This is really bugging me, and it all goes back to Graham's post a few weeks ago (thanks, Graham!):

http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2008/12/22/699319/clement-the-catcher

So the difference between the worst catcher of all time and the best is on the order of 2 wins a season. Which isn't very much.

...snip...

For 5 runs of defensive upgrade, Jeff Clement would lose 25 runs of positional value. 25! Potential injuries aside, no matter how bad he looks in the field, there is no way that you shift Clement off his postion right now. As an average major league hitter, a level well within his ability to reach, he'd be worth 2-2.5 WAR as a catcher against 0-0.5 WAR as a DH/1B. Start being less conservative with his defence (after all, he's not going to be Piazza bad), and the difference only grows.

The implication here is that if a player is physically capable of squatting and catching most pitches, he should be used as a catcher until he is no longer capable of doing so.

Just for fun, let's try this with, I don't know, Raul Ibanez. You could substitute Adam Dunn or Pat Burrell or Bobby Abreu any of the other "should be DHing" types if you like, but Ibanez at least has worn a catcher's mitt at one time, so he's the most 'realistic' if you can even call it that.

Let's say that Ibanez is top-tier, first ballot, Poopertown Hall of Shame worthy. Half again as bad as Piazza as Piazza was as bad as average (-1 defensively).  Theoretically, this only costs the team 15 runs? He gets 12.5 back just as a positional adjustment, which makes it almost a wash defensively.

Fangraphs has Ibanez at 2.3 WAR with the bat, but just 0.55 overall as a LF:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/replacing-burrell-with-ibanez/

At -2.5 runs as a defensive catcher (-15 for being historically laughable, +12.5 for the positional adjustment), he's a +2 win player, and totally deserves his contract, for the first year, anyway.

If Piazza was -10 runs defensively, Ibanez would have to be about -30 to justify making him a LF instead of a catcher?

So...um...WTF?

I do my best to follow all the stats, but I must have gotten a few crossed up here, because barely-replacement-level LF just don't go on to be league-average catchers, right?

Seattle Mariners = Talent Misers Era
Carlos Silva = Calls Savior (he'll need to 'call' his savior a lot)
Miguel Jesus Cairo = Ere Malicious Jugs (Goes well with Beluga Tits)
But since he's joining the former club of Shane Monahan, this might turn into: "Goal: Juice Misuser"

And our favorite player would get much more respect with a name like: Will Mosquito Bile.

On waivers:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/10/26/padres.giles.ap/index.html

Not really any way to candy-coat his year in 2007. Still, it wasn't too many years ago he was a productive player, and he's only 30 next year. I wouldn't give him a major league contract, but if he wants to stay on the west coast, he'd be a good pickup to push Lopez in the spring.

Forgive me a little late-season rosterbation.

The problems: 4 major-league quality starting pitchers for 5 spots. 92 major-league quality relievers for 7 spots. OK, maybe not quite 92, but close.

The solution: 4 man rotation. Dump Ho, bring back Lowe. Get Feierabend, Mickolio (when he's healthy, dumping Rivera from the 40-man) and Huber (when he's healthy) to travel with the team for the next couple of weeks, swapping parts out as they tire until they can be added to the active roster for the rest of the regular season. If things get desperate, there is enough dead wood on the 40-man roster to add the best of Rohrbaugh, Campillo or even Woods. Baek will be back in a few weeks as well.

Stock that bullpen full and limit the starters to 5 innings/80 pitches. Hell, with the Ho gone, it's not even that much more work on the pen than it's getting now. Get creative. Just slap the Ho to the curb.

According to THT.

He's also #25 in career Win Shares among active American Leaguers. Many of the guys in front of him are virtual locks for the Hall of Fame (and the rest are eleventy-billion years old), and Ichiro didn't get his first Major League Win Share until age 27. Most of the rest started at 22-23 or younger.

Link

One time fan favorite in Tacoma apparently had more than caffeine in his coffee. The front office got some grief for letting him go for nothing, but maybe they knew more than the average fan this time.

I don't know how many characters this is, but it's apparently less than 300. Wouldn't it be nice to have a counter if a limit is going to be enforced?

A different Joe Sheehan (who knew?) has a fantastic article up over at Baseball Analysts:
http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2007/03/digging_through.php
Basically, ESPN is now tracking (and apparently making public) all sorts of new information, including data about pitch velocity, break, location and release point.

For the real diehards, there's a lot of new data mining possibilities. Hopefully they keep it up through the season, because it's the sort of thing that people much smarter than me can make into something really interesting.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2660428
Yeah, it's been rumored on the blogs for a few days, but now it hit the pseudo-official level.

$42 million for negotiating rights. If it's true, one of two things is certain:

1. Epstein is no longer in charge of the BoSox.
   
2. Epstein gamed the system purely to make sure the Yankees don't get him, and have no intention of offering a reasonable contract.

Either way, good news.
A good team gets saddled with a financial responsibility that no level of performance can match or he's a free agent next year, and even if the M's don't try to sign him then, he's a year older and won't be helping a competitor in 2007.

Could be

Also of interest, Piniella is discussed as a replacement. Hasn't that ship sailed in NY?

Torre has surely made his share of mistakes like every other manager, but there's no questioning his credentials. It's too bad Hargrove is coming back to Seattle next year. Torre could share more than a few things with some of the Mariners, both on the field and in the office.

Yankee Stadium:

MLB Player's poll: Toughest places to play.

First entry, Yankee Stadium:

"Since Joe Torre took over as manager in 1996 through 2005, the Yankees are 513-292 (.805) at home in the Bronx,"

A .637 winning percentage is impressive enough without botching the math. Silly sports writers. Get a calculator!