ashbury

tl;dnr

Love the 30-minute format. My ADD doesn't permit me to sit through 60 or 90 minutes of joshing around.

? Infield defense wasn't the Twins problem in 2014. Ground balls hit to the outfield gap have been a problem however.

TD's gunna hafta hirea fact checker. I certainly didn't step up when I saw the post. Guess Guerra saw the same tea leaves as the rest of us and chose accordingly. Life imitates meme?

Dark horse candidate for Rookie of the Year consideration?

Should have signed with the Pirates. /obligatory

Not every post with a smiley face is a joke.

Wait, someone mentioned A-A-Ron Hicks?

Did you catch the part about Gehrig using a cell phone?

Is it that nobody is worth 50% on defense (well, Florimon was 100%, make that nobody worth talking about ), or that the valuations on defense are that far off-kilter?

Pretty much summed up my thoughts. James's approach from many many years ago was (to oversimplify) by starting with a team's actual wins, and saying that they had to come from somewhere, and divvying them up according to production. Just coming at it from the stats is going to rub him the wrong way, I think.

Me neither. Though I'm sure someone has attempted something like that, somewhere. What I was trying to get at was such a table would look significantly different than the one that was offered. As was pointed out, Cliff Lee was obtained by Cleveland via trade. Which only reinforces my conviction that evaluating a team's trading history is wickedly complex, and needs some careful thought as to what's being measured (remaining WAR value, estimated career WAR for prospects, etc). Indeed the jury will remain out for perhaps a decade if you are looking at recent trades. For me, trading isn't about trying to "win" enough times against fellow GMs to markedly increase the pool of talent, and more about reallocating resources when there's an oversupply at a position. The one exception is if you get good at doing Span-for-Meyer kinds of trades, where you give up a known quantity with a certain ceiling for someone younger and with a higher ceiling; but younger guys sometimes flame out and you can't afford too many of those if this is your defining strategy. Anyway, a snapshot of which teams have a lot of talent obtained by trade doesn't convey a lot, personally.

So you'd start by offering them nothing, and then throw in Duensing at the last minute to sweeten the deal?

43/44/13. Final offer.

Matt Kemp's name came up in another thread, and I thought I'd bring my response over to here instead: diehardtwinsfan, on 16 Nov 2014 - 2:39 PM, said: I'd rather have Kemp in left who can play above average defense I'm not able to take this assessment of his defense as a given. When a star gets moved out of CF, it's often after enough degradation that it's open to question whether he even can be average in left or right anymore. Here's an article with video that goes into depth about his defensive chops, and it's not complimentary. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/matt-kemps-wish-is-a-pitching-staffs-nightmare/ Some of the video looks nearly Willinghamesque (though in fairness he moves better than the Hammer did at the end). I give guys credit for playing through injury/rehabilitation, if that's what's being shown here, but then I also give Willingham credit for guts (bad back etc) without calling him a good defensive player. The numbers aren't kind to Kemp's defense, but there's not consensus here that state-of-the-art numbers count for anything even yet. I'd prefer an unbiased professional scout's opinion more than the Fangraphs page I linked to above, but didn't find one with a little bit of searching. I did find Kemp's self-assessment as of last May, here: http://nesn.com/2014/06/matt-kemp-red-sox-trade-wouldnt-benefit-boston-despite-offensive-woes/ “I just need to play better defense,” Kemp said last month, according to ESPN.com. “I’ve been bobbling balls, not getting as good a jump as I need to. … My legs are getting stronger and stronger, but I did come off microfracture surgery. I wish I was as explosive as before. I’m not hurt or anything, but you have those good days and bad days...." I'm not saying Kemp's defense is below average going forward, but I'd like some reassurance if I'm being asked to believe it's above.

40% - among the first cuts in spring 40% - the very last cut in spring 20% - Eddie goes north with the team (Odds assume current roster and would change if they sign an experienced outfielder)

The SABR mailing list pointed to this blog entry that dissects the film: http://baseballresearcher.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-closer-look-at-footage-from-game.html?m=1 A few probable mistakes were caught by eagle-eyed viewers.

With a suitable definition shaped by enlightened self-interest on the part of the team, ticket prices are exactly as simple as what the market bears. These guys do not leave money on the table.

All right, if none but a literal and straightforward post will suit you: Moderator's note: the original poster asked twice, and politely, to address the question of what Mauer could obtain in the FA market if he were to enter it now. Please refrain from bringing up the well-traveled terrain of the current deal.

Subject line contains Mauer = open season on revisiting the current contract.

Don't Ask, Don't Trade.

Not to me, because it's not paired up with what was given up. Kudos to Cleveland for getting a lot in return for Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, etc, but trade/WAR is going to get jacked up simply by trading a lot or having a lot of value to trade in the first place.

You're not bidding against Stanton, you're bidding against other people who want to buy tickets. The contracts wouldn't exist without the fans of course, but ticket prices are based on what the market bears. Millionaires against billionaires, and the billionaires are more adept at marketing.

Nolasco just went up in my estimation, if it is true he'd refuse to play for those guys.

I was thinking Marshall Mathers.