Warren Brusstar

But he's not going to play only against LHP. He's probably going to play when Lester starts whether we face a lefty or not.

His bat is in decline, and almost all of his assumed value comes from his defense. The prices being paid this offseason -- by sophisticated front offices with access to significantly more and better data than anyone here (or at FanGraphs) -- seem to evince some skepticism about the value of defense (at least to the extent valued by FanGraph's WAR calculations). There is no way that one can look at FanGraphs WAR numbers and come to Sandoval 5/$95 MM and Headley 4/$50 MM. But that's what the market of 30 sophisticated front offices (some better than others, obviously), with at least two really good front offices (Red Sox, Giants) valuing Sandoval at 5/$95 MM. At a minimum, it's interesting.

I guess Keri would disagree with the notion that the Mets would be the side adding value to a Harvey/Castro trade.

I SAID I DON'T THINK STARLIN CASTRO IS GOING TO LIKE JOE MADDON What with all this running hard to first base stuff.

I don't think Starlin Castro is going to like Joe Maddon: "Respect 90... going to make daily push for our players to respect that distance..run hard for 90 feet, and the respect will come back to you" Joe Maddon (@CubsJoeMadd)

Sometimes I think Tim would rather win the WAR/$ "title" than the World Series itself. Are you sure you're thinking of the right Tim? Unless there's some other Tim who lamented the foolishness of Felix Hernandez's contract....

Sometimes I think Tim would rather win the WAR/$ "title" than the World Series itself.

Someone has: http://coachbones.com/joe-maddons-number-one-rule/ Yep. Was gonna say, he talks about it a lot and how it's pretty much his only rule. Yep. It's awesome. Start running out of the box, Starlin. It's nice to see a SABR-savvy manager recognize the importance of running hard to first base. Maddon's rule isn't solely the province of meatballs.

He still has to be at the ballpark though, and he has kids. Part of the equation may be which schedule allows him to see his kids more often (which is debatable). Or Schilling could simply be blowing smoke out of his ass as usual. According to Maddon, he's pretty lax on when players report to the park. Uh-oh, you just set off the Kaplan-Signal. Oooh, someone should directly ask Maddon his feeling on players not running hard to first base on routine grounders. Someone has: http://coachbones.com/joe-maddons-number-one-rule/

No, David. The ratio of Casto mental mistakes/lazy plays to those of every player on the team is about 10 to 1.

Noted meatball Len Kaspar considers Castro's repeated lack of hustle a "terrible habit". @@LenKasper: Look I like Starlin. His terrible habit has to change. But he's played for Lou/Quade/Sveum/Renteria. At some pt it's just on the player, no? The over-the-top need here to be ABOVEITALL and the SABR-IEST non-meatball ever is maddening. Are people even watching the games? The complaints about Castro's repeated failure to hustle isn't the OMG HE SHOULD SPRINT ON GROUNDERS TO THE PITCHER nonsense. He repeatedly costs the Cubs bases by not running balls that matter. Kaplan is a douche, but don't reject his point simply because he's an idiot.

Touche'

I'm sorry, I'm going to need documentation on this, as well as your claim that his lack of hustle is costing 2-3 runs on the year. You've asked for it from others. Well I guess we'll all have to agree that no one has been able to quantify it, and those claiming to know whether a lack of hustle is meaningful or not is just guessing. Though I'm sure that won't stop many here from shouting down anyone who brings it up as a meathead.

Are players who run hard all the time hurting the club? That's the necessary corollary to your statement. If they hurt themselves or burn out and can play 5-10 less games per year? Yes, especially when the replacement option is Darwin freaking Barney. This is an asinine argument to make. Castro running the bases hard every time or getting an extra base is such a minute part of his overall value to the team that anybody who really gives a damn about the team couldn't care less about how hard he runs down to first on a groundout. Criticizing him for not going first to third on a single is an entirely different point, but not running out a grounder is completely missing the point of having a reliable 160 game SS. I don't care about him not running out a ground ball back to the pitcher. I care about him loafing into second when he could have a triple with one out. Or failing to go first to third on a single. Or jogging out of the box when he thinks he's hit a home run (but hasn't). Or barely running when he's hit a popup behind third that could easily fall. Castro has done every single one of these things this year alone.

Are players who run hard all the time hurting the club? That's the necessary corollary to your statement.