A lot of discussion started yesterday about WAR thanks a very thoughtful article on It’s About The Money, Stupid. Discussion followed in two article on The Book Blog (here and here) and then on Replacement Level Baseball Blog. I’ve mostly been ignoring the defense part of WAR for some time now. Ever since Colin Wyers showed how useless those metrics …
Can't think of a stupid title yet so this is obviously not finished
A lot of negative attention has been given to Tom Ricketts re-signing Oneri Fleita for 4 years. A lot more negative attention will be given when Ricketts re-signs Tim Wilken. My first thought when I heard about the signing was that it was odd. Immediatley after that I realized we’re talking about an inconsequential amount of money so firing them, …
Tangotiger's Annual Fans Scouting Report
Tangotiger has his annual Fans Scouting Report survey published for this season and he needs our help. We watch more Cubs games than other team’s fans do so we’re better suited to fill it out. I’ve posted links to these surveys at ACB each of the last several years and hope with more readers that we can send even more …
Obstructed View takes its discredited act on the road
And Counting, Berselius and myself answered some very important questions by an Indians blogger. The questions, as I’m sure you guessed, were about Kosuke Fukudome. So head over there and read what we have to say.
Home Run Derby Thread
No idea who is even particpating in the Derby this year, but it’s tonight. Enjoy.
Are even the best relievers unreliable?
Carlos Marmol blew a save last night so it naturally sparked discussion about whether or not you should sign relievers to longterm contracts. Carlos Marmol is a very good relief pitcher and likely will be worth the contract he signed this past offseason. However, we know relief pitchers work so few innings that their sample size in a single season …
Improving stats shown prior to at-bats
Tango brings up an interesting point. Why show the number of RBI when a player comes to bat when there’s nobody on base? I’ve always wondered why they show the same damn thing each time the batter comes up, but he makes a better point. The stats they show when the batter comes to bat can be much improved. Here …
2011 MLB Draft: Day Two ***updated***
Rounds 2 through 30 will begin today at 11 am central. The best players still available according to Baseball America rankings include Josh Bell who was the 15th ranked draft prospect. From a talent basis, outfielder Josh Bell and lefthander Daniel Norris are both first-round talents. But their asking price ensured that they are the two highest-rated players left undrafted …
2011 MLB Draft: Day One
The MLB Draft begins at 6 pm central and is televised on MLB Network and probably on mlb.com as well. Baseball America’s final mock draft has the Cubs taking Bubba Starling. A few weeks ago I thought that absurd, but based on every scouting report I’ve read the Cubs would be lucky to get him. If you don’t have a …
Expand the Playoffs ASAP
Major League Baseball should add more playoff teams. Now. And they shouldn’t stop at just one more wild card team. They might as well add two and force one of the division winners to prove themselves with an extra postseason round. Bud Selig reiterated this week his belief that the playoff field would expand to ten teams as early as …