SB Nation User Blog: oelayat

Yao may return this season, according to Morey

oelayat — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:14:52 -0000

Yao may return this season, according to Morey

Sergio Llull

oelayat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:51:56 -0000

Just saw this on BP, thought I'd share it:

Sergio Llull, Real Madrid

Age: 21.4 | Translated Stats: .407 Win% | .566 TS% | 13.4 Usage | 3.9 Reb% | 4.31 Pass Rating

Comps: Deron Williams (92.6); Delonte West (92.5); Daniel Gibson (92.4); Tony Parker (90.6); Ray Allen (90.1)

A likely second-round pick, Llull also looks like a potential steal. He’s got a diverse offensive game with the ability to really shoot it (95.5 percent from the free throw line; 33.6 percent on threes, albeit at an extraordinarily high volume) and very competent ballhandling skills. That draws comparisons to some elite players. The question mark with Llull, and what holds down his translated winning percentage, is the other end of the court. He’s a complete non-factor on the glass, gets few steals and fouls at an astronomical rate–a translated 5.1 per 40 minutes. (Actually, all of these guys foul a great deal, though Rubio in particular has more of an excuse because of all the good he’s doing defensively in the process of drawing those fouls.) Surely, someone will take the gamble that Llull can figure things out and live up to his offensive potential.

It looks like another great pick from Morey. If Llull has another strong year in Europe, we'd then have the option to renounce our rights to Lowry and bring over Sergio to back up AB, giving us more cap space next summer...Or he could a nice piece in a trade next summer as well...

Anyone else have a huge man crush on Morey right now? He is AWESOME!

Summer League Interviews with Chase, Joey, Marty, Bard, and Jermaine

oelayat — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:23:05 -0000

Summer League Interviews with Chase, Joey, Marty, Bard, and Jermaine

Shane Battier: Having Artest is an amazing luxury

oelayat — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:13:49 -0000

Shane Battier: Having Artest is an amazing luxury

Shane discusses discusses T-Mac's injury, Artest, and other topics. Recorded after yesterday's win against Denver

Giants interested in Melvin Mora..

oelayat — Thu, 31 May 2007 17:19:43 -0000

According to this article on mlb.com, the Giants are interested in Melvin Mora. Thoughts?

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070531&content_id=1996773&vkey=new s_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Analyzing Zito's Contract

oelayat — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:57:32 -0000

I think an important factor that's being ignored regarding Zito's contract is general salary inflation across MLB. (Note: Inflation is not really a proper term to describe MLB players' salaries, but let's just use it here to simplify discussion). While 7/$18 m is a a large committment regardlesss of inflation, MLB salary inflation has averaged about 10% over the past decade. With that in mind, Zito's contract is really worth more around 7/$12m (today's dollars).

Again, with a payroll in the range of $90m (today's dollars), spending 13% of your payroll on a top-of-the rotation starter is a bargain. Most of the negative comments on the site have been regarding the length of the contract and the size of the committment, weighed against the risks of injury and general skill decline with age. However, considering the Giants are in the top 10 of team spending, a seven year comittment at $12m is not a significant risk. On the other hand, if we were the Twins or the A's, the contract would be a huge financial risk.

To put these numbers into more perspective, consider that seven years ago (2000) the Giants total payroll was only $53m. If the Giants (back in 2000) had signed a Zito-type player to a similar contract, we would be looking at something worth $9m/year (today's dollars), which would be a bargain, especially for a player that some (not all) project into a Glavine/Maddux type starter as he ages.

To summarize my point, general payroll inflation actually self-corrects Zito's contract (assuming it's paid in equal payments) for age-decline and increased injury risk. We're not actually paying him $18m a year for the next seven years in terms of financial actual dollars. But rather, $18m/$16m/$15m/$13m/$12m and so on, when total payroll and player inflation is considered. And for someone with consistent career numbers, a healthy history, and enough star power to attract fans to the gate, I don't think it will develop into the disaster that many on the site are predicting.