Comments on: IGD: Padres @ Diamondbacks (20 Aug 08)

By: JP

JP — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:48:21 +0000

#70@Tom Waits: Appreciate your take on VORP. In your judgement, what is the best measurement regarding player performance ? What are your preference(s) as far as measurement ? Can we consider Gerut's performance as being much better than Victorino's simply based on OPS+ or do we look at OPS+ & VORP, giving equal weight to both ? Are there any others ?

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By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:36:22 +0000

#68@JP: VORP is sort of a hybrid counting stat / rate stat, similar to Win Shares in that regard. A mediocre player can pile up VORP by playing 162 games, while a great player could hit the same mark in 60% fewer games.

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By: Lance Richardson

Lance Richardson — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:27:56 +0000

#36@David Coonce: You should probably leave the insults and derision to someone better at it, like me. Quoting Ben completely out of context just makes you appear to be a fool.

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By: JP

JP — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:03:22 +0000

#61@Richard Wade: True, Victorino's OPS + is only 103 while Gerut's is a whopping 133. However, according to BP's VORP rating they are basically equal, with Victorino at 24.8 compared to Gerut's 23.7. It would be somewhat surprising, considering his past history of knee problems and his age/lack of consistent performance track record, to see a club offer big bucks and a 3 year guarantee to Gerut ~ I am still fairly sure that the Padres can sign him to a 2 year deal at a decent price.

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By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:48:45 +0000

#57@malcolm: "Unfortunately that’s less than 30% whereas he works his way to 2 strikes 50% of the time at which point he hits .203." I think this is true of basically everyone though. The further behind in the count you are, generally speaking, the worse you hit.

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By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:47:41 +0000

#65@Alan: I wonder if defense was more demanding during the deadball era for 3B due to more bunting. There may have been fewer DP opportunities as well, I suppose, if runners were constantly trying to advnace themselves with the steal or via hit & run due to the low offense. Could be a good SABR study if no one has looked at it before.

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By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:53:38 +0000

Yep -- in the early thirties, 2B and 3B basically changed positions on the defensive spectrum.

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By: Jim Parish

Jim Parish — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:03:31 +0000

On the question of third base as “always” this or that, let me quote from Bill James’ Historical Baseball abstract:

“Until the early part of the thirties, third base was not considered the domain of sluggers and high-average men. Defense was the only quality requested of a third baseman. This is reflected in the presence of so few third basemen in the Hall of Fame; the old joke was that third basemen should pay their way into the park because nobody knew who they were. [Harlond] Clift was one of the men who helped change that image.”

Even as late as the 1960s there were third basemen like Clete Boyer or Aurelio Rodriguez (and in the ’70s the Padres tried to turn Billy Almon into a third baseman!), but I don’t think that a player like that would get anywhere these days. (I could be wrong, of course; I’m not as up on the current situation as I once was.)

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By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:07:52 +0000

Adams: 2.03 ERA, 52Ks and 14 walks in 44.1 innings

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By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:06:04 +0000

Kouzmanoff: .280/.317/.459

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