SB Nation User Blog: andrewgolfsalot

LL on Deadspin

andrewgolfsalot — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:44:49 -0000

LL on Deadspin

It's ludicrous that Elias, home to more obscure stats than anyone else, doesn't even use now-common measures like OPS and WHIP in their valuations. (Though it's impossible to blame them; this was the formula agreed upon by baseball and the MLBPA.) This gives us major inconsistencies, like these chronicled at Lookout Landing:

Among the potential free agents, there are 26 Type A's, 52 Type B's, and 102 unranked. The average 08/09 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of the Type A's is 4.6. The average 08/09 WAR of the top 26 Type B's is 4.9.

The average 08/09 WAR of the bottom 26 Type B's is 1.5. The average 08/09 WAR of the top 26 unranked is 2.9.

21 unranked potential free agents posted a combined 08/09 WAR of 2+. Nine Type A's and 16 Type B's were below 2.

Guillermo Mota and David Weathers are Type B's despite posting WARs below zero.

Garret Anderson is a Type B despite being one of the least valuable players in the Major Leagues last year.

Peavy -> Chicago, though not the Cubs?

andrewgolfsalot — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:31:41 -0000

Sources tell Buster Olney/Peter Gammons, and everyone else that Jake Peavy is headed to the windy city if he agrees to wave his no trade clause.

Though apparently it won't be to the Cubs, as the White Sox and Padres have agreed on a deal.

ESPN's Peter Gammons reported that according to sources, the White Sox will send the Padres four players to complete the deal. He reported that Peavy called White Sox right-hander Scott Linebrink last night for his opinion about going to Chicago and got strong feedback.

Sources told Gammons that White Sox shortstop prospect Gordon Beckham is not among the players in the deal. Beckham was the eighth overall pick in last year's amateur draft.

Favor - Lineup Optimization

andrewgolfsalot — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:03:20 -0000

Hello fellow LLers,

I coach a 13-14 year old baseball team and we've played 11 games. We're 9-1. (We had a game protested that we have to replay the last inning of. We'll win that and move to 10-1.)

That being said, I don't think we're always getting the maximum output from our lineup.

Below, you'll find stats from the 10 games we've played that counted (stats from protested game omitted).

(Alex is the only LH batter on the team)

And so, my request: put together the optimal lineup (regardless of position) just 1-9 what you'd put as your batting order.

Thanks in advance!

Look what we can't have

andrewgolfsalot — Sat, 09 May 2009 07:49:52 -0000

Today, Stephen Strasburg threw a no-hitter, FML.

San Diego State right-hander Stephen Strasburg, the possible No. 1 overall draft pick next month, threw a no-hitter in a 5-0 victory over Air Force on Friday night.

Strasburg (11-0) struck out 17 and walked two in front of a school-record crowd of 3,337 in what was likely his final home appearance. The 6-foot-5 junior from San Diego, whose fastball was clocked at 102 mph earlier this season, has struck out 11 or more in 11 of his 12 starts for San Diego State (32-19, 11-8 Mountain West Conference).

It was the second no-hitter thrown against Air Force (14-32, 3-13) this season.

"There's a few pitches that I got away with that they fouled back that were kind of up and in the zone," Strasburg said in an interview posted on the school's Web site. "When it came crunch time and I needed a punchout or I needed to get a groundball, I was able to do that."

Strasburg is considered the favorite to be selected by the Washington Nationals, who hold the first pick in the baseball draft on June 9. Scheduled to receive the USA Baseball player of the year award Saturday, Strasburg lowered his ERA to 1.24 with 164 strikeouts in 87 1-3 innings.

He retired the first nine hitters he faced Friday, seven by strikeouts, before walking Nathan Carter to start the fourth inning. The Falcons' only other baserunner came on K.J. Randhawa's leadoff walk in the sixth.

Strasburg retired his final 12 batters, including striking out the side in the ninth.

Mitch Blackburn drove in two runs against Casey Allen (1-3), who allowed five runs — four earned — in eight innings for Air Force.

Rangers to Be Sold in the Near Future?

andrewgolfsalot — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:48:02 -0000

Apparently, Tom Hicks (rangers owner) is having money troubles.

Hicks owns the Rangers, the Dallas Stars, and has defaulted on $525M in loans.

Creditors to Texas financier Tom Hicks's Hicks Sports Group have declared the company in default, a measure that could eventually dislodge the Texas Rangers baseball club and Dallas Stars hockey franchise from his control.

Additionally, the NYT adds:

The Rangers baseball team and the Stars hockey team are now unable to pay both their operating expenses and their debt service, the newspaper said.

As for whether the team might be sold:

Major League Baseball's rules for such situations are more fluid, though if Hicks Sports Group can't satisfy lenders, the lenders can eventually force an MLB-sanctioned sale of the Rangers.

Hicks, on the other hand thinks he won't have to sell the teams:

"I'm confident that I'll be able to reach agreement with 51% of the lenders because I will be able to fund all the cash needs of the two teams during the period that I'm bringing in new partners, which will help us to drastically reduce if not eliminate HSG's debt,"

Open Felix vs. The World [Baseball Classic] Thread

andrewgolfsalot — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:03:44 -0000

Felix vs. Puerto Rico.

Starting now.

Requisite viewing: Here

Winner to the Semifinals.

Loser plays the US tomorrow in a win or go back to spring training game.

Game is on ESPN.

Gameday is here: Link

Ian Snell goes for Puerto Rico which puts out a lineup including Beltran, Rios, Delgado, Pudge, Felipe Lopez, Yadier Molina, and Alex Cora.

Also, feel free to turn this into a Jose Lopez vs. the World thread as well.

Finally, The market for cocaine dried up a bit, worldwide, today.

Spring Training - Friday 13th in Tucson

andrewgolfsalot — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:17:19 -0000

I am wondering if anyone has interest in getting together either before, during, or after the Mariners game Friday the 13th against the Diamondbacks at Tucson Electric Park?

I'll be going to the game, and have seats in section 108.

Also, I have a question to anyone who knows more than spring training than I do, which probably leaves everyone: do you know how the Mariners decide who goes where for split squad games? Friday's game in Tucson is half of a split squad game, with the other half up in Mesa as the M's take on the Cubs.

Will there be a list released at some point of players who will be heading down to Tucson?

What bothers me about the Blazers

andrewgolfsalot — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:32:20 -0000

Hi everyone at BE. I'm a long, long, long time lurker, and now a first time poster.

I wanted to make a quick observation about the Blazers tendencies and see how frustrating and/or noticeable it is to others.

We all know about the proneness to start slow, and get into holes, as we've seen the last two nights. Yea, that really ticks me off, and there's no need for it. But, that's not my main concern at this point.

What bothers me the most right now is the shot selection during runs. For example, during tonight's game, We were on a 11-3 run, within six, and Channing Frye came down the court, caught a pass at the top of the key and bricked a 21 foot jumper and the Spurs took it the other way and scored.

Frye did the same thing later, when we were down 5, shooting a three from the corner that had no chance.

Outlaw was guilty of this too, shooting off balance, and deep, contested jumpers that just happened to go in. And, as we all know, a shot that falls is not necessarily a good shot.

I don't understand how Nate's philosophy late in games, especially during runs isn't to get to the hoop more often.

Does this bother anyone else as much as it bothers me?

Lastly, thanks for a tremendous community and a wealth of Blazers information not available anywhere else.

Mike Scioscia to manage Angels forever

andrewgolfsalot — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:28:39 -0000

Mike Scioscia has agreed to a lengthy contract extension, ten years to be exact, that will allow him to opt out, were he to choose to do so, after the 2015 season.

Prior to this deal, Scioscia was under contract for this season with a club option for next season. It's believed that it was worth something in the 1.75M / year area.

No word on what the new deal is worth.

Link

"It's a significant commitment from myself, (Angels owner) Arte Moreno and (general manager) Tony Reagins," Scioscia said Monday. "I think it reflects on their confidence that we're moving in the right direction and will continue to move in the right direction until we get back to the World Series and win a championship. That's our goal."

Pavano --> Tribe

andrewgolfsalot — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:52:53 -0000

Carl Pavano has signed with the Cleveland Indians.

ESPN is reporting that sources claim the deal to be worth a base salary of 1.5M with up to 5.3M in incentives based on starts and innings pitched.

Indians rotation shapes up to be Lee and Carmona along with some combination of Laffey, Reyes, Sowers, Lewis, Jackson and Pavano with Westbrook maybe joining the mix after he gets back from elbow surgery.

I'm inclined to say good deal. Not a lot of downside, I guess, but can he pitch?