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wOBA is the single best metric for MLB hitters.Originally Posted by tg643
Gonzalez: .315
Pedroia: .317
Now, we can look at small samples, or we can conclude that Middlebrooks, Nava, and Ross are actually better hitters than the 2 perennial all-Stars.
I recall serious discussions regarding breaking up the Miami Heat if they lost game 6 to Boston. Wow, how discussions change.
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He certainly was hot the first half last year. I'm not sure why he'd even say that unless it was to shoulder blame and deflect it away from teammates. He was 16th in all of MLB in average post All Star break. He hit over .300 in September. Far from "choke" performance. Guy helped the ball club down the stretch last year....980+ OPS in September - among the best in MLB. I don't think either he, or Francona, or the beer and chicken are to blame for last season's (call it what you will). It's baseball. Last year was historic....just not for the BoSox. That half hour or so when Baltimore did what it did and Longoria hooks one around the foul pole in extras --- and even before that when the Rays got the tying runs --- that all could have gone the other way and just as easily you could be talking about how Adrian Gonzales got jobbed by not winning the MVP award last year.
Sure he's off to a non-superstar start this year, but through June is hardly a protracted slump in baseball terms. All in all his time there has been very productive.
There are two kinds of losers.....Those that don't do what they are told, and those that do only what they are told.
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Aside from not driving in runs the fans don't like his indifferent attitude. He's being compared to JD Drew. That's when you know it's time for him to start looking around corners for tar and feathers. And if Crawford doesn't perform when he returns it will be worse. He stunk last yeari n his first attempt to play under the bright lights. Big deal the Rays contended. No one cared. No pressure. Also, he waited until February to have surgery he could have had in November.
Cubs fans think Epstein is the Messiah and will bring them a championship. In Boston we know he left five minutes ahead of the posse. His big name trades and free agent signings for the most part have been abysmal. He was good at picking up the loose ends and building the farm system. His judgement on big contract players is awful.
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That's possible. I know that personality type doesn't play well in MLB, either with fans or the front office. Baseball fans/people are looking for the guy that will slit their grandmother's throat to win. Some guys aren't wired like that ... and it occasionally gets them a "reputation", whether it be fair or not.
That's been my opinion on Epstein as well. BOS surged ahead by building from within (for the most part) with Youk, Laser Show, Ells, etc. But the free agent signing, Dice-K, Lackey, Crawford, etc have shown a weakness. In TB, much of Crawford's value was his defense and SB (he's a low walk speedster, which is about as anti-sabermetric as it gets). His defensive value is drastically reduced by playing in front of the monster ... and BOS isn't really a SB type team.Cubs fans think Epstein is the Messiah and will bring them a championship. In Boston we know he left five minutes ahead of the posse. His big name trades and free agent signings for the most part have been abysmal. He was good at picking up the loose ends and building the farm system. His judgement on big contract players is awful.
IMO, it's too early to call it on AGonz. He's a lefty that walks a lot and hits for pop with an "oppo" swing, which should play well in Fenway. It's basically lefties paradise, where you can pull it down the short line, or punch it off the monster. By looking at his BB rates and outside of zone swing/contact %, I'd say he was "trying too hard", rather than not trying hard enough ... but I don;t know him or what goes on in the dugout.
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Too bad. I agree that his game should be well suited to Fenway. I like the Red Sox, or maybe I'm such a Yankee hater. Big fan of Ellsbury though - Oregon State product. Led them to back to back national championships. Think about that for a second. Back to back national championships for a baseball school from Corvallis, Oregon. Are you kidding me? They do have some coaching there. Pat Casey could be governor, so long as Mike Reilly didn't run against him. As much as it'd kill me to send my kid there, I respect the coaching immensely and would be happy to give them my kid for a few years.
There are two kinds of losers.....Those that don't do what they are told, and those that do only what they are told.
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Without Theo Epstein there might not have been a 2004 or a 2008 for you guys...
Good Theo Moves:
- David Ortiz, best move, EVER.
- Terry Fancona
- Kevin Millar
- Curt Schilling
- Josh Beckett
- Mike Lowell
- Letting Pedro Martinez walk
- Trading away Nomar Garciaparra
- Orlando Cabrera
- Doug Mientkiewicz
- Bill Mueller
- Hideki Okajima
- Mike Timlin
- Keith Foulke
- Dave Roberts
- Coco Crisp
- Jason Bay
- Victor Martinez
- Adrian Beltre
- Alfredo Aceves
I don't know yet Theo moves:
- Daisuke Matsuzaka
- Carl Crawford
- Adrian Gonzalez
Bad Theo moves:
- Not resigning Jason Bay
- Julio Lugo
- Matt Clement
- John Lackey
- J.D. Drew
- Edgar Renteria
- Mike Cameron
- Ramiro Mendoza
- David Murphy and two minor leaguers to Texas for Eric Gagne
- Freddy Sanchez and Mike Gonzalez for Jeff Suppan
- Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena
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Duplicate post...
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Since I am a diehard Cub fan and was born that way ...... Epstein is not the messiah. He's the anti-Jim Hendry. There's a big difference. What he brings to the table is organizational improvement in the form of consistency of communication/teaching/philosophy throughout the organization from the lowest level affiliated team through AAA right on up to Wrigley. Fans want a team that is in the hunt for the playoffs year in and year out. They've not had that for many decades. Hendry's teams were completely hit or miss, he let a mediocre at best pitcher threaten Steve Stone (broadcaster) and Hendry sided with the player IIRC, long-term and expensive contracts well above what the market was going to pay for some players (Soriano, etc.) and he traded away lots of farm system talent and younger players who have stayed up in MLB for other teams.
Last edited by The Uncoach; 07-06-2012 at 09:04 AM.
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Oh, let's face it 04 BOS was 1 loss away from being one of the biggest disappointing Red Sox teams in recent memory.
Seriously, if they get swept by NYY in that series, then we're probably talking about them the same way we'd be talking about the Miami Heat had they lost G6 and the series to the Celtics.
They won 8 straight games and the title. Great story, though.
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Theo did a good job of addding some pieces. He also didn't have full control at that time. Lucchino had a lot of power. It's why Epstein left for a year. But the guy has no ability to evaluate and had out big money for free agents.
Baseball Voodoo
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Last edited by songtitle; 12-07-2012 at 09:14 AM.
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I have mentioned a 10 year old in our area that is off the charts in just about every category. Here is a small blurb about him.
http://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/s...a4bcf6878.html
Now here is my question. If you were the parent of a kid that can throw 70+ at 10 years old, how would you handle the situation? Would you put him on a national team, would you play league and hire a pitching coach, would you just let him develop naturally, etc.? Just curious of everyone's thoughts.
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That's pretty good for a 10 y.o. Of course many things can happen between 10 to 18 y.o.
There is a kid on our 14U select team that I was told was top notch as a 10.y.o. Now he is below average as a 14 y.o.
I hope that this kid's arm is managed correctly so that he will have a healthy high school career.
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It listed him at 22 innings for the season. Control issues are the biggest reason for the lack of innings though. When we faced him, he K'd the first batter and then walked the next 5 and was pulled. Our kids couldn't even see the ball. In the kid's defense, the umpire couldn't pick up the ball either and he had quite a few strikes that were called balls. His future may not even be on the mound, it may be in CF. I see a lot of kids that are good now, that you can tell don't project very well as they get older. This kid seems like he should just get better and better. He has the build. Lanky, strong, fast, with an arm.
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22 innings? That would be remarkable for a spring /summer playing for an elite team..which went deep in nearly every big tournament. But again, that team has, or had, three kids who hit upper sixties, and I know they shut plenty of teams down. We never faced JW but I heard similar stories of him "hitting the mascot", and kids pumping each other up that their at-bats might be painful but take it.
Having a stable of arms like that pretty much guarantees you'll be competitve, but are those kids' mechanics so "efficient" that they actually throw too hard for their age, is the question. I know one kid on that team got shut down at Disney for arm pain.
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The Wiggins kid has one of the most effortless releases I have seen. He has a very similar throwing motion to Ryne Stanek at Arkansas.
Did you get the pm I sent you?
Student of the game.
While I don't doubt that he can throw hard due to his arm action, I wonder how long his arm is going to hold up.
What you see in this picture is common, but problematic.
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Chris is that late?
D-Mac Stanek is a Lincecum type build correct? Three quarters? I couldn't find video of him.
Student of the game.
You can't see his feet, so I can't say if he's late or not.
However, the odds are that he will be late.
The thumb-down orientation, with a high back elbow, at this moment is problematic.
Shelby Miller of the Cardinals does the same thing and makes me nervous for the same reason.
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No, Stanek is tall and skinny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X77G1_Y6vUc
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These are things we dont know about the big picture. Is this an early developing kid with a 5'8" father? We had a dominant kid like this in a nearby LL who grew an inch after LL. His 75 mph LL fastball peaked at 78 in high school JV ball.
I've been through this with my son. He was a Hoop Scoop Top 10 10U point guard in basketball. I thought is was absurd any magazine ranked ten year olds. My son was asked to play on one of the top AAU teams in the country. He would have been the only white kid in an otherwise all black team from the ghetto. The coach told me my kid was the quickest player ithe court. I liked the coach and kids. They were rivals we played in every tournament championship. But I wasn't going to allow my kid to get at caught up in one sport at ten. We approached basketball each year as business as usual until he stopped playing in high school when baseball and soccer became time consuming (son was also a college soccer prospect).
If this was my kid I would get him periodic pitching lessons so he doesn't hurt his arm. He would keep playing other sports. He would continue playing baseball with the same kids. At 13U i would look at the best travel experience in the area. If he's still a stud at fifteen he could tryout for the 16U national team. What I would not allow is a travel coach to use and abuse his arm as a meal ticket to tournament glory.
Last edited by tg643; 12-07-2012 at 12:30 PM.
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I'm curious. What are some specific things you see about these kids that tell you they don't project very well as the get older?
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On smaller preteen fields you will see some kids are outmuscling or outrunning the small field. The kid with the big fastball I mentioned in my last post was more legendary for hitting balls off the rooftops of the houses across the street from the right field fence. He was a strong righty who swung like a rusty gate. By high school freshman ball he wasn't a position player anymore.
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I see a lot of big slow kids that can mash a baseball. Their lack of speed will kill them as they get older. I'm talking about some of the kids that are good, solely because they are bigger than everyone else. There is only room for one 1st baseman.
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fwiw, the kids mom ran track in college and the dad played football in college. Both are tall and the dad is a big strong guy.
Your last paragraph is really what I was looking for. The kid could end up the next Josh Hamilton or the next preteen superstar never to be heard from again. I'm just curious how everyone would handle a kid like this.
I have a friend whose daughter is 11 and she is a high level gymnast. They are looking at moving to Texas or Colorado so their daughter can train. I guess it's apples and oranges since the lifecycle of a gymnast is so short, but it amazes me how insane girls sports are compared to boys sports. This girl has trained 20+ hours per week since she was 6 or 7.
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