SB Nation User Blog: jmoultz

Tulo vs. Ramirez

jmoultz — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:11:01 -0000

I know some of you, well, probably most of you follow and are familiar with more advanced stats that define a player's overall contribution to creating runs and preventing runs. I have developed a "calculator" that crunches both sides of the ball for a generic Wins Above Average stat. When I compare Troy Tulowitzski and Hanley Ramirez using 2007 hitting and fielding stats, Tulo comes out 2 Wins better than Ramirez overall. The difference is all in the defense with Ramirez being one of the worst fielding SS's in baseball and Tulo being one of the best. My question is this, whether you crunch the numbers yourself or not: does this make sense intuitively?

Who is Rocco Baldelli?

jmoultz — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 02:15:38 -0000

We all remember how highly touted Baldelli was coming into the bigs (BA player of the year in 2002) but his numbers have never matched the hype. He hits for little power, hits too many ground balls, and doesn't know how to take a walk. That's very bad for a guy that only hits around .270-.280. Now pile on the ACL and TJ surgeries and what's a fella to think?

He won't be 25 until late September 2006 so there's still time to develop, but not much. Can this guy turn into the uber-hitter scouts had him pegged to be or is he a bust?

Is he Andre Dawson or Garry Maddox?

Dustin Nippert

jmoultz — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 00:22:53 -0000

I'm considering a trade right now that's essentially Homer Bailey for Francisco Cordero. Cordero would be replacing Fernando Rodney as one of my closers as I'm not confident he'll be the Tiger's closer next year (they'll probably waste money on Todd Jones or something). I'm flush with young pitching at both my major league (Sheets, Peavy, Bonderman, Escobar, Harang, Capuano) and minor league levels (Anibal Sanchez, Yusmeiro Petit, Mark Rogers, Homer Bailey, Angel Guzman, Cole Hamels, Anthony Reyes) so parting with Bailey wouldn't really hurt.

My real question is about Dustin Nippert who I'd consider to replace Bailey on the roster. In our league having prospects that actually pitch in the majors the following season is a huge plus. Nippert has been on my radar for some time with two plus pitches (sinking 97 MPH fastball and curve) and a developing straight change and knuckle curve, but when I saw Callis place him on that list of "20 best long-term prospects for 2006 and 2007" he posted on BA that really got my attention. What I'd love to hear from you guys is A) does Nippert have the ceiling of a #1 or #2 starter and B) will he a lock for Arizona's rotation next year?