SB Nation User Blog: Steve Nelson

Dayton Moore channeling Bill Bavasi

Steve Nelson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:46:11 -0000

The Royals sign HoRam and plan to use him in the rotation:

[Club] officials are convinced Ramirez can be an effective starter and inject a left-handed element into their rotation. He was 38-29 with a 4.55 ERA in 104 starts from 2003-07 for Atlanta and Seattle.
“We expect Horacio Ramirez to be in our rotation next season,” Moore said. “He’s healthy, and some of our other guys have options. We like the idea of having at least one left-hander in our rotation.”

What an example of Bavasi-style results based analysis. Despite HoRam's lack of overall pitching skills, Bavasi thought HoRam was an unpolished gem because HoRam had some success in Atlanta. Predictably, HoRam stinks it up in Seattle so badly even Bavasi lets him go.

HoRam hooks up with KC on a minor league contract and stumbles into a lucky streak. Moore then trades him to the White Sox, and I'm thinking Moore's showing signs of a few functioning synapses when Moore takes the opportunity to flip HoRam to Kenny Williams based on a lucky streak. But no ..... it appears that Moore actually thought Ramirez was as good as his results in KC last year.

It was ugly when David Glass fired Allard Baird by stringing Baird from a tree, cutting off his nuts, and letting him twist while onlookers averted their eyes. But I thought that long-suffering Royals fans had a glimmer of hope with Dayton Moore coming on-board.

Looking at Moore in action though, we see things such as the Jacobs trade and this Ramirez signing. It's almost as if Moore's in a trance being led by the spirit of Bavasi.

I really feel sorry for Royals fans. (At least the ones who didn't post about Jacobs at FanGraphs. The KC idiots who did post there deserve Moore and more.) They've been through so much, and it looks as if they are yet consigned to damnation. No town, with the exception of Oklahoma City, deserves what is being heaped on KC.

Cashman warned by Gillick about working for Lincoln

Steve Nelson — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:32:30 -0000

Sometimes Gillick is like a guy from a slasher movie; even if you think he's gone you know that somehow he's going to find a way to come back and get you.

So now here's Jon Heyman supporting what has been suggested elsewhere; viz., that Cashman never gave any serious consideration to the Mariners job. And it's because of difficulties Gillick had working for Lincoln:

Cashman was warned about Mariners honcho

Brian Cashman is still a Yankee in part because of Gillick's stories about working for the current Mariners regime. Gillick told Cashman for years what it was like to answer to Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln, and Cashman is said to have never seriously considered going there in part because of those stories.

So if Lincoln couldn't keep from meddling when someone with Gillick's pedigree was GM, does the Z-man stand a chance??

I don't understand???

Steve Nelson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:58:19 -0000

How can Tampa Bay be leading the Red Sox 3-1 in the League Championship, particularly having now won two games on the road?

For years the esteemed and knowledgeable experts on Baseball Tonight, in the news media, and at ESPN.com have assured us that when it's the post-season teams simply cannot advance if the players on the roster don't have playoff experience. We've been advised in no uncertain terms that the post-season is "a different game" and if players "haven't been there before" there is no way they can prepare for it and they will wilt under the pressure. Isn't this precisely why rosters must be salted with veterans; why proven veterans are always worth more than untested youngsters, or even players with MLB experience but who have never experienced post-season play??

Surely the differences between the Rays and the Red Sox aren't as great as has been seen so far in their series. If those two teams played each other all 162 games in a season, overall wouldn't we expect no more than about 10 games separating them at the end of the season? If the teams are that closely matched, why isn't the veteran experience of the Red Sox manifesting as the deciding factor in a playoff series?

So why is Tampa Bay stomping the Red Sox? What am I missing here?? Could it be that the those esteemed experts about baseball are as full as BS as the stock broker who was telling me three months ago that with the pullbacks in the stock market stocks were oversold and it was one of the best times to buy stocks he had ever seen?

Poll: How offensive was Chuck Armstrong's decision to keep Washburn?

Steve Nelson — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:21:22 -0000

We've commented ad nauseum about Chuck Armstrong's decision to kill the deal to trade Washburn to the Twins. That FanPost generated more comments than any other that I've done.

But I think it's time to get more quantitative about our feelings. Yes, the decision was offensive, but how offensive was it? Midlly offensive or gut-sickening bad??

And what better way to get quantified than by getting polled. So here it is, a Lookout Landing poll for gauging our revulsion.

Poll

Which of these is least offensive?

Overflowing seasickness slop bucket.

30 votes

Wastebasket filled with used tampons and sanitary napkins collected from a hospital gonorrhea and syphilis treatment ward.

28 votes

5-gallon pail filled with liquid that oozes out of the bottoms of garbage cans.

37 votes

The stuff dragged back up the sewer pipe after RotoRooter finishes clearing your house lateral.

17 votes

Chuck Armstrong's decision to kill the deal to trade Washburn to the Twins.

23 votes

135 votes | Poll has closed

Geoff Baker interviews Armstrong about 2009

Steve Nelson — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:16:28 -0000

Baker reports on a interview with Armtrong in his blog and in a regular beat story. There's enough in there to enable an average heathy adult to grind down every tooth in his or her mouth to bare nubbins, with enough left over to handle three or four high quality replacement crowns to boot.

But for this FanPost I want to focus on this little gem:

For the record, Armstrong says he was the one who blocked the Jarrod Washburn trade to the Twins. Says he wants "value'' back, not just more saved money. He feels Washburn has been the only one other than Hernandez getting hitters out the past three months and that the team still needs that to get through the year. He also says, if the new GM doesn't deal Washburn, the team could still find value in having Washburn stick around.

So, Armstrong personally killed the Washburn deal. Armstrong was the guy who insisted the Mariners needed to get value in return. That item summarizes so much about the ineptness of the Mariners organization.

First: team executives continue their long tradition of injecting themselves into baseball operations decisions. Here we see Armstrong overriding the GM on what really should be a straight forward transaction. Washburn is not the heart and soul of the team. Moving Washburn does not mean the club is suddenly going in a new direction. At least it should not be perceived that way, but maybe this executive crew is so loopy they see it as a franchise defining moment. Armstrong has been doing this for as long as he has been Club President (at least 15 years).

Second: only in the Mariners world does a pitcher such as Washburn appear to have value above and beyond simply taking over his contract. This whole situation with expecting value back for Washburn is absurd on so many levels. The Mariners are like a guy who got suckered into a timeshare presentation in Mexico, and spent $20,000 on a one week per year one-bedroom condo with $1000 per year in fees. Now the guy is trying to find someone in his office who will buy it from him for $10,000 - half price, he tells them - but the reality is that he's lucky if he can simply find someone who will take that albatross off his hands for nothing. He still thinks this is something valuable because, after all, he paid $20,000 for it, didn't he? So it must be worth something and all of those coworkers who laugh at him when he tries to sell it just don't grasp the bargain they are passing up. Meanwhile, over at the water cooler folks are having a good chuckle over how clueless this guy is - initially for paying $20,000 for something that wasn't even worth a fraction of that value and now for not being able to realize (or admit) that he got suckered.

Third: Team executive hubris continues unchecked and unabated. One would hope that at some point Armstrong and Lincoln would step back and consider the overall performance of the team under their watch, and realize that they aren't nearly as smart as they consider themselves to be. Under their watches the team had their one moment in the sun - as all but the most totally inept franchises experience occasionally - and they have since regressed to the dregs of MLB. And their dwelling mates are all teams that operate with far less resources. Given the amount of financial resources the Mariners organization has, they are the worst performers in baseball. Yet the men in charge of getting this team into the mess still believe they are the ones to lead the team out. And yet they continue to inject themselves into all but the most mundane operational decisions.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making the Playoffs Every Year

Steve Nelson — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:48:20 -0000

Coming soon to a Barnes & Noble in your neighborhood. Or just wait for the publishers overrun to begin showing up on Amazon.com or eBay stores.

PI Blog Humor - M's top priority: Lock up Bloomquist to a long term deal

Steve Nelson — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:41:32 -0000

Buried among the dregs and offal of the newspapers you can find an occasional little gem sparkling amidst the excrement. And so I link forth:

M's top priority: Lock up Bloomquist to a long term deal.

Willie is on pace to play 121 games with 254 at bat's this year. He already has 6 rbi's, 1 double and is on pace for 14 rbi's with a solid .271 slug percentage.

Also, Willie having turned 30 years of age is just beginning to enter his prime. Mike Blowers always raves about Willie's stellar fielding and base running skills, so its time the M's reward Wille for his outstanding production. Where would the M's be without Willie??? In the past the M's management has let Randy, Griffey, A-Rod, Tino, Garcia, Guillen, Soriano and Lou slip away via trades or free-agency. My point being, lets not let Mr. Mariner get away and prevent the M's fans from watching years of outstanding play and production.

Good subtle humor there - if you read too quickly you think he's being completely serious or you wonder if he has a Willie man-crush.

The Sinking Standard for Excessive Suckitude

Steve Nelson — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:31:33 -0000

Looking at some data, it's clear that since 2003 the Mariners' standards for Unacceptable Suckitude Leading to Dismissal have sunk nearly as much as the public image of both Elliot Spitzer and the drawers of the whore with whom he consorted. Consider, for example, the level of suckitude leading to banishment and dismissal from the team four or five years ago, as compared with the current roster:

Player            OBP    SLG    OPS

==============   =====  =====  ====

R Ibanez         .340   .438   .778

A Beltre         .312   .434   .746

B Boone (2004)   .317   .423   .740

I Suzuki         .351   .378   .729

J Olerud (2004)  .354   .360   .714

J Lopez          .304   .410   .714

Y Betancourt     .289   .405   .694

B Boone (2005)   .299   .385   .684

R Sexson         .294   .380   .674

C Everett (2006) .297   .360   .657

R Aurilia (2004) .304   .337   .641

J Vidro          .264   .326   .590

K Johjima        .265   .299   .564

What is the keyboard equivalent for "speechless"?

Steve Nelson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:32:28 -0000

At a travel related BBS I frequent, someone started a thread with the following post:

The last time we were in Cancun, we tried several different Mexican beers and just didn't enjoy them very much. We were thrilled when we found Bud Light at Sam's Club there. Does anyone know of a Mexican beer that tastes similar to our American light beers?

Can one even respond to that? What could one possibly post in reply that would mean anything?

What is the keyboard of looking at someone, slack-jawed and mouth agape?

Mariners trying to trade Triunfel??

Steve Nelson — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:24:58 -0000

I was over at John Sicke's Minor League Ball blog looking at his Top 50 Hitters Pre-Season List Status Report. The following item caught my attention:

37) Carlos Triunfel, SS, Seattle Mariners: .280/.320/.364 before being suspended for unclear reasons. Rumored to be on the trade block already, which really makes you wonder about his future.

That's the first I've heard about Mariners interest in trading Triunfel. Has anybody else heard anything?

Unfortunately, this wouldn't surprise me in the least. (Reminds me of the old Dorothy Parker quip - "If all the coeds at Vassar were laid end-to-end, I wouldn't be the least surprised." But I digress.) Team is flailing and needs fix. Character is lacking. Need more gritty veteran to salvage season and make playoff push. What do we have to trade??? Triunfel!!!