SB Nation User Blog: Willton

Tanner Scheppers -- Partially Torn Labrum

Willton — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:17:03 -0000

Tanner Scheppers -- Partially Torn Labrum

Apparently some team doctors who checked him out think he has a 50% torn labrum that will eventually require surgery. Looks like the Pirates dodged a bullet there.

Mets Trade Milledge to Nats

Willton — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:21:06 -0000

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071130&content_id=2314337&vkey=hotstove2007&fe xt=.jsp

The Mets get Ryan Church and Brian Schneider for Milledge. Wow.

Has Milledge's stock fallen that much? I like Ryan Church and all, but Milledge is supposed to be much better than Church. And Schneider is now extraneous with Estrada already in tow. What were the Mets thinking?

The only justification for this trade that I can see (and its a weak one) is that the Mets did not think that Milledge is going to be that good. That's entirely possible, considering that Church hit just as well as Milledge did last year. But Milledge is a mere 22 years old! He has the chance of getting better, and if he doesn't then he'll be a Ryan Church, which is still pretty good. And what's better, he's cheap!

I do not understand this trade outside of the viewpoint that Omar Minaya sucks at evaluating talent.

Why so much concern about manager experience?

Willton — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 18:41:19 -0000

I don't understand why people here are making a big deal about managing experience. What benefit does experience impart on a manager?

I ask this because every available manager candidate that has experience was fired at one point because he was deemed to be a failure at his job. That does not sound like a good situation to buy into. I realize that a manager is only as good as the players he fields, but guys like Girardi, Brenly, Baker, Vallentine, Garner and Tracy were removed from their respective positions because their philosophy and conduct did not comport with the accepted norms and goals of the organization each one worked for. Do we really want to hire a retread to manage the Yankees? Must it always be that way?

Ron Gardenhire's first gig as a manager was with the Twins in 2002 after being merely a 3rd base coach for 4 years. Look what happened. Mike Scioscia served as a bench coach for the Dodgers for one year before signing on as the Angels manager in 1999. Look what happened. Eric Wedge never even coached, let alone managed, a MLB game in his life before he signed on with the Indians in 2002. Look what happened.

I think some of us here are being way too hard-headed about manager experience with regards to the next candidate. I'd much rather see the Yankees do something bold and creative than bring in retreads to interview for the job.

Littlefield FIRED!!!!

Willton — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:43:32 -0000

The Post-Gazette reports.

Way to go Nutting!!!

I'm guessing the display of the fruits of our farm system yesterday had an effect on our team's front office. There is hope for us estranged fans!

Now there's a new game we can play: who's going to be the next GM? I'm holding out hope for Paul DePodesta, but with our current manager that likely is not a possibility. Then again, maybe this signals the deathknell of Tracy as well.

A better perspective on Ortiz and steroids

Willton — Wed, 09 May 2007 19:34:52 -0000

A snippet from Will Carrol in today's UTK column that Powerhouse mentioned:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6209
(the relevant portion is available to everyone)

Oh goody, more steroid news! There's another day of churn surrounding David Ortiz, spinning his logical, open-minded assessment of how things have changed into something approaching an admission. The Mitchell investigation is attempting to look deep into the personal medical files of people like Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa, which leaves everyone to guess their favorite sluggers to fill out the list. Let's face it--facts aren't relevant here. We have a raging orgy of Chemical McCarthyism, blocked by its own failings and shadowed by the threat of government intervention. Call me an apologist or an ostrich if you'd like, but the fact is that there are few facts here. Kirk Radomski's dirty three dozen remain hidden, just like the Signature lists promised from Albany's drug investigation.
We need more players like Ortiz, willing to stand up and say that he doesn't know what he took ten years ago, back in his homeland where even now drug laws and labeling requirements aren't exactly stringent. This isn't a new story. When the buscones come and the promise of a trip to the United States comes calling, few Dominican teenagers are going to ask if there's anything extra in the B12 shot. If Ortiz took something, knowingly or unknowingly, a decade ago, what does it matter? If he took it in 2001, it wasn't banned, and it wasn't tested for. If he took it in 2004 or after, then the testing system would have caught him. Juan Salas found this out, as did Mets minor leaguer Jorge Reyes, who was hit for 100 games, something that amounts to a near-fatal career move for a guy in Single-A. Are players cheating? Sure. I'd guess there are some taking steroids, and some are taking growth hormones or the more exotic concoctions that are coming out of pseudo-Japanese labs on the East Coast. I'd also guess there's a player who's learning how to load or scuff a baseball and one or two that knows a bookie a little too well.

BP's Joe Sheehan Doesn't Like Johnson Trade

Willton — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:04:12 -0000

For those of you who don't know, Baseball Prospectus is website that is probably at the forefront of statistical baseball analysis. Joe Sheehan is an excellent writer for BP, as well as an avid Yankee fan. He is quite good at analyzing baseball data, although not as good as his fellow BP staffmates Clay Davenport or Nate Silver, and he knows the Yankees organization backwards and forwards. So when he doesn't like a move made by the Yankees, it's usually for good reason.

It's not easy to make a deal with the Diamondbacks and not come out of it with some upside, but that's what the Yankees have done. They've added to their stash of college-draftee pitchers--remember, they took Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain in last year's draft--who don't project as stars, and added a utility-infield prospect and some relief help.
This wasn't even the best package of guys you've never heard of; the Yankees, staring at a hole at first base, would have been better off working Scott Hairston, Chris Carter or Brian Barden into this deal than taking Vizcaino or Gonzalez. The Diamondbacks have no room for any of them, they can all hit and all are better short-term fixes than Rule 5 pick Josh Phelps.
This deal is a good win for the Diamondbacks, who are closer to contention in the NL West than most people realize. By adding a good starting pitcher--remember, PECOTA projects Johnson to have a 3.52 ERA this season--in exchange for four guys they'll never miss and some cash, they've improved the 2007 team for, essentially, nothing. They didn't trade any of their top ten prospects, not even guys down the list like Micah Owings or Dustin Nippert. This deal closes the gap between them and the Padres and Dodgers, and pretty much ensures at least a three-team race in the West.

This is what Pfisty meant by trading Johnson "for pennies on the dollar." As much as we may not like Johnson, we'll likely miss his production.