SB Nation User Blog: eponymous_coward

Fun with Fangraphs

eponymous_coward — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:13:46 -0000

- If you total up the WAR contributions of Yuni, Junior, Joh, Rob Johnson, Loafie and Beltre to the season so far, you get a grand total of -1.5 WAR.

So... what this boils down to is ~~55% of the Mariner lineup for 2009~~ the performance of 55% of the Mariner lineup so far this year wouldn’t make a particularly good core of your team in AAA, let alone the majors. In light of that, being somewhat under .500 but not in the cellar is actually kind of nice.

- On a similar note, ZiPS projections think Beltre and Lopez have some bounceback coming to them but it thinks Joh, Yuni and Junior are varying shades of toast, and Rob Johnson is terrible. This pretty much corresponds to what I think. Yay confirmation bias.

- Oh, and of those players, only one of them (Griffey) is Zdurencik's "fault"- and he's arguably the easiest to replace in the organization for next to nothing (pick one or more of Clement/Nelson/Wlad/Carp/Shelton/LaHair/Redman). This would be a great time to thank Bill Bavasi for more of his GM acumen.

Anyone see anything else interesting in Fangraphs?

Submitted for your consideration:

eponymous_coward — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:33:04 -0000

Brad Wilkerson: .232./348/.304 in 68 plate appearances as a Mariner in 2008

Ken Griffey Junior: .192/.344.308 in 64 plate appearances as a Mariner in 2009

Anyone want to put odds on Griffey being DFA by May 1?

I guess the good news is that we might not need to worry about a contract extension for 2010. Who knows, maybe they could figure out a way to get Clement back into the M's lineup.

Looks like Matthew's made the bigtime...

eponymous_coward — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:42:58 -0000

Looks like Matthew's made the bigtime...

He's got his own stalker (from Halos Heaven, I bet).

Steve Kelley--->Cult of Griffey

eponymous_coward — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:23:32 -0000

Yadda yadda yadda, Griffey is awesome, we should sign him ASAP, there's no possible downside to this, play him 3-4 times a week in the OF, he'll put butts in the seats, he's worth 5 million.

Seriously, we're going to have to listen to this guy.

Not to mention his one sentence paragraphs.

Oh, and Art Thiel's going to be out of a job in a couple months.

Sigh.

Burying the lede

eponymous_coward — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:03:45 -0000

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/sports/baseball/26review.html?_r=1&hp

The hallmark of the Yankees who won World Series championships in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 was gritty team play: they weren’t famous for a roster of flashy superstars or power hitters; rather, they were a resolute band of brothers, who put collective play above individual stats — an ensemble distinguished by its chemistry on the field and in the clubhouse, a team renowned for its resourcefulness, its determination and its ability to grind out win after win after win.

Let's see:

- Jorge Posada

- Tino Martinez

- Derek Jeter

- Bernie Williams

- David Cone

- Andy Pettititte

- Roger Clemens

- Mariano Rivera

Yeah, it's clearly a team full of Willie Bloomquists.

However, after the opening paragraph and into it, the reveiwer FINALLY gets it. It's just irritating that it takes them a few paragraphs.

Torre and Verducci note that as the core of the old guard from the championship years dwindled — Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch and Paul O’Neill were all history by 2002 — the front office tended to turn to imported All-Stars, who failed to congeal into an effective ensemble. The farm system, which had produced the likes of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams and Rivera, was increasingly neglected, and Steinbrenner began to indulge his taste for what Torre calls “big boppers” like Jason Giambi, who the manager felt “wasn’t part of what we prided ourselves on: playing well defensively.”

So, does Brian Goldberg have John Hickey's cell phone, or what?

eponymous_coward — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:46:12 -0000

Seriously.

And the outfielder who has both the promise of power and no expectation of a big payday is the one the Mariners are not pursuing. The Mariners seem intent on not revisiting their past in the person of Ken Griffey Jr., who helped turn around the franchise from 1989-99.

There seems to be a belief, shared by the Mariners and some other clubs, that Griffey, who faltered badly while playing with an injured left knee in 2008, is over the hill at 39.

Dr. Timothy Kremcheck, the Cincinnati Reds team orthopedist, refuted that Thursday.

"He had cartilage damage and some degeneration of his left knee," Kremcheck said. "It limited his ability to push off. We cleaned it out and it's going to really help him utilize his left leg and core in generating power. I think you will see a different Junior. Will he have the power of 15 years ago? No. But maybe the power of 5, 6, 7 years ago."

Griffey had 30 homers and 93 RBIs for the Reds two years ago before the knee injury. He wants to finish his career as a Mariner, but the team has not called Kremcheck to ask about his health.

"I want to add another productive bat, definitely," Zduriencik said while declining to talk about any free agent, Griffey included. "It has to be the right fit, in the field and financially, too."

Griffey would cost less than Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn, Garret Anderson, Cliff Floyd, Manny Ramirez and any number of still-unsigned free agents. That's because the deferred money in his nine-year contract with Cincinnati kicks in this season. He doesn't need a payday in the way some others do.

It's possible the Mariners will head toward Griffey as the market shrinks.

I'm just kind of surprised Goldberg wasn't waving a "SIGN KEN GRIFFEY OR WE'LL SHOOT THIS DOG" sign outside the team media luncheon yesterday...

In other news, it appears Carlos Silva stayed away from guzzling quarts of gravy from the Old Country Buffet this offseason, yadda yadda yadda.

Oh, dear god.

eponymous_coward — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:37:47 -0000

I know everyone rags on Geoff Baker (for some pretty good reasons), but..

it could be worse.

At this morning's meetings, only one former player was selected by the veterans committee to the Hall of Fame. That was Joe Gordon... a 9 time all star with the Yankees and Indians in the late 40's and early 50's. The committee narrowly failed to vote in Washington State native Ron Santo... the great second baseman for the Chicago Cubs.

So, is it too late for KIRO to hire anyone from MLB.com to write their blog?

NOOOOOOOOOOO

eponymous_coward — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:03:07 -0000

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mariners/index.html#3485

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said moments ago that he has had a conversation with the agent for outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. But Zduriencik isn't prepared to say whether Griffey fits into his plans. He'll want another week to 10 days, until after the winter meetings are over, before answering that question.

"I have had discussions with Ken Griffey Jr.'s agent, yes,'' he said. "We had a discussion, yes. We talked about Ken Griffey, yes. Is there anything concrete? I'd say it's more an inquiry than anything else.''

via i307.photobucket.com

Just say noooooooooo, Z.

Nunc dimittis

eponymous_coward — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:11:58 -0000

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace:
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.

Counting up M's Strengths

"Jack has a relentless pursuit of being right," Allison said. "He understands the whole aspect of a player, and that there are many different lenses through which to view a player.

"One of his first hires [in Milwaukee] was bringing in Tony Blengino, a complete Bill James disciple. Jack brought him into the office not only to educate all the staff, but himself. To him, it's just part of the different brushes that complete a player."

Blengino, 44, had caught Zduriencik's attention as an author of a series of books on minor-league prospects, a project that required him to scout and evaluate young players. But Blengino says he learned far more from Zduriencik than the other way around.

"When it comes to evaluation, no one's better," Blengino said. "Just the fact he took a chance on a guy like me with an unconventional background shows he's always trying to learn more. ... Jack has never surrounded himself with one-size-fits-all people."

Added Blengino: "Jack's the best at what he does. To me, he's been deserving to have this opportunity as a GM for a long time. He's a great teacher and has incredible passion. His burning passion for the game is readily apparent to everyone who knows Jack."

Why does Tug Hulett suck?

eponymous_coward — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:05:34 -0000

I've been trying to figure this out from his minor league stats, and drawing a blank.

He has a minor league OBP of around .400, and he's consistently beaten his league's OPS in every league he's played in (OK, well, not the American League, but that has a pretty serious Small Sample Size Theatre problem).

On top of that, he's hit for OK power the last couple of years- not great, but 25 HRs means he flashes SOME power. Beats what Princess Willie did in the minors, anyway.

Oh, and he steals bases at a decent clip- about 20 a year at a 76% success rate.

So what's the deal- why does everyone think he's the new WFB? Terrible defense? Bad breath? I don't get it- this guy looks to me like he could give you a year of .270/.350/.380, 15 steals and tolerable defense in the majors for 300 K at 2B. Sign me up, please.