DiamondMind

Tino Martinez is a poorly constructed Japanese 1980's robot.

I love this idea and it's what I've been ranting about in some other selected threads. Barrett is below average defensively as a catcher, people forget that he's a converted infielder. Catchers learn by experience, usually all the way from college ball through the minors through rookie MLB experience. I'd much rather see someone that can handle our emotional pitching staff and their wicked stuff behind the plate, and let Barrett fill a black hole that is SLG/OPS from corner OF positions. On top of all that, you're looking at possibly as much as 100 extra AB's from Barrett per year which might equate to an extra 5 HR and 15 RBI.

I didn't think you'd take 8 million solo HR's literally. I didn't. I also know better than to think that Corey has a higher rate of solo HR's than most.

I don't think you can really work your wrist back to full strength by going to the minors. Rehab starts would be a good idea to see if he's ready to help the team yet or not, but it makes no difference to his health if he's playing in the majors or the minors right now. The team doesn't need him, and it would be incredibly foolish to even consider something like rushing him back. The only advantage I can see is that if he played at Daytona he could DH. I don't think playing at Daytona is any different than playing at MLB level. My point is that broken bones take time to heal, and when you just dropped 60M on a player you should be careful with said investment, especially when you have no shot to make the postseason.

Sorry, it's what came to mind. Are you just trying to be insulting? It's the best I could think of.

I think it was explained quite well already -- ARod was the superior player at that position. Pretty simple, actually. If you think the hatred for aRod is bad now, imagine if he had taken Jeter's position. So what? That organization holds a ton of sway over the media in NY. If Jeter was the consumate team player and captain he's purported to be, he'd have publically handed over the SS position because it was what was best for the Yankees, and then you have no controversy. It just doesn't work like that man. It just doesn't. Do you give your corner office spot to the new guy because he went to a great college and was on the dean's list? It just doesn't work like that!

I think it was explained quite well already -- ARod was the superior player at that position. Pretty simple, actually. If you think the hatred for aRod is bad now, imagine if he had taken Jeter's position.

I didn't think you'd take 8 million solo HR's literally.

None of those players broke their wrist, something that directly affects how fast you can swing a bat and in turn your mechanics. Besides, we have 3 1B on the roster in Nevin, Mabry, and Lee. I just don't understand why you'd let him play one more meaningless month.

Sosa had the same problem. In the clutch, they both try too hard and chase pitches out of the zone. Sometimes they connect, but usually they strike out. With no runners on or with few outs in the inning, they're much more aggressive and likely to pop one out. This is probably a discussion for a new thread though.

Sorry, I just believe that if there is a player that is of exceptional caliber, with a longer than average tenure with the club, he deserves to keep his position until he loses it due to his own loss of skill. The positional arguments I have problems with are players like Phil Nevin who bitched about being a DH (Texas) with a great 1B already on the roster. How anyone can even begin to question Jeter for not relinquishing SS for Rodriguez is beyond me. The guy was signed, developed, and brought into the spotlight by the same organization at the same position.

I don't think they are necessarily 'critical' to a teams success either, but something has to be said for the non-measurable attributes speed creates like annoying the crap out of the opposing pitcher and him throwing a fastball that catches too much of the plate. Also, what can be said about players like '03 Lofton, '05 Damon/D. Roberts and '05 Podsednik directly leading to a teams playoff success? I'll assume you mean '04 with Damon and Roberts (since that was the year the Sox won it all) and give you each guy's numbers for that season: Lofton (with the Cubs) in 2003: 327/381/471 Damon in 04: 304/380/477, 20 home runs Roberts (with the Sox) in 04: 256/330/442 Podsednik in 05: 290/351/349 The answers to your questions are: Lofton and Damon were shots in the arm because they got on base at over a .380 clip, and slugged nearly .500, which is pretty good for a CF, not because of "situational hitting" or stealing bases. (For Damon you also can add in the fact that he hit 20 homers, which any team can and should take out of their leadoff man or CF every time). Roberts probably hurt the Sox more than he helped most of his time there except for that one stolen base, which clouds everyone's judgment on him. Podsednik was no more than average for a leadoff hitter, and when you factor in that he was only 59/82 in SB (72 percent), his running around probably hurt the team more than it helped. Oh, and his .700 OPS was absolutely awful (AWFUL) for a LF. The fact that he is largely credited with that team's success is one of the biggest jokes in baseball history. Sorry, yea, '04 - was trying to think of someone in each year in order there. I won't respond to everything, but you can't tell me the White Sox would have won with C. Lee in LF instead of Podsednik leading off.

how can his late of discipline "cancel out" his OPS? his lack of discipline is factored into OPS (thru OBP). that's like saying the outs a guy makes cancels out his batting average. Patterson has hit about 8 million solo home runs.

i know. you can actually make a case for jeter for mvp without throwing the word intangibles in there this year. http://www.hardballtimes.com/thtstats/main/?view=winshares He's tied for the lead in the AL in total win shares idiots will still argue that his "intangibles" give him the edge. I'd still put him behind a few others though. Idiots? Come on.

Bringing Lee back serves absolutely no purpose. He is neither a young player that demands evaluation for the upcoming season, or a player vital to a playoff chase. Let him sit.

Hendry does an A+ job in trading to acquire talent, and an F in trading away talent. He'd make a poor day-trader, for sure.

I'd argue that 'team chemistry' is a cliche, and a cliche that really doesn't lead to anything. Winning creates chemistry, not vice versa. Who is arguing "team chemistry" here? I was trying to make the point that I believe team chemistry is a cliche, not team defense.

Agreed, but only in this case. A .900+ OPS is hardly the norm in baseball, especially for a catcher. Still, I'd like to see Barrett improve his game calling and plate blocking ability, but that's for another thread eh?

Agree to disagree. :D

I'd argue that 'team chemistry' is a cliche, and a cliche that really doesn't lead to anything. Winning creates chemistry, not vice versa. edit: also, rookie pitchers are much much less inclined to shake off the catcher, and the Cubs have had quite the abundance of rookie pitching this year. Just saying.

Again, I can't provide any sort of numerical backing just because it'd take a ton of time - but there's no way they'd only save "a run every three or four games". On top of runs prevented, what about helping keep a pitchers pitch count low due to them turning the DP, making exceptional plays, etc? I think you can't provide numerical backing, because numerical backing for that position doesn't exist. Just like you can't provide numerical evidence of speed's influence on a pitchers missed location, range in CF saving doubles and triples, etc. Doesn't mean it's not important, just not quantifiable.

I'm just not drinking the Cubs brass' kool-aid on Cedeno. I think a majority of the hype came from the failed Furcal acquisition, so hey, we have a great Cedeno already so who cares if we failed again at an impact FA signing.

Sarcasm or not, I'm in the camp of in any sport, defense wins championships. Cliches don't win championships. It makes for a cute little point on the championship video, but in baseball, defense makes very little difference. If you'll look at defensive efficiency, fielding percentage, etc., you'll see that very few playoff teams, World Series teams, or World Series champions have been at or near the top in defense. Some have, but not nearly enough to draw some kind of correlation. It's not a cliche just because it's repeated. Maybe it's repeated because professional sports people, with experience, generally believe it. Why else would you hear it so often? edit: Again, I'd like to clarify that when I refer to defense I'm specifically referring to 'up the middle defense'; especially range in CF, the middle IF's ability to turn a DP, and the C's ability to call a game and manage a pitchers emotions.

What does? Sabrmetrics? "Defense wins championships" is a cliche that people recite out of sheer habit, and was established in sports like basketball and football that are more directly team-oriented than baseball can dream of being. Baseball is 90% the individual matchup of pitcher versus hitter. What wins championships in baseball is a balance of run scoring and run prevention, which is a much, much larger part pitching than it is fielding defense. The difference between a bad hitter (see: Izturis, also Neifi and the current production of Cedeno) and an average hitter in terms of the difference made to the team is much, much larger than the difference between an average defender and an exceptional defender, and this team isn't good enough to take an offensive hit like that in order to be a little better on defense at one position. Lots of mediocre to bad defensive teams have won in baseball. I wouldn't infer that the reason I believe what I believe is out of 'habit'. It's out of watching years of baseball and it's just how I formed my opinion. I didn't see it on a poster somewhere and take it as my M.O.

that's a lot different than saying defense wins championships, don't you think? the reason you can't crunch and collect numbers to prove your point is because those numbers don't exist. True, I guess you got me caught up there. Maybe I should say I believe defense is important to winning a championship? It's just my opinion. :) :)