Comments on: Black Named Manager, Barfield Dealt to Cleveland

By: stergios

stergios — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 23:58:19 +0000

Does it bother anyone that Kouzmanoff could have been picked up last December during the Rule V Draft for a mere $50,000, but that not a single team chose to do so?

Furthermore, Brown was not expected to make the Indians next season and would have been released. It sounds like there isn’t too much to get excited about concerning him…

By: jimbo

jimbo — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:13:18 +0000

Of all the stories I have read I think your synopsis was spot on, thanks!

jimbo

By: David

David — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 02:48:46 +0000

Criticism noted (and warranted).
This is just an ideal roster, one I think we could win with. Obviously not gonna happen, but this would be a good team. DeRosa will definitely get starter money somewhere, and while Iwamura’s posting fee isn’t going to be huge, if he doesn’t want to play seciond then I think the next best option is some veteran placeholder like Counsell or Loretta or Kennedy or even Belliard. I am also pretty sure SD doesn’t get Piazza back, but I think they should. Payroll is anissue, sure, but the Pads are saving 22 million dolars just with Klesko and Park – if they are planning an increase anyway, say a 10-15 million dolar increase all these guys should be obtainable.
But we’ll probably open the season with Bret Boone at second and Jeromy Burnitz in left. They always played well against us!

By: Masticore317

Masticore317 — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 01:03:57 +0000

I’m also pretty sure Iwamura has publicly said he doesn’t want to play 2B.

By: Paul R.

Paul R. — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 17:54:18 +0000

Re: 130

David-you’ve added quite a bit of payroll for next year in this roster, more than the 30M that we’ve talked about.

Iwamura-big upfront cost plus at least 4M/year
DeRosa-I’d be surprised if he didn’t find 3-5M/yr from someone
Sheffield-maybe 10M if Yanks pay 3M
Zito-Everything you read makes it look like 12M is conservative for him.
Piazza-He’s got to cost at least 4M after last season.

That’s an addition of almost 40M without taking into account the posting fee for Iwamura or resigning Walker and signing Delucci.

By: David

David — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 17:16:16 +0000

Okay, here’s my 2006 roster, for whatever it’s worth
C: Piazza or Bard
1b:Gonzalez
2B:Iwamura
SS:Greene
3B:Kouzmanoff/Branyan
UT/IF/Gets 300 ABs all over the field: DeRosa
RF:Giles
CF:Cameron
LF:Sheffield if we can get him cheap
OF/Johnson/Sledge (if we can’t get Sheff for cheap)
As far as other OFs go, I’d take Drew over Lee or Soriano, and Gonzalez as a super sub OF. Dude hit 50+ doubles last year.
Rotation would be Peavy/Young/Zito/Hensley/Thompson or Padilla.
Bullpen would be similar to last year, maybe a guy like Dotel to take pressure off Linebrink.
Bench:
Walker
Delucci
Johnson/Sledge/McAnulty (pick 2)
DeRosa or Counsell
Bard/Bowen

By: PF4L

PF4L — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:37:21 +0000

#120 Is it possible that players have been playing better into their mid-30’s due to help from the scientific community (and I don’t mean sports/massage therapists or surgeons)? It seems like a number of players are down-sized from a few years ago, and overall numbers seem to be, in general, a little less impressive than in years past. I am speaking only from an overall perception and not really from any analysis. I am just saying that I think many players are more clean today than they were 1-2 years ago. I also think this will only become more obvious in the years to come.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:30:37 +0000

127: What’s that tell you about leadoff hitters? We don’t have very many good ones. Where’s the next Rickey or Rock Raines? We can’t expect Soriano to get .351 again, not when he’s .325 career guy. I just don’t see why most teams would want that leading off. Put him behind Gonzalez. I don’t put too much stock in his lineup splits from one year.

By: KRS1

KRS1 — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:12:40 +0000

124.

Soriano’s OBP was 3rd best in MLB amoung leadoff hitters.

By: Clayton

Clayton — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:06:18 +0000

Right on, BigKTfan (#109)…disruptive baserunners are far more valuable than the stats indicate. I say believe what you see – fast guys rattle pitchers and make the most out of their own and other’s efforts (extra bases, steals, etc.). I think Jose Reyes is a good example of a guy who may not generate a ton of power swinging the bat, but steals a base to turn a weak grounder he beat out into effectively a double; scores from first to give another guy an RBI they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten on that particular swing, etc. And that has nothing at all to do w/ “style points”.

Richard, per your comment on the production of hitters going down after an attempted steal…that doesn’t seem to make intuitive sense. I can’t fit an explanation to it, maybe “uh oh, now I really have to come through with a hit”? Why would a hitter feel more pressure than he already does?

With Barfield gone and Roberts effectively gone, we will most likely have the OG leading off. Some folks on this Blog think that’s a great thing, b/c they assume OG’s walk totals will be constant. My opinion, is: watch what happens to his walk totals when he’s followed by the #2 guy not the #4 guy. I think he’ll see a lot more pitches in the strike zone and continue to do less and less with them.

We’ll end up with a leadoff guy hitting around .260, slugging only like .350 (continuing the power decline) and getting on at a subpar .300 clip as his BB’s get cut in half.

I also think claiming he plays “GG-caliber defense” is false. Defensive value stats are murky at best, you only need to watch him to see he’s getting slower to the ball and has a mediocre at best arm.