SB Nation - Brian Roberts

Orioles considering oft-injured Ben Sheets, others?

Eli Greenspan — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:03:51 -0000

MASN.com is reporting that the Orioles will consider adding a "high risk, high reward" pitcher like Ben Sheets. The Orioles have several young players that very well could make the Orioles a contender sooner than expected.

With Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and veteran Brian Roberts, the Orioles are poised to put up better offensive numbers than they did last season, which should benefit pitchers Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, and Brad Bergeson.

The Orioles still have Nolan Reimold and Felix Pie, who both went on impressive streaks during the season. Still, inconsistency is a big issue.

Before adding a pitcher like Ben Sheets, who may only be able to give you 5-6 innings per start, improving the bullpen is important to making the investment worthwhile. The Orioles were 28th in the league in bullpen ERA (4.83), and could use an experienced closer to hold leads or to keep games close.

Guys like LaTroy Hawkins, Kevin Gregg, Scott Eye, or Juan Rincon would improve the inefficiencies in the bullpen.

The Changing of the O's

Stacey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:12:47 -0000

2007 - Pre-MacPhail. 2010 - Based solely on current players. How much have we improved, really? Discuss. Is it fair to say that the only position where the 2010 Orioles are worse off than the 2007 Orioles is shortstop?

All lineups are based on who played that most games at that position in each year.

2007 Baltimore Orioles	2008 Baltimore Orioles	2009 Baltimore Orioles	2010 Baltimore Orioles
C: Ramon Hernandez	C: Ramon Hernandez	C: Matt Wieters	C: Matt Wieters
1B: Kevin Millar	1B: Kevin Millar	1B: Aubrey Huff	1B: Luke Scott
2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts
3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Ty Wigginton
SS: Miguel Tejada	SS: Juan Castro	SS: Cesar Izturis	SS: Cesar Izturis
LF: Jay Payton	LF: Luke Scott	LF: Nolan Reimold	LF: Felix Pie
CF: Corey Patterson	CF: Adam Jones	CF: Adam Jones	CF: Adam Jones
RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis
DH: Aubrey Huff	DH: Aubrey Huff	DH: Luke Scott	DH: Nolan Reimold

It wasn't all bad in '09: Best Offensive Performances by the Orioles

Stacey — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:11:25 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

In 2010 the top 7 offensive performances by an Oriole will all be by Matt Wieters. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Browse more photos »

Baseball-Reference.com just revamped their Play Index tool and I've been messing around with it to learn all the new features. They've added some good stuff, so far my favorite is that you can do a search on how many times a player did something in his career. Last summer when Brian Roberts hit his 50th double, I was really interested to see how many players had more than one 50 double season. This new feature wasn't available so I had to do a search on 50 or more doubles and sort by name. Not anymore!

Anyway, I was doing some searches on the 2009 Orioles and it got me wondering who had the best individual performance at the plate this year. The first thing that came to my mind was the cycle by Felix Pie, followed by Luke Scott's monster day at the plate on Matt Wieters Day. It's obviously subjective, but after doing some searching on B-R.com, I've come up with a short list of finalists.

Luke Scott - July 11th @ Seattle. LUUUKE drove in two runs in the first inning off of Erik Bedard, then socked it to the Mariners bullpen with a two run triple in the 6th and a 3 run homer in the 7th. His final line: 3-4, 3B, HR, 2 R, 7 RBI. GameThread and recap.
Ty Wigginton - June 14th vs Atlanta. Wiggy had three hits including two home runs to lead the O's in an 11-2 butt kicking of the Braves. His line: 3-4, 4 R, 3 RBI, BB, 2 HR. GameThread and recap.
Matt Wieters - September 15th @ TB. Your personal Savior had the best game of his young career on this night. After falling behind the Rays 5-0, the offense staged a comeback led by Wieters who went 3-5 with a HR, a 2B, a BB, 2 R, and 5 RBI. GameThread and recap.
Felix Pie - August 14th vs Los Angeles/Anaheim. You all know the game. Felix hit for the cycle, saving the triple for last. He ended the game with 4 hits, 3 runs, and 4 RBI. He also made Mike Scioscia look like a tool by apologizing for being too excited. GameThread and recap.
Brian Roberts - Sept 12th @ New York. This game is better known as the night Brian Matusz mopped the floor with the Yankees, but Brian Bob had a pretty big night himself. With two runs already scored in the top of the 2nd inning, Roberts launched a grand slam off of A.J. Burnett. He'd add 2 more hits on the night, including his 51st 2B of the year to end the night 3-4 with 1 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR. GameThread and recap.
Adam Jones - May 12th vs Tampa Bay. Dr. Jones only had two hits on the night but he made them count as he homered in back-to-back innings. The O's won 7-5 with Adam going 2-4 with 2 R, 4 RBI, and 2 HR. GameThread and recap.
Luke Scott - May 29th vs Detroit. I didn't really want to list any players twice but how could I leave this one out? Since coming to the American League, Luke Scott has made the Tigers miserable. On this, Matt Wieters Night, Luke continued his assault with 3 hits, 2 of which were HR (one being a grand slam), 5 RBI, 2 R, and a BB for good measure. GameThread and recap.

There are probably a number of other good individual performances, but the list was getting a little long, and that game where Nicky hit the grand slam was so awful I didn't want to look at the recap. So what do you say? Who of the above had the greatest offensive night of '09 for the O's?

Poll

What was the greatest night for an Orioles hitter?

Luke Scott vs the Mariners (3-4, HR, 3B, 2 R, 7 RBI)

51 votes

Ty Wigginton vs the Braves (3-4, 2 HR, BB, 4 R, 3 RBI)

2 votes

Matt Wieters vs. the Rays (3-4, HR, 2B, BB, 2 R, 5 RBI)

11 votes

Felix Pie vs the Angels (4-4, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 R, 4 RBI)

71 votes

Brian Roberts vs the Yankees (3-4, Grand Slam, 2B, BB, 1 R, 4 RBI)

14 votes

Adam Jones vs the Rays (2 HR in consecutive innings, 2 R, 4 RBI)

6 votes

Luke Scott vs the Tigers (3-3, 2 HR, BB, 2 R, 5 RBI)

22 votes

Others - explain in the comments.

1 votes

178 votes | Poll has closed

SB Nation Awards: 2009 American League MVP

Jesse — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:50:09 -0000

Scioscia...Andrus...Greinke...and looky looky who completes the puzzle!

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins	24	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	371
2	Ben Zobrist	Tampa Bay Rays	-	10	6	2	2	1	-	1	-	-	172
3	Mark Teixeira	New York Yankees	2	3	2	4	3	2	7	1	-	-	158
4	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	1	5	3	4	4	2	1	1	2	1	157
5	Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	-	2	4	1	2	3	2	3	2	1	106
6	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	2	3	2	1	1	-	2	-	-	-	92
7	Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	-	-	3	1	2	4	-	2	-	5	74
8	Kevin Youkilis	Boston Red Sox	-	2	-	-	1	3	1	8	1	-	69
9	Chone Figgins	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	3	4	1	-	1	3	1	60
10	Jason Bay	Boston Red Sox	-	1	-	4	2	-	-	1	-	2	54
11	Kendry Morales	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	4	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	39
12	Ichiro Suzuki	Seattle Mariners	-	-	1	-	2	-	1	2	2	3	37
13	Franklin Gutierrez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	1	1	1	3	-	1	2	34
14	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	-	-	2	1	1	1	-	1	1	32
15	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	3	2	-	31
16	Jason Bartlett	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	22
17	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	18
18	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	16
19	Adam Lind	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	4	16
20	Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	4	1	13
21	Bobby Abreu	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	12
22	Aaron Hill	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	12
23	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	9
24	Torii Hunter	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
25	Brian Roberts	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	7
26	CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	6
27	Carl Crawford	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
28	J.D. Drew	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
29	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
30	Jonathan Papelbon	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
31	Robinson Cano	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
32	Victor Martinez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
33	Michael Cuddyer	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
34	Shin-Soo Choo	Cleveland Indians	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
35	Michael Young	Texas Rangers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	3
36	Jacoby Ellsbury	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
37	Jason Kubel	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
38	Alex Gonzalez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
39	Nick Markakis	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

YES! Clearly there were five people who weren't watching the same baseball season as everyone else, but look at that point differential between first and second place. And nobody voted Joe lower than third place, so kudos to all voting parties for that.

Having to vote for ten candidates means this is a pretty large chart with a lot of stragglers, and after Mauer I can't honestly remember who I voted for. I know I voted for one of Cuddyer and Kubel, although I can't promise full homerism by saying I voted for both. Still, I'm positive that Longoria, Cabrera, Zobrist, Jeter and Youkilis were in there somewhere.

The only two AL teams not represented on this list? Oakland and Chicago.

Poll

Who gets your vote for American League MVP?

Joe Mauer

370 votes

370 votes | Poll has closed

Prince Fielder finishes fourth in SBN NL MVP Voting

KLSnow — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:38 -0000

The SB Nation Most Valuable Player voting was unveiled today. Here are the NL results:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	31	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	434
2	Hanley Ramirez	Florida Marlins	-	6	8	11	2	1	2	-	-	-	220
3	Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies	-	7	11	2	3	1	-	1	-	1	192
4	Prince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers	-	5	4	4	7	7	1	-	-	-	186
5	Troy Tulowitzki	Colorado Rockies	-	4	1	5	2	3	3	4	1	2	134
6	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	-	4	1	-	1	2	2	3	1	-	79
7	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	-	4	-	1	4	1	-	-	3	1	79
8	Ryan Zimmerman	Washington Nationals	-	-	1	3	3	3	3	1	-	2	79
9	Adrian Gonzalez	San Diego Padres	-	-	1	-	3	3	2	4	3	4	71
10	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	3	4	3	57
11	Matt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	1	1	1	1	5	3	-	1	56
12	Ryan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	-	-	2	-	-	2	2	1	1	-	39
13	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	-	1	2	25
14	Derrek Lee	Chicago Cubs	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	3	2	25
15	Andre Ethier	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	-	-	-	24
16	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	4	1	23
17	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	1	16
18	Matt Holliday	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	12
19	Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	11
20	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	10
21	Todd Helton	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
22	Jayson Werth	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
23	Adam Dunn	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	5
24	Juan Pierre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
25	Justin Upton	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
26	Raul Ibanez	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
27	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
28	Brian McCann	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
29	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
30	Michael Bourn	Houston Astros	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
31	Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
32	Nyjer Morgan	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
33	Yunel Escobar	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

Here was my ballot:
1. Albert Pujols
2. Prince Fielder
3. Tim Lincecum
4. Chase Utley
5. Hanley Ramirez
6. Ryan Zimmerman
7. Troy Tulowitzki
8. Matt Kemp
9. Javier Vazquez
10. Adrian Gonzalez

Follow the jump for the AL results.

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins	24	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	371
2	Ben Zobrist	Tampa Bay Rays	-	10	6	2	2	1	-	1	-	-	172
3	Mark Teixeira	New York Yankees	2	3	2	4	3	2	7	1	-	-	158
4	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	1	5	3	4	4	2	1	1	2	1	157
5	Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	-	2	4	1	2	3	2	3	2	1	106
6	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	2	3	2	1	1	-	2	-	-	-	92
7	Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	-	-	3	1	2	4	-	2	-	5	74
8	Kevin Youkilis	Boston Red Sox	-	2	-	-	1	3	1	8	1	-	69
9	Chone Figgins	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	3	4	1	-	1	3	1	60
10	Jason Bay	Boston Red Sox	-	1	-	4	2	-	-	1	-	2	54
11	Kendry Morales	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	4	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	39
12	Ichiro Suzuki	Seattle Mariners	-	-	1	-	2	-	1	2	2	3	37
13	Franklin Gutierrez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	1	1	1	3	-	1	2	34
14	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	-	-	2	1	1	1	-	1	1	32
15	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	3	2	-	31
16	Jason Bartlett	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	22
17	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	18
18	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	16
19	Adam Lind	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	4	16
20	Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	4	1	13
21	Bobby Abreu	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	12
22	Aaron Hill	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	12
23	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	9
24	Torii Hunter	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
25	Brian Roberts	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	7
26	CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	6
27	Carl Crawford	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
28	J.D. Drew	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
29	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
30	Jonathan Papelbon	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
31	Robinson Cano	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
32	Victor Martinez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
33	Michael Cuddyer	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
34	Shin-Soo Choo	Cleveland Indians	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
35	Michael Young	Texas Rangers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	3
36	Jacoby Ellsbury	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
37	Jason Kubel	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
38	Alex Gonzalez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
39	Nick Markakis	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

2009 SBNation Awards: MVP

Al — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:27 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Mike Fontenot after a forceout of Albert Pujols in April at Wrigley Field.

Browse more photos »

No surprises here, at least not for me. I expected Albert Pujols to be the unanimous MVP among SBN voters, and he was.

The AL winner is the guy I would have chosen; you may be a bit surprised at the second-place finisher.

Points for MVP are awarded as follows: 14 points for a first-place vote, then 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for 2nd through 10th place.

BCB ballots:

Al: 1) Albert Pujols 2) Ryan Howard 3) Prince Fielder 4) Chase Utley 
5) Pablo Sandoval 6) Adrian Gonzalez 7) Hanley Ramirez 
8) Troy Tulowitzki 9) Derrek Lee 10) Adam Dunn

Mike: 1) Albert Pujols 2) Ryan Howard 3) Hanley Ramirez 4) Troy Tulowitzki 
5) Prince Fielder 6) Tim Lincecum 7) Chase Utley 
8) Adam Wainwright 9) Raul Ibanez 10) Mark Reynolds

National League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	31	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	434
2	Hanley Ramirez	Florida Marlins	-	6	8	11	2	1	2	-	-	-	220
3	Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies	-	7	11	2	3	1	-	1	-	1	192
4	Prince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers	-	5	4	4	7	7	1	-	-	-	186
5	Troy Tulowitzki	Colorado Rockies	-	4	1	5	2	3	3	4	1	2	134
6	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	-	4	1	-	1	2	2	3	1	-	79
7	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	-	4	-	1	4	1	-	-	3	1	79
8	Ryan Zimmerman	Washington Nationals	-	-	1	3	3	3	3	1	-	2	79
9	Adrian Gonzalez	San Diego Padres	-	-	1	-	3	3	2	4	3	4	71
10	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	3	4	3	57
11	Matt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	1	1	1	1	5	3	-	1	56
12	Ryan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	-	-	2	-	-	2	2	1	1	-	39
13	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	-	1	2	25
14	Derrek Lee	Chicago Cubs	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	3	2	25
15	Andre Ethier	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	-	-	-	24
16	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	4	1	23
17	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	1	16
18	Matt Holliday	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	12
19	Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	11
20	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	10
21	Todd Helton	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
22	Jayson Werth	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
23	Adam Dunn	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	5
24	Juan Pierre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
25	Justin Upton	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
26	Raul Ibanez	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
27	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4
28	Brian McCann	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
29	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	4
30	Michael Bourn	Houston Astros	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
31	Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3
32	Nyjer Morgan	Washington Nationals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
33	Yunel Escobar	Atlanta Braves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

American League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pts
1	Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins	24	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	371
2	Ben Zobrist	Tampa Bay Rays	-	10	6	2	2	1	-	1	-	-	172
3	Mark Teixeira	New York Yankees	2	3	2	4	3	2	7	1	-	-	158
4	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	1	5	3	4	4	2	1	1	2	1	157
5	Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	-	2	4	1	2	3	2	3	2	1	106
6	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	2	3	2	1	1	-	2	-	-	-	92
7	Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	-	-	3	1	2	4	-	2	-	5	74
8	Kevin Youkilis	Boston Red Sox	-	2	-	-	1	3	1	8	1	-	69
9	Chone Figgins	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	3	4	1	-	1	3	1	60
10	Jason Bay	Boston Red Sox	-	1	-	4	2	-	-	1	-	2	54
11	Kendry Morales	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	4	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	39
12	Ichiro Suzuki	Seattle Mariners	-	-	1	-	2	-	1	2	2	3	37
13	Franklin Gutierrez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	1	1	1	3	-	1	2	34
14	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	-	-	2	1	1	1	-	1	1	32
15	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	3	2	-	31
16	Jason Bartlett	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	22
17	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	18
18	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	16
19	Adam Lind	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	4	16
20	Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	4	1	13
21	Bobby Abreu	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	12
22	Aaron Hill	Toronto Blue Jays	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	12
23	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	1	9
24	Torii Hunter	Los Angeles Angels	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
25	Brian Roberts	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	7
26	CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	6
27	Carl Crawford	Tampa Bay Rays	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	6
28	J.D. Drew	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
29	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
30	Jonathan Papelbon	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
31	Robinson Cano	New York Yankees	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
32	Victor Martinez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	5
33	Michael Cuddyer	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
34	Shin-Soo Choo	Cleveland Indians	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4
35	Michael Young	Texas Rangers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	3
36	Jacoby Ellsbury	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
37	Jason Kubel	Minnesota Twins	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
38	Alex Gonzalez	Boston Red Sox	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
39	Nick Markakis	Baltimore Orioles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

A Preliminary Look at the 2010 AL East Offenses - Part 1

Stacey — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:47:40 -0000

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

I miss him already. Get here soon, spring! (AP Photo/ Gail Burton)

Browse more photos »

I was fortunate enough to get a preview of Bill James' 2010 hitter and pitcher projections, which will be coming out as part of his handbook on November 1st. If you want to buy the handbook (which I wholly recommend), you can order it from the ACTA Sports webpage, or at Amazon.com or the like. The handbook includes a lot more than just the batter and pitcher projections; it's a real treasure. I haven't seen the 2010 version yet as it's not released but I've read past years' versions and they rock.

If you're unfamiliar with Bill James' player projections, he releases them every year for current players and prospects that could get playing time. They're all based on past performance and what James considers to be the natural extension of what they've already proven they can do. For the players with little or no major league experience, he doesn't attempt to make a determination on if they will play in 2010, just a determination of how they will do if the team brings them up. The example he uses in his introduction is actually regarding Josh Bell:

What we should do is try to answer this question: If this player plays, how will he play? If Joshua Bell opens the 2010 season as the Baltimore Orioles third baseman, what will he hit? That's the question we should be focused on. Whether Bell will or will not get a chance to play next season, when his chance might come. . .we don't have a fair chance to get that one right. Our job is to figure out how good he will be, when and if his ticket arrives.

I thought it'd be fun to do a little AL East comparison by position using the projections. For the most part they won't take into account any changes the Orioles or other AL East teams hope to make before the 2010 starts. It should give a pretty good indicator of the biggest areas of needs for the O's (not that we don't already know them, really) as well as where they actually match up well in the division.

This will be part one of the discussion, focusing on C, 1B, and 2B. Part two will cover SS, 3B, and DH, and part 3 will tackle the outfield.

Oh, and I said that for the most part I won't try to account for any changes, but I've taken a few liberties. One is to insert Josh Bell at 3B, even though I think we all know it's unlikely he'll start 2010 there. James' projections include Melvin Mora and Ty Wigginton, but there's no way I'm even considering Mora back at 3B, and I don't want to talk about Wiggy. I also made two other speculative changes that you'll see when the time comes. Suspense!!

See the good stuff below the jump.

Catcher

Shall we start with the best? Matt Wieters finished 2009 on a tear and looks poised to break out in 2010. And Bill James? Well he pretty much agrees (of course he thought that last year as well).

Matt Wieters	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
James '09 Projections	118	416	127	22	21	72	64	81	67	56	.305	.402	.519	.921
Wieters '09 Stats	96	354	102	15	9	35	43	46.5	28	86	.288	.340	.412	.752
James '10 Projections	148	547	170	29	20	75	92	101	61	112	.311	.381	.484	.865

To be fair to James' '09 projections, pretty much every projection of Matt Wieters for 2009 was a little bit absurd. PECOTA practically inducted him into the HoF with its numbers. It was as though all of the statistically oriented minds were taken over by fanboys when it came to Matt Wieters in 2009. Of course his numbers would have been very difficult to predict given that he hadn't played beyond AA when the predictions were made, but still. The projections for 2010 are still pretty lofty but I think attainable by our golden boy. For reference, in the past ten seasons there have been 21 times when a catcher has had an OPS of .865 or greater. In 2009, only Joe Mauer had an OPS over .865. In fact, if Wieters had put up the 2010 projections this year, only Joe Mauer would have had better numbers than him at C, and Mauer had the most ridiculous year ever. And honestly, maybe it's just me, but I think the HR prediction might be a little low. Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled with 20. But I think he can do better.

Wieters easily has the best projections of any of the other catchers in the AL East, and I look forward to seeing just how much better he'll be in 2010.

James '10 Proj.	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Jorge Posada	116	420	116	26	18	59	74	72	60	104	.276	.372	.467	.839
Victor Martinez	150	560	167	36	19	78	97	97	67	74	.298	.377	.464	.841
Gregg Zaun	88	244	58	13	7	29	29	30	33	44	.238	.333	.377	.710
Rod Barajas	114	366	85	20	14	41	52	40	20	67	.232	.278	.402	.679

For the Rays, Dioner Navarro was actually projected for more playing time (110 games), but I just can't imagine the Rays using him as their everyday catcher. ZAUN is a lot older, but he's better. Rod Barajas...is not good, but the Jays don't really have anyone in the system to replace him right now. Posada is good, of course, but he'll be 38 in 2010. Eventually that has to start mattering for him. And Victor Martinez is a huge upgrade over Jason Varitek, sadly. If these four plus Wieters are the 5 starting catchers in the AL East in 2010, Wieters, at age 24, will not only be the best catcher in the division, he'll also be the only one under age 30. Verdict: WIETERS!

First Base

After the euphoria of the Orioles catching situation, here's the cold reality: The Orioles need a first baseman, and bad. In-house the Orioles have a few options. Luke Scott proved an adequate fielder in the short time he spent there in 2009 but his Jekyll and Hyde act at the plate gets tiresome. Michael Aubrey is great with the glove and while his bat showed some promise, my personal opinion is that he's our new Oscar Salazar: useful, but not an answer. Down in the minors Brandon Snyder is hoping to win the job and I'd have to think it's on the mind of Rhyne Hughes as well. I'd like nothing more than for Brandon Snyder to step up and earn the job, but even if he does that I don't believe it will be out of spring training. So for the meantime I have to think they'll go with Luke Scott at 1B for 2010, at least until another solution is found.

Luke Scott	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
James '09 Projections	142	476	130	31	25	69	79	75.9	57	98	.273	.354	.508	.862
Scott '09 Stats	128	449	116	26	25	61	77	71.6	55	104	.258	.340	.488	.828
James '10 Projections	142	463	120	29	24	64	76	76	56	109	.259	.342	.486	.828

So James expects Luke to basically have the same exact year that he did in 2009. Fair enough. Luke is pretty much at the stage of his career where he is who he is. And honestly, if he could come by those numbers in a more even fashion I'd be happy with them. But he's hard to rely on when he hits like Babe Ruth for two months and Brandon Fahey for two months. I'm not totally unhappy with Luke playing 1B for the O's in 2010 as long as he's not looked at as any kind of permanent solution.

James '10 Proj.	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Mark Teixeira	156	596	179	42	36	191	121	129	84	113	.300	.395	.559	.953
Kevin Youkilis	149	557	161	42	23	98	95	105	85	128	.289	.394	.492	.885
Carlos Pena	148	530	127	27	36	88	99	93	93	176	.240	.360	.498	.858
Lyle Overbay	140	460	123	34	15	60	63	73	65	100	.267	.359	.443	.803

Ah, Carlos Pena. I often think of that commenter here by the name of Wade Boggs Hair who loved Carlos Pena. You guys remember him? He was the president of the Carlos Pena fan club before Pena signed with the Rays. After we later learned that Pena almost came to the Orioles and they couldn't work out a deal (what could he have been asking for, really, the the O's wouldn't give him but the Rays would??), it was a major bummer. If only it had worked out. sigh. VERDICT: At least it's not Kevin Millar

Second Base

The Orioles stalwart. The veteran. With Melvin Mora out of the picture, Brian Roberts takes his place as the longest tenured Oriole, and the only one to have been with the team prior to 2006. With all of the changes to the Orioles in the past few years, Brian remains our comfort. 2010 will be Brian's 10th in the majors, all of which have been losers. When the Orioles finally rid themselves of their losing ways Brian Roberts probably won't know what to do with himself. Actually there is no doubt in my mind that when the time comes for this team to be in a pennant race, old man Brian Roberts will be leading the charge and playing like we've never seen him. Here are Brian's numbers:

Brian Roberts	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	SB/CS	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
James '09 Projections	156	623	176	44	10	100	58	36/12	79	99	.283	.364	.414	.778
Roberts '09 stats	159	632	179	56	16	110	79	30/7	74	112	.283	.356	.451	.807
James '10 projections	159	630	177	47	12	103	65	30/10	78	108	.281	.361	.422	.783

Roberts is steady in his production. James always pegs Brian to have less power than he does. I'm not sure why since he's had an SLG less than .432 once since 2005, and that was in 2006 when he was returning from that awful arm injury. He slugged right around .450 in both 2008 and 2009 but James continues to project him low. I feel like we always know what we're going to get from Brian, and it's nice to have one less thing to worry about. He's one of the leading 2B in the American League, although unfortunately you could also say that about several 2Bs in the AL East.

James '10 Proj.	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	SB/CS	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Robinson Cano	161	624	193	46	20	89	87	4/3	32	69	.309	.347	.489	.836
Dustin Pedroia	156	623	191	50	15	109	75	16/6	66	43	.307	.378	.465	.843
Ben Zobrist	153	509	143	28	23	86	75	15/6	84	93	.281	.385	.491	.876
Aaron Hill	138	540	153	35	20	78	76	5/2	40	78	.283	.337	.463	.800

I'll be honest, the Rays roster confuses the hell out of me. 2009 started with Akinori Iwamura as the starting 2B with Ben Zobrist playing RF/UTIL/Bench. Aki went down with an injury and Zobrist took over 2B pretty much full time and ended up having just a monster year. With Zobrist at 2B the RF duties were left to the Gabe of the Day platoon, neither of which were anything special. Initially I imagined that Iwamura would return to 2B in 2010 with Zobrist going back to RF. I did some snooping around on DRaysBay though and they seem to be of the consensus that Aki's option won't be picked up and Zobrist will return to 2B.

Anyway, the projections have every other AL East 2B as having a better year than Brian Roberts, pretty much. I'm not sure I buy that, especially for Zobrist and Hill. Zobrist will be 29 in 2010 and just played his first full season in the majors. Even though the James projection predicts he'll have a regression, the numbers are still high enough to give me pause. He could be a late bloomer, I suppose, but there just isn't enough evidence to give me much confidence in him. And don't even get me started on Aaron Hill. If he has an OPS of .800 or more in 2010 I'll eat my shoe.

You know what bugs me about Dustin Pedroia? The way everyone acts like, "Look at this little dude coming along and showing everyone what he can do!" Please. Brian Roberts was doing that for years before Pedroia came along, although with hardly any attention.

Don't get me wrong. I know that Pedroia is a more valuable player than Brian Roberts. Most of the value is in his age (he's also, by all accounts, NOT a lollygagger). He puts up slightly better numbers than Roberts, but five years earlier in his career. That's a pretty big deal, especially since it's how he started his career. But it doesn't explain why Pedroia is so much more revered when looked at in a single season scope. Behold the numbers:

2007	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	H	2B	HR	SB/CS
Roberts	.290	.377	.432	.808	112	180	42	12	50/7
Pedroia	.317	.380	.442	.823	112	165	39	8	7/1

2008	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	H	2B	HR	SB/CS
Roberts	.296	.378	.450	.828	117	181	51	9	40/10
Pedroia	.326	.376	.493	.869	122	213	54	17	20/1

2009	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	H	2B	HR	SB/CS
Roberts	.283	.356	.451	.807	108	179	56	16	30/7
Pedroia	.296	.371	.445	.819	108	185	48	15	20/8

I was sure to include the OPS+ in there, since they're identical in 2007 and 2009. It's easier to hit in Fenway Park? You don't say! Yeah, Pedroia gets more hits than Roberts, but check out the OBP. Pretty close. Add in Brian's base stealing prowess and the margin tightens even more. Like I said, if I'm looking for a guy on my team for the next 10 years, yeah, I go with Pedroia (or Cano for that matter, who I've completely ignored). But for 2010? Brian Roberts suits me just fine. VERDICT: He's not the flashiest, but I stand by Brian Bob. (oh, and Dustin Pedroia? Brian's 2005 season laughs in the face of your 2008 MVP season)

With three positions down, I'd say the O's look pretty good comparatively. They just gotta find a legit 1B. They really haven't had one since Palmeiro's first tour (no offense Jeff Conine!),

Next up will be a look at Shortstop, Third Base, and Designated Hitter (warning, this one is a lot uglier).

Tuesday Rockpile: Has Dan O'Dowd forged MLB's best small market model?

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:25:26 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

We are told Hawpe isn't going anywhere. Should we be surprised? "Dealin" Dan O'Dowd doesn't like dealin' his homegrown talent very much

Browse more photos »

Locking down leading men

Yesterday, Patrick Saunders suggested the Rockies would ink GM Dan O'Dowd and manager Jim Tracy to multi-year deals this week. This morning, the Denver Post strengthened their wording on the issue a bit. Now, a "major league source close to the situation" said the Rockies will sign both leading men to long-term deals, per Saunders and Troy Renck. Okay so that's not a shocker. They do mention the entirety of the MLB coaching staff will return in their current roles, again not surprising after the best regular season in franchise history.

But oh yeah - Tracy Ringolsby already reported that Sunday night.

Dan O'Clown or Bozo Beane?

There's room to argue the sense in giving an MLB contract, but there can be no legitimate beef with Dan O'Dowd. At the time of the Holliday trade in November, some exhibited worry that O'Dowd was playing with fire (Beane) and would likely get burned (Encarnacion/Ortiz/Belitz). It looks like Beane ought to be worried about O'Dowd now.

To further illustrate this point, I'll point you to Fangraphs, where RJ Anderson writes of the Problem with Oakland. Quite frankly, the Athletics just haven't drafted well, and their top prospects haven't panned out since Moneyball. Anderson identified the Rays and Rockies as two teams taking the torch in the small-market-internal-development game, so he compared the three clubs' top 10 prospects (from Baseball America) from 2004-07:

"The Rockies have an extraordinarily high retention rate* of 72.5% while the Rays/A's are equal with 42.5%."

*Retention rate is defined as percentage of prospects still within the organization at the start of 2009.

Moreover, all ten of the Rockies' top ten prospects from 2007 were within the organization this past March, while Oakland and Tampa only had five. That could be part of why the Rockies have two playoff appearances since 2007 to Tampa and Oakland's combined one...

Now time for commentary: Jason Hirsh and Jeff Baker were traded for scraps this season and no one is calling Dan O'Dowd late at night in hopes a brandy-filled evening will allow him to loosen his grip on Greg Reynolds or Chaz Roe. Those four represent an issue with representing small market success by retention rate. Retaining dud or uninspiring prospects isn't really worth rewarding. The Rays lost their top prospect from 2005-2007, but flipping him for Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett was unquestionably the right move. Then again, after a decade drafting in the top five, they had the best prospects at their disposal for a long time, and the Rockies were drafting higher than Oakland in the time frame.

So what does this all tell us? The Rockies indeed develop players well, though mostly, it tells us Dan O'Dowd likes holding onto his prospects. That's all. The only top prospects from those four years that were traded prior to 2009 were Matt Holliday and Ryan Shealy (unanimously good trades). It tells us the Rockies seem to hold more firm to the developmental segment of the organization than their peers, which is partly why we fans latch onto our players so much. It also tells me that Dan O'Dowd would really have to break the mold to bring in a Brian Roberts.

Last cold links

Rox look to build on strong second half | ColoradoRockies.com: News
Thomas Harding breaks down the roster position-by-position. Included is the contract issues to keep an eye on. It's a good reference point if you haven't been reading the Row every day.

Mopping Up in 2009 | FanGraphs Baseball
Josh Fogg was mop up man in 2009 - his "MOP score" placed him second in MLB behind Luis Perdomo, who allowed Clint Barmes' inside-the-park home run last month.

2009-10 Do-It-Yourself Offseason Trade/Free Agent Post

Al — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:01:23 -0000

More photos » by Mark Avery - AP

Some guy named Brian Roberts. Ever heard of him? Me, either.

Browse more photos »

This morning, wrote that the Cubs are interested in acquiring . Cubs GM Jim Hendry . Meanwhile, Hendry said that Milton Bradley would be traded to the . Hendry also said that Rich Harden , and that Carlos Zambrano . Former Cub Mark DeRosa while Bradley was offered to the . The Cubs tried to get the to take Aaron Miles' contract, but they refused because . In the upcoming Rule 5 draft, the Cubs are going to select . The Cubs' plans for Sam Fuld in 2010 include Brian Roberts was located and had this comment on his possible trade to the Cubs: Finally, manager Lou Piniella's comments about the rumors included:

Midday quick hits: Cubs, Derek Lowe, Giants, Twins vs. Tigers

Eli Greenspan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:09:59 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Browse more photos »

Here are some links making the headlines on this Tuesday afternoon:

The Cubs have some issues they plan to address early this offseason, which start with moving Milton Bradley. The Cubs may look to swap bad contracts, but could look into trading for Jeremy Hermida, who the Marlins plan to shop. After that, the Cubs may dangle Jake Fox on the open market. Fox dominated Triple-A hitters and put up impressive numbers with the big league club. He could draw interest from an AL team looking for a cheap DH option. The Mariners come to mind, and the Orioles could emerge if they fail to find a replacement at third base.
Speaking of the Orioles hot corner, MASN suggests that the Orioles could make a strong push to land infielder Chone Figgins. Figgins would give the Orioles even more speed at the top of the order, while also giving them a legitimate run producer. They would have to overpay to lure him to Baltimore, but he could have an impact on Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, and Matt Wieters.
The Braves plan to shop Derek Lowe this offseason, who regressed this season in his first year with the Braves. His sinker wasn't as deceptive, which hurt the effectiveness of his other pitches. He has three years and 45 million dollars left on his contract, so finding a taker may be difficult. The Braves could look to swap bad contracts, contact the Tigers about Magglio Ordonez or even the White Sox about Alex Rios.
The Giants would not go as far to rule out trading Matt Cain, but at the moment appear reluctant to make a move. The Brewers' Prince Fielder has been talked about before, and it is possible they could explore that avenue again this offseason.
Who is going to win the Twins vs. Tigers one game playoff tonight? Focus in Detroit has been shifted to Miguel Cabrera's off the field incidents, which could have an impact on tonight's game. Playing at home, riding a lot of momentum, and following an impressive Vikings win on national television, it seems like the Twins have the advantage. What do you think?