seanimal

Un-classy response to an classy guy. Stop booing everything guys, you're embarrassing yourselves.

I grandfathered the term from an earlier post by a different person. A mistake I vaguely acknowledged by stating that he was, indeed, trending upwards. A realization I came to once I looked closer at his numbers. If you want formal recognition of the inaccuracy of the 'washed up' statement, there it is. And even more to the point, the fact that Kendall was improving was clearly being demonstrated in the numbers he was putting up, as Meph said, in the weeks prior to the trade. If they had passed on Kendall, despite the numerical evidence of improvement based on the limited time he was scouted, what would you say then? The numbers don't lie as long as they are viewed with an open mind and held within the context of the player and his environment. They should not be used like a drunkard uses a lamp post, for support rather than illumination, as someone once said. Sweeping generalization that doesn't serve any purpose other than to insult and alienate. There are people here who disagreed with the Kendall trade. There were people here who agreed with it. But very few people on this board are actively sabermetric. People latch on to whatever superficial analysis suits their already formed opinion on the matter. But it's rather deplorable to lump people who actually know what they're they're talking about with random dudes who say 'his numbers suck, he sucks'. Find me these people. PLEASE. 1. I watch and attend lots of baseball games at all different levels. Live baseball is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Don't attempt to chastise me for making assumptions about you (ones informed by your remarks, mind you) and then turn around and make silly assumptions about me that, rather than being based on anything here, are based on your assumptions and obtuse generalizations about a group of people that really do not exist. 2. Enough of the catfighting. It makes both of us look bad and doesn't do anything to advance the discussion. I was just as wrong for being condescending as much as you were. I'll let it go if you will. Dead wrong about what, exactly? I implore you to go find the part where I said that the Kendall trade was a bad one, if that's what you're implying. Otherwise, I have no idea what you're talking about, other than the aforementioned mischaracterization of Kendall's play in Oakland. I don't think many would protest, those that grasp the concepts appropriately, that stats don't always tell the whole story. I think the argument really rests in the degree to how much of the story can be told by the stats. But mainly that has to do with the difference between skill and ability. Scouting identifies skill (speed, strength, awareness, etc.) whereas statistics, which in the more advanced metrics are becoming more and more accurate, identify ability. Ability that is displayed by the record of their accomplishments: stats.

And by the way, it's not scouts vs. 'sabers'. The two are complimentary, not mutually exclusive. I guess I'm mixed up then. I thought Gary Hughes was a scout. You are. I didn't say Gary Hughes wasn't a scout. I'm sorry, but going out and getting and expecting a baseball player to contribute for your team while he is not doing so for the other team based simply on seeing him 'in person, at a baseball game' is foolish, and even though it worked out this time it will fail miserably more times than not. There was reason to believe, even among 'sabers', that Kendall had a decent chance to improve, as he was already beginning to trend upwards during his last days in Oakland. But most of the season prior to the trade he looked lost. In this situation it payed off, to a certain extent, but I don't see how that entitles you to pointlessly gloat and make asinine statements about things which you clearly don't understand. Wow. Your grasp of sabermetric analysis is laughable. Not trying to be a dick, but you're kind of making an ass of yourself with this statement. Again, scouting and sabermetric analysis are not mutually exclusive actions. They compliment each other, and to juxtapose one against the other as if they are competing systems is idiotic, at best. I'm not sure why this is hard for you to understand.

You can't possibly be serious. He wasn't hitting for contact or power and wasn't getting on base much. His approach at the plate at times bordered on masochistic. He looked washed up to everyone. Hendry took a flier on the guy hoping a change of scenery or for that matter was better than what he was putting up in Oakland. Hendry gambled right only after he gambled wrong. And by the way, it's not scouts vs. 'sabers'. The two are complimentary, not mutually exclusive.

That pole vaulter from Meph's avatar a while ago. She was way more bangin than Hayden.

I think it's pretty obvious that if Cuban got the team, Hendry would be gone. Cuban is a numbers guy, big time. Hendry is a scout who got promoted one too many times. I can't see Cuban looking favorably upon extending Hendry's tenure beyond whatever grace period he might need to assess the situation. Cuban is the best candidate for the job, but that doesn't matter to the MLB. They want what's best for the league, not what's best for the Chicago Cubs and ultimately, the Tribune.

I feel a long-winded rant coming on...

I don't know what I would be thinking now if I was a White Sox fan, but it would probably be something irrelevant like how much I hate the Cubs because I'm a moron and the Red Sox remind me of the Cubs. That and I'd be completely baffled as to why my favorite team sucks. It's easy. Just think about how you felt about the Cubs last year. Matt Murton is pretty good at hitting baseballs?

I don't know what I would be thinking now if I was a White Sox fan, but it would probably be something irrelevant like how much I hate the Cubs because I'm a moron and the Red Sox remind me of the Cubs. That and I'd be completely baffled as to why my favorite team sucks.

Yeah seriously, she's not even a Cardinals fan. They had to go recruit some hapless fraulein because they didn't have any worthy candidates among their stock. Rather pathetic really, I almost feel sorry for them.

If Sheets is unable to fill-in, who will? I guess it won't matter because the Cubs will pretend he's Jake Peavy.

His SNLDVAR (Support-Neutral Lineup-adjusted Discussion Value Against Replacement) on this board is through the roof. That's gotta count for something.

I'm not sure that I understand how trading Pie for Dunn or Griffey (that sounds pretty odd coming from you Meph, as Griff is pretty freaking old and doesn't project well beyond say, tomorrow) or an "elite lefty out of the pen" makes any sense whatsoever. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, I don't know, but I think Pie at league minimum trumps Fukudome plus whatever we're trading Pie for, especially if it's Dunn, in terms of dollar efficiency. Let's imagine we trade Pie for Dunn. We only get his services for one year, then we have to pay to keep him. But because we traded Pie, we go out and get Fukudome, which costs whatever. So we can spend 35 large a year to have Dunn and Fukudome, sans Pie, or we can keep Pie and just get Dunn at the deadline and dump at the end of the season or compete within the market and sign Dunn next offseason anyway. I dunno. It seems foolish to go out and spend lavishly when many of the team's problems appear to be easy and cheap fixes. That being said, a Soriano/Fukudome/Dunn outfield would be... incredible. For like two years. Then, you know, all sorts of bad.

Long, but good.

Non-Fiction, FTW. The only fiction writers I've ever been able to enjoy are Twain and Pahlaniuk, as wierd a combo as that is.

Apparently, Jim Bouton has started a league where enthusiasts can play an older version of baseball. Link I want to do this.

No scientist worth his salt would make such a statement. There is measurement error in any model. And variation is not the same as luck. One does not call everything that cannot be explained by a model luck. Really, it's neither here nor there, but isn't that exactly what the authors are stating, that the typical response in these situations is that it's luck? Very true, and an excellent article.

Many people swear that Selig is the only reason there's a franchise in Milwaukee. Well they certainly become a more viable franchise once the profits from revenue sharing come in. Revenue sharing is suffering from the law of unintended consequences. The effect it is having seems to be the opposite of what is supposedly supposed to do: allow weaker market teams to contend with the big boys. When, in fact, it allows bottom dwellers to stay that way with very little monetary consequence. That's not to say it isn't valuable for promoting and preserving some level of parity in the game, but it can do just as much bad as it can good. We're probably another decade away from being able to accurately weigh in on its overall effect though.

It's a shame really. Hopefully he gets a chance with another team if he doesn't get it here, because he is a solid MLB player.

Well, there really is no question. Joe Morgan is THE best second baseman of all time, in terms of offensive production. Now, when we attempt to figure out who the best second baseman is ALL-AROUND, at the very least, Joe Morgan has to be near the top of the list, but Sandberg should probably be ahead of him. That being said, WARP3: Sandberg: 112.7 Morgan: 166.8

If Adam Dunn was a drag queen, and I was drunk, I would... you know.

Albert, who goes by Alberto when out on the town, once told me at a 4am bar that he is in fact, 42. True story.

"Barry Bonds and Bud Selig are in a secret conspiracy together to boost television ratings, Mr. Selig has been secretly giving Barry Bonds steroids for over 4 years under the supervision of Sammy Sosa." "Bonds left a message on my i-Phone, made threats towards me."

Based on their recent play, I'd be real happy with either one in the second spot in the order for the time being. 07/30 - 08/21 AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS BABIP Jones 77 8 28 9 0 3 46 18 4 10 0.364 0.395 0.597 0.992 0.391 Kendall 60 10 20 4 1 1 29 14 12 6 0.333 0.452 0.483 0.935 0.358 Yeah but those numbers show that since the 30th of July, Kendall has had far more patience at the plate, so he's clearly the better candidate out of the two to bat in the second spot according to frontloaded lineup construction, OBP-wise. ISoP Kendall: .119 Jones: .031