One factor in determining a player’s worth is his “marquee value.” On page 95 of his book Diamond Dollars: The Economics of Winning in Baseball
Gennaro identifies four components in determining a player’s marquee value:
- Personal qualities
- Positive image
- Recognizability
- Accessibility
- Articulateness
- Performance Factor
- Continuity Factor
- Team Brand Value
Each of these is quantifiable, although it appears to be somewhat subjective in places. Which current Padres have the greatest marquee value? Without getting into the heavy math, here’s my stab:
A case could be advanced for Brian Giles, too, but I suspect his skills have slipped to the point that they no longer offset his relative lack of visibility. Like I said, there appears to be a degree of subjectivity involved here; calculate at your own risk. I’ll note that the above meshes pretty well with my intuition, for whatever that may be worth.
Practical application? Well, marquee value could come into play when deciding whether to re-sign or pursue a free agent. Incidentally, if you find this sort of discussion interesting, you might also check out the Baseball Economics Roundtable from May 2007 over at Biz of Baseball…
I think your list is pretty good, and at times I think you could flip flop 3 and 4. Also, there are times when Jake and CY lead this team, and there are others when it’s Trevor. One of the thins I love about the Padres is that we do not have a definitive “superstar”. Rather, we have a bunch of talented guys that work well together and that seem to love to play the game.
Did anyone with ESPN Insider read the Kevin Cameron Q & A? I don’t have the Insider, but I was intrigued to see that Cameron is off to the best start EVER by a pitcher after 29 innings with his 0.31 ERA. So, Geoff’s right, we’ve got to get him onto the field a little more.
Antonelli with 14 HR’s and a grand slam yesterday. Man that Elsinore team is stacked! Kyle Blanks from what it looks like might be special. I am anxious to see what kind of a year he has in 2008 in San Antonio. Our minor league system is definitely headed up lets hope some of these guys translate to the bigs!
Classy thank you by Chris Young on the back of the UT sports page today. It looks like he took out a half page add to just say thanks. With all the a-holes floating around pro-sports these days it’s nice to know that such a good and class guy is right here playing for us and appreciates our support. Chris Young seems like an awesome dude!
Re: 2 I have it and read it, nothing that ground breaking just kind of a fluff job, “do you like pitching with trevor? do you talk to Maddux? whats the difference between the minors and the pros?” stuff like that.
I think the club will want to see Adrián González take that #3 spot and Young-Greene down there because González’s value is great because he is, in that top 5 or 6, that are from the San Diego area and I do think that even with his slump he’ll rebound well this season and I think you could be looking at a .300-20+-90 hitter which when you play half your games in PETCO is pretty good. (end of run-on sentence)
Brian Giles still has the best OBP of any Padres regular by 30 points. I think it’s safe to say that he’s still a good player, even if he’s just a doubles and singles hitter these days.
So with the new rumors of Ichiro maybe close to signing an extention who is playing Center Field for us next year? I have a sneaking suspision that it’s going to be Eric Byrnes. I like the reports that KT was asking about Felix Pie because it shows he is looking for a possible younger long term potential stud but something tells me it will be someone like Byrnes.
7: I wish OG would hit more doubles than singles, though. However, as long as he gets on base, the Padres should score more runs with NOG being moved down from his current #2 spot.
8: Agreed. I too think that Byrnes will be the Pads’ prime target for next year. He’s got a decent arm and he’s having a solid year this year.
8: Byrnes is still young, he is a solid player and a good clubhouse guy. Depending on how Cam finishes the season, they still may pick up his option. He has one right?
Re: 11 no CAmmy is a FA at the end of the year, his option was for 07.
9 … I don’t think you said what you meant, Didi … does *anyone* hit more doubles than singles? If so, let’s get *that* guy
I think that is a pretty good list, but I’ll say this after my wife having worked in south bay the past 2 years….. Adrian should be at least #3 on that list, if not ahead of Peavy at #2.
The draw of a local kid(especially of latino heritage, don’t kill me for saying it, but it does matter to some people) who was playing at an all star level(damn you June/July!) is very, very high.
Oh and about CF next year…if I had to bet I’d put $20 on Andruw Jones. A couple years ago at the BP pizza feed KT included Jones in his perfect Petco outfield, with the expense being lower because of a down year(and over-ratedness reported by ESPN) I can actually see it happening.
13. Greene has more 2B+3B+HR than singles. (by 2)
I’d like to get Felix Pie on the Padres just because I already have a nickname for him: Happy Foot.
Regarding the Padres’ marquee names, based on my impression of fan reactions at Petco:
1. Trevor
2. nobody
3. really
4. comes
5. close
6. Khalil
7. Brian Giles
8. Adrian/Cameron/Jenga (Jenga seems to be working his way up the list based on his first weekend)
re: 16 No Peavy?
16: We really need to start holding numbers 2-5 accountable for their production on the field if they’re going to be representing our franchise like that. I blame nobody for the slump the offense has been in.
As I mentioned yesterday, it appears that Baseball Prospectus is having a “free week” … here’s an article you’ll enjoy if you follow the farm systems …
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6433
… it’s an update (risers and fallers) on all the NL teams.
17: All 4 games I’ve been to this year have been started by Wells, so I can’t say how general fans react to Peavy. Knowledgeable folks respect and appreciate Peavy, but I’m not sure how visible a once-every-5-games pitcher is to the general public. Is it to a point where people specifically choose to attend games Peavy pitches?
Re: 20 it has been that way for 3 or 4 seasons now
Here’s another interesing article at BP …
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6439
Free Talent All-Stars … mentions guys like Germano and Bell … and Cust
14: Mark, I don’t know if A. Jones is on his way here, although with his #’s in PetCo, I wouldn’t be averse to it. I think that despite the down year he’s going to be a 100 million dollar signing for someone next year. Also, I don’t know how long that Jones is going to stay in CF. Most metrics now have him as below average and some have him as the worst CF in the majors. I think he’d make an outstanding RF…
23.
Where might I find these metrics you speak of? I agree that he is no longer the “best” center fielder in the game but I think you are severely stretching it. The reads and the jumps he got on the ball this past weekend put Mike Cameron to shame in his home park. Jones is still a great CF’r IMO. You are right thought I do think he will wind up being a $100 mil. player.
1090 news update reports Matt Bush has a bad shoulder and has been “put on the shelf” “hopefully to return later this year”.
14: I sincerely hope you’re wrong. Our offense has enough guys that K on a regular basis, and just because Jones has played well in twenty-something ABs at Petco, doesn’t mean he’d be able to stretch that out over an entire season.
Also, I think A. Jones is a huge dick. I was sitting in left-center Sunday nite and he seriously whined at Harris for not covering Cameron’s RBI double (even though the ball was much closer to Andruw). We don’t need that kind of stupidity on the Padres.
25 … someone posted this UT link about Batt Mush here 2 days ago …
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/weblog/2007/07/bush_shut_down.html
Madfriars talked to him recently and added this …
He was shut down due to shoulder soreness after his most recent outing, a precaution for a player who is not used to the grind of throwing two to three times a week.
Bush, health pending, is expected to land in the Midwest League with the Fort Wayne Wizards in the next few weeks – a place that he failed miserably as a hitter.
Re: 26 Jones has 60 PA’s at petco
28: Which is still a really small sample.
24: Glad to see someone mention the jumps Cameron isn’t getting on the ball this year. I’m no expert, but there are a lot of hits dropping in front of him that I expected to be caught off the bat. He isn’t playing like a free-agent-to-be. Conversely, to my eye Brian Giles gets a great jump on almost anything hit his way.