 278.2 6.56 71 49 John DAcquisto -1.9 1973 1982 21-30 266 92 7 2 779.2 4.56 80 50 Bill Champion -2.0 1969 1976 21-28 202 102 13 3 804.1 4.69 78 Rk Player WAR From To Age G GS CG SHO IP ERA ERA+ 51 Jeff Ballard -2.1 1987 1994 23-30 197 118 10 2 773.1 4.71 84 52 Jay Hook -2.1 1957 1964 20-27 160 112 30 2 752.2 5.23 74 53 Lefty Hoerst -2.7 1940 1947 22-29 98 41 8 0 348.0 5.17 67 54 Aaron Myette -2.8 1999 2004 21-26 47 30 0 0 154.1 8.16 58 55 Andrew Miller -3.1 2006 2012 21-27 109 66 0 0 371.0 5.68 77 56 Garrett Olson -3.1 2007 2011 23-27 103 44 0 0 287.1 6.14 71 57 Lou Knerr -3.2 1945 1947 23-25 63 39 11 0 287.1 5.04 69 58 Gene Wright -3.3 1901 1904 22-25 46 40 31 2 323.2 4.50 70 59 Ruben Quevedo -3.5 2000 2003 21-24 66 58 2 1 326.1 6.15 70 60 Jo-Jo Reyes -4.0 2007 2011 22-26 70 62 1 0 334.2 6.05 70 61 Jack Hamilton -4.4 1962 1969 23-30 218 65 8 2 611.2 4.53 78 62 Mike Kekich -5.4 1965 1977 20-32 235 112 8 1 860.2 4.59 73 So, the list of players who started out as bad as Minor (and Kyle Drabek) and went on to be a successful Major League starter is...1 in 62.

It somehow took on greater importance than plate appearances, which really just makes things confusing from statistic to statistic.

Boston's mayor is a huge Celts fan. He especially likes his two favorite Celtic performers from Tuesday night, Kevin Johnson and John Havlicek... http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story/_/id/8020118/kj-boston-celtics-kevin-garnett-hondo-rajon-rondo-boston-mayor-fumbles-names-again

I...don't agree. Yeah, he was probably being a little conservative there. Congrats on the finals berth, though.

Hopefully, today is the day Concepcion's K/BB ratio climbs above 1.

I know we benefit from a very weak federation(South Korea too), but I never would have guessed the total number to be this low. My first thought was when did Mexico not qualfiy, but they got DQ'd in 1990 for fielding overage players in the previous Olympics.

And if this front office has enough information on players to know that they'll turn into Roy Halladay, I really like the future of this organization.

Rhodes was the #5 prospect in baseball in 1992. Colby Lewis was #32 in 2003. I'm under the assumption that by the sheer definition of the scope (23 yos who start 20 games in the majors are by definition highly regarded prospects coming into the season), they were all well regarded (BA only has prospect lists going back to 1990). Welp, I guess you can go ahead and give up on a guy like that that quickly then. Unless they are Roy Halladay. Or, you know, a solid reliever 10 years down the road. The interesting thing about Halladay, actually, was that he was only really bad in his age 24 season. In his age 23 season, he was actually really good. In 2000, though, beyond terrible in 13 starts.

Rhodes was the #5 prospect in baseball in 1992. Colby Lewis was #32 in 2003. I'm under the assumption that by the sheer definition of the scope (23 yos who start 20 games in the majors are by definition highly regarded prospects coming into the season), they were all well regarded (BA only has prospect lists going back to 1990).

I ran a BR Play Index for players who started at least 25 games in their age 23-24 seasons and had an ERA over 6. There are 13 in major league history. The 12 other than Halladay: Todd Van Poppel Arthur Rhodes Jo Jo Reyes Bryan Rekar Oliver Perez Garrett Olson Aaron Myette Colby Lewis LaTroy Hawkins Chris George John D'Acquisto Ken Cloude

Oh, for Christ's sake. You're hopeless. That's another way of saying "I have no valid argument."

0-2 now after the Chicharito goal.

Speaking of DL rules and hoarding, I released Ryan Howard because I can't afford to waste two bench spots on injured players. Luebke (TJ surgery) to DL list, and Drew Hutchison into the lineup.

Can't he accept the assignment and go right down? I wouldnt be surprised if he was ok with going down considering where his career is at currently. He has to clear waivers before he can accept the assignment. Sometimes, players are given the option to reject the assignment and become a FA if they aren't claimed, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bowden went down to the minors given the opportunity.

Ghana v Lesotho playing a WCQ today, with Ghana at home up 4-0, the lights go out. May have to replay the game in its entirety if they can't fix it. No word yet from Ghana whether this is yet another one of their time-wasting techniques.

DFA doesn't mean released, btw. If some team claims him off waivers, then sure. Otherwise, he could go to the minors.

Why is Strasburg risky? Because he got Tommy John? Half the pitchers in the league have Tommy John. PS I would trade Starlin for Stanton. Dude's a legit beast, on pace for a 40 HR season with a .970 OPS and he's only 22. I wouldn't trade Castro for Strasburg because I'd prefer to just keep the younger player.

I'd take Kershaw or Verlander over Strasburg, and I'm not even sure I'd take one of them, as pitchers are inherently more risk than hitters.

I'd probably trade Castro for Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg.