Comments on: Friday Links (20 Jul 07)

By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:59:29 +0000

55, 56: I’m torn. I’d like to believe in what UZR tells us, but Sledge sometimes looks like he’s playing defense blindfolded.

It shouldn’t matter much the rest of the year. If Bradley-Cameron-Giles stay healthy they should get 85% of the starts with Cruz as the main backup. Sledge’s defense is immaterial when he’s coming off the bench to hit RHP.

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By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:55:38 +0000

47:

The Cubs signed DeRosa last winter and they’re charging, he’s not available.

Minnesota’s not out of it yet. Castillo might be a waiver move, but what does he offer vs Loretta? Not a great defender, no power, worse OBP, doesn’t steal anymore.

Belliard. Pretty equivalent to MLo, no quibble there. He was the St. Louis good-luck charm against us last year, if that’s worth anything. I don’t think he has Loretta’s bat control.

Amazega. Blum but 5 years younger and still athletic enough to play CF. Not a bad player to pursue when building the 2008 Padres, but not much purpose to this year’s team with Blum entrenched.

I like that Loretta has already played 2 seasons in Petco. He knows what happens to fly balls there, he’s not going to burn about it.

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By: SDSUBASEBALL

SDSUBASEBALL — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:44:00 +0000

55: I'm not saying the stat is bad, I am saying it is bad in this specific case. He is hard to watch out there. I dont really understand the move though. Sledge has an option.

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By: MB

MB — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:23:38 +0000

54: UZR is probably the best defensive statistic out there. Of course, with a relatively small sample, there’s going to be room for error. I wouldn’t doubt if Sledge is really closer to average, but he’s still been better than what we see with the naked eye, imo. By the way, he’s been +14 by UZR from 04-07.

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By: SDSUBASEBALL

SDSUBASEBALL — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:13:21 +0000

50: I find that hard to believe with how lost he is out there, this seems to be a stat where the numbers lie. He is just god-awful in LF.

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By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:12:28 +0000

#49 That makes sense-- higher SLG.

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By: SDSUBASEBALL

SDSUBASEBALL — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:11:15 +0000

47: I really dont think any of those guys are for sale right now but they would all definitely start over Marcus.

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By: Didi

Didi — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:05:37 +0000

50: That’s a surprise.

LM, did you get a copy of the book?
http://tinyurl.com/26a53x

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By: MB

MB — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 23:49:16 +0000

Defensively, Sledge has quietly been 5 runs above average in left -- by UZR.

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By: LaMar

LaMar — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 23:42:57 +0000

#45: I think I read that they front office believed that Sledge gave them a better option, i.e., more power off the bench.

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