SB Nation - Andre Ethier

NL West in Review: Right Fielders

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:00:18 -0000

The NL West boasted three very strong offensive right-fielders last season. Justin Upton and Brad Hawpe each made All-Star appearances, while Andre Ethier took home a Silver Slugger. What you might not realize is just how close those three were in offensive production last season.

With the fearsome trio eating up at least 580 PA each in right field, they represented the resounding majority of PA for their teams. Brad Hawpe and the Rockies led the way with a park-adjusted .367 wOBA, followed by J-Up and the Snakes at .366, followed by Ethier and the Dodgers at .365.

Naturally, what separates the three teams in overall value then is defense, which proves to be quite the unequalizer.


Teams	Players	Avg	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG	wOBA*	WAR
1. Arizona	5	.294	26	96	.359	.498	.366	4.85
2. Los Angeles	6	.266	34	120	.344	.504	.365	2.56
3. San Francisco	5	.262	8	57	.316	.380	.312	1.76
4. Colorado	6	.270	25	98	.370	.486	.367	1.68
5. San Diego	8	.212	21	76	.280	.366	.298	-0.39

Hawpe was so statistically weak defensively that the Giants actually passed the Rockies on the list, while Will Venable and Randy Winn each passed Hawpe for overall value.

To compare the teams visually (note the blue batting bars for Arizona, Colorado and Los Angeles):

For the full player rankings, click here.

For the raw data and calculations, check this Google Docs link. For team capsules, take the jump

Arizona

2009 in Review

I think we can officially say that the Diamondbacks' 51-111 2004 campaign was worth it for Arizona fans. The pitiful finish assured Arizona with the top pick in the 2005 draft. Their choice just finished his second season as the primary starter, appearing in the All-Star game at just 21. Of the three predominant offensive RF in the division last year, he was the only one to avoid being a black hole defensively. Indeed, he was quite an asset with the arm and range he displayed. Alex Romero posted a near league average wOBA as Upton's primary backup, while Gerardo Parra hit .400 in 28 PA as a RFer.

Justin Upton

#10 / Right Field / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Aug 25, 1987

2010 in Preview

Upton's salary was just $412,000 last year, but he also received $1.3million as part of his then-record setting signing bonus. Upton is neither arbitration eligible or a Super Two, so he will make chump change again next season, though his final $2mil installment of his signing bonus will come his way. Obviously, he'll be in right field at Chase Field until finances dictate otherwise.

Colorado

2009 in Review

Despite having the best overall OBP and wOBA in the division, the Rockies fell to fourth in the division due to Brad Hawpe's poor defense. In fact, according to UZR, he cost the Rockies more defensively than any player in the major leagues this season, the second consecutive year he managed that feat (Ryan Braun and Ken Griffey Jr. were worse in 2007). Over the last three years, Hawpe's UZR is 33% worse than any player in MLB. Unbelievably, Carlos Gonzalez actually had a worse UZR/150 in RF than Hawpe, though that's certainly a combination of unfamiliarity and sample size. Hawpe certainly did plenty of damage with the bat overall, earning a spot in the All-Star Game and peaking with a .353 batting average on June 3, the final game before the Rockies reeled off "The Streak."

Brad Hawpe

#11 / Right Field / Colorado Rockies

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Jun 22, 1979

2010 in Preview

This has been much discussed here. After making $5.75mil last season, Hawpe is due $7.5mil in 2010 in the last year of the 3-year extension he signed after Rocktober07. With Colorado's very notable outfield depth, Hawpe is most valuable as a trade chip. Dan O'Dowd and Jim Tracy continuously act as if trading Hawpe is the last thing on their minds, which of course means nothing. If Hawpe is moved, Carlos Gonzalez will be in right. However, I'm getting a strong feeling the FO will side with loyalty, holding onto a GenR slugger when a cheaper and talented replacement gets pushed to the bench. Sound familiar?

Los Angeles

2009 in Review

Andre Ethier made a habit of clubbing clutch (5th in MLB in WPA) home runs and getting big hits that helped Los Angeles push forth to a division title. He was rewarded with a Silver Slugger, making Manny Ramirez the only Dodger OF without the honor in 2009. Notice Ethier did not also earn a Gold Glove with Matt Kemp, and that's certainly no mistake. Though Hawpe was the worst NL OF via UZR, Ethier was second.

Andre Ethier

#16 / Right Field / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-2

Weight: 210

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Apr 10, 1982

2010 in Preview

Ethier will be starter, with his salary due to be decided at an arbitration hearing, unless the team can reach an agreement beforehand. Last season, the Dodgers compromised before the hearing and offered a $3.1mil salary. It will be interesting to see how Ned Colletti plays it with the possibly cash-strapped franchise. The club has Ethier, Kemp, Hong-Chih Kuo, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Russell Martin and George Sherrill all eligible for arbitration this offseason. If they choose not to negotiate a compromise, Colletti could save some money if he wins a sufficient number of arbitration cases. Of course, he could get burned and see a player like Kemp or Ethier be awarded a much higher salary.

San Diego

2009 in Review

Brian Giles was supposed to be a reliable veteran for Bud Black in the lineup. However, Giles hit under the Mendoza line, played poor defense and showed little power in 249 PA before succumbing to a season-ending knee injury. Will Venable played superb defense while showing promise with the bat over nearly the same amount of playing time, while Kyle Blanks (a converted first baseman) posted a .400 wOBA in 83 PA.

Will Venable

#25 / Right Field / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-2

Weight: 210

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Oct 29, 1982

2010 in Preview

Giles was declined arbitration, so he is out of the picture. If the club indeed trades Kevin Kouzmanoff, Chase Headley can move to third, with Venable and Blanks taking the corners. If this doesn't happen, it will be either Venable or Blanks in right. My money is on Venable, who can handle the outfield without a problem defensively. However, Bill James projected Blanks for well over a 100 more PA. Both are under complete team control

San Francisco

2009 in Review

The Giants continue to have sneaky good showing due to defense. Randy Winn's best days offensively are clearly behind him, but he still posted the best UZR in the division, good enough to place him third in the player rankings. I would also like to point out his veterany thriftiness on the bases, successfully stealing in 14 of his 16 attempts.

Randy Winn

#2 / Left Field / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-2

Weight: 195

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Jun 09, 1974

2010 in Preview

San Francisco declined arbitration on Winn, effectively opening up a free-for-all for AB's in right field. Nate Schierholtz has the strongest claim, as his superior defense and potentially solid bat make him an intriguing option. Bill James optimistically projects a .338 wOBA from him in 2010. Brian Sabean really ought to be looking elsewhere for an upgrade or at least insurance, because that .338 is probably a bit optimistic. John Bowker, Eugenio Velez and Andres Torres are other underwhelming internal options.

Dodgers Waste Golden Opportunity, Decline Arbitration For Wolf, Hudson

Eric Stephen — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:14:28 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Randy Wolf tries to emulate the feelings of Dodger fans today

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I don't know what to say anymore.

The Dodgers declined to offer arbitration to all seven of their Type A and Type B free agents today, most notably Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudson, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times. This means the Dodgers will receive no compensation if any of the free agents sign elsewhere.

I already covered the reasons for and/or against offering arbitration, and I expected to be disappointed today. But not to this extent. On some level, I can understand the argument for not offering arbitration to Hudson, even if I don't fully agree with it. However, not offering arbitration to Randy Wolf is just wrong. Wolf is the second best starting pitcher on the free agent market, and is sure to get a multi-year offer somewhere, so he would have likely declined arbitration.

In Wolf and Hudson, the Dodgers had two players that should be welcomed back if they chose to accept arbitration, and they only would be signed to one-year deals. Sure, they might be a tad pricey, but both provide value at or exceeding their worth, and again, it would just be for one year, and only if they accepted arbitration. Could it be that the Dodgers are so strapped for cash that they can't accept even the slightest risk of paying two talented players for one season?

Or is it worse than that? Do the Dodgers not want the burden of having four extra draft picks in 2010, the burden of four extra signing bonuses, possibly totaling somewhere in the $4 million range?

What other excuse could there be besides money? Because if this were strictly a baseball decision, both Wolf and Hudson would have been offered arbitration.

These are short-sighted moves by the Dodgers. Look at this team. The 2009 Dodgers only had the best record in the National League, and they were fueled by a young group of players once drafted by the Dodgers: Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier (OK, he was drafted by the A's), Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, James Loney, Russell Martin. Unfortunately, you can't continue the process of integrating fresh, new talent into the mix if you don't have the picks to draft them, or if you don't utilize the ones you have. The Dodgers may have potentially saved some money with today's decisions, but they missed a golden opportunity to invest in the future.

It is now apparent to me that general manager Ned Colletti's hands are tied by purse strings. He will have his work cut out for him this offseason, which seems like it could be a long one for Dodger fans.

Updated Dodger 1st Baseman Win Shares

Phil Gurnee — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:55:11 -0000

For the last two years I've done a rundown of Los Angeles Dodger Win Shares. In many circles Win Shares has become passe as WAR has become the stat of choice, but because I built the complete Win Share database based on data in the original book plus the subsequent Bill James Handbooks I haven't felt like letting go. For those who have never heard of Win Shares, it is a statistic created by Bill James the author of the great The Bill James Baseball Abstract series which changed many a baseball fans perception of the game. I used to link to a Rob Neyer review of Win Shares but the article is now gone. For a more recent story, THT compares WAR to Win Shares. THT used to carry their own tweaked version of Win Shares but stopped after the 2008 season. Here is what the 2008 Season Win Share breakdown looked like.

Sure Win Shares is not the be all stat, but it is still interesting to see how the breakdown works. It is a complex algorithm but the guts is that each team is credited with three win shares per actual win. Bill James then works his magic to allocate those wins based on statistical measures to each player on the team.

Here is the 2009 season update.

Los Angeles Dodgers 2009 Win Shares

Player	Win Shares
Matt Kemp	26
Andre Ethier	21
Orlando Hudson	20
Casey Blake	19
James Loney	18
Manny Ramirez	18
Rafael Furcal	17
Russell Martin	16
Jon Broxton	16
Randy Wolf	14
Juan Pierre	12
Clayton Kershaw	12
Chad Billingsley	9
Ramon Troncoso	8
Ronaldo Belisario	7
Hiroki Kuroda	5
Jeff Weaver	5
G Mota	4
Hong-Chih Kuo	3
Mark Loretta	3
James McDonald	3
Brad Ausmus	3

Castro and Stults had two each, while EyeChart, Wade, Abreu, Milton, Haeger, and Elbert had a single win share. Based on the formual the Dodgers would have had 285 win shares (95 * 3) to spread among it's players. I have no way of knowing how many win shares Sherrill(13), Belliard(7), and Padilla(8) had since they don't break them up per team. If you add up all of the Dodgers including those three we have 13 extra win shares which means they should be divided among the trade/waiver deadline pickups.

James Loney was the only 1st baseman of note to garner any Win Shares for the Dodgers in 2009. His season was quite pedestrian by most measures but he did have the 5th most win shares on the team in 2009 with 18. He's yet to crack the top 10 single season win share mark but after only three full seasons he's moved into 5th place on the all-time 1st baseman Win Share list passing Gil Hodges and Greg Brock. For many of you this is the first time you have seen this list, so I'll remind you that this only includes Los Angeles Dodgers. It has been 19 years since the last memorable season by a Dodger 1st baseman.

Los Angeles Dodgers Seasonal Win Share Leaders for 1st Baseman

Player	Order	Career Win Shares	Year	Win Shares
Murray, Eddie	1st	68	1990	31
Parker, Wes	2nd	146	1970	29
Garvey, Steve	3rd	223	1974	27
Garvey, Steve	4th	223	1976	26
Karros, Eric	T-5th	175	1995	25
Garvey, Steve	T-5th	223	1978	25
Garvey, Steve	T-5th	223	1975	25
Karros, Eric	T-8th	175	1998	22
Garvey, Steve	T-8th	223	1980	22
Garvey, Steve	T-8th	223	1979	22

For the career totals and complete seasonal leaders for 1st baseman click on read more.

Many Dodgers played 1st and the outfield. Ron Fairly was the 1st baseman for the early part of the 60's before Wes Parker took over. Mike Marshall played many games at 1st and in the outfield. Same with Franklin Stubbs. Someday I may break out the career numbers but for now I'm lumping them into the 1st/OF category.

Career Win Shares for LA Dodger 1st Baseman

Player	TWS	Pos
Garvey, Steve	223	1st
Karros, Eric	175	1st
Parker, Wes	146	1st
Murray, Eddie	68	1st
Loney, James	51	1st
Brock, Greg	47	1st
Hodges, Gil	37	1st
Garciaparra, Nomar	29	1st
Farily, Ron	142	1st/OF
Mike, Marshall	108	1st/OF
Buckner, Billy	80	1st/OF
Larker, Norm	35	1st/OF
Stubbs, Franklin	34	1st/OF

Los Angeles Dodgers Seasonal Win Share Leaders for 1st Baseman

Player	Pos	Career Win Shares	Year	Win Share Per Season
Murray, Eddie	1st	68	1990	31
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1970	29
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1974	27
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1976	26
Karros, Eric	1st	175	1995	25
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1978	25
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1975	25
Karros, Eric	1st	175	1998	22
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1980	22
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1979	22
Murray, Eddie	1st	68	1989	21
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1977	21
Farily, Ron	1st	142	1963	21
Farily, Ron	1st	142	1962	21
Karros, Eric	1st	175	1999	20
Karros, Eric	1st	175	1996	20
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1965	20
Garciaparra, Nomar	1st	29	2006	18
Karros, Eric	1st	175	2002	18
Karros, Eric	1st	175	1997	18
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1971	18
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1969	18
Loney, James	1st	51	2009	18
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1966	17
Farily, Ron	1st	142	1964	17
Hodges, Gil	1st	37	1959	17
Loney, James	1st	51	2007	16
Murray, Eddie	1st	68	1991	16
Loney, James	1st	51	2008	15
Brock, Greg	1st	47	1985	15
Brock, Greg	1st	47	1983	15
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1982	15
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1967	15
Farily, Ron	1st	142	1961	15
Karros, Eric	1st	175	2000	14
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1972	14
Larker, Norm	1st	35	1960	14
Karros, Eric	1st	175	1992	13
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1981	13
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1968	12
Hodges, Gil	1st	37	1958	12
Garvey, Steve	1st	223	1973	11
Buckner, Billy	1st	80	1973	11
Karros, Eric	1st	175	1993	10
Stubbs, Franklin	1st	34	1987	9
Brock, Gregg	1st	47	1986	9
Karros, Eric	1st	175	2001	8
Brock, Greg	1st	47	1984	8
Larker, Norm	1st	35	1959	8
Karros, Eric	1st	175	1994	7
Larker, Norm	1st	35	1958	7
Stubbs, Franklin	1st	34	1988	6
Larker, Norm	1st	35	1961	6
Hodges, Gil	1st	37	1961	5
Farily, Ron	1st	142	1959	5
Loney, James	1st	51	2006	3
Parker, Wes	1st	146	1964	3
Hodges, Gil	1st	37	1960	3
Farily, Ron	1st	142	1958	2

NL MVP Retrospective, or Why Chase Utley Will Never Win Anything in His Lifetime

SFiercex4 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:00:02 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

Philadelphia Phillies' Chase Utley shields himself from Ryan Howard's monstrous right palm after Utley hit a three-run home run during the first inning of Game 5 of the Major League Baseball World Series against the New York Yankees Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, in Philadelphia. Howard raised his hand in a slapping motion, quietly warning Utley that those were HIS runs to be driven in! (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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Yesterday, the final end-of-season award of 2009 was announced, and it comes as no surprise that Albert Pujols was not only the winner, but a unanimous first-place winner, with all 32 first-place votes going to him.

Now, I have no issues with Mr. Pujols (though I will say that, if you went by WAR, it wasn't as much of a blowout as it is shown by the voting). He is likely the best player in baseball right now and far and away the best hitter in the game. No reasonable person would have an issue with this call. All congratulations go to him. But I thought it would appropriate to mention one quibble I had with the voting on which most readers here at Beyond the Box Score would share my distaste. Let me share the top 10 list with you, with the offending line in bold.

			Voting Results			Batting Stats
Rank		Tm	Vote Pts	1st Place	Share	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Albert Pujols	STL	448.0	32.0	100%	160	568	124	186	47	135	16	115	.327	.443	.658	1.101
2	Hanley Ramirez	FLA	233.0	0.0	52%	151	576	101	197	24	106	27	61	.342	.410	.543	.954
3	Ryan Howard	PHI	217.0	0.0	48%	160	616	105	172	45	141	8	75	.279	.360	.571	.931
4	Prince Fielder	MIL	203.0	0.0	45%	162	591	103	177	46	141	2	110	.299	.412	.602	1.014
5	Troy Tulowitzki	COL	172.0	0.0	38%	151	543	101	161	32	92	20	73	.297	.377	.552	.930
6	Andre Ethier	LAD	113.0	0.0	25%	160	596	92	162	31	106	6	72	.272	.361	.508	.869
7	Pablo Sandoval	SFG	89.0	0.0	20%	153	572	79	189	25	90	5	52	.330	.387	.556	.943
8	Chase Utley	PHI	84.0	0.0	19%	156	571	112	161	31	93	23	88	.282	.397	.508	.905
9	Derrek Lee	CHC	66.0	0.0	15%	141	532	91	163	35	111	1	76	.306	.393	.579	.972
10	Matt Kemp	LAD	49.0	0.0	11%	159	606	97	180	26	101	34	52	.297	.352	.490	.842

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/25/2009.

As many of the astute readers would have already figured out, I'm going to join in on the parade of whining about Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. There are more funny things to mention, such as the 10th place votes for Jeremy Affeldt and Brad Hawpe, but those silly votes are a novelty if anything. Chase Utley not receiving MVP recognition for his elite play is not a novel concept.

First, the Numbers

Of course, I don't think any award comparison article could honestly be attempted without a good old fashioned table of WAR values! All data taken from FanGraphs, so as not to step on anyone's toes using my own calculations of wOBA weights for the season (I keep getting average wOBA of .333, but FanGraphs has it as .329, which worries me). SB/CS baserunning is already included in FanGraphs wOBA, so I only added non-basestealing runs from Baseball Prospectus' EqBRR.

Rank	Player	Batting	Baserunning	Defense	PosAdj	RepAdj	WAR
1	Albert Pujols	72.1	-0.6	1.3	-12.4	23.3	8.4
2	Hanley Ramirez	44.2	1.7	-0.3	7.0	21.7	7.4
3	Ryan Howard	35.6	-2.8	1.3	-12.4	23.4	4.5
4	Prince Fielder	55.4	-3.1	0.6	-12.5	24.0	6.4
5	Troy Tulowitzki	27.4	3.9	-1.2	7.0	20.9	5.8
6	Andre Ethier	25.3	0.9	-16.2	-7.4	22.8	2.5
7	Pablo Sandoval	34.9	1.1	-4.2	-0.1	21.1	5.3
8	Chase Utley	39.4	5.4	10.8	2.4	22.9	8.1
9	Derrek Lee	39.8	0.7	3.7	-10.9	20.5	5.4
10	Matt Kemp	23.2	1.5	2.6	2.0	22.2	5.2

I'll first mention that the overall list is not all that bad. If you went by FanGraphs' WAR totals, you would only be missing Ryan Zimmerman and Adrian Gonzalez from the top 10. Gonzalez finished 12th in the balloting despite playing for the San Diego Padres, but Ryan Zimmerman was snubbed of an excellent season, finishing 25th. Such is the perils of depending on defense for your value (and for playing for the Washington Nationals).

But back to the man of the hour, so to speak. How does Chase Utley rank among the top 10 MVP candidates in each (non-playing time) category? As you can see, Utley was the best defender using single-season UZR. We shouldn't consider that "the truth," but if we look at regressed projections such as the ones I made for the Gold Glove vs. UZR series, you'll see that Utley comes out even better after considering the past few seasons in UZR and Fans Scouting Report data (Pujols would also look very well, while a few others remain around where they are). Utley was also the best baserunner by a good margin, and that should not surprise anyone. He stole 23 bags out of 23 attempts this year, which is incorporated in to his batting totals, and in addition gathered up five more runs taking extra bases on hits, grounders, and fly balls according to EqBRR.

Who did not look so good? Well, if you trust the data listed here, Andre Ethier should not even have sniffed this ballot. Not a lot of consideration was given to his defense, which did not appear very good. Using just a weighted UZR projection, I had him at -7 runs, which is a good win or so better than what he supposedly showed as listed here, but would still put him well behind the other candidates in terms of production. Ethier was also the second worst hitter in terms of wRAA and baserunning, ahead of only Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Matt Kemp. Much was made of Ethier's "clutch" performance this year (he won the award for ESPN!), and his 1.01 wins in the clutch according to FanGraphs generally supports that. So he's got that going for him, I suppose.

The Ryan Howard-RBI Conspiracy

Of course, I didn't mention the giant elephant in the room, in the form of Phillies slugger Ryan Howard. We know that Utley has been a better hitter compared to Howard the past three seasons, based on wOBA/linear weights. What Howard brings in home run power, Utley more than makes up for in doubles and not making outs.

However, Utley bats third in the Phillies lineup behind Jimmy Rollins (career OBP .329) and Shane Victorino (career OBP .347, though it's been higher in recent seasons). Meanwhile, Howard bats fourth in the Phillies order and regularly has, well, Chase Utley (career OBP .379) on base. And people wonder why Utley gets RBI totals in the 90-100 range regularly, while Howard has those "marvelous" 140-RBI seasons.

While it is true that Howard has done a better job of bringing runners home when he has been at the plate the last two seasons (20.5% of baserunners have come home to score during Howard's appearances the last two seasons) than Utley has (15.9% over the same time span), I think it's pertinent to note that Howard has had over 14% more runners on base the last two seasons. Keep the two-year "run-driving" rates the same and give Howard the number of baserunners Utley had, and Howard would have been expected to drive in 176 baserunners compared to Utley's 137, a difference of only 39 runners over two years. Is 20 RBI's a season really that much of a difference between an MVP competitor (Howard placed 3rd this season, 2nd last season) and an MVP also-ran (Utley placed 8th this season and a staggering 14th last year)?

And of course, this doesn't even consider their differences in position, defense, baserunning, and all those other things regularly glossed over during MVP voting season.

Will he ever win?

I can't tell you that, my friend. It seems like the lure of the RBI still looms large over Chase Utley's head. After all, how can you be the most important player on your team when you don't drive in the most runs? I mean, coincidentally, the highest ranking player from each team represented on the ballot led their team in RBI's this season. Without having looked at the award ballots from previous years, I'd hazard a guess that that is more the rule than an exception. Unless Utley magically starts hitting 40 home runs a season, I don't know if he can avoid being on base for Howard not to drive him in. And if he stops getting on base in general, well, we can't have that type of player win awards?

Well, I guess we could, since Jimmy Rollins won the MVP in 2007 with a .344 OBP (more on that season a little later). But for that to happen, I think Utley would have to be the only player to hit 50 doubles, 30 home runs, 20 triples, 30 steals, and 15 sacrifice flies, or some other "prestigious" club that he'd have created himself that year. And clearly he's just not good enough to have that kind of MVP-caliber season.

Ethier Finishes 6th, Kemp Gets 10th in NL MVP Voting

Eric Stephen — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:06:43 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

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For the first time in 18 years, the Dodgers had a pair of outfielders receive votes for Most Valuable Player. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, who each won Silver Slugger awards last week, finished 6th and 10th, respectively in the balloting, which was won by Albert Pujols of the Cardinals. Brett Butler (7th) and Darryl Strawberry (9th), in 1991, were the last Dodger outfield duo to receive MVP votes.

Ethier received two 2nd place votes, three 4th place votes, two 5th place votes, five 6th place votes, four 7th place votes, five 8th place votes, and three 9th place votes, appearing on 24 of 32 ballots.

Kemp received two 4th place votes, one 5th place vote, two 6th place votes, three 7th place votes, one 8th place vote, one 9th place vote, and two 10th place votes, appearing on 12 of 32 ballots.

Full results can be found at the Baseball Writers Association of America website.

LA Dodger Outfield Duos in MVP Voting
Year	Player		Player
2009	Andre Ethier	6th	Matt Kemp	10th
1991	Brett Butler	7th	Darryl Strawberry	9th
1985	Pedro Guerrero	3rd	Mike Marshall	t-14th
1974	Jimmy Wynn	5th	Bill Buckner	t-25th
1962	Tommy Davis	3rd	Frank Howard	9th
1959	Wally Moon	4th	Duke Snider	t-22nd

How Dodgers Became Dodgers: Where Pedro Astacio Becomes Blake DeWitt

Eric Stephen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:00:16 -0000

More photos » by Ed Andrieski - AP

Blake and DeWitt are two of seven players currently on the 40-man roster who have links to Dodgers past.

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Major league 40-man rosters were set last Friday in preparation for the upcoming Rule 5 draft in two weeks. With the free agency period just starting, there are many open spots on rosters throughout baseball. The Dodgers, for instance, have 33 players on their 40-man roster. Over the next few weeks, free agents will be signed and some players will be non-tendered, so rosters will change, but for now let's look at the 33 Dodgers and how they became Dodgers.

Almost half of the Dodgers currently on the 40-man roster -- 16 of 33 -- were drafted by the team with their own draft pick:

Draft(ed) Dodgers
Player	Year	Round	Pick

James Loney	2002	1	19
Jonathan Broxton	2002	2	60
James McDonald	2002	11	331
Eric Stults	2002	15	451
Russell Martin	2002	17	511

Chad Billingsley	2003	1	24
Xavier Paul	2003	4	121
Matt Kemp	2003	6	181
Lucas May	2003	8	241
A.J. Ellis	2003	18	541

Scott Elbert	2004	1	17
Javy Guerra	2004	4	118
Cory Wade	2004	10	298

Brent Leach	2005	6	196
Trayvon Robinson	2005	10	316

Clayton Kershaw	2006	1	7

These are pretty straight forward original transactions, as are these other four amateur free agents:

Amateur Free Agents
Player	Date	Origin
Hong-Chih Kuo	6/19/99	Taiwan
Ramon Troncoso	6/20/02	Dominican Republic
Chin-Lung Hu	1/31/03	Taiwan
Kenley Jansen	11/17/04	Curacao

That makes 20 of 33 Dodgers who are with are with their original club. In addition to them, there are six more Dodgers that joined the club independent of other players. That is, their acquisitions aren't linked to anyone else:

Free Agents
Player	Date
Rafael Furcal	12/19/05
Juan Pierre	11/22/06
Travis Schlichting*	10/7/07
Hiroki Kuroda	12/16/07
Ronald Belisario*	1/13/09
Charlie Haeger*	1/17/09
*minor league free agents

This is where we get to the fun part of this exercise, as reminded by Rocknjosie in her excellent Fan Post last month. There are seven Dodgers left that were acquired as the result, directly or indirectly, of previous transactions. These are listed in chronological order based on the earliest transaction.

Andre Ethier
Date	Transaction
6/1/88	drafted Mike Piazza in the 62nd round (#1390 overall)
8/4/96	signed Luke Allen as an undrafted free agent
12/8/96	signed Todd Zeile as a free agent
5/14/98	traded Piazza and Zeile to Marlins for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson, and Manuel Barrios
11/18/00	signed Franklin Gutierrez as an amateur free agent
1/15/02	traded Sheffield to Braves for Odalis Perez, Brian Jordan, and Andrew Brown
1/17/03	traded Allen to Colorado for Jason Romano
4/3/04	traded Romano to Tampa Bay for Antonio Perez
4/3/04	traded Gutierrez and Brown to Cleveland for Milton Bradley
12/13/05	traded Bradley and Perez to Oakland for Ethier
Total Related Players: 9

Blake DeWitt
Date	Transaction
11/21/87	signed Pedro Astacio as an amateur free agent
6/14/91	signed Ismael Valdez as an amateur free agent
8/28/94	signed Luke Prokopec as an amateur free agent
8/19/97	traded Astacio to Rockies for Eric Young
12/12/99	traded Young and Valdez to Cubs for Terry Adams, Brian Stephenson, and Chad Ricketts
12/31/01	traded Prokopec and Ricketts to Toronto for Cesar Izturis and Paul Quantrill
12/17/03	Quantrill signed as a free agent with the Yankees
6/7/04	drafted DeWitt with a compensation first round pick (#28 overall)
Total Related Players: 6

Ivan DeJesus
Date	Transaction
7/7/94	signed Adrian Beltre as an amateur free agent
12/17/04	Beltre signed as a free agent with Seattle
6/7/05	drafted DeJesus with a compensation second round pick (#51 overall)
Total Related Players: 1

Jason Repko
Date	Transaction
1/16/96	signed Scott Radinsky as a free agent
11/23/98	Radinsky signed as a free agent with St. Louis
6/2/99	drafted Repko with a compensation supplemental pick (#37 overall)
Total Related Players: 1

Manny Ramirez
Date	Transaction
12/12/98	signed Kevin Brown as a free agent
6/3/03	drafted Andy LaRoche in the 39th round (#1171 overall)
12/13/03	traded Brown to Yankees for Jeff Weaver, Yhency Brazoban, Brandon Weeden, and cash
2/23/06	Weaver signed as a free agent with the Angels
6/6/06	drafted Bryan Morris with a compensation first round pick (#26 overall)
7/31/08	traded LaRoche and Morris to Pittsburgh in a 3-team trade; received Manny and cash from Boston
Total Related Players: 4

Casey Blake
Date	Transaction
8/13/04	signed Carlos Santana as an amateur free agent
6/7/05	drafted Jon Meloan in fifth round (#166 overall)
7/26/08	traded Santana and Meloan to Cleveland for Blake, and cash
Total Related Players: 2

George Sherrill
Date	Transaction
6/7/05	drafted Josh Bell in the second round (#74 overall)
6/7/05	drafted Steven Johnson in the 13th round (#406 overall)
7/30/09	traded Bell and Johnson to Baltimore for Sherrill
Total Related Players: 2

Dodgers pursuing Roy Halladay

Eli Greenspan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:05:53 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

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USA Today is reporting that the Dodgers are very interested in acquiring Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. The Dodgers lack a true ace, and feel that Halladay would solve their problems in the rotation.

However, the Dodgers lack depth in their farm system, and would probably have to bring in a third team to make a deal happen.

The Dodgers could try to include Russell Martin in the deal, but may not be willing to include, say, Andre Ethier or Clayton Kershaw.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today suggests Chad Billingsley would likely have to go in the deal.

2010 CHONE Projections Are Out

Eric Stephen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:09:38 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez join fellow outfielder Matt Kemp as the only Dodgers projected by CHONE to have an OPS of .800 or above in 2010.

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Last month we looked at the projections from the 2010 Bill James Handbook. Now, the second set of projections are in, from Sean Smith of the wonderful blog Anaheim Angels All The Way. His full list of CHONE projections can be found here.

I added these projections to the previous Bill James projections, and also took a look back to 2009 to see how accurate last year's set of predictions were. The 2009 and 2010 CHONE projections are highlighted below.

I also threw in prOPS from The Hardball Times, short for "predicted OPS," which is "a formula for predicting what a player's OPS is likely to be in the future based on his batted balls, strikeouts, home runs and walks," to see if there was any luck based on batted balls.

Infield
Russell Martin
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.292	.390	.439	.829
2009 CHONE	.286	.384	.434	.818
2009 actual	.250	.352	.329	.680
2009 prOPS	.284	.382	.396	.778
2010 Bill James	.272	.372	.396	.768
2010 CHONE	.273	.364	.407	.771
2010 status	arbitration eliglble

James Loney
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.295	.351	.443	.794
2009 CHONE	.294	.355	.446	.801
2009 actual	.281	.357	.399	.756
2009 prOPS	.298	.371	.438	.809
2010 Bill James	.294	.360	.440	.800
2010 CHONE	.292	.354	.444	.798
2010 status	arbitration eliglble

Orlando Hudson
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.270	.342	.392	.734
2009 CHONE	.276	.353	.407	.760
2009 actual	.283	.357	.417	.774
2009 prOPS	.277	.352	.391	.742
2010 Bill James	.280	.353	.409	.762
2010 CHONE	.270	.342	.395	.737
2010 status	Type A free agent

Ronnie Belliard
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.266	.331	.405	.736
2009 CHONE	.272	.331	.419	.750
2009 actual	.277	.325	.451	.776
2009 prOPS	.281	.328	.466	.794
2010 Bill James	.265	.322	.416	.738
2010 CHONE	.256	.313	.404	.717
2010 status	Type B free agent
Belliard's stats include time w/Nats

Rafael Furcal
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.286	.354	.409	.763
2009 CHONE	.284	.358	.412	.770
2009 actual	.269	.335	.375	.711
2009 prOPS	.278	.343	.388	.730
2010 Bill James	.278	.346	.391	.737
2010 CHONE	.273	.342	.388	.730
2010 status	under contract

Casey Blake
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.259	.334	.429	.763
2009 CHONE	.259	.336	.439	.775
2009 actual	.280	.363	.468	.832
2009 prOPS	.287	.372	.473	.845
2010 Bill James	.257	.337	.426	.762
2010 CHONE	.256	.331	.430	.761
2010 status	under contract

Outfield
Manny Ramirez
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.304	.406	.556	.962
2009 CHONE	.291	.408	.556	.964
2009 actual	.290	.418	.531	.949
2009 prOPS	.314	.439	.557	.995
2010 Bill James	.296	.406	.537	.943
2010 CHONE	.272	.368	.501	.869
2010 status	under contract

Matt Kemp
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.311	.360	.496	.856
2009 CHONE	.299	.353	.476	.829
2009 actual	.297	.352	.490	.842
2009 prOPS	.279	.335	.478	.813
2010 Bill James	.311	.365	.508	.873
2010 CHONE	.297	.351	.492	.843
2010 status	arbitration eliglble

Andre Ethier
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.303	.374	.492	.866
2009 CHONE	.292	.366	.468	.834
2009 actual	.272	.361	.508	.869
2009 prOPS	.292	.378	.520	.898
2010 Bill James	.288	.368	.500	.868
2010 CHONE	.281	.356	.488	.844
2010 status	arbitration eliglble

Juan Pierre
Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009 Bill James	.292	.348	.356	.704
2009 CHONE	.283	.328	.357	.685
2009 actual	.308	.365	.392	.792
2009 prOPS	.306	.362	.376	.738
2010 Bill James	.291	.342	.355	.697
2010 CHONE	.287	.335	.369	.704
2010 status	under contract

You can get the full list of Dodgers' CHONE projections here.

Looking at the CHONE projections, I thought the mythical battle for fourth outfielder was interesting:

2010 CHONE Projections
4th Outfielder	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Mitch Jones	.228	.306	.435	.741
Hector Luna	.261	.324	.408	.732
Xavier Paul	.259	.323	.390	.713
Jamie Hoffmann	.255	.328	.379	.707
Juan Pierre	.287	.335	.369	.704

Dynamic Duo: Kemp & Ethier Each Win Silver Slugger

Eric Stephen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:35:05 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

The dynamic duo each picked up a Silver Slugger award today

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Coming into 2009, it was not unheard of to expect a Dodger outfielder to win a Silver Slugger award. In April, I would have pegged Manny Ramirez as the favorite, but instead his two outfield mates, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, each captured the honor today, which recognizes the top offensive performances at each position.

Each Silver Slugger captured his second award this season: Kemp won a Gold Glove yesterday; Andre Ethier won the Pepsi Clutch Player of the Year award last week.

Kemp hit .297/.352/.490 with 26 home runs, 97 runs scored, and 101 runs batted in. Ethier hit .272/.361/.508 with 31 homers, 91 runs, and 106 RBI. Kemp & Ethier were the first Dodger teammates to knock in 100 runs since 2001 (Shawn Green & Gary Sheffield).

Kemp and Ethier become the fourth and fifth Dodger outfielders to win the award, which began in 1980, joining Dusty Baker (1980, 1981), Pedro Guerrero (1982), and Kirk Gibson (1988).

The last Dodger to win a Silver Slugger was Russell Martin in 2007. The last pair of Dodger teammates to win a Silver Slugger were Mike Piazza and Eric Karros in 1995.

SBN Awards: NL MVP (hint, it starts with a P)

DyingQuail — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:00:47 -0000

by Matt Rourke - AP

Is this Pujols? No. Is it an incredible dick-ish picture of Jayson Werth that I've been waiting ages to have a legitimate use for? Yes.

View full size photo »

Unanimity for presidents has been reserved solely for Washington. For Albert Pujols in 2009, all the denizens of SBN nation who cast a ballot lauded him with the honor being the unanimous NL MVP. Can anyone even make an argument against this?

For myself, I literally just voted by WAR, but I did slip Michael Bourn in at 8th because, I could and I thought he deserved it. I obviously wasn't the only one pulling some homerism, so I'm not too concerned.

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

My question is: Juan Pierre, really?

SB Nation - Andre Ethier

NL West in Review: Right Fielders

Arizona

2009 in Review

Justin Upton

#10 / Right Field / Arizona Diamondbacks

2010 in Preview

Colorado

2009 in Review

Brad Hawpe

#11 / Right Field / Colorado Rockies

2010 in Preview

Los Angeles

2009 in Review

Andre Ethier

#16 / Right Field / Los Angeles Dodgers

2010 in Preview

San Diego

2009 in Review

Will Venable

#25 / Right Field / San Diego Padres

2010 in Preview

2009 in Review

Randy Winn

#2 / Left Field / San Francisco Giants

2010 in Preview

Dodgers Waste Golden Opportunity, Decline Arbitration For Wolf, Hudson

Updated Dodger 1st Baseman Win Shares

NL MVP Retrospective, or Why Chase Utley Will Never Win Anything in His Lifetime

Ethier Finishes 6th, Kemp Gets 10th in NL MVP Voting

How Dodgers Became Dodgers: Where Pedro Astacio Becomes Blake DeWitt

Dodgers pursuing Roy Halladay

2010 CHONE Projections Are Out

Infield

Outfield

Dynamic Duo: Kemp & Ethier Each Win Silver Slugger

SBN Awards: NL MVP (hint, it starts with a P)