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Me, Elsewhere: More Spring Sappiness

by Geoff Young on Mar 31, 2010 (5) Comments

My latest at Hardball Times talks about why I love baseball. As I mentioned the other day, I can’t help myself; this time of the year always gets to me. I used to fight it, but no more. Like ear hair and the curious compulsion to wear bright shorts with dark socks, Opening Day sappiness [...]

So Close, No Matter How Far

by Geoff Young on Mar 30, 2010 (2) Comments

The tricky thing about spring training is figuring out what means anything. I guess that’s no different from the rest of life, but when someone tells me that Chase Headley has a boatload of RBI in the Cactus League, what am I supposed to do? “How nice for him,” I could say as I smile, [...]

Once Upon My Mind: Gwynn, Molitor, Ichiro, and the Optimism of Spring

by Geoff Young on Mar 29, 2010 (6) Comments

I get all nostalgic and sappy this time of year. It’s a stupid thing to do, but I can’t help myself. Live in the present, right? Okay, most of the time. Today, we’ll indulge a little and revisit the past: Age and Treachery Will Overcome Youth and Skill (March 21, 1998). “While I am willing [...]

Friday Links (26 Mar 10)

by Geoff Young on Mar 26, 2010 (2) Comments

Links, links, links, links, links, links, baked beans, links, links, links, and links… Talking with Bill James: Part 1 (Cincinnati Sports News) C. Trent Rosecrans chats with James about the relative merits of Barry Larkin and Tony Gwynn, among many other things. James responds to the question of whether we understand baseball any more now [...]

Me, Elsewhere: Padres Preview at THT

by Geoff Young on Mar 24, 2010 (11) Comments

It’s that time of year again. My annual Five Questions article is up at Hardball Times. One of my questions focuses on the new ownership group and what it is doing to regain fan trust: Jeff Moorad and President and COO Tom Garfinkel have come in and expressed a commitment to the organization, the fans, [...]

IVIE 2010: Pitchers

by Geoff Young on Mar 23, 2010 (5) Comments

We covered Padres hitters yesterday. As promised, here are the 2010 IVIE projections for pitchers: Starters N IP ERA Jon Garland 22 206.1 4.00 Kevin Correia 22 191.1 4.15 Clayton Richard 21 165.1 4.31 Chris Young 23 149.2 3.91 Mat Latos 22 134.1 3.78 Wade LeBlanc 20 88.2 4.51 Tim Stauffer 19 88.1 4.44 Cesar [...]

IVIE 2010: Hitters

by Geoff Young on Mar 22, 2010 (10) Comments

The people have spoken. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the 2010 IVIE projections for hitters: Catchers and Infielders N PA BA OBP SLG Adrian Gonzalez 25 614 .289 .401 .545 Chase Headley 25 601 .277 .355 .444 Everth Cabrera 24 591 .271 .353 .376 David Eckstein 21 430 .259 .328 .341 Nick Hundley 24 382 [...]

Friday Links (19 Mar 10)

by Geoff Young on Mar 19, 2010 (1) Comments

We’re a little behind, so some of these might be stale. Just pop ‘em in the oven, they’ll be crispy again in no time… The Present Team looks to Ready to end high turnover at batting coach (NC Times). Good luck with that when folks want a scapegoat for the fact that Petco Park is [...]

Mailbag: Is Oscar Salazar Any Good?

by Geoff Young on Mar 18, 2010 (3) Comments

Reader LynchMob sends us the following: I’m not an Oscar Salazar fan… can you help me understand how/why he’s going to make the Opening Day roster? He seems perhaps a good study on the concept of “Replacement Level” players… he seems like he’s got to be below-replacement-level… but if that were true, then the Padres [...]

Comping Cabrera: Eeyore’s Rebuttal

by Geoff Young on Mar 17, 2010 (9) Comments

I don’t know why I’m so fascinated by Everth Cabrera. He doesn’t figure to be as critical a piece of the eventual puzzle as guys like Kyle Blanks and Mat Latos, but Cabrera’s skill set intrigues me. Also, there’s the fact that he successfully made the jump from A-ball to the big leagues. We’ve noted [...]