jimmer

one less forceout possible depending on where the ball is hit.

AT least there are some smart managers out there.

another example of Mauer not being an RBI guy and working the walk instead :-)

Or maybe there's ANOTHER REASON he can't up in photos? Hmmm.

Perhaps. What are some examples of the international free agency parts? As far as the draft, all teams build through the draft. Our ineptitude on the field has given us really high draft position, but that's not supposed to be a plus. And I'm not sure what 'teams like us' means.

Do you want to elaborate on this supposed flip flop? 'BABIP is likely even more important when evaluating pitchers because they have almost no control over what happens to a ball once it is put in play. A pitcher can control their strikeouts, walks, and home runs, and through those, the number of balls they allow to be put into play, but once the ball leaves the bat, it’s out of their hands. As a result, pitcher BABIP is heavily influenced by defense and luck, which means the number of hits a pitcher gives up is influenced by things outside of their control. And if hits are somewhat outside of a pitcher’s control, so will their runs allowed totals.' This is a long way of saying that pitchers with a high BABIP are most likely victims of poor defense or bad luck, and neither is the pitcher’s fault. Their defense might be attached to them, but their luck is not, meaning that we typically expect most pitchers with extreme BABIP values to regress toward league average going forward. This is not to say that pitchers have no control over the quality of contact against them, but research has shown that they have very limited control over whether a ball that is put into play becomes a hit.' These things have been said about BABIP for a long time. Perhaps it's just your misunderstanding of the stat that's complicating things. As far as you assertion that it is NOW being used as a measure of a team's defense, that's just one part of BABIP. So no, it's not really being used as a measure of a team's defense, because a clear cut single or double is just that. That's not to say that a team with better defense won't help a pitcher's BABIP (in the way of turning fringe hits into outs), it will, but there are other factors so it can't all be on the defense. And it still doesn't change the fact that once a ball is in play, what happens is almost completely out of the pitcher's control. So there's no change there either.

I'm a huge Span fan, but I was okay with the trade when it was made. IMO the move was right, but I think we'll find the wrong pitcher was picked up. Kind of like how when the team thought it had surplus pitching, they traded Garza (of course, his issues with the staff helped make him easier to trade from a team perspective) for supposed slugger Delmon (a guy who was a #1 pick, 2nd in ROY voting) and that, also, didn't work out. Again, IMO, the thought behind both of those trades were sound at the time even if neither one worked out. Whether or not the right guys were targeted, that's obviously a big debate (I'd say both flop). Now, not having a plan to replace Span, totally wrong.

way more often than he gets credit for due to his demeanor. he brings that on himself.

and that's why wRC+ is better than RBI.

and last night Mauer gets Santana to 3rd (and Santana should have scored) then Dozier makes the first out of the inning by flying out and gets an RBI. Who contributed more to that run? I think Mauer XBH issues has to do with him focusing so hard on pulling the ball instead of doing what comes naturally. Yeah,, he's getting singles to RF and CF, but no hits opposite field and no XBH.

He asked for a link, I provided a quote instead. No judgments from me on what it meant.

'"The game has changed since I've entered," Ryan said. "It's for bright, energetic negotiators, moreso than anything I possess."'

Plouffe was a top 10 3B last year and is in his prime, those guys aren't available all the time. Yeah, it took him quite awhile to become this player but then again, maybe if the organization realized he wasn't a shortstop a long time ago, it wouldn't have taken so long.

Just wait though. We're SO CLOSE to Rosario, Buxton and Arcia :-)

I really like this post.

FTFY

I wondered the same thing when I read that.

Dessert at my house was sand. And Cactus juice.

enjoy the rest of the game all. GO TWINS!

most 1Bs don't stop the ball on that last one and Gordon's range really helped him on the 2nd one.

Hughes the Force bobblehead. Clever!

yeah, what happened to his speed? He used to be able to run some.

So Mauer would be 3-3 against most teams. Just sayin'

BTW, Congrats to the Wild for getting into the playoffs

now, was that hit 'into the shift' or was that a play the 2B makes if everyone is positioned like normal?