SB Nation - Aaron Boone

Wrapping up the top 100

riverfront76 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:00:16 -0000

Now that our countdown is over, I thought it might be appropriate to post some wrap-up thoughts and conclusions.

First, I suppose that you may be wondering about current Reds and where they might stack up against this list. As you might have noted, only one active player made the list, and barely so at that (Brandon Phillips, #98). There are three other players on the current roster that are somewhere in the top 250 or so...

Aaron Harang sits at #134, hampered by injury and ineffectiveness over the last couple seasons. If in 2010 Harang can reprise what he did in 2006-07, he would be a candidate to scrape into the top 100.

Bronson Arroyo ranks as the 149^th greatest Red after his four seasons. While his 2006 was very good, he has settled into a consistent level a couple tiers below that ever since. If he continues on at that level, he is still a couple years away from breaking into the top 100, meaning it's unlikely he'll remain a Red long enough to do so.

Sitting just behind Arroyo, at #151, is Joey Votto --really on the basis of just two seasons played. The quality of Votto's seasons is high-if he can reproduce the value of his 2009, he'll sit somewhere in the #75 neighborhood a year from now.

Coincidentally, recently traded third baseman Edwin Encarnacion ranks between Arroyo and Votto at #150. He's unlikely to improve on that standing. The other 2009 trade-away with any significant tenure was David Weathers, who stands as the 230^th greatest Red (if you guessed that he ranks just behind Ron Robinson, you're right!)

More minutia and analysis after the jump...

One of the things that emerged during this project was that for many of us, some of the old-time players were not only unfamiliar to our collective consciousness, but also had some really bizarre names. In that vein, I present to you five more entries for the all-time name team:

1) Mysterious Walker, pitched briefly for the Reds in 1910
2) Twink Twining, another pitcher of little regard during the 1916 season
3) Pinky Pittenger, a middle infielder who played from 1927-29
4) Pee Wee Wanninger, a 1927 shortstop
5) Frenchy Bordagaray, also from 1939, played a bit of left field

A couple of those guys, were they to be acquired today, might just cause Red Reporter's whole head to explode.

************************************************************************

For the next segment, I took the top 100 group, and did some sorting and digging, to see if anything interesting popped up...

First, let's look at the breakdown of the top 100 players, sorted by primary position:

Starting pitcher; 26

Relief pitcher, 3

Catcher, 8

First Baseman, 11

Second Baseman, 8

Third Baseman, 10

Shortstop, 7

Left Field, 6

Center Field, 10

Right Field, 11

That doesn't seem like it tells us much of anything. Let's move on.

What if were to track a count of top-100 guys, and how many of them were represented in each calendar year they played for the Reds? On the one hand, there's a bit of a problem presented by assuming all top-100 players are equally valuable, or that player #100 is significant while #101 is not, but let's see what happens:

That's something, I guess. 13 top-100 guys on that 1973 roster. The data looks a bit choppy, though. What if we use 5-year rolling averages:

The year listed is the middle of the 5 year data set, and again we see a peak in the mid-70s which makes sense, but I think we can get a little bit more refined.

This next graph shows rolling averages of the percentage of the team's total win shares accounted for by top-100 players (for example, if a 80 win team was good for 240 win shares, and that team had 3 players that ended up on the top-100 list, each player with 20 win shares, that season would get a .25 score on the following chart):

This provides an interesting comparison to how successful the team has been over the years:

Bullet point observations:

Originally, I was surprised at how closely these two graphs tracked with each other, since I assumed that the bad teams of history might have one or two good players who ate up a higher percentage of a team's value. After further consideration, however, it's been made clear that a team can't win on the basis of one or two good players. Remember that Aaron Boone and Danny Graves are tail-end top-100 guys. A winning team would need them, plus 4 or 5 or 6 players who were even better.
The graph doesn't seem to track at all prior to 1900. I think this is probably due to the smaller rosters and completely different usage patterns as compared to the modern game.
The Reds had an underappreciated period during the 1920's, with 3 2^nd place finishes between 1922-26.
The ramp-up to the Big Red Machine was steady and determined: starting in the mid-1950's, the team had very few bad seasons. They were good, won a pennant, went back to being good again, then elevated to be a special team in the mid-70's. The sharp drop-off in the early 80's must have been particularly jarring to long-time fans at the time.
The Reds have had their droughts before: seven straight losing seasons from 1910-16 (average winning percentage of .442), nine straight from 1929-37 (.399), eleven straight from 1945-55 (.442), and now nine straight (and counting!) from 2001-09 (.457). If you discount the post WWII stretch due to, er...World War 2 and its effects, then this current era is arguably the 2^nd worst in franchise history.
Originally, in this space, I had written what were some high-level conclusions drawn from the graphs above, the state of the current team, and what it meant going forward. The tone of it was more pessimistic than I wanted, and it was missing one of the "lessons" of this project, namely that some of the best players on the best teams come out of nowhere (see: Bucky Walters and George Foster). So, I'm not making any predictions. We know the team hasn't been good, we think there's a few promising youngsters (with one potential carry-the-team-on-his-back guy), and we hope for a couple out-of-the-woodwork surprises. We'll do the same this time next year.

***********************************************************************

Finally, a few words about the Big Red Machine, another topic where I'm simply adding to the millions of words already spilled. My perspective, however, coming out of this top 100 exercise, is just how unlikely it all was. I can't imagine too many other franchises drawing from well over a century's worth of teams, and ending up with six of the top 12 who happened to be teammates for a minimum of five straight years, with several of the combinations lasting much longer than that (Davey and Johnny were teammates for 14 straight seasons, Pete and Tony for 13 straight). Part of that is a by-product of itself; the players were good, therefore the team was really good, therefore the players were kept around for a long time, therefore they rank pretty high on the list. The only parallel I could think of was maybe the Orioles who: a) were also really good in the 70's; b) also do not have an otherwise exceptional history; and c) employed Frank Robinson.

The success of the Big Red Machine wasn't altogether exceptional; there have been other teams with great stretches, some even greater. The BRM tends to be highlighted, in my opinion, because they were so lopsided in favor of the offense, which was a great one. Easier to get excited about, perhaps. At any rate, the Big Red Machine era seems so extraordinary, partly because it stands out so singularly in the franchise's history. Since 1900, the Reds have had 12 seasons with a winning percentage above .600. Half of those came between 1970 and 1976. Otherwise, as a rule, the historical record is scattered with onesies and twosies. Free agency, varying levels of parity, and the sheer fact that dynasties are rare are all factors in this; nonetheless, the Reds have spawned exactly one dynasty (or even mini-dynasty) in its history.

The funny thing about the Big Red Machine is that they still feel like a relatively recent phenomenon, despite the passage of 40 years time since Sparky was hired. Maybe part of that is due to the direct link from that era that continues to call the games over the airwaves. Or maybe that the heroes from those days are still with us, many of them still connected to the game. Or maybe that the Reds, for the better part of a decade, set an impossible standard that will loom large over whatever accomplishments the present and future Reds teams are able to achieve.

*************************************************

To officially close this project, I would like to say thank you to:

Baseballreference.com, for being awesome
Dave Studeman, for producing a Win Shares database
Wikipedia, for being a go-to resource on basic biographical details
Red Reporter, for being the best Reds-related blog in the intertubes

Fin.

Heroes of the Zeros: Third Base

Slyde — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:00:22 -0000

During the aughts, the Reds had 39 different players play at least one game at 3B, including Javier Valentin, Jason Larue, Dmitri Young, and Wily Mo Pena. There was also a fan favorite, a fan whipping boy, and a guy that is more famous for a single swing on another team than anything he did with the Reds. Who do you think is the starting 3B for the Reds All Decade team? Vote in the poll after the jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation | Bullpen | Catcher | First base | Second base

Click header to sort table by column
	Years	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	wOBA	WAR
Aaron Boone	2000-2003	455	1889	1681	242	451	101	7	70	257	144	308	.268	.335	.462	.797	103	.339	8.4
Edwin Encarnacion	2005-2009	514	2000	1764	236	462	109	4	71	263	185	364	.262	.345	.449	.793	103	.344	1.4
Tim Hummel	2003-2004	82	219	194	19	43	9	0	3	17	16	30	.222	.285	.314	.599	58	.258	-0.9
Brandon Larson	2001-2004	109	332	291	29	52	11	0	8	37	35	86	.179	.271	.299	.570	49	.258	-1.4
Andy Phillips	2008	52	80	73	11	17	3	0	3	10	6	14	.233	.300	.397	.697	80	.307	-0.2
Joe Randa	2005	92	368	332	44	96	26	1	13	48	33	52	.289	.356	.491	.847	120	.362	1.3
Scott Rolen	2009	40	162	137	24	37	7	1	3	24	19	20	.270	.364	.401	.766	102	.342	0.9
Adam Rosales	2008-2009	105	296	259	23	55	11	1	4	21	27	50	.212	.296	.309	.605	60	.275	-0.3
Chris Stynes	2000	119	420	380	71	127	24	1	12	40	32	54	.334	.386	.497	.883	120	.378	2.5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/18/2009.

New York Yankees Team of the Decade

Ed Valentine — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:34:39 -0000

'Tis the season for teams of the decade. Fans around baseball, except maybe in Boston where you know they would put up a fight, have to concede that the New York Yankees are the team of the decade.

But, looking specifically at the Yankees themselves, what is THEIR Team of the Decade? Some positions, like shortstop, catcher and closer, are obvious. Others, less so.

Here is my stab at naming the New York Yankee Team of the Decade.

C -- Jorge Posada. Duh! Sorry, Francisco Cervelli fans. This one, of course, is easy.

1B -- Jason Giambi. This position presents a real conundrum. The first name that leaps to mind is Giambi, but in his seven seasons with the Yankees he played more than half the team's games at first base just twice. And, he played more than 100 games there only one. He averaged 76.8 games per season at first base as a Yankee. Tino Martinez played just three seasons, but was the full-time first baseman each of those years playing 147 games per season. Tino averaged 22 homers and 83 RBI in his three seasons. Giambi averaged 32 home runs and 94 RBI, splitting his time between first base and designated hitter. Honestly, I hate doing it, but In the end I have to go with Giambi, especially since his pair of 41-home run seasons as a Yankee came when he was the primary first baseman in 2002 and 2003.

2B -- Robinson Cano. A close call here over Alfonso Soriano, based largely on Cano having five seasons (yes, five, can you believe it?) as the starting second baseman. Soriano was terrific, averaging 32 homers, 89 RBI and 39.6 stolen bases, but was a Yankee for just three seasons before being dealt away. Cano has averaged 17 home runs, 79 RBI and has a career average of .306 in five seasons. He is also a better defender. Again, I think length of service gives this one to Cano.

SS -- Derek Jeter. Umm, who else? If I was naming one, Jeter would also be Yankee Player of the Decade. Gee, maybe I just did name one.

3B -- Alex Rodriguez. Again, a no-brainer. Gotta at least give Aaron Boone an honorable mention, though, for his 2003 home run that propelled the Yankees to the World Series.

LF -- Johnny Damon. This is, obviously, between Damon and Hideki Matsui. And, in my opinion, not a choice between which one belongs on the Team of the Decade. Rather, a choice between which one is the left fielder and which one is the designated hitter. In four New York seasons, Damon has been the primary left fielder for just two years. He has DH'ed just 29 times in those two years, however. Matsui has DH'ed 250 times in six productive New York seasons. So, he gets the left field nod.

CF -- Bernie Williams. Bern, baby, Bern! Was a fixture with the Yankees for seven of the decade's 10 seasons, and was an integral part of the lineup. Hit 136 of 287 career home runs this decade. I know many of you are still irritated by how the Yankees treated Bernie at the end, but that's done with. Let's just give him his due.

RF -- Bobby Abreu. This is another excruciatingly tough call. First, it was difficult to rule out fan favorite Paul O'Neill, whom I think with our hearts we would all probably like to give this spot to. O'Neill, though, played just two seasons this decade and in the second was a shell of himself. So, this choice is really between Abreu and Gary Sheffield. Sheffield had two dominant seasons (.290, 36, 121 and .291, 34, 123), but only played 39 games in his third season due to injury. Abreu had two excellent full seasons (.283, 16, 101, 25 steals and .296, 20, 100, 22 steals). I think Abreu gets the nod because of his impact in 2006, when he was traded to the Yankees to replace the injured Sheffield and hit .330 with 7 home runs and 42 RBI in 58 games, helping the Yankees reach the playoffs.

DH -- Hideki Matsui. The World Series MVP absolutely has to have a place on this team. In six Yankee seasons Matsui has been nothing but productive, hitting .292 and averaging 22 home runs and 99.5 RBI per season.

SP -- Andy Pettitte. Whew! Another really difficult call between Pettitte and Mike Mussina. I know 'wins' is not the only way to measure a pitcher, but for the purpose of this argument it shows how close these two are. Mussina won 123 regular-season games, including 20 at the age of 39, in seven Yankee seasons this decade. Pettitte won 111 regular-season games despite spending three wayward seasons in Houston. The real difference between Pettitte and Mussina is post-season success. 'Moose' was 5-7 in Yankee post-season career. Pettitte, this decade, is 11-5 with a World-Series clinching victory fresh in my mind. I could easily name them both, but if I had to take one it would still be Pettitte.

CL -- Mariano Rivera. The best of all time. Period.

Manager -- Joe Torre. What choice do you have here? Joe Girardi has a World Series title in his two seasons, and he will likely be around for a long time. Hopefully, one day his resume will match what Torre did in New York, but not yet. This decade may not have matched the 1990s for Torre in terms of World Series titles, but one championship, two AL pennants, and playoff appearances all eight seasons he managed the team is pretty darn impressive.

So, what do you guys think? Tell me where I'm right. And wrong. And tell me why.

The Greatest Reds: #8

riverfront76 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:00:16 -0000

8. Heinie Groh

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1913-1921	3B, 2B	10	6	5
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1917	1915, 1916, 1917, 1918
77%	23%	0%	1917	1915, 1916, 1917, 1918
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	Hit By Pitch – 1914 Walks – 1916 On Base Percentage – 1917, 1918 Doubles – 1917, 1918 Hits – 1917 Plate Appearances – 1917 Runs Scored – 1918 OPS – 1919		-11th in career OPS+ -12th in career triples -13th in career hits -15th in career doubles -17th in career runs scored

via cdn.bleacherreport.com

Early in the 1913 season, the Reds traded Art Fromme—a veteran pitcher who had about 250 innings left in his arm—for a package of three players and cash. The highlight of the deal for the Reds was almost certainly pitcher Red Ames, who was in his early 30’s and had already strung together many very good seasons. In the end, however, Ames was an afterthought and the 23 year old second baseman with the funny name became the lasting value. Groh played a season or two as a second sacker, and then made the permanent switch across the diamond to third base, where he became the league’s preeminent defender. Groh led the league’s 3rd basemen in fielding percentage five times—often besting league averages by 20-30 percentage points, in double plays six times, and in putouts three times.

The leadoff-hitting Groh was no slouch at the plate, either. As the Reds ramped up towards their eventual World Champion team in 1919, Groh made a strong case as the best leadoff hitter in the National League, typically flirting with a .400 on-base percentage during his prime, and adding a strong number of doubles (peaking at 39 in 1917). Despite weighing less than 160 pounds, Groh was famous for using a heavy "bottle bat", which had a thin handle and a very thick barrel, and was known for his masterful bunting skills. In 1919, his third straight season with OPS+ marks over 140, Groh led the league in OPS with a 310/392/431 line, and confidently led his team into the Series. Ironically, given the efforts by the Black Sox to lose and Groh’s place as the best hitter in the league, he struggled during the series, hitting just .172 with only two doubles in 29 at-bats.

Prior to the 1921 season, a long contract dispute ended with Groh accepting a less-than-desired salary, on the condition that he be traded immediately to the Giants. Commissioner Landis nixed the deal, saying Groh had to play out the ’21 season in Cincy, but after the year was over, he was finally traded for a couple of players and $150K in cash. Cumulatively, Groh’s nine seasons in Cincy were rather remarkable: a total OPS+ of 130, and only one season under 120.

The Top 15 Third Basemen in Reds history

1          Heinie Groh
2          Arlie Latham
3          Grady Hatton
4          Chris Sabo
5          Hans Lobert
6          Harry Steinfeldt
7          Bobby Adams
8          Billy Werber
9          Aaron Boone
10        Chuck Dressen
11        Charlie Irwin
12        Babe Pinelli
13        Lew Riggs
14        Edwin Encarnacion
15        Ray Knight

Moments in Diamondbacks History: Randy Johnson K's 20

Jim McLennan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:15 -0000

"This was a game to put in a time capsule and let people of the future watch it."
-- Randy Johnson

Cincinatti	Arizona
1. Donnie Sadler, LF	1. Steve Finley, CF
2. Juan Castro, 1B	2. Jay Bell, 2B
3. Barry Larkin, SS	3. Luis Gonzalez, LF
4. Alex Ochoa, RF	4. Reggie Sanders, RF
5. Aaron Boone, 3B	5. Mark Grace, 1B
6. Ruben Rivera, CF	6. Damian Miller, C
7. Pokey Reese, 2B	7. Tony Womack, SS
8. Kelly Stinnett, C	8. Craig Counsell, 3B
9. Chris Reitsma, P.	9. Randy Johnson, P
Full boxscore

The MLB Network showed Randy Johnson's 20-strikeout game at the start of the month, part of a series of high-K outings. It provided a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era of Diamondbacks baseball

Look at the bottom of that Diamondbacks line-up. Ouch. We forget that, outside of Luis Gonzalez, the 2001 Diamondbacks were not great hitters. Among the regulars (250+ PA), the only ones with an OPS+ better than 92 were Gonzo (174), Sanders (117) and Grace (113) - this was a team driven by pitching, with an total ERA+ of 120. To put that into context, it's like every inning for Arizona that year was pitched by Jake Peavy, who has the same career ERA+. Of course and in particular, driven by Curt Schilling and Randy, who went 43-12. That number of wins by two team-mates hadn't been surpassed in the NL since Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry went 46-14 for the Giants in 1966 [and the AZ pair would beat that the following year, going 47-12!]

While ageless wonder Counsell is the only AZ position player still actively playing, there's a couple of semi-familiar names appearing for the Reds too. Donnie Sadler was the leadoff hitter for Cincinnati - the commentators were very enthusiastic about him, saying he was a highly touted Red Sox prospect at one point, also praising his wheels and arm [we'd see startling proof ot the former in this game]. He flamed out, however, his final AB being for Arizona in 2007. Reds' catcher, Kelly Stinnett was also a regular with the Diamondbacks from 1998-2000, and then returned to Arizona in 2005 as a back-up to Chris Snyder.

They mentioned that Castro was making his first start at first-base, outside of spring training, since 8th grade - even now, in his fifteen-year career, he has made just four there. Clearly, the aim was then, as now, to stack your line-up with as many right-handers as possible when facing Johnson, and hope the defense holds up. It didn't help much, with two strikeouts for the Reds in the first - though both came on fastballs, not the devastating slider Johnson was to unleash as the game went on. There was some early speculation by the commentators that Johnson was experiencing back pains earlier on.

The opposing starter for the Reds was Chris Reitsma. He was last seen in the majors in 2007, but played in the 2008 Olympics for Canada. This was his first year in the majors - and it's worth noting he allowed one run in eight innings of work, keeping his team in the game. Admittedly, he did fan eighteen less batters than Johnson, which I'm thinking has got to be a record for K disparity between starters ever. But hang on: a rookie starter giving the Diamondbacks' hitter fits, after barely a month in the major-leagues? Our ace getting basically no run support? Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...

Two more strikeouts for Randy in the second inning, sandwiched around a brutal sawing-off of Boone's bat. A call from the play-by-play guy [curiously, they seemed to rotate a couple of guys in and out of that role, including Rod Allen] to "Stevie Gilbert" - presumably the stats guy - to find out how many K's Rivera had in his career against Johnson. Is this the same Steve Gilbert now covering the Diamondbacks for MLB.com? When Johnson fanned Stinnett in the third, that tied him with Bob Gibson for (then) 11th on the all-time list. The K of Reitsma which immediately followed, broke the tie.

Said Thom Brennaman at the start of the fourth, "I'm not sure we've seen three more dominant innings." Well,, the fourth probably extended the streak, with Johnson striking out the side. Barry Larkin, the third victim, had a spectacularly bad swing on 2-1, letting the bat and it ending up somewhere behind the umpire. The bat also helicoptered away from him on strike three. I also didn't realize how long the AFLAC trivia question has endured: the one for this game was, "How many NL MVP awards were won in the 1970's by the Reds?" The answer is six.

Gonzo wasted a chance in the bottom of the fourth: he tried to stretch a leadoff single down the left-field line into a double, but got gunned down by the Sadlerzooka . Meanwhile Johnson had fanned six in a row, tying his own franchise record, until Aaron Boone singled with one out in the fifth, ending a streak of 13 consecutive batters retired by Johnson. Boone then stole second, and was running to third on the pitch - a mistake by Johnson on an 0-2 count to Rivera. The RBI single which resulted frustrated the Big Unit, who clearly muttered to himself the rest of the inning, though no more harm was done.

The Diamondbacks did tie it up in the sixth and Johnson was involved, singling to lead things off. Though he was erased on a Finley fielder's choice, the upgraded speed on the basepaths might have been for the best, as our CF then went to third on a Bell single. Gonzo popped up with one out, swinging on a 3-0 pitch, but Sanders drove the run in with another hit. Enlivened by this, Johnson then struck our the next seven batters faced, setting the franchise record which he'd tied earlier: it took him 33 pitches, 25 of which were strikes.

In the middle of the streak the commentators started to wonder "What's going to happen with the Circle K-meter?" as it was only designed to handle sixteen K's. Impromptu banners proved the immediate solution - though between then and the end of 2002, it would overflow on four more occasions - three Big Unit starts, and one by Schilling. We haven't come close to challenging the K-meter since - the high-water mark for the Diamondbacks' pitchers at Chase over the past five seasons is only fourteen strikeouts.

In the eighth inning, the crowd seemed to realize what they were watching, with a 'Ran-dy, Ran-dy' chant going in the stands. However, It was only starting the ninth that Brennaman mentioned the record. After RJ struck out JCastro to end the inning, his 20th K, Johnson thrust his fist towards the sky, and yelled as he left the mound, a rare display of emotion. Of the strikeouts, eighteen were swinging, almost every one on pitches out of the zone. Zero walks. Yet he still ended with a no-decision: his Game Score of 97 remains the highest without the starter getting a W, since Nolan Ryan pitched ten shutout innings, and fanned 15 in August 1990, his Rangers eventually winning in 13.

Offensively, the Diamondbacks didn't do much. In the bottom of the eighth, Arizona had a chance, with Bell's two-out ground-rule double into the pool area. Gonzo was intentionally walked, and a wild pitch moved both runners up. There was some discussion of whether to pinch-hit for Sanders, likely with David Dellucci, but Reggie was left and flew out to center. One also wonders whether Johnson could have gone out there: he'd thrown 124 pitches, but in the seven starts that season, Johnson had averaged 120 pitches per start - his very next outing, he threw 145, perhaps making a point of some kind.

The issue was magnified because we had also played extra-innings the night before - the decision to lift Randy looked flaky, as Byung-Hyun Kim and Bret Prinz combined to walk the bases loaded in the tenth, before Prinz ended things. In the 11th, it looked like even more like the game was over. Two more walks and an error by pitcher Russ Springer on a bunt loaded the bases - for the second consecutive inning, without a Reds hit. A K gave us some hope, but Cincinnati scored two runs on a sacrifice fly, with Sadler tagging up and scoring all the way from second on a ball hit to the wall in deep left-center.

Fortunately, Reds closer Danny Graves, coming off 1.2 innings the night before, couldn't get it done - back-to-back singles by Bell + Gonzalez led things off, and a failed Sanders bunt later, Mark Grace doubled both men home. Two walks - one intentional - loaded the bases, and Graves then faced the last man available off the Diamondbacks' bench. Matt Williams. He worked the count full, hen ripped one down the left-field line, foul by inches. However, the next pitch from Graves was down and away, a bases-loaded walkoff walk, something which has only happened for us five other times in franchise history [most recently on September 9th this year, when current 3B Mark Reynolds walked his way to victory against the Dodgers].

[Click to enlarge, at fangraphs.com]
Master of his domain: Johnson, +55.9%
Honorable mentions: Grace, +33.7%; Williams, +33.6%;
Bell, +24.0%; Prinz, +12.0%, Swindell, +10.7%
God-emperor of suck: Russ Springer, -33.2%
Dishonorable mentions: Finley,-18.9%; Colbrunn, -13.7%;
Sanders, -13.3%; Miller, -11.0%

Post-game quotes:

"They told us to lay off his slider and hit his fastball, but, man, you couldn't tell the difference until it was on top of you, and then it was too late, He was throwing 97 mph fastballs and 88 mph sliders and all you could do was say, 'Oh, God.'" -- Reds outfielder Alex Ochoa
"I feel blessed to have seen this twice. When a guy is pitching like that, you put your glove on top of your head because you are not going to need it." -- Mark Grace, who was also playing first-base in the game where Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters.
"It was ridiculous. You know, he throws that batting-practice fastball 92 or 93, and there were a lot of times tonight I thought he was throwing his fastball that speed, and it was 98. It was so easy, with no effort, on any of his pitches, sliders, everything." -- Steve Finley
"I was asked if I wanted to go out there and saw no point in going out there for the 10th inning, I surely could have went out there and done it, but what was the point in going out there and throwing 10 innings? I really didn't see it." -- Randy Johnson

I really enjoyed watching the game, and it was fun to see the likes of Kim, Bell [who went 3-for-5 and saw 31 pitches!] and Grace [supremely clutch in the 11th]. However, it was Johnson's night and a great reminder of exactly how dominating the Big Unit was at his peak - he had more strikeouts (372) that seasonthan Reitsma had in his entire eight-year career. I certainly hope to see more Diamondbacks' coverage on the MLB Network - I can think of several other contests which would certainly deserve repeating on the channel.

Take the Braves out of the running for these free agents

gondeee — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:28:22 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Was it Divine intervention that prevented the Atlanta Braves from signing Rafael Furcal... or just his agents.

Browse more photos »

Last off-season the Atlanta Braves announced they had come to terms with free agent Rafael Furcal on a three-year contract... but less than 24-hours later Furcal had signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the aftermath of that episode, Braves President John Schuerholtz stated that the Braves would never again do business with Furcal's agents, the Wasserman Group, headed by super-agent Arn Tellem.

As a side note to this, if we had signed Furcal, then we would have moved Kelly Johnson to left field, we never would have signed Garret Anderson, and Martin Prado may never have emerged as a bona fide major league starter at second base. And we might have traded Yunel Escobar somewhere. Things tend to work out for the best sometimes, as Furcal layed an egg in 2009.

Here are the free agents this off-season who are represented by the Wasserman Group, and are therefore off-limits to the Braves (courtesy of MLBTR):

Wilson Betemit
Aaron Boone
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Giambi
John Grabow
Rich Harden
Shawn Hill
Reed Johnson
Jason Kendall
Hideki Matsui
Jason Michaels
Guillermo Mota
Vicente Padilla
Wily Mo Pena
Joel Pineiro
Matt Treanor
Randy Wolf
Omar Vizquel

I must say that there's no one I really want on that list, so for this year at least, no harm, no foul.

The Greatest Reds: #90 - #86

riverfront76 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:00:32 -0000

90. Greasy Neale

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1916-22, 1924	RF, LF	94	95	73
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1919	Never
80%	20%	0%	1919	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-15th in career sacrifice hits -20th in career hit by pitch -28th in career triples -32nd in career stolen bases -50th in career singles

Although ultimately better known for his top-notch work as an NFL coach during the 1940s, Neale was a 5-year regular in the outfield, including during the 1919 championship season (Neale was the best hitter for the Reds in that year’s World Series). After the 1920 season, Neale was packaged with Jimmy Ring to the Phillies in exchange for Eppa Rixey (who pitched in 13 seasons for the Reds en route to a Hall of Fame career). As the Phillies found out, however, Neale’s career was essentially over, and the Reds claimed him off of waivers the following June.

89. Ray Mueller

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1943-44, 1946-49	C	99	50	86
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1944	Never
59%	41%	0%	1944	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 1944	N/A		-50th career AB / HR

Ray Mueller was a struggling catcher throughout the late 1930’s, picked up by the Reds prior to the 1943 season after spending the early 1940’s kicking around in the minor leagues, who found WWII-era baseball extremely to his liking. 1943 and 1944 were MVP-lite level seasons (286/353/398 for a 115 OPS+ season in 1944), then he missed the 1945 season (presumably due to military service), posted a pretty good line in 1946, and then was never the same.

88. Aaron Boone

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1997-2003	3B	90	99	73
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	2002	2003
71%	29%	0%	2002	2003
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 2003	N/A		-29th in career slugging percentage -30th in career home runs -45th in career OPS -46th in career doubles -49th in career RBI

Aaron Boone is listed as the best player on the Reds for the 2003 season. On the one hand, this fairly represents Boone’s strong season with the Reds that year. On the other, it is unusual in that he was traded to the Yankees on July 31 of that year. In a completely random and unrelated note, the Reds only won 69 games in 2003. The other curious statistical oddity with Boone is that his "best season" as listed above, was really one of his worst in terms of rate performance (93 OPS+, versus a career 99 OPS+ with the Reds). That just happened to be the year he stayed completely healthy and played in all 162 games.

87. Dummy Hoy

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1894-97, 1902	CF, LF	90	79	86
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1896	Never
74%	26%	0%	1896	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-1st in career AB/K ratio -3rd in career on-base percentage -15th in career stolen bases -38th in career OPS -39th in career runs scored

Hoy is perhaps the most famous deaf player in baseball history, who retired as the all-time leader in games played in centerfield, and was a noted speedster who specialized in covering a ton of ground in the outfield, as well as a strong ability to take a walk at the plate, likely a function of standing 5’4". Unfortunately for the Reds, he had his best seasons with other teams. His best year (1896) was one in which he produced a .298 batting average and an on-base percentage of .403, but his OPS+ of 108 was still below his overall career mark of 110.

86. Clay Carroll

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1968-1975	RP	73	145	93
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1970	Never
0%	0%	100%	1970	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 1971, 1972	Saves – 1972 Games Pitched – 1972		-3rd in career saves -3rd in career games pitched -5th in career ERA+ -6th in career W-L percentage -30th in career wins

Here is a guy who I would have loved to have seen pitch, if for no other reason than to try and figure out how he succeeded. From the stats, it appears that Carroll was blessed with neither overpowering stuff (4.8 K/9 as a Red) nor excellent control (3.2 BB/9). Instead, he had a rubber arm that consistently got people out. Despite being entrenched as a reliever, he still started 15 games over the course of his tenure with the Reds. When it came time to face the best possible opponents in the postseason, Carroll turned it up a few more notches (career reg. season ERA with the Reds: 2.73; career post-season ERA with the Reds over 32.1 IP: 1.39). In his best season, Carroll appeared in 65 games for 104.1 IP, saving 16 and posting a 2.59 ERA (161 ERA+). Then went on to throw 10.1 scoreless innings in the postseason. In his last ever appearance for the Reds, Carroll pitched the 7th and 8th innings in game 7 of the 1975 World Series, ultimately getting credited with the win.

Astros Roster Breakdown: The 2008 Offseason

davoag — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:23 -0000

by Pat Sullivan - AP

Look, waaay in the back...It's Ed Wade!

View full size photo »

Let's start the week off by looking at what the Astros did before and during the 2009 season. No major trades went down, nor were there any major signings. In fact, it sounds much like I'm sure this offseason will. Please give me your own take on the moves in the comments and what grade you'd give to Ed Wade for last season.

Move One: Signed Mike Hampton - The lefty Rob Lowe came at a bargain, earning 2 million dollars with 2 million in performance bonuses. I'm not sure if he met those, though. Hampton proved to be just what we thought he'd be: a little below league average and not very durable. For the money, though? You're not going to get much more.

Move Two: Signed Ivan Rodriguez - As a catcher with the Astros, it's fair to say Pudge failed. He started enough to break the record, but was pretty terrible when he did play. His OPS+ of 75 seemed to belie what fans saw on the field. It appeared that Pudge was having a meaningful impact on games, though his stat showed differently. Look at his splits in close and late situations, though: .359/.388/.406. Go even deeper, and you can see his numbers in high leverage situations: .280/.313/.320. Of course, this was offset by the fact that Rodriguez struck out all three times before getting to the late innings. He was a frustrating player, but his signing wasn't terrible, just ill-conceived.

Move Three: Signed Jason Michaels - Another guy who should have been better than he was. His career average of .269 should have made the Astros bench stronger, but Michaels couldn't put it together and struggled for much of the season. It also didn't help that he wasn't the best defensive replacement as a fourth outfielder. Still, who else were you going to get for 750K?

Move Four: Signed Russ Ortiz - With Hampton, he formed the "Let's Hope the Old Pitchers Can Revive With Us...Oh, Wait, HGH and Steroids are Banned...We're Screwed" duo. It's not the catchiest of names, but it is effective.

Move Five: Re-signed Doug Brocail - Doug was a pleasant surprise in 2008, but injuries derailed him last season. Who'd have predicted that the 42-year old reliever would have injury trouble? They're usually so reliable...Considering Brocail had injury trouble two years before, the Astros did well by stocking up on relievers with minor league deals, just in case. Was it 2.75 million well spent? Probably not.

Move Six: Re-signed LaTroy Hawkins - As I mentioned in my reliever rundown, Hawkins proved to be a reliable reliever for a second straight year. Whether this was due to the league he was in or to some sort of mechanical adjustment, the Astros have more than reaped the reward for a 3.5 million dollar contract.

Move Seven: Claimed Jeff Fulchino - Waiver claims like this show just good your advance scouts and major league scouts have to be. Fulchino provided a nice addition to the bullpen when Backe and Brocail both got hurt. Plus, Fulchino came much, much cheaper than either Hawkins, Valverde or Brocail. Oh, by the way, according to FanGraphs, he was also worth 3.4 million, which is more than all three of those relievers combined.

Move Eight: Signed Aaron Boone - I won't be glib here, since Boone had to go through too much this season. I respect the hell out of him for coming back and playing late in the season, but the Astros had to have wanted more out of him on the left side of the infield than they got. Still, here's hoping Boone continues to be in good health and can be a productive player, if he so chooses.

Midseason moves

Move Nine: Claimed Chris Coste - The former Phillie probably wishes he were in the World Series right now instead of the unemployment line. He should have been a lefty specialist off the bench, but hit worse against lefties than righties. Coste also didn't provide the pop the Astros needed when Berkman went down with an injury. Would they have been better served calling up Mark Saccomanno?

Move Ten: Traded away Ivan Rodriguez for Jose Vallejo and Matt Nevarez - This trade would have looked even better if the Rangers had made the playoffs and had to throw in another player. Still, the Astros basically paid 1.5 million for these two prospects. Not too shabby...

Move Eleven: Traded Drew Sutton for Jeff Keppinger - Boone's heart condition probably necessitated this trade to shore up the left side of the infield. As one of the commenters pointed out in the Mackanin post last week, Keppinger was only played at short after Mackanin put him there. Kepp did an okay job filling in for both Tejada and Blum. This trade happened before Chris Johnson broke his hand, but was certainly fortuitous. The Astros really didn't have anyone who could fill in for Blum on a regular basis.

Move Twelve: Claimed German Duran - This was a move for next season. We'll have to wait to see if Duran can contribute before passing judgement on it.

Overall, it was a mixed bag for GM Ed Wade. He made all the moves he could with no budget, tinkering around the margins and getting somewhat solid players. In both trades, it appears he got value, as Kepp is a good bench player and Drew Sutton didn't make much of an impact in Cincy, getting 66 big-league at-bats with an OPS+ of 68.

The Pudge signing was mandated by Drayton (I think), but give Wade credit for standing up to his owner enough to flip Rodriguez for some value. As disappointing as 2009 was in so many ways, Wade hasn't been among them. He's proven he can let Bobby Heck work his magic in the draft and can make those little moves that Gerry Hunsicker used to make so well.

Overall grade: B

Player Choice Awards

craig — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:26:48 -0000

The players get together and vote on the MLBPA Player Choice Awards and some of the Marlins are up for the various honors.

National League:

Outstanding Player: Prince Fielder (Milwaukee), Albert Pujols (St. Louis), Hanley Ramirez (Florida)
Outstanding Pitcher: Chris Carpenter (St. Louis), Tim Lincecum (San Francisco), Adam Wainwright (St. Louis)
Outstanding Rookie: Chris Coghlan (Florida), Tommy Hanson (Atlanta), J.A. Happ (Philadelphia)
Comeback Player: Aaron Boone (Houston), Chris Carpenter (St. Louis), Nick Johnson (Florida)

Either League:

Player of Year: Joe Mauer (Minnesota), Albert Pujols (St. Louis), Hanley Ramirez (Florida)

I'm guessing we won't see any winners unless Chris Coghlan can pull it out. Let's face it, Hanley is up against Pujols twice. Nick Johnson is up against heart surgery patient Aaron Boone. So that leaves Coghlan, I just hope that the pitchers who faced the Marlins after the All-Star break that their votes will count twice.

Even if none of them win, it is still impressive to be nominated by your peers.

Roster Breakdown: The Infield

davoag — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:40:35 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Browse more photos »

This process took a little longer than I expected. In part two of my review of the roster, I looked at every infielders' (including catchers) statistics and make some notes about last season and their future. Not necessarily scientific, but there is some interesting information in here. Friday should see part three, a look at the outfield. Till then, let's see what happened with the first half of the roster...

Lance Berkman, 1B

2009 Season Stats: 562 PA, .274/.399/.509, 31 doubles, 1 triple, 25 HR, 73 runs, 80 RBIs, 7 of 11 stolen bases, 98 strikeouts, 140 OPS+

WAR: 3.0

UZR: -4.5

VORP: 34.9

Notes: Two points to consider about Berkman's season. First, his April and August splits were horrible. His slow start and power vacuum in August led to the perception that his season was a disappointment. Still, though he managed just 12 hits in April, he also walked 17 times and hit five home runs. In August, he hit zero home runs but had an OBP over .400. This also leads into the second point: Berkman is aging, but his power drop over the past three seasons is in part due to an overall power outage in the National League. The Big Puma saw his home run total fall 26 percent over the past three seasons while his extra-base hits have fallen 5 percent. That's almost exactly the same percentage that the NL extra-base hit total dropped over the same time period (5.6%). The NL home run total dropped 8.2 percent, but I'm guessing Berkman's drop in homers is beginning to be due to age. Still, if he hits 30 home runs in the next year or two with 50+ XBH, I'm guessing the Astros will be happy.

Kazuo Matsui, 2B

2009 Season Stats: 533 PA, .250/.302/.357, 20 doubles, 2 triples, 9 HR, 56 runs, 46 RBIs, 19 of 22 stolen bases, 85 strikeouts, 75 OPS+

WAR: 0.5

UZR: -1.0

VORP: 0.4

Notes: I'll be up front: I don't care for Matsui. He's overpaid, he's injured too often and he doesn't get on base enough to bat high in the order. That's just my personal preference, but I wanted to get that out in the open in the interests of being objective. Matsui's line is down quite a bit from 2008 but combine the past two seasons and its almost exactly in line with his career line of .271/.325/.387. His Runs Created totals of 64 in 2007, 61 in 2008 and 56 in 2009 have been very consistent, but his BABiP was 40 points lower in 2009 at .285 than the previous season. Add to that a good stolen base rate of 85% over his career and Matsui does have his uses. The problem is, he's a No. 7 hitter, not a leadoff guy. Matsui's numbers should bounce back some in 2010, but don't bet on another .350 OBP.

Miguel Tejada, SS

2009 Season Stats: 673 PA, .313/.340/.455, 46 doubles, 1 triple, 14 HR, 83 runs, 86 RBIs, 5 of 7 stolen bases, 48 strikeouts, 110 OPS+

WAR: 2.6

UZR: -8.3

VORP: 43.7

Notes: Tejada had the highest VORP of any player on the Astros roster last season, for good reason. Though his OBP wasn't terribly high, he did hit a ton of doubles and actually had more extra-base hits than Berkman. In fact, Tejada led the National League in doubles in 2009. Tejada also struck out just 48 times, which was his lowest total since his 104 plate appearances in 1997. Of course, the flip side of that is it was also his lowest walk total since 1997, too. Tejada's high batting average was due in part because he had his highest BABiP since 2006, 20 points higher than his career BABiP of .298. Tejada once again led the National League in grounding into double plays and put up his highest season totals since 2006 in plate appearances, RBIs, hits and sacrifice flies. I'm not sure if this was the most successful contract push for a 35-year old in the post-steroids era, but it's got to be up there on the list, right?

Geoff Blum, 3B/Util

2009 Season Stats: 427 PA, .247/.314/.367, 14 doubles, 1 triple, 10 HR, 34 runs, 49 RBIs, 0 for 1 stolen bases, 61 strikeouts, 81 OPS+

WAR: 0.6

UZR: 0.3

VORP: -0.5

Notes: Blum was the only regular Astros infielder (besides the catchers) who posted a negative VORP. His crazy hair styles and home runs off the bench were fun and zany in 2004 when the Astros were making their run to the postseason. Now? Blum's a steady defender but doesn't have great range and is aging quickly. His OPS+ of 81 is not good for any position, much less a corner infield spot. Surprisingly, Blum's numbers last season were right in line with his career line of .250/.310/.367, but moving into his age 37 season, he's probably not going to equal those numbers in 2010. Blum started 94 games at third and seven at first, but is probably better suited as being the Astros number one pinch hitter next year.

Ivan Rodriguez, C

2009 Season Stats: 344 PA, .251/.280/.382, 15 doubles, 2 triples, 8 HR, 41 runs, 34 RBIs, 0 for 2 stolen bases, 74 strikeouts, 75 OPS+

WAR:0.7

VORP: -1.1

Notes: Ahh, Pudge. Has there been a more controversial free agent signing by the Astros in recent memory? Can someone split a room between stat guys and traditional scouting guys more than Pudge? The 37-year old couldn't walk if he were given two balls at the beginning of every at-bat. He would sometimes throw out baserunners, but was never talked about as a good handler of the pitching staff. Where do we go from there? Pudge started out strong for the Astros but faded late, and did the same thing after being traded to the Rangers. Starting him and Matsui together proved dangerous for the Astros offense, as they both posted sub-80 OPS+. When 1/4 of the starting lineup can't get on base or hit for power, something's not right.

Humberto Quintero, C

2009 Season Stats: 168 PA, .236/.286/.376, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 HR, 11 runs, 14 RBIs, 0 of 0 stolen bases, 41 strikeouts, 75 OPS+

WAR: 0.5

VORP: -0.4

Notes: Q suffered through a bad concussion this season, but still managed to get into 60 games this season. He started some after Pudge was traded away, but didn't impress offensively. In fact, he's never hit much in the majors, with a career line of .232/.275/.325. Quintero has a strong arm and handles the pitching staff well, but will be 30 next season in his last non-arbitration year. He makes sense as a backup to someone like Towles or Jason Castro, but putting him in the starting lineup is a stretch.

J.R. Towles, C

2009 Season Stats (Houston): 53 PA, .188/.250/.354, 2 doubles, 0 triples, 2 HR, 7 runs, 3 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 16 strikeouts, 59 OPS+

WAR: 0.0

VORP: -1.7

Notes: What to do with Towles? The 25-year old couldn't stay healthy at Round Rock this season, getting only 56 games with the Express. When he did play, Towles hit the ball well and got on base at a good clip, sporting an OPS of .842 in Triple-A. That didn't translate to the pros in either of his two stints with the team, but it should. All Towles needs is a little time and opportunity.

Jeff Keppinger, Util

2009 Season Stats: 344 PA, .256/.320/.387, 13 doubles, 3 triples, 7 HR, 35 runs, 29 RBIs, 0 for 2 stolen bases, 33 strikeouts, 88 OPS+

WAR: 0.4

UZR: 5.7

VORP: 2.8

Notes: Keppinger was a late-spring addition, something former GM Gerry Hunsicker made into somewhat of an art form. Unfortunately, Keppinger didn't work out quite as well as guys like Mike Lamb and Billy Spiers did. That's not to say Keppinger was bad, as his batting was okay for a shortstop. Again, unfortunately, Keppinger played 59 games at third base. His range and glove made him an asset defensively there, but his bat is not good enough to hold up there for long periods of time. Still, Keppinger is a useful player who makes more sense on the bench than most of the Astros' reserves.

Darin Erstad, 1B

2009 Season Stats: 150 PA, .194/.268/.328, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 2 HR, 13 runs, 11 RBIs, 0 for 2 stolen bases, 31 strikeouts, 58 OPS+

WAR: -0.9

UZR: 7.9

VORP: -8.2

Notes: Erstad was a surpringly resurgent part of the 2008 team. Of course, in that campaign, Erstad played 40 games in center field. This season? Just one appearance in center field. Erstad could be a useful player, but he doesn't have the bat to be a first baseman, even as a backup, and doesn't have the arm to play in right field. That leaves him as the caddy for Carlos Lee. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the next manager should not view Erstad as the first bat off the bench to pinch hit.

Edwin Maysonet, 2B

2009 Season Stats: 79 PA, .290/.333/.362, 2 doubles, 0 triples, 1 HR, 9 runs, 7 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 19 strikeouts, 86 OPS+

WAR: 0.3

UZR: 8.3

VORP: 1.1

Notes: Maysonet wasn't one of the best prospects in the Astros system, but made the best debut of any Astros rookie position player in 2009. His average was high, but his OBP was not impressive. Add to that his complete lack of power and it's not like we have the next Chase Utley here. Still, Maysonet probably deserved more playing time than he got. He'd been known in the minors as a great defensive player and flashed good range in his time with the big league club. The only downside is his minor league track batting record was not very good. Maysonet had a decent season in 2008 at Corpus Christi, but was pretty terrible at Round Rock last season. That could be him reacting to shuttling back and forth from Triple-A to the majors. That could be because he's not ready to hit high-level pitching. Only time will tell.

Tommy Manzella, SS

2009 Season Stats: 5 PA, .200/.200/.200, 0 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 0 runs, 0 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 4 strikeouts, 7 OPS+

WAR: 0.0

UZR: -11.6

VORP: -0.5

Notes: The Great Shortstop Hope will be 27 next season and hasn't made a dent in the big leagues yet. There were a couple stories in September about how Manzella was learning from Tejada and soaking it all in, but he still needs to play. Manzella was a very consistent hitter for Round Rock in 2009, batting .289/.339/.417 in 133 games. The one good thing? Manzella is a horse, playing 521 games over the past five seasons in the minors. His defense is good, but it's hard to quantify how good it will be in the majors. In all likelihood, Manzella will be given every chance to be the everyday shortstop next season.

Chris Johnson, 3B

2009 Season Stats: 23 PA, .091/.130/.091, 0 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 1 run, 1 RBI, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 6 strikeouts, -39 OPS+

WAR:-0.4

UZR: -34.9

VORP: -4.2

Notes: Johnson is one of the few Astros prospects I'm not that high on. He gets a lot of credit for being a power hitter, but only hit 13 home runs last season and averaged 10 homers per year in his minor league career. His defense at third is just passable, but probably could be as good as Blum, given time. The question is: is this Astros team ready to take a chance on a young player going through growing pains at the big league level? It's going to take an adjustment for Johnson to be a productive big league hitter, and I'm not sure the Astros can be patient enough for that to happen.

Chris Coste, Util

2009 Season Stats: 112 PA, .204/.259/.252, 5 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 3 runs, 10 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 28 strikeouts, 37 OPS+

WAR: -0.5

UZR: -10.9

VORP: -8.1

Notes: After being picked up off waivers on July 10, Coste started a bunch of games when Lance Berkman was injured and then Ivan Rodriguez was traded to the Rangers. The problem is Coste just wasn't that good, either offensively or defensively. Coste didn't hit for much power in his brief stint with the team, but did manage to strike out a ton. So he's got that going for him, which is nice. Seriously, though, by whichever metric you look at, Coste is the prototypical replacement-level player. He's only on the roster because there aren't better options. Hopefully that will change in the off-season.

Matt Kata, Util

2009 Season Stats: 52 PA, .200/.212/.220, 1 double, 0 triple, 0 HR, 2 runs, 5 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 5 strikeouts, 16 OPS+

WAR: -0.1

UZR: 8.7

VORP: -4.8

Notes: Kata was more useful for his versatility off the bench than his play. As I mentioned at the top, I don't account much for UZR as the ONLY defensive metric to analyze things, especially when we have to extrapolate it out based on small sample sizes. Still, it appears Kata was at least a decent defensive asset on the bench this season. He's now a free agent.

Jason Smith, Util

2009 Season Stats: 27 PA, .000/.000/.000, 0 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 1 run, 1 RBI, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 9 strikeouts, -100 OPS+

WAR: -0.6

UZR: 21.6

VORP: -7.4

Notes: Smith didn't get much of a chance to show anything at the big league level. What he did show wasn't good. Smith did better with Round Rock, but is probably best suited as a utility guy on the end of a bench. Smith is a free agent and probably won't be back with Round Rock.

Aaron Boone, 3B

2009 Season Stats: 14 PA, .000/.071/.000, 0 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 0 runs, 0 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 2 strikeouts, -79 OPS+

WAR: -0.3

UZR: 15.9

VORP: -3.4

Notes: Not much to say here, other than for a guy to go through what Boone did in spring training and still get 14 plate appearances in the same season...well, that's just impressive.