SB Nation - Chris Burke

Braves Re-sign Mariano Gomez, Add Six Other Minor League Free Agents

cbwilk — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:45:49 -0000

If Brent Clevlen can put all 5 of his tools together at once he could make himself a valuable part of Atlanta's team.

Gondeee got an early scoop on the Braves inking some Minor League free agents this week, but it was unconfirmed. Well, it's now official and Gondeee did indeed have himself a scoop. The Braves have brought back LHP Mariano Gomez and have added 1B Gerardo Avila, 1B Mauro Gomez, 2B Luis Bolivar, 2B Juan Gonzalez, 3B Eric Duncan, and OF Brent Clevlen.

Gomez spent all of 2009 with Gwinnett and had the best season of his career, posting a 8-4 record, 8 saves, 1.99 ERA, and 1.10 WHIP in 72.1 innings covering 47 appearances. He is tall (6'6") and lanky, creating some unusual angles and difficulties for hitters. He'll be 27 during the 2010 season and will likely be invited to Major League Spring Training with the Braves and be given a chance to fight for one of the last spots in the bullpen.

Clevlen is the best of these signings; he is an top notch defensive outfielder, capable of playing all three outfield positions along with possessing a strong, accurate arm. The 26 year old has played in 55 Major League games with the Tigers, hitting just .233 in 80 plate appearances from 2006 to 2008, shining in 06 with when he hit .282 with a 958 OPS in 42 plate appearances, hitting 3 home runs. He's spent most of the last three years with AAA Toledo and hit .261 with a .768 OPS, 26 doubles, 16 homers, 64 RBIS, and 10 stolent bases there this season. Aside from his defense, his biggest upside may be as a right handed hitter able to mash lefties, as he hit .331 with a 1.002 OPS and 8 home runs against lefties this season in just 151 at bats.

The 23 year old Avlies comes to the Braves from the Mariners' system where he spent last year playing for their short season Everett affiliate (basically the same level as Danville), hitting .333 with a .950 OPS, 13 home runs, and 54 RBI in just 231 plate appearances. In a five year caree he has only played 211 games and has yet to make it out of A ball. While he played some outfield early in his career, he's now limited to first base and isn't the best defender. His numbers and age don't suggest much future success so a Braves scout must have seen something he like and convinced the organization to sign him for lower level depth.

The other M. Gomez is a 25 year old first baseman who has spent the last two years playing for High A Bakersfield in the Rangers' organization. He had a monster season, hitting .285 with a .868 OPS to go with 35 doubles, 38 home runs and 94 RBIs. He also managed to strike out a whopping 141 times, good for 26% of his plate appearances. He's played a little bit of third base in his career but doesn't seem to be very good there; conversely, he appears to be a solid, if unimpressive first baseman.

Bolivar, who will be 29 at the start of the 2010 season, could be a candidate to sever as a utility player on Atlanta's bench. Primarily and middle infielder, he's played every position except catcher during his 8 year career in the Reds' system. He's best suited for second base where his skill set fits the needs of the position, but he has a strong enough arm and is athletic enough to be more than adequate around the field. His versatility is key since his bat isn't strong; he hit just .232 with a .620 OPS in 380 plate appearances for AAA Louisville this season. And, he strikes out a lot for a player without power, wiffing 70 times this year. He did steal 28 bases, his highest total in 5 season. At worst, he'll provide versatile depth for Gwinnett.

Atlanta will be the 6th organization for Gonzalez, who will be 28 at the start of the 2010 season. Mostly a shortstop early in his career, he's played more second and third base in recent years. Like Bolivar, he's athletic enough and has a strong enough arm to play around the infield and, also like Bolivar, his skill set makes him most suited for second base. The similarities don't stop there as his bat is also weak; splitting his season between AA Chattanooga and AAA Albuquerque he hit just .229 with a .637 OPS in 288 plate appearances. Unfortunately though, he doesn't have much speed anymore. He probably won't get much of a shot to make an impact on the Major League team an actually seems destined to provide depth for AA Mississippi.

Duncan, who has played a fair amount of first base in his career, and a little bit of outfield, in addition to his natural third base, isn't related to Shelley Duncan, though the two have been teammates for several years. This Duncan was actually the 27th overall pick by the Yankees in the 2003 draft, though he's never lived up to expectations, failing to ever make it to the Majors with New York. Through the 2006 season he seemed to be progressing well, even if he wasn't living up to his lofty draft status expectations, but since then he has stalled out in AAA for three seasons, with his percentage stats falling each year until this season when he managed to hit just .242 with a .527 OPS in 345 plate appearances for Scranton-Wilkes Barre. A change of scenery may be what he needs to turn things around, as it was no secret that he became disenfranchised with the Yankees' organization, seeing little chance of moving up given their preference to trade for veterans and sign free agents instead of promoting from within.

It was reported that the Braves had also signed 1B-OF Mitch Jones but that has yet to be confirmed. If true it would be a great signing as the 32 year old is coming off an oustanding 2009 season that saw him make his Major League debut with the Dodgers and hit .297 with a 1.015 OPS, 26 doubles, 35 homers, and 103 RBIS in 434 plate appearances for AAA Albuquerque.

The Braves also lost one of their own Minor League free agents as 2B Chris Burke signed with the Reds. Burke played well for Gwinnett, hitting .285 with a .752 OPS in 309 plate appearances. One of Burke's Gwinnett teammates, LHP John Halama wasn't technically a Braves' free agent, since he was released just after the season to allow him to pitch in the playoffs for the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, the same team the Braves signed him from during the year, was signed by Milwaukee. Halama was also decent for the G-Braves, collecting a 4-7 record, 4.48 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 90.1 innings covering 16 appearances (13 starts).

There will surely be more Minor Leaguers joining and leaving the Braves and, as always, we'll keep you up to date here at Talking Chop.

CB Wilkins is the author of the baseball novel Four-A. The story follows a relief pitcher over the course of a year as he bounces between AAA and the Majors, attempting to balance his dreams and his reality. It can be purchased here: https://www.createspace.com/3407939

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:33:52 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

I've done pictures of Randy Wolf for three straight days, so here's one of LaTroy Hawkins.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while compounding the problem.

The Brewer front office staff is back home from the Winter Meetings, so it's time to take a look at the recaps:

MLB FanHouse lists the Brewers as the big winner in the NL Central.
In-Between Hops ranked the Brewers #1 in free agent signings.
Big League Stew ranked the signings of Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins as the meetings' 6th and 7th biggest moves, respectively.
John Steinmiller has a recap with pictures of what the Winter Meetings looked like from inside the Brewers' suite.

For the time being, the title of "newest Brewer" belongs to Rule 5 selection Chuck Lofgren, and he's excited for the opportunity. He's been a starter throughout the minors, but it sounds like he'll be given a shot to make the team as a situational lefty. Don't underestimate the value of having one more guy in the bullpen who could be called upon to make a spot start if needed. With that said, he is at best a complement to Mitch Stetter, not a replacement.

Meanwhile, for the second straight day I'm writing about a pitcher who doesn't actually want to be here. Yesterday, it was LaTroy Hawkins, who was "very disappointed" not to return to Houston. Today it's Randy Wolf, who really wanted to return to the Dodgers. Kudos to these guys for being honest, I guess, but would throwing in a "The Brewers are my team now, and I'll work my butt off for them" be too much to ask for?

We could be waiting a while longer for a decision from Mark Mulder. The Brewer front office staff will reportedly visit Mulder in January. Given the fact that this was being reported as a nearly done deal months ago, I'd guess there's a question about Mulder's health.

With Rickie Weeks, Alcides Escobar and Carlos Gomez all projected as members of the opening day starting lineup, Ken Macha has acknowledged he'll probably have the runners in motion much more often during the 2010 season. That prompted Miller Park Drunk to launch their "RUNNING" series. I'll link to the Ken Macha and Corey Hart chapters here...the other two are a little too obscene to even be linked from this site.

In the minors:

Tom H. has a great look (with a terrible headline) at the situation faced by Jeremy Jeffress, as he prepares to return to the minor leagues knowing that one more positive drug test will be the end of his baseball career. Jeffress, who will spend the first few months of the 2010 season in extended spring training, is saying all the right things, but I'll believe it when I see it.
Earlier this week I mentioned Project Prospect's look at the speed of AFL players, and mentioned the absence of Lorenzo Cain from the rankings. Adam Foster filled in the gap for us by looking back at video and giving Cain a 55-65 rating, which is well above average.

Voting continues for our BCB All Decade Team: You have until 4 today to cast your vote for a shortstop, where J.J. Hardy leads Mark Loretta by 281 votes as of this writing. The voting is much closer at third base, where Bill Hall leads Craig Counsell by 54 votes with Russell Branyan and Ryan Braun not too far behind. Voting for our first outfield spot will open at 4 today.

Around baseball:

Astros: Signed Pedro Feliz to a one year, $4.5 million deal and reliever Gary Majewski to a minor league deal.
Athletics: Released reliever Santiago Casilla.
Nationals: Released pitcher Zach Segovia.
Reds: Signed infielder Chris Burke to a minor league deal.
Rockies: Signed Chris Iannetta to a three year deal worth $8.3 million, buying out his arbitration years.

I've already mentioned the Brewer Rule 5 draft pick, Chuck Lofgren, but he's nowhere near the best name selected in the draft. Those honors go to former National/new Blue Jay Zech Zinicola.

The possibility of winter league injury probably keeps some front office execs up at night during the offseason, and in all honesty I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. D-Backs outfielder Gerardo Parra suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh and is coming home from winter ball in Venezuela (h/t AZ Snakepit).

If you like charts and graphs and you're looking for something to play with today, you should check out Chartball. I only spent a few minutes there this morning, but they've got some fun interactive tools to work with. (h/t Baseball Musings)

On this day in 1997, the Brewers traded Gerald Williams to the Braves for Chad Fox. The deal worked out pretty well for both sides: Williams hit .286/.341/.475 over two seasons as a Brave, and Fox was healthy for two of four seasons in Milwaukee, including the 2001 season, where he appeared in 65 games and posted a 1.89 ERA.

Happy birthday today to Josh Butler, who turns 25.

Oh, and I'm writing today's Mug before breakfast, so this was fascinating. I'm off to go find food.

Drink up.

Braves Have 16 Minor League Free Agents

cbwilk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:03:31 -0000

After an outstanding 2008 for Myrtle Beach, Ernesto Mejia missed the majority of 2009.

View full size photo »

The list of Six-Year Minor League Free Agents has been released and the Braves have 12 players on that list:

Pitchers: RH Bobby Brownlie, RH Jerome Gamble, LH Mariano Gomez, RH Moises Hernandez, RH Lance Niekro, LH Juan Perez

Catchers: Jose Camarena, Alvin Colina

Infielders: 2B/SS Chris Burke, SS/3B Kody Kirkland, 1B Ernesto Mejia, 3B Antonio Perez

In addition to these players, RHP Jorge Campillo, RHP Buddy Carlyle, RHP Vladimir Nunez, and OF Reid Gorecki were previously announced as Minor League free agents after being removed from the Braves' 40-man roster.

Brownlie was one of the top amateur talents when he was drafted in the first round by the Cubs in 2002 but his career has been sidetracked by a series of injuries. He joined Gwinnett in the middle of the season and had a fairly effective run as a swingman, going 5-2 with a 4.13 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 56.2 innings. If the Braves find they need more depth at the upper level he could be re-signed.

Like Brownlie, Gamble has missed large parts of him Minor League career to injuries, but he's been effective playing for Mississippi and Gwinnett the last two seasons. He spent the majority of 2009 with Mississippi, mostly as a reliever, going 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 44.1 innings. Gamble is a good influence on younger players, so it's possible he could return.

More analysis after the jump...

Gomez has the rare distinction of being the first player ever signed out of his native Honduras, inking with the Indians in 1999. 2009 was his first season with the Atlanta organization, the 10th of his career, and the best of his career, as the big lefty was great out of the bullpen for Gwinnett, going 8-4 with a 1.99 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 72.1 innings. The Braves like him and if they can beat out the competition he's very likely to return.

Hernandez was aquired from the Orioles in exchange for allowing Leo Mazzone to become their pitching coach. He missed the entire 2008 season to Tommy John surgery and only pitched 35 innings in 2009. He'll be 26 going into 2010 with only 10 games above A ball in his career, so he seems unlikley to return.

The son of former Brave Joe Niekro and nephew of Braves legend Phil Niekro, the former infielder Lance took his first fulltime try at pitching, employing the family knuckleball, in 2009. He remained in the low level GCL, working a 1-3 record and a 5.61 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP in 33.2 innings. If the Braves liked the progress he made, regarless of the results, they could bring him back and give him a chance to try the knuckler at a higher level.

Perez missed the second half of 2008 for Pittsburgh's AAA team and got a late start in 2009 for Gwinnett, but pitched well in 57 innings, compiling a 2-4 record, 3.47 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. He could be brought back to add AAA depth.

Camarena has been a backup for the majority of his career with Atlanta, playing just 32 games with Mississippi this year, ending with a woeful .424 OPS. But, with the Braves lack of upper level catching depth, he could find himself re-signed.

Colina lent a strong, veteran presence to Gwinnett, sharing time with Clint Sammons at catcher. in 256 plate appearances, he hit .262 with 8 home runs, 42 RBI, and a .766 OPS. Again, with the lack of upper level catching depth, but even more because of the intangibles he brings, he seems very likely to return in 2010.

After being picked up in June, Burke was a solid veteran presence for Gwinnett, playing SS, 2B, and LF for the team while hitting .285 with 3 HR, 32 RBI, 13 SB and a .752 OPS in 309 plate appearances. He showed that isn't washed up, so there could be several teams vying for his services this offseason.

Kirkland was signed to be a backup at Mississippi and despite poor hitting, a .201 average and .572 OPS, he excelled in this role, playing every position on the field except C and LF. He was actually very good in 44 plate appearances for Gwinnett, hitting .289 with a .807 OPS. If the Braves need a backup for the upper levels he could be brought back.

Mejia had one of the best seasons in the Braves' system in 2008, hitting .274 with 47 doubles, 21 home runs, 93 RBI and a .829 OPS. But, after tearing his ACL in Spring Training, he missed most of 2009, collecting just 139 plate appearances. Given his talent, the Braves will be very likely to re-sign him and, due to his recent injury, there probably won't be much competition for his services.

Perez, who was once traded for Lou Pinella, was signed as a backup and didn't show much with the bat in 147 plate appearances for Gwinnett, hitting .190 with a .553 OPS. He seems unlikely to return.

Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 6/20

yondaime4 — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:06:56 -0000

Gwinnett 7, Lousiville 3

C. Burke 2-3 2B, RBI, BB
B. Barton 3-4 HR(4), 3 RBI, K

A smatterting of relievers pitched in for this start after Francisely Bueno left the game after the 2nd inning. Chris Burke will be the best player in Atlanta in two weeks. I mean the dude is hitting like .500 for Gwinnett! Call him up now! Not really, but you never know, he was a top prospect at one time so maybe he can find something with the Braves.

Mississippi 4, Chattanooga 4 - In the 10th

K. Kirkland 1-4 3B, RBI, BB, 2K
J. Lyman 2-2 2B, 2RBI - 5IP 2H 1R 2BB 3K

As I write, this game is still going on. Jeff Lyman was pretty awesome on the mound and with the bat. Maybe we should convert him to a position player if he doesn't ever pan out as a pitcher. Also I must say I am not a fan of parents naming their kids with intentional alliteration in mind. I am looking at you Kody Kirkland.

Frederick 12, Myrtle Beach 7

F. Freeman 3-4 2B, K, HBP
C. Johnson 3-5 2 HR(20), 3 RBI, 2K

The Pelican's lineup reminds me a little of Atlanta's with a all the good hitters at the top, and some pretty useless guys once you get down past the 4-5 spots. Jason Heyward was 0-5 on the night and made a fielding error in CF. Cody Johnson finally broke out of his power slump hitting only his 2nd and 3rd homers of the month. Frederick Freeman continues to pound the baseball raising his OPS each month of the season (.870 this month). Now I want to see Heyward shake the rust off and catch Johnson in HRs.

Rome 4, Augusta 15

L. Sumoza 2-4
S. Shults 2-4 2B, RBI
D. Delgado 6IP 7H 3R 1BB 5K

Yet another solid start from Dimaster Delgado. Too bad just about everyone else sucked. I mean this was just a woodshed beating.

NL West Report: Divisional headway from Rockune, Peavy might be out for the year

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:00:12 -0000

The Rockies have been blasting through opponents like a Tornado (or a Tornadough?) the last 11 games, outscoring their foes 73-28 in that span. It's a bit unfortunate that none of those games were intradivisional, but if there's any way to guarantee you'll make up some ground, it's to win every game.

Here's the standings as of Monday morning, before San Francisco plays the Angels tonight at 8:15 MDT:

NL West Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Los Angeles	42	22	.656	0	Won 2
San Francisco	34	28	.548	7	Won 3
Colorado	31	32	.492	10.5	Won 11
San Diego	28	34	.451	13	Lost 3
Arizona	27	37	.421	15	Lost 2

(updated 6.15.2009 at 3:25 PM MDT)

We're still a ways back, but an 11-game streak will put a dent in any deficit. Here are the standings from June 3, immediately prior to the streak.

So in 11 games, we've made up the following on the divisional teams:

Los Angeles (5 games)
San Francisco (2.5 games)
San Diego (7 games)
Arizona (6.5 games)

If the teams continue as they have the last 11 games, even if we win another 11 straight, we'll still be in 3rd place. This is why April and May do matter. And that's why we have a 3.30% chance of winning the NL West. I'd talk about the Wild Card, but well, this is the divisional report.

NL West Report

Arizona (27-37, 5th, L2, 15 GB)

Last Week: 0-1 @ Padres, 1-2 vs Giants, 1-2 vs Astros. A bad week makes the bad season worse. Funny thing is, they're only 8 games off their Pythagorean pace for 2007.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Royals, 3 game road series @ Mariners

News: Chris Young is having a horrible Atkins-like season. AZSnakepit discusses what should be done with their CF.

Chris Young

#24 / Center Field / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 05, 1983

	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Chris Young	.189	.248	.354

Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com reported recently that the Diamondbacks are destined to be sellers at the trade deadline, with only Justin Upton, Max Scherzer and Dan Haren being untouchable.

Nick Piecoro of AZCentral.com, who is closer to the team, refuted that proclamation last night, stating that we should not expect a trade and that Josh Byrnes may even add a player at the deadline.

Scott Bordow at the East Valley Tribune believes it's time to trade Felipe Lopez, Jon Garland and Doug Davis, but Arizona may becontent to let them leave as free agents and just take the compensatory picks.

The D-Backs claimed relief pitcher Blaine Boyer off waivers from the Cardinals and optioned Daniel Schlereth to AA..

Mark Reynolds earned co-NL Player of the Week honors for last week, sharing it with our very own Huston Street.

Arizona had 7 picks in the top 64 in last week's draft, most in the majors. Check out their top picks. They bucked the trend and selected only 2 pitchers with their top 8 picks, the first coming at pick #45.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	hamstring	05/04/2009
Yusmeiro Petit	shoulder	05/09/2009
Conor Jackson	pneumonia	05/12/2009
Chad Tracy	oblique	05/30/2009
Tony Clark	other-excused	05/06/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

More on the rest of the division after the fold.

Los Angeles (42-22, 1st, W2)

Last Week: 1-1 vs Padres, 2-1 @ Rangers. In case you are wondering, the Dodgers have lost just two series since Manny Ramirez was suspended, and one of them was their first series following the announcement.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Athletics, 3 game road series @ Angels.

News: Everyone knows all about TIm Lincecum and Dan Haren, but maybe Chad Billingsley is the best ace in the West. Eric Stephen at TrueBlueLA looks at his stats over the last claendar year. They are elite.

Chad Billingsley

#58 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 245

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 29, 1984

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Chad Billingsley	9-3	2.72	1.23	93	39

Despite convincingly being the best team in MLB and having the 3rd best NL offense, the Dodgers have zero position players projected to start the All-Star Game via fan voting. Orlando Hudson is the only player even in the top 5 at his position; he's 2nd behind Chase Utley. East Coast bias apparently also means no love for LA.

Popular owner Frank McCourt wasn't so popular with Andruw Jones, even though McCourt okayed the ludicrous contract Jones signed with the Dodgers. Apparently, McCourt was the reason Jones wanted out.

Jayson Stark suggests the Dodgers may try to trade Juan Pierre when Manny Ramirez returns from is suspension. It's unclear how much of Pierre's contract LA might have to eat.

LA didn't pick until #36, two picks after the Rockies selected their third player. Their picks.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Milton	back	06/06/2009
Will Ohman	shoulder	05/28/2009
Eric Stults	thumb	05/31/2009
Hong-Chih Kuo	elbow	04/30/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Xavier Paul	knee	05/21/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009

San Diego (28-34, 4th, L3, 13 GB)

Last Week: 1-0 vs Diamondbacks, 1-1 @ Dodgers, 0-3 @ Angels. The Padres have failed to string together consecutive wins since May 27. They are 5-12 in that span.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Mariners, 3 game home series vs Athletics.

News: Hold your trade talk. Another NL West ace is hurt and probably won't be going anywhere at the deadline. Jake Peavy landed on the 15-day DL Friday due to an ankle injury and will be out a month, perhaps the rest of the season.

Jake Peavy

#44 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 31, 1981

Hindsight being 20/20, CBSSports' Scott Miller says the Padres screwed up by not accepting the Braves' offer in November.

The Padres' front office is looking to add a "big-name" international player once the international signing period starts July 2.

San Diego released IF Chris Burke this week.

The Pads selected Donavan Tate with the third pick in the draft Tuesday. GM Kevin Towers talks about the draft. I'd give you a list of their picks, but I'll just say that GasLampBall doesn't have one instead.

San Diego Padres Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Nick Hundley	wrist	06/15/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Jake Peavy	ankle	06/09/2009
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Scott Hairston	biceps	06/03/2009
Luis Perdomo	knee	06/08/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Everth Cabrera	hand	04/20/2009

San Francisco (34-28, 2nd, W3, 7 GB)

Last Week: 0-1 @ Marlins, 2-1 @ Diamondbacks, 3-0 vs Athletics. Bruce Bochy's staff allowed just 17 runs in the 7 games last week.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Angels, 3 game home series vs Rangers

News: Henry Schulman at SFGate states the most obvious headline of the year: The Giants need a power bat to contend.

Jonathan Sanchez

#57 / Pitcher / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-2

Weight: 190

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Nov 19, 1982

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jonathan Sanchez	2-6	4.84	1.66	57	43

SI's Jon Heyman reports that Jonathan Sanchez is on the market, despite an apparent slip recently in his stuff. Tom Verducci suggests that the Giants try to use Sanchez to net that power bat. Maybe even Garrett Atkins.

Grant at McCoveyChronicles discusses the Giants' selection of Zach Wheeler over Tyler Matzek. Matzek was Grant's #1 choice, but the Giants passed on his top three to select Wheeler.

And just because, here's a big Pablo Sandoval home run.

San Francisco Giants Injuries

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	ribs	03/27/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

Phillies at Padres: June 1-3

Matt Swartz — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:00:20 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Adrian Gonzalez leads the majors in homeruns despite hitting at Petco Park. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Browse more photos »

The Phillies crept back barely into first place this weekend, maintaining a half game lead by sweeping the Nationals. The Padres had an early season lead in the West when they came to Philadelphia during the second weekend of the season, and they took two of three from the Phillies before the fourth game of the series was rained out. Now, the Padres are back down to .500 at 25-25. The Phillies themselves sit in first at 28-20.

Monday's game pits Joe Blanton against Kevin Correia. Correia is an okay pitcher who is able to put up decent number in a pitcher's park, though not particularly this year. Blanton is coming off a solid starts in which he pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out a career high eleven batters.

Tuesday's game will be a tough one as still-a-Padre Jake Peavy goes up against Antonio Bastardo, who will be making his major league debut. Bastardo is a lefty who has torn through AA and AAA this year, earning him the start in Myers' stead. Peavy is putting up another solid season, despite swirling trade rumors.

Wednesday's game pits the Phillies' J.A. Happ against the Padres' Chris Young. Chris Young has been okay this year, but has struggled to strike out as many hitters and has walked quite a few more as well. Happ has been solid in his first couple starts since joining the rotation after a solid display in the bullpen early on.

All three games will be pretty late in the eastern time zone, so stay tuned to The Good Phight for coverage if you have some silly reason that you can't stay up til one in the morning.

MATCHUPS

Monday, 10:05-- Joe Blanton (R) vs Kevin Correia (R)

Tuesday, 10:05-- Antonio Bastardo (L) vs Jake Peavy (R)

Wednesday, 10:05-- J.A. Happ (L) vs Chris Young (R)

After the jump, I breakdown the players and their splits.

PADRES

LINE UP

(1) RF Brian Giles (L): .192/.282/.285

proj: .280/.375/.420
bb: 13%
k: 12%
gb: 37%
iff: 11%
ifh: 4%
babip: average overall
s/c/z: excellent eye and excellent contact skill
r/l: .966/.788 ops; 0.6 vs 0.9 k/bb
h/a: about the same
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

(2) 2B David Eckstein (R): .246/.326/.322

proj: .275/.340/.350
bb: 7%
k: 9%
gb: 47%
iff: 12%
ifh: 7%
babip: pretty good on groundballs but pretty low on line drives, high groundball rate helps-- about average overall
s/c/z: very good contact and sees a lot of pitches in zone. swings at below average number of strikes but average number of non-strikes.
r/l: .700/.741 ops; k/bb is 1.2 vs 0.8
h/a: .738/.687
p/o: slight pull hitter but spreads ball around pretty well
other: used to steal bases more frequently but only tried 3 times last year and was caught once. He hasn't tried to steal yet this year. In 2007, he cut back to 11 attempts.

(3) OF Scott Hairston (R): .326/.387/.560

proj: .255/.325/.465
bb: 8.5%
k: 23%
gb: 36%
iff: 16%
ifh: 12%
babip: slightly below average, .290ish, since he pops out a lot, but good on groundball since he gets infield hits and decent on line drives as he has some power
s/c/z: slightly below average contact
r/l: 3.5 vs 2.5 k/bb; .712 vs .842 ops
h/a: a bit better at home in career but seemingly mostly luck so far
p/o: definite pull hitter
other: none

(4) 1B Adrian Gonzalez (L): .287/.394/.641

proj: .280/.355/.500
bb: 10%
k: 21%
gb: 41%
iff: 5%
ifh: 2%
babip: above average, around .315, rarely pops out, though doesn't get many infield hits. power indicates he should do well on linedrives
s/c/z: swings at average amount of balls, but lets fewer strikes pass than other players; somewhat below average contact
r/l: .886/.743 ops; 1.9 vs 3.0 k/bb
h/a: far more power on road (park effects) but slightly better k/bb at home (1.9 vs 2.4) and better babip at home (.328 vs .283)
p/o: somewhat of a pull hitter but spreads ball around pretty well for power hitter
other: far more success against finesse pitchers

(5) 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff (R): .228/.281/.348

proj: .275/.325/.455
bb: 5.5%
k: 20%
gb: 41%
iff: 6%
ifh: 4%
babip: average all around, low on groundballs and high on flyballs due to infield hit/fly rates
s/c/z: free swinger and chases a lot of pitches while at it, pitchers don't throw him that many pitches out of strike zone, despite that and somewhat low contact rate
r/l: typical
h/a: better on road, even at k/bb rates
p/o: pull hitter
other: struggles against power pitchers

(6) LF Chase Headley (S): .236/.309/.366

proj: .265/.345/.430
bb: 10%
k: 27%
gb: 38%
iff: 2%
ifh: 4%
babip: projection systems have him high-- like .330s+, but it seems like it he should be around .310 or so, since even though he pops out rarely, he doesn't get many infield hits and his groundball rate was abnormally high last year. even then, given that his eye is nothing special and his contact skills aren't great, he's likely due for a drop-- i think his overall projections are probably high
s/c/z: not a great eye and prone to chase, poor contact skills
r/l: only 140 career PA as RHB so it's tough to know
h/a: not enough info, so far better away but mostly luck based stats
p/o: definite pull hitter both ways
other:

(7) C Nick Hundley (R): .250/.348/.408

proj: .235/.285/.400
bb: 7%
k: 23%
gb: 37%
iff: 12%
ifh: 7%
babip: projected to be poor and tough to tell from small mlb sample size
s/c/z: average all around so far, it seems
r/l: very small sample size but 5.0 vs 2.9 k/bb difference
h/a: 3.1 vs 5.3 k/bb
p/o: spreads ball around pretty well
other: none

(8) SS Chris Burke (R): .206/.270/.324

proj: .245/.325/.370
bb: 9%
k: 17.5%
gb: 38%
iff: 18%
ifh: 7%
babip: projected around .285 which might be a little high given popout rate and lack of significant power or contact skill, though he has some success with groundball babip
s/c/z: decent eye, somewhat patient, okay contact, sees a lot of strikes
r/l: .648 vs .730 ops; 2.3 vs 1.8 k/bb
h/a: .708 vs .652 ops; 2.1 vs 2.2 k/bb
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

BENCH

C Henry Blanco (R): .172/.273/.345

proj: .240/.290/.350
bb: 6%
k: 19%
gb: 37%
iff: 13%
ifh: 6%
babip: not much power and tendency to pop up; below average
s/c/z: good eye, okay contact
r/l: a little more power right-handed
h/a: a little better k/bb at home but fewer extra base hits
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

IF Edgar Gonzalez (R): .180/.261/.426

proj: .270/.330/.400
bb: 8%
k: 22%
gb: 46%
iff: 2%
ifh: 4%
babip: definitely above average, rarely pops out and makes solid contact
s/c/z: great eye and good contact
r/l: k/bb of 4.7 vs 1.6; .685 vs .750 ops
h/a: typical given park effects
p/o: slight pull hitter
other: none

IF Josh Wilson (R): .209/.292/.279

proj: .245/.305/.365
bb: 7%
k: 20%
gb: 43%
iff: 10%
ifh: 6%
babip: projected slightly below average, around .295, which seems about right
s/c/z: not a great eye but somewhat patient, above average contact, sees a lot of strikes
r/l: .600 vs .594 ops in 259/104 PAs; 3.3 vs 2.9 k/bb
h/a: .578 vs .623 ops; 4.9 vs 2.3 k/bb
p/o: somewhat of a pull hitter
other: none

OF Tony Gwynn Jr. (L): .320/.393/.440

proj: .250/.315/.330
bb: 8%
k: 16.5%
gb: 49%
iff: 5%
ifh: 8%
babip: projected around .305 which seems about right
s/c/z: very patient with pretty good eye and above average contact, sees a decent amount of strikes
r/l: .599 vs .688 but only 30 career PA vs LHP; 2.3 vs 4.5 k/bb
h/a: .585 vs .628 ops; 1.6 vs 4.1 k/bb
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

OF Cliff Floyd (L): 0 for1 with 1 K

proj: .255/.340/.410
bb: 9.5%
k: 20%
gb: 42%
iff: 14%
ifh: 5%
babip: projected around .290 which could be right given powerful slow popout hitter
s/c/z: good eye with so-so contact, but his eye is actually deteriorated
r/l: .856 vs .793 ops; 1.5 vs 3.2 k/bb
h/a: .861 vs .823 ops; 1.7 vs 1.8 k/bb
p/o: pull hitter
other: none

ROTATION

MONDAY OPPONENT: Kevin Correia (R): 5.11 ERA, 4.0 BB/9, 6.6 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, 4.42 FIP, 42%

proj avg: 4.40 ERA, 3.5 BB/9, 6.7 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 39%
pitches: 60% fb, 27% sl, 9% ch, 4% cb
r/l: 2.3 vs 1.2; .762 vs .819
h/a: similar

Correia vs Phillies:

Rollins: 0/9, 0 BB, 1 K
Victorino: 3/5, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Howard: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 1/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Bruntlett: 0/2, 0 BB, 1 K
Ruiz: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Dobbs: 1 BB
Ibanez: 1/1, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Stairs: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Werth: 1 BB

TUESDAY OPPONENT: Jake Peavy (R): 3.67 ERA, 2.9 BB/9, 10.3 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, 3.13 FIP, 41% GB

proj avg: 3.25 ERA, 2.9 BB/9, 9.0 K/9, 0.9 HR/9
gb: 42%
pitches: 57% fb, 18% sl, 17% ct, 7% cb, 6% ch
r/l: 3.8 vs 2.6 k/bb, .603 vs .740 ops
h/a: .614/.737 ops's, 3.7/2.5 k/bb's

Peavy vs Phillies:

Feliz: 8/39, 2 2B< 1 HR, 1 BB, 9 K
Rollins: 3/12, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 BB, 1 K
Ibanez: 4/12, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 K
Werth: 1/11, 0 BB, 7 K
Howard: 2/8, 1 2B< 0 BB, 3 K, 1 SF
Utley: 0/8, 1 BB, 2 K
Stairs: 0/5, 0 BB, 2 K
Victorino: 3/5, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Coste: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Dobbs: 2/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Ruiz: 0/2, 1 BB (IBB), 0 K

WEDNESDAY OPPONENT: Chris Young (R): 4.45 eRA, 4.45 BB/9, 6.6 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, 4.52 FIP, 32% GB

proj avg: 3.85 ERA, 3.85 BB/9, 8.0 K/9, 1.1 HR/9
gb: 28%
pitches: 75% fb, 18% sl, 5% ch, 2% cb
r/l: 2.6 vs 2.2 k/bb, .647 vs .674 ops
h/a: 2.8 vs 2.1 k/bb

Young vs Phillies:

Ibanez: 6/23, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 3 K
Feliz: 2/15, 1 Bb, 3 K
Utley: 4/11, 1 2B, 2 HR, 0 BB, 3 K
Dobbs: 1/8, 0 BB, 4 K
Howard: 1/5, 1 2B, 4 BB, 2 K
Rollins: 1/6, 0 BB, 1 K
Victorino: 2/6, 0 BB, 1 K
Werth: 0/4, 1 BB, 2 K
Bruntlett: 1/4, 0 BB, 2 K
Coste: 2/4, 2 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Ruiz: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Stairs: 1/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 1 K

NOT FACING US THIS SERIES: Josh Geer (R): 5.17 ERA, 1.5 BB/9, 4.6 K/9, 1.7 HR/9, 5.20 FIP, 44% GB

proj avg: 4.70 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 5.0 K/9, 1.1 HR/9
gb: 35%
pitches: 64% fb, 22% ch, 14% sl

Geer vs Phillies:

Bruntlett: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Coste: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Feliz: 1/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Howard: 2/3, 1 3B, 0 BB, 1 K
Ibanez; 1/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Stairs: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Utley: 1/3, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Victorino: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Cairo: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

NOT FACING US THIS SERIES: Chad Gaudin (R): 4.76 ERA, 5.9 BB/9, 8.2 K/9, 0.2 HR/9, 3.94 FIP, 48% GB

proj avg: 4.10 ERA, 3.7 BB/9, 7.2 K/9, 0.9 HR/9
gb: 44%
pitches: 64% fb, 28 sl, 8% ch, 0.1% cb
r/l: .744 vs .812 ops; 2.7 vs 0.8 k/bb
h/a: .780 vs .773 ops; 1.6 vs 1.5 k/bb

Gaudin vs Phillies:

Ibanez: 7/18, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 SF
Feliz: 2/8, 1 BB, 2 K
Stairs: 3/6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB (IBB), 0 K
Dobbs: 2/2, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Werth: 0/1, 1 BB, 1 K
Bruntlett: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Coste: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Howard: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Rollins: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ruiz: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K

BULPEN

CL Heath Bell (R): 1.27 ERA, 2.5 BB/9, 11.0 K/9, 0.0 HR/9, 1.57 FIP, 51% GB

proj avg: 3.30 ERA, 3.2 BB/9, 9.0 K/9, 0.7 HR/9
gb: 50%
pitches: 72% fb, 28% sl
r/l: 4.7 vs 2.2 k/bb but .687 vs .616 ops since more power surrendered to lhb
h/a: .573/.726 ops split but k/bb even

Bell vs Phillies:

Utley: 2/8, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
Howard: 1/8, 0 BB, 4 K
Rollins: 0/8, 0 BB, 0 K
Feliz: 2/6, 0 BB, 0 K
Ibanez: 2/4, 1 BB (IBB), 0 K
Victorino: 1/5, 0 BB, 1 K
WertH: 1/4, 0 BB, 2 K
Ruiz: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 Sac
Stairs: 0/2, 0 BB, 2 K
Bruntlett: 1 BB
Coste: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Edward Mujica (R): 2.49 ERA, 2.1 BB/9, 10.0 K/9, 0.7 HR/9, 2.69 FIP, 33% GB

proj avg: 4.40 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 7.0 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 28%
pitches: 67% fb, 9% sl, 6% cb, 2% ch, 17% sf
r/l: 8.0 k/bb vs righties, but mostly just no walks; 1.5 k/bb vs lefties in minimal experience
h/a: not enough info

Mujica vs Phillies:

Cairo: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Dobbs: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ibanez: 1/1, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Rollins: 1/1, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Victorino: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Greg Burke (R): 1.35 ERA, 0.0 BB/9, 5.4 K/9, 0.0 HR/9, 1.96 FIP, 47% GB

proj avg: 4.50 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 6.0 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 53% in majors so far
pitches: 71% fb, 28% sl, 1% ch
r/l: not much of a clear split in minors
h/a: not enough info

Burke: has not played any Phillies

Cla Meredith (R): 3.06 ERA, 3.1 BB/9, 6.1 K/9, 0.5 HR/9, 3.73 FIP, 61% GB

proj avg: 3.70 ERA, 2.6 BB/9, 6.7 K/9, 0.7 HR/9
gb: 69%
pitches: 79% fb (I think sinkers count as fastballs on fangraphs), 18% sl, 3% ch
r/l: 4.3 vs 1.4; .612 vs .794: major ROOGY
h/a: .637 vs .721 and 2.9 vs 2.7 k/bb

Meredith vs Phillies:

Feliz: 1/9, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 SF
Ibanez: 3/5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Werth: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SF
Howard: 1/2, 1 BB (IBB), 0 K
Rollins: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Bruntlett: 0/2, 0BB, 1 K
Dobbs: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Victorino: 1/1, 1 BB, 0 K
Coste: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ruiz: 1/1, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K

Luke Gregerson (R): 3.38 ERA, 4.6 BB/9, 9.2 K/9, 0.3 HR/9, 3.09 FIP, 46% GB

proj avg: unprojected
gb: very high groundball rates in minors
pitches: 55% fb, 33% sl, 9% ch, 3% cb in majors so far
r/l: much better against righties and walks a lot of lefties in minors
h/a: not enough info

Gregerson vs Phillies:

Howard: 1/2, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
Feliz: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ibanez: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Utley: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Victorino: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Werth: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Joe Thatcher (L)

proj avg: 4.00 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 7.1 K/9, 0.8 HR/9
gb: 46%
pitches: 78% fb, 13% sl, 6% ct, 1% ch, 1% cb
r/l: .717 vs .978 ops in majors with 1.1 vs 3.0 k/bb-- reverse split
h/a: 1.3 vs 2.0 k/bb; .725 vs .851 ops

Thatcher vs Phillies:

Feliz: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Bruntlett: 0/2, 0 BB, 1 K
Coste: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Howard: 1/1, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Utley: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Victorino: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Luis Perdomo (R): 4.70 ERA, 4.1 BB/9, 4.1 K/9, 1.2 HR/9, 5.31 FIP, 44% GB

proj avg: 4.90 ERA, 4.6 BB/9, 7.0 K/9, 1.2 HR/9
gb: 47% in AAA
pitches: ?
r/l: not enough info
h/a: not enough info

Perdomo vs Phillies:

Coste: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Feliz: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Rollins: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Ibanez: 1 BB
Werth: 1 BB

PHILLIES

LINE UP

1) SS Jimmy Rollins (S): .226/.270/.337

projection average (proj): .285/.350/.460
projected BB/PA (bb): 8%
projected K/AB (k): 11%
career gb% (gb): 42%
career infield flies/flyball (iff): 10%
career infield hits/groundball (ifh): 5%
batting average on balls in play tendencies (babip): about average overall, though a little bit high popup rate so slightly below average. my system has him at about .308.
swing/contact/zone facts (s/c/z): good eye, pretty selective, but very high contact rate so low walk rate
righty/lefty (r/l): 1.7 vs 1.3 k/bb, mostly because of higher k-rate as lhb. otherwise similar on contact
home/away (h/a): 1.5 vs 1.7 k/bb; .805 vs .739 ops
pull/opposite (p/o): definite pull hitter
anything else (other): stole 47 bases in 50 attempts last year.

2) CF Shane Victorino (S): .293/.342/.449

proj: .285/.345/.430
bb: 7.5%
k: 13%
gb: 46%
iff: 15%
ifh: 8%
babip: slightly above average due to high babip on groundballs-- partly because infield plays in for him and he spreads the ball around well; not that high due to high infield fly rate. my system sees him at .303.
s/c/z: pretety bad eye but high contact rate
r/l: much more power righthanded (1.6% to 3.8% HR rate), but much better k/bb as lefty: 1.65 vs 1.88; higher babip lefty also (.316 vs .286)
h/a: far fewer walks on road but nearly exactly the same strikeout rate, same power, same babip
p/o: pull hitter both ways
other: stole 36 of 47 bases last year

3) 2B Chase Utley (L): .294/.430/.550

proj: .295/.380/.525
bb: 9.5%
k: 18%
gb: 37%
iff: 10%
ifh: 6%
babip: distinctly above average historically and for projections too; seemingly strong power leads to high line drive babip rate and reasonably high groundball babip especially for pull hitting lefty; high on flyballs despite high infield fly rate since he hits deep flyballs. my system has him at about .308, but he beats projection systems consistently.
s/c/z: pretty good eye, somewhat selective, somewhat high contact rate
r/l: not significant-- only 1.7 vs 2.0 k/bb; .919 vs .865 ops
h/a: similar k/bb home & away; better hr at home-- probably park factors; higher babip at home too
p/o: pull hitter
other: much better against power pitchers relative to other hitters

4) 1B Ryan Howard (L): .266/.340/.573

proj: .275/.375/580
bb: 14%
k: 33%
gb: 40%
iff: 2%
ifh: 4%
babip: low on groundballs over time as he pulls the vast majority of them; very very high on flyballs because he almost never pops out in the infield at all and many of his flyballs are very deep. also since so few of his flyballs stay in the park (only 2/3 or so), a higher percentage of his balls in play are line drives-- which he does well on like many power hitters-- his low contact rate means he sometimes make poor contact though. probably above average overall
s/c/z: swings a lot especially for someone who doesn't see many strikes. however, he is pretty good at distinguishing balls from strikes despite the consensus on him. he makes terrible contact overall though. my system sees him at .310.
r/l: 1.064 vs .786 ops: say it with me "that means he's good against righties, not bad against lefties!" in fact, he's the best hitter against righties in baseball right now probably. his k/bb vs lhp is 3.7 vs 1.6 vs rhp. he has a lot of power against lefties however, but a lower babip. i don't have split data on pull% vs lhp/rhp but observationally i'm pretty sure that's the difference in his babip: .338 vs .309.
h/a: much higher babip on road. very similar hr numbers. 2.0 vs 3.2 k/bb.
p/o: pull hitter, especially on groundballs-- hits more homeruns the opposite way though
other: struggles mightily against power pitchers and groundball pitchers, dominate flyball pitchers (since he almost never pops out, and has 10.3% hr rate) and smashes finesse pitchers (11.8% hr rate); he also does much better on babip with runners on base as defenders can't shift against him-- especially with runners in scoring position

5) RF Jayson Werth (R): .253/.342/.460

proj: .270/.360/.460
bb: 12.5%
k: 29%
gb: 38%
iff: 8%
ifh: 8%
babip: high on groundballs due to high infield hit rate, high on line drives due to power, and hits pretty deep flyballs too; has been historically probably higher than it should be since he's faced more lhp than normal rhb do; overall still seems to be very above average. my system has him at .329.
s/c/z: very selective and pretty good eye; somewhat low contact rate
r/l: .762 vs .919 ops; 2.4 vs 2.0 k/bb; hr rate of 6.7% vs 2.9%
h/a: not much of a split at all
p/o: spreads ball around well for power hitter, but still a pull hitter
other: stole 20 bases in 21 attempts last year

6) LF Raul Ibanez (L): .332/.394/.684

proj: .285/.350/.480
bb: 9%
k: 17%
gb: 42%
iff: 11%
ifh: 5%
babip: above average, probably because he spreads the ball around pretty well for a power hitter; much better babip with men on-- probably hooks ball in hole well or maybe he was shifted against more so beforehand. my system sees him right at .300.
s/c/z: definitely a good eye though it's getting worse, slightly above average contact
r/l: .850 vs .733; 1.5 vs 2.8 k/bb
h/a: better k/bb (1.6 vs 1.9) but worse power probably park factors, and probably likely to be better at home
p/o: slight pull hitter but not much for a power hitter
other: none

7) 3B Pedro Feliz (R): .302/.365/.432

proj: .250/.300/.420
bb: 6%
k: 15.5%
gb: 44%
iff: 15%
ifh: 5%
babip: very low-- pops up a lot, hits groundballs predictably to left side and is slow so they can play shaded over and deep; not all that much power so not terrific on line drives either, makes a lot of weak contact as he isn't good at making contact so he chops a lot of balls. my system sees him at .271.
s/c/z: high swing rate and not terribly good at distinguishing balls from strikes. swung significantly less in 2008, but it was as much of a decrease in balls as strikes, makes average contact
r/l: 3.3 vs 2.3 k/bb; .708 vs .755 ops, more babip and a little more power agaisnt lefties
h/a: much higher k rate on road, similar bb rate; more power on road, higher babip at home. likely not much difference (.725 vs .716 overall ops)
p/o: definite pull hitter
other: defensive numbers dipped last year, had offseason surgery for back, perhaps these are related

8) Carlos Ruiz (R): .304/.427/.506

proj: .255/.335/.390
bb: 10%
k: 14%
gb: 50% (but rose in 2008 to 54% from 46%)
iff: 9.5%
ifh: 4%
babip: was extraordinarily low in 2008, but that seems to be rather flukey. his high groundball rate and solid contact rate and pitch selection indicate he should be a good babip guy, but he does very poorly on groundball as he chops the ball a lot. my system sees him at .288.
s/c/z: very good eye and excellent contact skill, extremely patient
r/l: bizarre reverse split despite 0.5 k/bb vs lhp and 1.2 vs rhp; impossibly low .204 babip against lhp, probably flukey and probably much better vs lhp in reality
h/a: similar k/bb, worse babip but higher power at home (park factors)
p/o: slight pull hitter
other: better against power pitchers

BENCH

C Chris Coste (R): .254/.356/.460

proj: .265/.315/.405
bb: 5.5%
k: 17.5%
gb: 40%
iff: 10%
ifh: 6%
babip: slightly below average, seemingly due to poor eye and swinging and hitting bad pitches. my system sees him at .294.
s/c/z: high swing rate, pretty poor eye, average contact
r/l: .747 vs .855; same k/bb rate, much better babip against lhp, similar power but slightly more vs lhp
h/a: .886 vs .679; 5.4% vs 1.5% hr rate
p/o: pull hitter
other: struggles with power pitchers somewhat

IF/OF Eric Bruntlett (R): .118/.179/.235

proj: .240/.325/.335
bb: 10%
k: 18%
gb: 41%
iff: 14%
ifh: 5%
babip: high popup rate leads to low babip, but not that low; also doesn't do all that well on line drives due to lack of power
s/c/z: somewhat above average eye and doesn't swing much; makes very good contact, sees a lot of strikes
r/l: .592 vs .764 ops; 2.5 vs 1.2 k/bb; 5.7% vs 8.8% xbh/ab-- he's actually average if not above average against lhp; he just is terrible against rhb. he should be used as a counterswitch to loogy use against lefty pinch hitters
h/a: more power at home and more walks at home; similar strikeout rate and babip
p/o: opposite field hitter
other: none

IF Greg Dobbs (L): .132/.250/.211

proj: .285/.335/.445
bb: 7%
k: 17%
gb: 36%
iff: 13.5%
ifh: 3%
babip: has been high but probably should not be projected as high-- success derives from impossibly high line drive babip which doesn't typically happen for non-extreme power hitters. given his popup rate, he probably isn't a .320 babip guy and there isn't a .285 hitter
s/c/z: poor eye but very high swing rate; average contact rate
r/l: .761 vs .579 ops despite impossible .481 babip against lhp. in reality, he strikes out in 48% of at-bats against lhp. he should never see them. absolutely no power against lefties also.
h/a: virtually no split at all
p/o: pull hitter
other: much better against finesse pitchers

OF Matt Stairs (L): .281/.465/.594

proj: .255/.340/.440
bb: 11%
k: 22%
gb: 42%
iff: 11.5%
ifh: 5%
babip: average all around. my system sees him at .295.
s/c/z: very good eye and slightly below average contact
r/l: .862 vs .748; much more power against rhp; 1.4 vs 2.1 k/bb
h/a: not much of a split at all
p/o: slight pull hitter but not much for a power hitter
other: use stairs in case of emergency

OF John Mayberry Jr. (R): .222/.222/.667

proj: .235/.290/.415
bb: 6.5%
k: 27%
iff: around 15-20% in minors
ifh: ?
babip: hits ball hard but pops up a lot; probably a bit average but tough to know; projected below average
s/c/z: not enough info
r/l: batter against lefties, particularly at making contact, in minors
h/a: not enough info
p/o: not enough info
other: none

ROTATION

MONDAY STARTER: Joe Blanton (R): 6.14 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 8.4 K/9, 1.6 HR/9, 4.80 FIP, 40% GB

proj avg: 4.25 ERA, 2.5 BB/9, 5.8 K/9, 0.9 HR/9
gb: 45%
pitches: 56% fb, 16% ch, 15% sl, 12% cb
r/l: 2.3 vs 1.8 k/bb; .750 vs .719 ops
h/a: 2.2 vs 2.0 k/bb; .698 vs .776 ops; much worse babip away (.313 vs .282), more power surrendered on road
other: extraordinarily good against leadoff hitters, especially the first hitter of games

Blanton vs Padres:

Gonzalez: 2/8, 0 BB, 0 K
Burke: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Eckstein: 3/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Blanco: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Giles: 0/1, 1 BB, 1 K
Rodriguez: 0/1, 1 BB, 0 K

TUESDAY STARTER: Antonio Bastardo (L): has not played in majors 2009; but in AA: 1.82 ERA, 1.8 BB/9, 10.1 K/9, 0.3 HR/9 in 34.2 IP; in AAA: 2.08 ERA, 2.1 BB/9, 8.3 K/9, 0.7 HR/9 in 13 IP

proj avg: 5.60 ERA, 4.8 BB/9, 7.0 K/9, 1.9 HR/9
gb: 40% in minors
pitches: ?
r/l: 2.1 vs 4.1 k/bb in minor league career
h/a: much better control at home in minor league control

Bastardo: has not played Padres

WEDNESDAY STARTER: J.A. Happ (L): 3.00 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 7.1 K/9, 0.8 HR/9, 4.13 FIP, 37% GB

proj avg: 4.40 ERA, 3.8 BB/9, 7.7 K/9, 1.2 HR/9
gb: 29% in majors thus far; 42% in AAA in 2008
pitches: 64% fb, 18% ch, 14% sl, 2% ct, 2% cb
r/l: 1.7 vs 3.0 k/bb in majors thus far; 2.7 vs 3.5 k/bb in AAA in 2008
h/a: not enough info

Happ vs Padres:

Hundley: 1/1, 1 BB, 0 K
Kouzmanoff: 2/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Giles: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

NOT STARTING THIS SERIES: Cole Hamels (L): 5.21 ERA, 1.9 BB/9, 9.3 K/9, 1.9 HR/9, 4.47 FIP, 39% GB

proj avg: 3.45 ERA, 2.3 BB/9, 8.4 K/9, 1.1 HR/9
gb: 40%
pitches: 55% fb, 32% ch, 14% cb
r/l: .680 vs .748, but same 3.6 k/bb both ways; slightly more power vs lhb-- this is probably selection bias as managers withhold all but the best lefties against him (explaining 20% of hitters faced are lefties only)
h/a: 3.85 vs 3.4 k/bb; .676 vs .709 ops-- less of a difference due to higher HR rate at home
other: much higher k-rate at night: 25% vs 20%, which is statistically significant. ERA difference (4.71 vs 3.01 exaggerated by babip difference), as HR rate and XBH rate very similar. most likely he strikes out more at night.

Hamels vs Padres:

Giles: 3/17, 1 2B, 0 BB, 2 K
A.Gonzalez: 5/15, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP
Burke: 4/15, 1 BB, 6 K
Kouzmanoff: 2/12, 0 BB, 2 K
Hairston: 4/10, 2 2B, 2 HR, 0 BB, 2 K
Eckstein: 3/6, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 Sac, 1 SF
Headley: 2/6, 0 BB, 1 K
Rodriguez: 1/6, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/4, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 1/2, 1 HR, 1 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K

NOT STARTING THIS SERIES: Jamie Moyer (L): 6.75 ERA, 2.7 BB/9, 5.1 K/9, 2.4 HR/9, 6.57 FIP, 38% GB

proj avg: 4.80 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 5.5 K/9, 1.2 HR/9
gb: 39%
pitches: 41% fb, 30% ct, 24% ch, 6% cb
r/l: virtually no split but that seems to be selection as he sees 24% lefties only compared with 32% league average for lhp
h/a: 2.3 vs 1.9 k/bb; not much difference on contact; slightly better babip at home but not more so than the average starter gets

Moyer vs Padres:

Eckstein: 14/56, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 Sac
Giles: 4/17, 1 2B, 3 BB, 1 K
A.Gonzalez: 5/15, 3 HR, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 Sf
Kouzmanoff: 5/12, 1 2B, 1 HR, 0 BB, 2 K
Blanco: 5/11, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 1/7, 0 BB, 0 K
Hariston: 0/5, 2 BB, 0 K
Burke: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Hundley: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/2, 0 BB, 0 K

BULLPEN

CL Brad Lidge (R): 7.71 ERA, 5.0 BB/9, 10.0 K/9, 2.3 HR/9, 6.08 FIP, 38% GB

proj avg: 3.50 ERA, 4.1 BB?9, 11.0 K/9, 0.8 HR/9
gb: 41% (though this went up to 46% with increased slider use in 2008)
pitches: 56% sl, 43% fb, 0.4% ch in 2008 (historically 54% fb, 42% sl)
r/l: 3.6 vs 2.8 k/bb; .601 vs .686 ops (tough to tell if that tendency became more or less extreme in 2008 due to limited sample size)
h/a: 3.6 vs 2.9 k/bb; .666 vs .614 ops though due to higher babip away
other: HR/Flyball plummeted in 2008-- probably unsustainably low and his ERA should rise; still rumors of him tipping pitches explain the HR/Flyball spike in 2006 & 2007

Lidge vs Padres:

Eckstein: 2/8, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
Giles: 2/8, 1 3B, 2 BB, 0 K
A.Gonzalez: 2/6, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
Kouzmanoff: 3/5, 2 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 1/3, 1 BB, 2 K
Blanco: 1/2, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Burke: 0/1, 1 BB, 1 K
Gerut: 1/1, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Hairston: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Hundley: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Rodriguez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Ryan Madson (R): 2.49 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 10.0 K/9, 0.0 HR/9, 1.90 FIP, 42% GB

proj avg: 3.80 ERA, 2.9 BB/9, 7.2 K/9, 0.8 HR/9
gb: 48%
pitches: 58% fb, 24% ch, 15% ct, 4% cb
r/l: 3.65 vs 1.8 k/bb; .714 vs .786 ops
h/a: no major split at all

Madson vs Padres:

A.Gonzalez: 4/9, 1 2B, 0 BB, 1 K
Giles: 3/8, 2 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Burke: 2/5, 0 BB, 1 K
Hairston: 3/5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
Eckstein: 0/3, 1 BB, 0 K
Blanco: 1/3, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 1/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/1, 1 BB, 1 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Scott Eyre (L): 3.09 ERA, 6.2 BB/9, 5.4 K/9, 1.5 HR/9, 6.50 FIP, 36% GB

proj avg: 4.20 ERA, 4.1 BB/9, 8.8 K/9, 0.9 HR/9
gb: 41%
pitches: 59% fb, 35% sl, 6% ch, 0.2% cb
r/l: 1.5 vs 1.9 k/bb; .815 vs .720 ops
h/a: not much of a split

Eyre vs Padres:

Giles: 3/16, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 SF
Eckstein: 3/7, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SF
Burke: 1/2, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/4, 0 BB, 1 K
Gerut: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Hairston: 1/3, 1 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
Blanco: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Jack Taschner (L): 3.92 ERA, 6.5 BB/9, 4.8 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, 5.82 FIP, 34% GB

proj avg: 4.50 ERA, 4.1 BB/9, 8.0 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 35%
pitches: 57% fb, 30% sl, 13% ch
r/l: 1.45 vs 2.2 k/bb; .754 vs .747-- large selection bias where he faces only very good lefties and not very good righties
h/a: .698 vs .797 ops; 2.1 vs 1.5 k/bb

Taschner vs Padres:

Giles: 3/17, 1 3B, 2 BB, 4 K
A.Gonzalez: 5/12, 1 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB (1 IBB), 3 K, 1 HBP
Hairston: 2/4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Kouzmanoff: 0/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/2, 0 BB, 1 K
Eckstein: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Chad Durbin (R): 4.50 ERA, 5.2 BB/9, 8.0 K/9, 1.0 HR/9, 5.08 FIP, 34% GB

proj avg: 4.10 ERA, 3.5 BB/9, 6.5 K/9, 1.0 HR/9
gb: 41%
pitches: 47% fb, 38% sl, 8% ch, 7% cb, 1% ct
r/l: virtually no split
h/a: somewhat of a reverse split but probably just noise

Durbin vs Padres:

Eckstein: 1/11, 0 BB, 0 K
Giles: 1/4, 0 BB, 1 K
Blanco: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Hairston: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Kouzmanoff: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Clay Condrey (R): 2.20 ERA, 2.8 B/9, 6.3 K/9, 1.3 HR/9, 4.52 FIP, 53% GB

proj avg: 4.50 ERA, 2.8 BB/9, 4.9 K/9, 0.8 HR/9
gb: 50%
pitches: 59% fb, 17% ct, 15% sl, 9% ch
r/l: 2.1 vs 1.3 k/bb; .761 vs .842 ops
h/a: .703 vs .898 ops; 2.2 vs 1.3 k/bb

Condrey vs Padres:

Burke: 0/3, 0 BB, 1 K
Hairston: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Eckstein: 2/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Gerut: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Giles: 1/1, 1 2B, 0 BB, 0 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K
Kouzmanoff: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K

Chan Ho Park (R): 6.57 ERA, 4.7 BB/9, 6.3 K/9, 1.2 HR/9, 5.25 FIP, 43% GB

proj avg: 4.50 ERA, 3.5 BB/9, 7.3 K/9, 1.2 HR/9
gb: 45%
pitches: 51% FB, 29% SL, 12% cb, 5% ch, 4% ct
r/l: .666 vs .820 ops; 2.6 vs 1.3 k/bb; .280 vs .301 babip; 2.6% vs 3.6% HR rate-- much better against righties
h/a: 2.0 vs 1.7 k/bb; .708 vs .780 ops

Park vs Padres:

Eckstein: 7/23, 2 2B, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP
Giles: 7/19, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 K
Blanco: 0/11, 2 BB (1 IBB), 4 K, 1 HBP
Gerut: 2/7, 0 BB, 1 K
Burke: 0/4, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 Sac
Kouzmanoff: 2/5, 0 BB, 2 K
A.Gonzalez: 2/4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
E.Gonzalez: 2/4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K
Headley: 0/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Hundley: 1/3, 0 BB, 0 K
Hairston: 0/2, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 0/2, 0 BB, 0 K

SUSPENDED UNTIL WEDNESDAY: J.C. Romero (L)

proj avg: 4.00 ERA, 5.5 BB?9, 7.5 K/9, 0.7 HR/9
gb: 55%
pitches: 58% fb, 25% sl, 17% ch, 0.1% cb
r/l: 1.2 vs 2.2 k/bb; .814 vs. 591 ops
h/a: 1.6 vs 1.3 k/bb; .697 vs .768 ops

Romero vs Padres:

Giles: 1/8, 1 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
Gerut: 0/7, 2 BB, 3 K
A.Gonzalez: 0/4, 0 BB, 1 K
Eckstein: 0/3 0/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Kouzmanoff: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
Blanco: 1/1, 0 BB, 0 K
Hairston: 0/1, 0 BB, 1 K

Analyzing Market Inefficiencies: Players Below Replacement Level

Jack Moore — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:22:16 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

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Sky's Note: I'm psyched to introduce another new BtB writer, Jack Moore. He's a Brewers fan, but we'll deal with that if he continues to write awesome articles like this one and the one below. Be nice to the new guy, and feel free to drop him a tweet at @jh_moore. Ok, enough linkage, read this:

Every year, there are at least a few players that make us scratch our head and say, "Wait, he's still in the Major Leagues?" These are players that are consistently at or below replacement level and yet continue to receive playing time and even occasionally receive contracts above the minimum in lieu of freely available talent. These consistently poor decisions made by front offices across the country beg the question - what are these players doing to earn roster spots? Let's take a look at four categories of players that have performed below replacement level over the past 3 calendar years, with a minimum of 500 plate appearances.

Category 1: One-Tool Sluggers

These guys are good at one thing, and one thing only: hitting home runs. This is the kind of market inefficiency that may be on its way out with the prevalence of defense among front offices now. Included in this category are 8 of the 23 players who have been below replacement level over the last 3 calendar years with at least 500 plate appearances.

Player	Batting	Fielding	Replacement	Positional	Wins	ISO (career)	ISO (last3)	difference	UZR+PosAdj	POS	NOTES
Marcus Thames	0.5	-12.3	21.5	-11.9	-0.2	0.256	0.252	0.004	-24.2	COF	43 HR in 646 PA
Richie Sexson	-11.0	-18.9	27.3	-16.9	-1.9	0.246	0.198	0.048	-35.8	1B	33 HR in 818 PA
Jonny Gomes	0.0	-16.3	19.4	-14.1	-1.1	0.219	0.193	0.026	-30.4	COF	25 HR in 586 PA
Jeff Baker	-11.8	-1.8	17.2	-6.7	-0.3	0.201	0.152	0.049	-8.5	ALL	16 HR in 516 PA
Wily Mo Pena	-18.3	-2.8	17.4	-7.6	-1.1	0.194	0.146	0.048	-10.4	COF	15 HR in 523 PA
Brad Wilkerson	-12.9	-4.0	23.3	-12.2	-0.6	0.193	0.180	0.013	-16.2	ALL OF	24 HR in 698 PA
Craig Monroe	-26.4	-6.1	22.2	-11.5	-2.1	0.191	0.179	0.012	-17.6	COF	23 HR in 668 PA
David Dellucci	-12.5	-7.2	20.6	-12.6	-1.1	0.180	0.148	0.032	-19.8	COF	15 HR in 619 PA

Fantasy players value players like these because they can straight up clobber the baseball out of the ballpark. Looking at other skills necessary to be a major leaguer, however, these seven just come up short. None of these seven play a premium position (Baker did play 76 games at 2B and 3B combined, but never stuck anywhere), and where they do end up fielding they are well below average with the glove. Only Jonny Gomes flashed any legitimate amount of speed on the bases (20 SB to 5 CS). Even with the bat, despite the high power numbers, only two of the seven grade out as average, as their on-base skills simply are not at a major league level. This group overall, for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, got on-base at a .299 clip and had a staggering K/BB ratio of 2.98. Combining poor fielding with the inability to reach base make these players unplayable despite their great power.

Category 2: Aging Veterans

These guys are all at least 30 years old and experiencing a definitely decline in ability with their age. Many of these players not only played well in their 20s but some were even stars (the most notable player on this list, Nomar Garciaparra, put up 41.5 WAR between 1997 and 2003). Instead of focusing on ISO, I'd like to focus on Speed Score with this group.

Player	Age	Batting	Fielding	Replacement	Positional	Wins	Spd(career)	Spd(last3)	difference	UZR+PosAdj	POS	NOTES
Nomar Garciaparra	35	-8.6	-13.0	23.3	-4.5	-0.3	5.90	2.23	3.67	-17.5	1B/3B	41.5 WAR 1997-2003
Mike Sweeney	35	-8.5	0.5	16.9	-14.0	-0.5	3.50	1.46	2.04	-13.5	1B	13.6 WAR 2000-2002
Jose Vidro	34	-5.4	-3.9	31.8	-23.1	-0.1	3.20	1.85	1.35	-27	DH	8.0 WAR 2002-2003
Mark Kotsay	33	-18.8	-5.7	22.1	1.0	-0.1	4.80	2.85	1.95	-4.7	CF	12.0 WAR 2002-2004
Frank Catalanotto	35	0.2	-10.8	21.8	-13.1	-0.2	5.00	3.85	1.15	-23.9	1B	3.9 WAR in 2001
Dave Roberts	36	-8.9	-10.1	19.1	-1.9	-0.2	8.60	7.55	1.05	-12	CF/LF	3 seasons above 2.0 WAR
Corey Patterson	30	-36.0	1.1	29.8	4.1	-0.1	7.20	6.50	0.70	5.2	CF	4.9 WAR in 2004
Gary Matthews Jr.	34	-14.9	-28.6	38.8	-4.0	-0.9	5.60	5.09	0.51	-32.6	ALL OF	9.5 WAR 2004-2006

For the most part, this group of players were, at some point in their careers, plus defenders playing at premium positions. Most notably, Roberts was pushed out of CF, Garciaparra lost the ability to play SS, and Vidro was moved from 2B to DH. Similar to the sluggers, the biggest reason these players are below replacement is because of their minimal defensive values, whether it's because they can't play their positions any more (Roberts is +37 runs career by TotalZone, and had a -7 year in 2007) or simpy don't have the bat for the position any more (Sweeney's +0.5 UZR pales when shown next to a -14.0 positional adjustment). Patterson is the anomaly here, as his defensive value including position is a quite respectable +5.2, but his bat died in 2008, posting a ridiculous -26.6 wRAA. An interesting thing to note here is the decline in speed score. Every single one of these players showed a decline of at least .50 with an average decrease of 1.55. A decline of 1.55 is certainly concerning if not alarming in a stat with a range of 0-10, and it likely explains why these players are no longer assets on defense.

Category 3: AAAA Players

This group just plain does not fit on any major league roster. Still, they seem to find work filling benches or even occasionally starting for the lowest of the low. As a fan, if you have to see one of these players getting consistent at bats, you know your team is in trouble. These players excel at nothing, and really never have.

Player	Age	Batting	Fielding	Replacement	Positional	Wins	UZR+PosAdj	POS	NOTES
Jose Castillo	29	-27.1	-4.5	22.8	3.7	-0.5	-0.8	2B/3B	-1.2 career WAR
Ross Gload	33	-15.4	3.2	27.9	-18.9	-0.3	-15.7	1B	-1.2 career WAR
Chris Burke	29	-23.1	1.9	20.7	-0.7	-0.1	1.2	ALL	1.9 career WAR

I really have explanation as to why Ross Gload has ever been on a major league roster. He's a light hitting, average fielding first baseman, which probably has never been in demand. Jose Castillo plays a decent enough 3B but has no bat to back it up. These two players have not only been terrible recently, but have made an entire career out of it. Chris Burke's career, on the other hand, may be salvageable. He does have a positive career WAR, and it is possible that he was simply being used incorrectly. As an outfielder, he has a career UZR/150 of 0.1, but at 2B his UZR/150 is 7.2. With 2B being more valuable than the COF spots that Burke had spent so much time in, it's possible that Burke could become a 1 win player going forward.

Category 4: Hot Prospects

Occasionally, a prospect gets rushed to the big leagues by virtue of injuries or shortages at the ML level or simply an overzealous front office. These three players all have received hype in some way, shape, or form, and were supposed to play like major leaguers at a very young age. Unfortunately for their fans and their front offices, they have not performed to any major leaguer's standards, much less that of a first round pick.

Player	Batting	Fielding	Replacement	Positional	Wins	ISO (career)	UZR+PosAdj	POS	NOTES
Josh Fields	-14.5	-15.6	20.4	0.7	-0.9	0.187	-14.9	3B	18th pick in 2004
Delmon Young	-12.3	-29.8	46.6	-14.4	-1.0	0.117	-44.2	COF	1st pick in 2003
Alexi Casilla	-27.1	-4.1	24.4	2.8	-0.4	0.069	-1.3	2B	Signed out of DR in 2003 at age 19

This group is probably the most unique of them all, each showing different ways to produce at a below-replacement level. Casilla has the glove to potentially be an average player right now, and Young's bat could play at a tougher position. Fields shows the worst of both worlds, showing no indication of major league talent except for the ability to hit for power. These players were likely rushed to the majors too quickly, but who knows if any amount of minor league time could correct their problems. Another problem for these GMs is that these players are too talented to just get rid of, and may clog up roster spots on these teams for years to come.

Finally, let's take a look at the salaries these players received.

Player	Wins	Salary (2007+2008)	Over Minimum	Player	Wins	Salary (2007+2008)	Over Minimum
Jeff Baker	-0.3	0.8	0	Frank Catalanotto	-0.2	7.5	6.7
Josh Fields	-0.9	0.8	0	Craig Monroe	-2.1	7.6	6.8
Alexi Casilla	-0.4	0.8	0	David Dellucci	-1.1	7.6	6.8
Chris Burke	-0.1	1.4	0.6	Brad Wilkerson	-0.6	8.3	7.5
Marcus Thames	-0.2	1.7	0.9	Mike Sweeney	-0.5	11.5	10.7
Jonny Gomes	-1.1	1.7	0.9	Dave Roberts	-0.2	11.5	10.7
Ross Gload	-0.3	1.9	1.1	Mark Kotsay	-0.1	15	14.2
Jose Castillo	-0.5	2.6	1.8	Gary Matthews Jr.	-0.9	15.8	15
Delmon Young	-1.0	2.7	1.9	Jose Vidro	-0.1	16	15.2
Wily Mo Pena	-1.1	3.2	2.4	Nomar Garciaparra	-0.3	18	17.2
Chad Tracy	-0.1	7	6.2	Richie Sexson	-1.9	31	30.2
Corey Patterson	-0.1	7.3	6.5	Average	-0.61	7.9	7.1
--	--	--	--	*TOTAL*	*-14.03*	*181.7*	*163.3*

Between these 23 players, teams have wasted 163.3 million dollars giving them roster spots. Between Jose Videro and Richie Sexson alone, the Mariners wasted 45.4 million dollars in 2007 and 2008. Even a larger market team like Seattle can't handle inexcusable contracts like those two. These are the kind of mistakes that kill small and middle market teams. As the economy worsens, it'll certainly be interesting to see if these inefficiencies remain or if different types of below replacement players surface.

Diamondbacks 3, Padres 4: The Game No-one Noticed

Jim McLennan — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:21:40 -0000

More photos » by Chris Park - AP

Yes: it was a pop-up. But it was a good pop-up. Eric Byrnes watches his sacrifice fly, which scored Justin Upton.

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Record: 12-17. Pace; 67-95. Change on last season: -8.

There I was, looking forward to a nice, quiet day - a little afternoon baseball, get home, knock up a quick recap and take the rest of the evening off. Perfect. However, I get to work and the office Dodger fan says, "I suppose you heard?" I presumed he meant LA going 13-0 at home. "Nah. Manny got suspended for 50 games." After I spent much of the morning coming to terms with that little nugget, just as I was about to leave work for the day, I saw kishi's Fanshot, announcing the imminent dismissal of manager Bob Melvin. The old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times," came home to roost with a vengeance today. In between those two bombshells, the Diamondbacks played a game of baseball. I could give that contest all the attention it's going to get, simply by finishing that sentence with, "...and lost," then hitting the 'Publish' button. If you want any more, it's after the jump.

Still with me? Not got anything better to do? Dammit. I was hoping you wouldn't follow me here, and I'd not have to write anything at all. Oh, well: since you are apparently deeply interested, here's the details. Dan Haren had a crap outing. Ok: technically, it was a "quality start", being that he went six innings and allowed only three earned runs. But that's by the standards of mere mortal men: any Haren outing that does not last seven-plus innings, or which involves three of the opposition crossing home-plate = crap. In this case, he allowed eight hits and two walks in six, with four strikeouts.

It was going fine through the first four innings, despite a road-bump in the third after a single and double put two men in scoring position with no-one out [the double was hit by Chris Burke. Yeah; that one...] However, Haren struck out opposing pitcher Chris Young, got Giles to fly to Upton in right - no challenging of the Jupzooka today by the Padres! - and fanned Edgar Gonzalez [no...not that one] to keep it scoreless. All was swimmingly well until two outs in the fifth: however, that pesky third out proved the hardest one to get. He walked Young and the next three Padres singled, plating two runs and tying the score. Arizona took the lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Eric Byrnes, but a one-out single and double off Haren in the bottom half of the same inning tied things up again, and made sure Dan's win streak stopped at three.

The bullpens then traded zeros for the next three innings. Each side had chances to go ahead: we had a pair of men on with one out in the seventh, the Padres got their first two hitters aboard in the eighth, but neither side could break through. However, in the bottom of the tenth, Esmerling Vazquez's control wavered - with one out, he allowed a double - then imploded completely, allowing back-to-back walks to load the bases, still with one out, including a free pass to...yes, you guessed it, Chris Burke. The death blow was provided by another former Diamondback, David Eckstein, who singled through the infield, to give the Padres a walk-off victory and send Arizona back home after a losing road-trip, with a final record of 3-5.

But the rest of the story, as the late Paul Harvey used to say, was the same as ever: feeble performance by the Diamondbacks with runners in scoring position. We scored all three runs without an RISP hit, thanks to a double by Haren which scored Chris Snyder all the way from first, and a pair of sacrifice flies. The team was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, meaning that in the four games between San Diego and Los Angeles, we hit .032 when we had runners in scoring position, going 1-for-31. The last knock was Josh Wilson's second-inning single on Monday, since when we've gone hitless in 29 consecutive at-bats with RISP. Our season average in such situations continues to drop, and is now .186. There may or may not be such a skill as "clutch hitting" - if there is, your 2009 Diamondbacks are its kryptonite.

We managed only five hits the entire game, though did get six walks. Conor Jackson and Snyder each had a hit and a walk, but once again, Justin Upton was the engine-room of the team's offense, stealing a base as well as getting two hits and a walk, to extend his current hitting streak to 14 games. That raised his season average to .294, and at this rate, he'll have overtaken Felipe Lopez (currently at .303) by the end of tomorrow - Lopez has hit a bit of a wall lately, with three hits in his last nineteen at-bats. Poor Mark Reynolds had a horrible time of it against evil Chris Young, going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, leaving five men on base.

[Click to enlarge, at fangraphs.com]
Master of his domain: Justin Upton, +11.9%
Honorable mention: Juan Gutierrez, +11.0%
God-emperor of suck: Mark Reynolds, -24.2%
Dishonorable mentions: Vasquez, -21.4%; Whitesell, -13.8%

Obviously, if this day is remembered at all, it probably isn't going to be for this game. But there were over 900 comments in the Gameday Thread and its overflow, a fine total for an afternoon contest, with 'Skins notching exactly 200, kishi and pyromnc reaching three figures too. Also present: snakecharmer, paqs, DbacksSkins, Turambar, ASUJon, Azreous, Muu, TwinnerA, luckycc, Giannaros, unnamedDBacksfan, 4 Corners Fan, IHateSouthBend, hotclaws, slaughter112, Lisalisa8, Sprankton, sergey606, venomfan, Bcawz, Diamondhacks, SeanMillerSavior, mrssoco and Wimb.

And with that to bed. I've already spent far too much time working on the site today; I think Mrs. SnakePit probably think I'm dead... If we don't fire our manager and see the player we hate most in the division suspended, on the same day again for a while, it'll be quite alright by me...

Will a Padre series bring a merry conclusion to April?

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:33:54 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

Adrian Gonzalez and those putrid uniforms are next on the docket for the Rockies.

Browse more photos »

Rockies fans are feeling glum about the season so far, yesterday aside, and that is understandable. We are about to close out the first month of the season, and Colorado has only pulled out one series win, and that was three weeks ago. To all you whose mood reflects the gray weather, I say:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
San Diego's coming to town

That probably seems silly, seeing as how the Padres are far enough ahead that we can't leapfrog them even with a sweep. But I assure you for this series, I know if they've been bad or good, and we'll be good for goodness sake.

San Diego Padres (10-8, L2, 2nd in NL West)

Monday-Wednesday : 3-game series at Colorado

The Padres were the surprise team in MLB to start the season, but their slide back to earth has already commenced. San Diego is losers of five of their last six with their only win being a one-run extra inning affair with the Pirates.

The most intriguing aspect of this series is complete opposite recipes for wins and losses for Colorado and San Diego.

	Games Decided by 2 or less	Games Decided by 3 or more
San Diego	6-2	4-6
Colorado	0-6	6-5

This not only suggests we need to beat them up early, it leads to an overall interesting conclusion: With a -10 run differential, the Padres have a worse Pythagorean expected win percentage than the Rockies. In fact, one would expect the Padres to be fourth in the NL West with the Rockies second.

So are the Pads lucky? A bit, but a lot of credit must go to Heath Bell, who is doing his best Brad Lidge impression by getting seven saves in seven chances and allowing just three hits and no runs in 7.2 IP.

Still, San Diego can't sustain a winning record, as their pitching overall is middle of the pack (14th) and their offense is 22nd. Add to that that 3/5 of their rotation is now on the DL (Shawn Hill, Cha Seung Baek and Walter Silva), and you have a recipe for a team to continue to settle towards the bottom.

San Diego is 4-4 on the road, with all four wins coming on a trip to Philadelphia and New York against teams that struggled out of the gate.

Probable Pitchers:

Today, 6:40pm MDT

Chris Young has been the brightest starter so far for San Diego. The Padres are 3-1 in his starts this season, with the only loss coming in his best start, when he allowed no runs on two hits in 7.0 IP at San Francisco. Garrett Atkins is 7-for-25 with 3 HR in his career against Young.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Chris Young	2-0	3.42	1.18	17	8

Jason Hammel will make his debut as a Rockies and NL starter tonight. After a nervous debut out of the pen, he has looked outstanding in allowing no runs on two hits in his last four innings. Jason Marquis' start yesterday afforded the bullpen rest, so should Hammel falter, a safety net is in place. Kevin Kouzmanoff is the only Padre to face Hammel, and he collected a double in three ABs.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Hammel	0-0	2.70	1.35	5	2

Tuesday, April 28, 6:40pm MDT

Josh Geer will be making his second start this season. His debut was a beauty against the World Champs April 19, but he faltered when he relieved injured Shawn Hill against Pittsburgh. Geer allowed just 3 runs in 10 innings in two appearanced vs Colorado in 2008.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Josh Geer	0-0	4.91	1.18	5	0

Jorge de la Rosa had a streak of nine straight scoreless innings break in his last start against Arizona, but he is nevertheless coming off of two strong outings despite not having his best stuff. He allowed 6 runs in 7.1 IP against the Padres last year, with both appearances at Coors Field.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jorge De La Rosa	0-2	3.78	1.62	14	10

Wednesday, April 29, 1:10pm MDT

Kevin Correia has three starts and all of them very similar: 5-6 IP, 2-3 ER, 2-4 BB, and 3-5 K's on 95-98 pitches. His game scores have been between 48 and 51, so he has been the model of consistency and mediocrity. He is 2-1 with a 4.60 ERA since 2006 vs Colorado. Consistent, mediocre and boring.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Kevin Correia	0-1	4.50	1.44	13	10

We all know about Aaron Cook. The "Ace" has yet to achieve a game score as high as Correia's worst start despite having two "quality starts." Cook's "best" starts of the season have come at home, so we'll see.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Aaron Cook	0-1	8.35	2.13	10	10

Adrian Gonzalez was 8-for-22 with 2 HR last week to continue a strong start, while Scott Hairston is 5 for his last 12 with a double and a triple. Heath Bell pitched another scoreless inning (of course).

Jody Gerut was just 1-for-17 last week while Nick Hundley was 1-for-13. Kevin Correia, Eulogio de la Cruz, Luis Perdomo, Jake Peavy, Cla Meredith, Josh Geer, and Shawn Hill all had ERAs over 5.00 last week.

Cha Seung Baek, Shawn Hill and Walter Silva are all on the 15-day DL, while Everth Cabrera is out for two months with a broken left hand. SS Luis Rodriguez was admitted to the hospital with an allergic reaction Saturday, but he has been released and cleared to play.

NL West Report after the jump

NL West Report

Arizona (7-11, 4th, W1)

Last Week: 2-1 vs Rockies, 1-2 vs. Giants. After rebounding against the struggling Rockies, the D-Backs were nearly swept at home by San Fran before they eeked out a walkoff win in the 12th inning yesterday

This Week: 3 game home series vs. Cubs, 4 game road series at Brewers. The week's schedule isn't kind for Arizona, but they will have Dan Haren pitching twice, including today.

News: Terrible news came down Saturday for Diamondbacks fans, as ace Brandon Webb will be forced to miss an additional six weeks with a shoulder injury.

Brandon Webb

#17 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 230

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 09, 1979

Missing Webb for well over a third of the season will be a difficult obstacle to overcome - since the start of 2007, Arizona is only 132-141 in games not started by Webb. Diamondbacks beat writer Nick Piecolo already suspects Arizona might be sellers at the trade deadline.

Shortstop Stephen Drew finally landed on the 15-day DL after the original injury eight days prior. Drew was completely ineffective in his attempts to return to the lineup Wednesday and Friday.

Arizona called up former Sky Sox IF Josh Wilson to take Drew's place and swapped Doug Slaten for Esmerling Vasquez.

Tom Gordon could also be activated today.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	elbow	04/27/2009
Stephen Drew	hamstring	04/25/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

Los Angeles (13-6, 1st, L1)

Last Week: 1-2 at Astros, 2-1 at Rockies. Los Angeles failed to have a winning week for the first time this season. The red hot start was clearly cooled by hitting the road as evidenced by nearly getting swept by Houston and being outscored by four at Coors Field.

This Week: 3 game road series at Giants, 4 game home series vs Padres.

News: Another NL West Opening Day starter is having trouble in trying to get back to the mound. Hiroki Kuroda felt increased tightness in his oblique after a bullpen session.

Hiroki Kuroda

#18 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Feb 10, 1975

Kuroda wouldn't call it a setback, citing that it felt better the next day, but any lingering tightness could spell future doom. He is on the DL indefinitely, as he will need several rehab starts once he is finally cleared to start.

Kuroda's absence brightens the limelight on the back of the rotation, James McDonald specifically. As Eric Stephen points out, McDonald has been fantastic to start games but falls apart after a few innings. This in part led to speculation that McDonald could slide to the bullpen in favor of Ramon Troncoso, but for now, McDonald remains in the rotation.

This would seem to imply that the Dodgers could sign Pedro Martinez, but

Ned Colletti thinks the price is too high.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Hiroki Kuroda	oblique	04/07/2009
Cory Wade	shoulder	04/12/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Claudio Vargas	elbow	04/05/2009

San Diego (10-8, 2nd, L2)

Last Week: 0-2 at Giants, 1-2 vs Pirates. Monday's game at the Phillies was postponed due to weather.

This Week: 3 game series at Rockies, 4 game series at Dodgers. The fall for grace is likely to complete this week after road series at the win-starved Rockies and division leading Dodgers, who are undefeated at Dodgers Stadium.

News: Everth Cabrera was hit by a pitch and broke a bone in his hand eight days ago. Cabrera will miss two months, so the Padres shook the foundations of the NL West by reacquiring Chris Burke.

Having three starting pitchers on the disabled list might make some GMs panic into acquiring a pitcher, but Kevin Towers will stick with internal options. Recently acquired Chad Gaudin will be brought up today, and he is a candidate to fill Thursday's opening in the rotation.

San Diego Padres Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Luis Rodriguez	other-excused	04/27/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Walter Silva	forearm	04/14/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Mike Adams	shoulder	03/27/2009
Everth Cabrera	hand	04/20/2009

San Francisco (8-9, 3rd, L1)

Last Week: 2-0 vs Padres, 2-1 vs Diamondbacks. The Giants are the NL West's hottest team, having won five of six.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Dodgers, 3 game home series vs Rockies. The Giants are in a good place, having allowed the third least runs in MLB, surprisingly behind Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Another good week in the division will go a long way in rebounding from their 2-7 start.

News: Chris Haft points out that the limit on walks have helped the pitching staff excel so far. He also features Fred Lewis as a potential All-Star. He has had a nice season, but seriously, don't pull out the comparison to Barry Bonds. That's just foolish.

Fred Lewis

#14 / Left Field / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Dec 09, 1980

There's a nice article about former Rockie Jeremy Affleldt being the first pro athlete to join Not For Sale, a foundation created to combat human trafficking.

San Francisco Giants Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	shoulder	03/27/2009
Sergio Romo	elbow	03/27/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

Poll

You know the drill.

0 - Yep, the Rockies are bad enough to get swept at home by San Diego

1 votes

1 - I'm not predicting a series win until I see they are capable of doing it again

23 votes

2 - San Diego is just not that good. No sweep, but a series win to close out April for sure

27 votes

3 - The results don't show it yet but they will. We are just a better team.

27 votes

78 votes | Poll has closed

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:21:29 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

Corey Hart, who has apparently not been photographed since dying his hair over the weekend, is off to a nice start and has some encouraging things to say about his new approach.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while hanging out in Nashville with Richard Sterban of The Oak Ridge Boys.

If you would have guessed that Todd Coffey would be the Brewer getting the most attention two weeks into the season, you probably could have won a fair amount of money. Coffey is profiled in the JS this morning, in a story that makes it sound like he really needed a change of scenery last fall.

Don't let Coffey's performance trick you into thinking the bullpen is fixed, though: As Chuckie Hacks notes, Brewer bullpen pitchers not named Coffey have combined to post a 6.00 ERA in 30 innings. Take out Mark DiFelice and it jumps to 6.65.

Speaking of problems that aren't resolved yet, Brewed Sports rips a hole in the argument that Jeff Suppan has made a sudden transformation.

On the other side of the coin, we have Corey Hart. The Official Site takes a look at his altered approach in 2009, and his new philosophy on selecting pitches to hit might be the most encouraging thing I've read all spring.

After the always popular road off-day, the Brewers open a three game series with the Phillies tonight. It doesn't sound like weather will delay or postpone any games in the series, but it doesn't sound like it will be pleasant either. Weather.com is predicting on and off showers in the afternoon and evening today and again tomorrow. Perhaps Philadelphia needs a visit from Brick, the bad weather hating bactrian.

Down on the farm:

Mat Gamel and Brett Lawrie are on Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet. (h/t FanShot)
Baseball America's Minor League Transactions notes the Brewers signed 26 year old infielder Kevin Melillo to a minor league deal. Melillo has spent five years in the minors and hit .260/.348/.444 in AAA over the last two seasons. He's also among today's top performers in the Minor League Notes.

The Brewers had two rough weeks, so for some it's obviously time to give up on them: The Hardball Times Dartboard has them at 23rd and Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star dropped them from 14th to 26th.

I'm guessing every reader of this site has already heard that Corey Hart and J.J. Hardy dyed their hair black over the weekend. The story is several days old, which makes it even more impressive that the best headline was a late entry: "The Brewers Will Win or Try Dyeing."

Around the league:

Braves: Acquired Brian Barton from the Cardinals for Blaine Boyer. Also, Brian McCann will see an eye doctor today regarding blurred vision that has kept him out of several games.
Marlins: Placed reliever Andrew Miller on the DL with an oblique strain.
Mets: Signed Wily Mo Pena to a minor league deal.
Padres: Reacquired utilityman Chris Burke from the Mariners.
Red Sox: Placed Rocco Baldelli on the DL with a hamstring injury.
Twins: Placed reliever Jesse Crain on the DL with shoulder inflammation.

So, even though it's only been a couple of weeks, there have been several occasions in game threads and elsewhere where Ken Macha's decision making has been called into question. If you're one of those consistently baffled by his moves, Joe Posnanski wants to hear from you.

The sky is still falling: Baseball Digest Daily reports attendance from the first two weeks of 2009 is on pace to be 6.9% lower than last season. Here are the problems with that number:

As Fox Sports notes, attendance is always down in April and September because of weather. They don't mention it, but attendance is also down in April, May, some of June and September because kids are in school.
As noted ad nauseum, two new ballparks opened in baseball's largest market this spring, and they're both smaller than their predecessors.

In a related note, Bleed Cubbie Blue takes a look at the forecast in Chicago today, where rain and snow are expected and the high is only 46, and wonders if baseball could do more to keep early season baseball out of the cold. It's an idea that seems good in concept but will never work: Giving more April home games to teams like the Brewers would give them more low-attendance dates and cost them high-revenue home games later in the season. Warm weather and dome teams wouldn't, and shouldn't have to, agree to that deal.

Sometimes statistical analysis drops to a new low: The Book blog discusses the merits and value of a 3'2" pinch hitter.

Oh, and I'm starting a recipe blog.

Drink up.