USSoccer

Managers can't do a ton of good. They can do a ton of harm, though.

I heard it too. It was definetly bizzare and uncomfortable. I didn't hear what the cousin was talking about earlier in the show, though.

NO!!!!!!!!!! Pavano is a huge disaster. I remember hearing about Pavano getting injured before he even stepped on the mound for his start in the minors. Its so shocking Cory Lidle died in the plane crash today. He was a guy I would of loved to see the cubs sign as their 5th starter. If taking back Pavano is the cost of getting ARod, I wouldn't hesitate. If Pavano gets healthy he's a fine 5th starter.

I think it definetly refocuses the energy of the media for at least a week or two. Maybe that buys them the time to figure out a new plan/scapegoat. As far as perspective, I think from a purely cynical/baseball view, if Lidle was under contract for 2007, todays tragedy means they need another pitcher even more.

Had this not happened, they wouldn't have felt bad at all of course. They are only saying "the right thing" right now. Odds are they'll be right back into the A-Rod bashing, etc. in a few minutes Someone on WSCR just asked how long until ARod would be blamed, ie "If ARod had played like a $25m player, they'd still be in the playoffs, and Lidle would be alive". Sadly, I can see some moron saying that. If it was a mechanical issue, it may have been inevitable anyway. True.

From what I've heard, he was lucky to have so many good players on his team, and regularly mocks the use of statistics in baseball. Just listen to him provide color commentary during the Oakland series. RISP, hit and runs, stolen bases-these are the things he favors. He mocked OBP and had no idea what WHIP was.

Had this not happened, they wouldn't have felt bad at all of course. They are only saying "the right thing" right now. Odds are they'll be right back into the A-Rod bashing, etc. in a few minutes Someone on WSCR just asked how long until ARod would be blamed, ie "If ARod had played like a $25m player, they'd still be in the playoffs, and Lidle would be alive". Sadly, I can see some moron saying that.

I think that was a different Phillies pitcher, Brett Meyers.

no far fetched? He disagree with radio guys about what his words meant. I think it's very far fetched. I didn' mean to imply suicide in my original post. I apologize if that's how it came off. When I mused how Mike & Mad Dog would feel, it was mostly because a guy they were torching 3 days ago was now dead, regardless of cause. They were shaken. I can imagine. Definetly puts things in perspective.

no far fetched? He disagree with radio guys about what his words meant. I think it's very far fetched. I didn' mean to imply suicide in my original post. I apologize if that's how it came off. When I mused how Mike & Mad Dog would feel, it was mostly because a guy they were torching 3 days ago was now dead, regardless of cause.

My heart goes out to his family. Regardless of the cause, it's a terrible, terrible tragedy.

On Monday they were torching him for being unprepared to face Detroit, and he called in and tried to defend himself, and they apparently proceeded to rip him apart on the air. I suppose it could have just been a terrible accident though, rather than a deliberate act.

I don't know if any of this is serious, but Mike and Mad Dog need to own up if it is. Seriously, there is a certain level of criticism that athletes need to learn to take, especially in a big market. But there is also a line that should not be crossed. Some might think it's "entertainment" to drag a guy through the mud on the public airwaves. I do not. Most of the NY media need a wake up call. It's unfortunate that it had to happen like this...

You've got to be kidding me...that's terrible. If it's true, I wonder how Mike and the Mad Dog feel about their chat on Monday...

First off, my Jeter comment was an example of specific plays influencing opinion. Second of all, I have read your survey instructions, and it's still unclear about methodology. What is your control? What is your margin of error? In your Ramirez comment, you're choosing what could be a mass delusion over a singular truth. I'm not saying that my opinion of his fielding is gospel, because fielding ability is pretty subjective-the variables are too many to quantify by most metrics accurately, but what I am saying is that choosing the popular opinion is not always accurate. What bothers me and what's making me question the validity of this entire project is that it's just an opinion poll. There's seemingly nothing scientific about your ratings, or the method of collection. If's a very detailed opinion poll, but in the end it's asking 50 people their opinion, which is not a statistically valid sample size, nor are the questions being asked easily answered in opinion form. Finally, you keep pointing out change from year to year, but are you asking the exact same people year in and year out their opinions on the same players? If you're asking different people, how is any movement in the ratings statistically signifigant? It's just 50 other people's opinions. I'll ask you directly: What is the goal of your survey?

How do you plan on filtering the data long term to eliminate the opinions given by the less informed? I don't see how time is going to self correct opinions. You brought up Jeter and Yankee fans, but does your survey account for the opinions of fans of other teams? Also, how do you account for Ramirez's poor rating when he was clearly better than his rating would indicate?

We'll see. It's not like they're going to kill his market value by declaring he sucks and they want to dump him because his clutch factor is below 1.21 gigawatts or something. .

People on NSBB.com are not immune to the subjective opinions of others influencing their interpretation of defensive play. Exactly. I know I have a bias in favor of ARam. I'm sure others have biases for and against others. Just because NSBB is generally a very knowledgable site doesn't mean we're immune for bias.

Exactly right. Aramis Ramirez had a pretty good defensive season, but the play that would likely stick in the casual fan's memory would be the popup he lost track of that bounced off his head against Atlanta that helped them lose that game. An entire season of improved 3B play would be negated by that one memorable bad play. The same could be said for Juan Pierre's defense. People think he's fast, and therefore a great defensive CF, but his arm strength and routes suck. His routes don't translate well to TV, and armstrength is something the average fan would more likely ignore. Derek Jeter is a pretty average SS, but I'll bet people remember the play against Oakland in the NLDS and the dive into the stands against Boston, and conclude he's great defensively.

I would consider a Prior/Eyre for ARod and Wright/Pavano, provided the Yankees pick up some of whichever pitcher's contract. Consider also the fact that Prior likely was offered at one point for Tejada, and it's not out of the question that Hendry wouldn't offer him for ARod.

The problem with opinions is that they are heavily influenced by a media that regurgitates cliches and conventional wisdom. Just because they change every year does not mean they become more accurate.

What are we waiting for?! I think we're waiting on Bochy. My guess is that Bochy is Hendry's primary target and Girardi is the fallback option. I think he's waiting on the Yankees/Piniella situation as well as Bochy. Just like everything else, Hendry is reactive to every other team's moves. He never goes out and gets people, he waits for them to come to him. That's simply inaccurate. He certainly missed on Furcal and Beltran. But there are two players I can think of off the top of my head that he went out and got and they performed very well for the Cubs. How is that inaccurate? He waited for just about everybody to become available. Some might say he went hard after Barrett, but it took another GM to act as broker to actually get something done. He had guys like Ramirez and Lee fall in his lap after other teams were cutting costs. He's gone after a couple small time role players, like middle relievers. But those guys don't make teams win. He's had plenty of opportunity to actually go out and make this team different, but he's been timid, cautious and much to willing to accept mediocrity, and hand-me-downs. Wasn't Lee virtually an Indian though. I am forgetting what team it was. An Oriole, actually. Florida was going to non-tender him, but had a deal fall through with Baltimore. Hendry swoope din at the last moment.

I'm inclined to agree with Goony on this. The data you are basing the results on are nothing but opinions. Asking fans to judge a players footwork and hands is just asking for preconcieved notions and biases to run rampant. "Reaction" and "instincts" are not measurable. They are subjective. I suppose it's useful in the sens that in 10 years you can look at hopefully improved fielding metrics, and compare it back to people's preconcieved notions of a player's defensive ability, and completely discredit the conventional wisdom on a particular player, but for now all it does is reinforce untrue stereotypes of players.

Ramirez had like 4 triples this season, by far a career high, IIRC. He had 38 doubles, 2 shy of a career high. Given that he's really, really slow, having that many triples is indicative of a guy who busted it around the bases more than just occasionally. That's another flaw in this whole Ramirez thing-so much more weight is being given to the handlful of times he dogged it than for the times he ended up a third despite having a catcher's speed.

There is a lot of doubt that he'd want to go to the west coast, and be that much further from Miami. Chicago is about the same distance as NY. Maybe he would relish the opportunity to play daytime baseball in Chicago, which he might percieve as less pressure, but a much higher reward for his legacy if he should lead the Cubs to a World Series... To argue the other side of it, maybe he would want out of the pressure of a major market? Chicago is still pretty high profile. But if he's as image conscious as people say, he'll still want a "major" market in which he can win a title, just one with a softer reputation. Plus, being in a major market would help his off the field endeavors. Anaheim is in. I suppose Houston could make a play, but that's one of the few teams we could outbid. If the White Sox want him, and offer Crede and one of their pitchers, that would be tough to beat. After that, who? Florida isn't going to trade for him, no matter what anyone thinks. NY Mets wont. The Dodgers, I suppose, could, but they have a lot of middle IF's as it is. Count everyone in the AL East out. Anaheim is the only AL West team that could make a play. The White Sox are the only AL Central team in. The Cubs and Houston are it as far as the NL Central. I don't see any of the NL West teams getting involved. Philly in the NL East could get involved, but would they want to, and do they match up? Basically, I see Anaheim, both Chicago teams, Houston and maybe Philly. And the Cubs could outbid anyone on that list in the NL.