SANDBERG!
The Way of De-Ro
Josh is the greatest living writer you've never heard of. Also, he likes bugs.
Latest posts by josh (see all)
- Bunches of Wins - May 2, 2013
- Ode on a Balk - April 14, 2013
- First Win - April 2, 2013
- Because We Have To - March 29, 2013
- How much For a Win? - March 5, 2013
120 Responses to “The Way of De-Ro”
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Obstructed View Forum- Closer by Committee May 19, 2013 BVS
- Mish is probably quite happy with the 24 news May 13, 2013 dmick89
- Cast iron cookware May 12, 2013 uncle dave
- televisions May 2, 2013 EnricoPallazzo
- Hope Monster, comics. April 22, 2013 josh
- Hannibal April 19, 2013 dmick89
- Veronica Mars movie April 15, 2013 dmick89
- The Borgias April 11, 2013 dmick89
- fucking shriners April 10, 2013 uncle dave
- A Breaking Bad Spinoff: It's Saul Good April 9, 2013 dmick89
I don’t know why it sliced off the edges like that. I’m using a new drawing program, so it maybe something about how it’s exporting.
I’m vacillating between being amused and disturbed by this comic.
*Sandberg
Yeah, I’m the asshole.
@ josh:
I don’t run your blog, but it may be because your blog software has a hard cutoff for image width.
josh wrote:
You know what’s sad? I don’t think this is true at all. First of all, Fielder would have DH’ed had it come to that (something he expressed distaste for on the FA market). And they wanted to prepare for next year when Vmart came back.
Better 3B options? Inge was completely done, and was accordingly cut. Ramon Santiago? Ryan Raburn? Don Kelly? These guys were so incompetent that they traded for Omar Infante and Jeff Baker midseason. Nick Castellanos isn’t ready yet. I’ll grant you that Peralta would have been a better option. Unfortunately, he is their starting shortstop.
Moreover, if you are going to play the “they had better defensive options” card, it should be noted that the Angels have a better CF option, crazy as that may seem.
I think Trout probably deserves it, but I would also be happy to see Cabrera get it. I’m certainly not going to start shitting all over Cabrera’s season just to stick it to a handful of sportswriters. And fuck all of you, I’m excited as hell about the triple crown.
All right FIXED!
Ugh.
@ Rice Cube:
No, it was the way I was exporting the file, had nothing to do with the blog.
OH SNAP
@ josh:
Hooray!
@ GW:
Well the argument goes that forcing Delmon Young to DH forced them to play the guys you mentioned. Maybe they didn’t have a better 3B option on hand, but that could have been something they targeted in trades, but there was no space.
Meh, I guess I don’t give a shit. I think Trout was a much better player this year overall. Nuff said.
@ Aisle424:
Fixed that too.
josh wrote:
I don’t see how this makes any sense. The guys I mentioned are utility infielder types, and Delmon is a (terrible) outfielder.
@ GW:
See the last statement of my response.
josh wrote:
You could make the case that they should have signed Aramis instead of Prince. Other than that, I understand that Ian Stewart was available.
@ josh:
I’m done now.
@ GW:
I’m not basing my argument on that, I’m just parroting what I read on the NET. Truth be told, I just think Trout was better. I disagree with the selfless argument as even being valid.
@ josh:
BECAUSE: It’s people making up narratives about behind-the-scenes events without really knowing if they are true.
@ josh:
I give him a lot of credit for making it work and performing merely at a youkilis-type level at third. When I heard he was moving there, I would have bet on it not lasting twenty games.
Calis post season rankings put Baez as the top prospect from the MWL this year in front of eye popping names like Lindor, Sano, and A Bradley. Pretty exciting stuff.
Here’s to hoping he makes it to AA in 2013 and continues to excel there.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ran
Cubs trade deadline target in 2013:
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/8452981/new-york-yankees-prospect-manny-banuelos-needs-tommy-john-surgery?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Ben Sheets ———–> retiring tomorrow
MO ———————-> kind of sad
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
There goes the Cubs 2013 opening day starter…
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I too am sad. Traded for him in my EA game. Was awesome. Too bad about the injuries
@ Rice Cube:
My video game rotation is Tim Hudson, Cliff Lee, RA Dickey, Derek Lowe and Randy Wells. (dying laughing)
My game also has a glitch where a foul ball to the Bartman seats is a home run.
josh wrote:
That’s sort of the way I feel about the PED/steroid thing. I mean, they probably help and all, but the expert opinions seem to be just opinions and good inductive reasoning skills…
@ Suburban kid:
Do you try to avoid using your #5 starter if at all possible?
Back in 2005 my rotation was Z, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Ben Sheets and Roy Halladay. *sigh*
Rice Cube wrote:
This is a video game. Wells is good and Andrew McCutcheon is on the bench. (dying laughing)
@ Suburban kid:
You are correct about it being a video game. There’s no way the real Cubs win 15 pennants in a row with 14 titles sprinkled in. All hail the difficulty sliders!
GW wrote:
Trout deserves it, but I don’t really care who wins it. It just doesn’t matter to me who wins the MVP. As for the triple crown, I also don’t care. It has one team dependent statistic in RBI and another statistic that’s of little value.
Guess who’s excited to go to the game tonight?!?!
(dying laughing)
This will be my third Astros/Cubs game at Wrigley this year.
@ GBTS:
I hope the scalpers paid YOU to go.
Actually one of my favorite games was in 2010 when both teams also sucked. Dempster had gotten shelled and the Cubs were down 7-1 at one point before the offense went completely nuts. Ended up winning 14-7. That was a recent game I enjoyed.
/cool story bro
@ Rice Cube:
Free tickets in the 100s section. I’ll probably eat a nacho helmet and leave by 8:30.
@ GBTS:
Did you get tickets for 9 cents?
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/02/nationals-turning-back-the-clock-to-2006-with-mark-derosa-at-shortstop/
Oooh sick burn.
@ GBTS:
Free tickets are the best.
@ Rice Cube:
See, my “DeRo is a ghost” analogy isn’t so far off after all.
@ Rice Cube:
free tickets insults the people who paid 9 cents.
@ josh:
I wonder if the ghost was on the DL too.
mb21 wrote:
I enjoy the MVP debates; it’s a good foundation for talking adv. stats with people who are unfamiliar (I don’t mean curmudgeony old writers, but people who just generally aren’t aware) and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I enjoy saber-vangelizing.
As for caring about the MVP – I care insofar as its important to the Hall of Fame, and I do like to see the right people get in. As an example, Chase Utley at this point may be considered a borderline HOF candidate based on WAR; he’s only 32 (33?) so if he stays healthy and productive, he should easily surpass 60 WAR. However, thinking of the Hall voters (I realize not the same group as MVP ones), how many people would honestly think he’s shrine worthy? Not many, probably. Chase Utley could have a couple of MVPs to his credit, but several times its been awarded to lesser players ON HIS OWN TEAM; Rollins because he did some 20-20-20-20 thing and Howard because ZOMG RBIs AND HRS. If Utley took the MVP both those years (he was a good candidate each year, if not the best), he’d be a lock amongst writers given back-to-back MVPs.
So in concluson: I really like Chase Utley. (dying laughing)
I also don’t give a shit at all about the TC. Cool feat, bro, but it’s just an arbitrary selection of stats. No one has been able to explain to me why Runs aren’t included, for example. And as said, RBI is worthless and AVG has some value but is incomplete. Why should we then herald someone for this?
I get its a rarity and all that, but that in itself doesn’t make it awesome. It’s about as cool to me as a story about how Gavin Floyd and Brian Bannister pitched against each other 20 years after Floyd Bannister retired, or something like that.
@ Mish:
I think Utley will be fine (provided he bounces back, which is a big if). By the time he becomes eligible, all the voters will have played fantasy baseball and remember what a monster he was, big media market, etc…
mb21 wrote:
(dying laughing) +1 LSA Rec’d make it green NAMBLA
@ GW:
I’m not so sanguine about Utley bouncing back. He’s on the part of the age curve that gives extremely limited returns. Given how much of his WAR is due to defense, the lack of Gold Gloves is probably going to hurt him a lot more with the HOF voters. But I don’t really care if he gets in or not. It’s the same as with MVP, it’s a vaguely defined and subjective criteria for who is recognized.
Rumors of Pujols’ death somewhat exaggerated:
662 PA, 173 H, 50 2B, 30 HR, 143 OPS+
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
BUST
Yeah, his defense has been criminally underrated, so that hurts him too. GGs specifically, though some of those probably went to Brandon Phillips, who is just as deserving of them.
It is worth pointing out (SSS warning) that Utley has been worth 3.2 WAR in 81 games so far. I think health is the biggest issue with him; if he can play 140 games, I still think he can put up 5-6 WAR seasons for the next few years.
Mish wrote:
I’d be shocked if he can do that though. The guy has some crazy injury history, and IIRC whatever is going on with his knees is not something that is expected to get better.
@ Berselius:
his propensity for getting hbp could come back to haunt him in his later years, as well.
Weirdly, THT’s long range forecast has his PA total going up every year from 2013 to 2018.
It also only predicts ~10 WAR from him over the next 6 years, but that leaves out fielding. I wonder if something is broken over there.
Mish wrote:
i don’t get that impression at all.
Mish wrote:
I think the Triple Crown is cooler than this.
@ mb21:
Old Alvin memes live on forever.
@ Berselius:
Ibid
@ GBTS:
Go Browns!
Speaking of DeRosa, he’s starting at SS tonight for the Nats (dying laughing)
@ GW:
As I was looking at the stats this morning for the my comment on the previous thread, one of the most surprising things I saw was that Cabrera actually played 150+ games at 3B. My prediction at the beginning of the season was that he’d be pushed to LF by May 15.
@ GBTS:
Cooler story, bro?
@ GW:
Just based on the GG voting and idiot comments I see over on Phillies related blogs.
*GASP* More changing of Wrigley in store?!?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-cubs-plan-on-moving-up-brick-wall-for-premium-box-seats-20121002,0,4845182.story
@ mikeakaleroy:
btw, those Premium Box Seats will be 35 cents this time next year.
@ mikeakaleroy:
(dying laughing)
Mish wrote:
I used to enjoy MVP debates, but I think it’s the worst possible time to use advanced metrics in order to convince anyone of their merit. I don’t know anyone who has ever been convinced by those arguments in such a debate.
I just figure that they’ve picked enough wrong MVPs over the years that nobody should really care if they do it again. And picking Cabrera over Trout is the wrong choice. I agree with what Tangotiger said here:
I don’t think it’s even possible. In the AL this just isn’t even close this year. In 20 years I don’t think there will even be a debate when one person is so far ahead of another. Trout is 3.2 fWAR better than Cabrera (Cabrera is 3rd in the AL, also behind Cano). He’s 3.9 rWAR ahead and Cano is once again the best in the AL (a win better than Cabrera).
Cano isn’t deserving of the award so neither is Cabrera.
That said, my guess is that Cabrera gets it and people will erupt with anger for no reason whatsoever.
Cubs behind already. (dying laughing)
Rice Cube wrote:
Images should be shrunk and not cutoff. The css for cutting content off is overflow:hidden, but we don’t use that for content. Instead, we use max-width:98%, height:auto. This forces the image to resize itself based on the browser it’s being viewed on. The maximum width is 98% of the content area and the height automatically resizes to keep the image from distorting.
Josh, the image doesn’t appear cutoff to me.
Adam Greenberg —> struck out on three pitches
@ mb21:
Already? They actually made it through the first inning without giving the other team the lead for a change.
@ Rice Cube:
That’s shocking.
@ Rizzo the Rat:
That’s true, but they were behind when I turned it on, which seems to be the case every damn night.
I didn’t even know players used speed anymore.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/02/joey-gathright-gets-50-game-ban-for-amphetamines/
@ Rice Cube:
more shocking than that is joey gathright still being in a minor league system.
In probably his last game as a Ray, James Shields strikes out 15 while pitching a CG (assuming this doesn’t go extras). And they are losing, 1-0. (dying laughing)
Don’t the Rays have a relatively cheap option on Shields?
@ GW:
But he can jump over cars
I like how it says “guy jumping over car.” It’s not MLB player or Joey GAthright. It’s Guy. (dying laughing)
@ mb21:
they didn’t want mlbam to claim copyright infringement.
@ mb21:
This is like in Office Space, where has to explain himself to 6 different bosses. I messed up exporting the file, so Illustrator cut it off on the edges. I then reexported it and fixed it within 5 minutes of the original post.
@ GW:Urban Meyer is something like 95-7 when his team is leading at the half.
Context-less stats are awesome.
EDIT: Thanks MLB-PR
@ GW:
So tomorrow we will see history repeat itself.
@ SVB:
context makes it more impressive in this case, I think, given that the O’s are pretty average, and have fewer blowouts.
@ GW:
I was thinking more along the lines of: What is the overall record of teams when leading after 7 innings. If it is 92% or something, maybe 74-0 isn’t so impressive. What’s the 95% CI?
(Sorry, I’ve been editing a research manuscript tonight.)
walk, throwing error, wild pitch for cabrera.
Damn Yankees.
No one on the Marlins lost their roster spot, they had a guy they could put on the 60 day dl.
Ichiro looks so weird in a Yankees uniform.
If the season was a week longer I think the cubs could catch the Astros.
@ mb21:
Racist.
@ mb21:
totally. Bizarro world
Look, here’s Mish.
That game fuckin sucked. (dying laughing)
Hey…so even Muskat says Soriano makes $19MM next season. Cot’s says $18MM. Is there a deferred signing bonus we don’t know about?
@ Rice Cube:
It’s $19, but $1 goes to Silva because they let go of Aramis.
@ GBTS:
It’s so clear now!
@ GBTS:
I didn’t read every word until just now. I was there with Harry Pav, too bad we couldn’t have an impromptu OV Con.
Aisle424 wrote:
GW wrote:
I remember that game.
/Alv-
ah fuck it
/SK
A few days ago I saw one of the division leading managers whining about how they are at a disadvantage with the wildcard playoff because the top seed wouldn’t know their opponent until later than the #2 seed. (Might have been Davey Johnson complaining–don’t think it was Dusty.)
Since the NL top seed will be determined today, I wonder if folks think this is valid.
To me, it’s not. The decision on playoff roster only comes down to a bullpen arm, 4th starter, and maybe a bench guy or two. The 4th starter isn’t going to pitch right away. I’d want the wildcard winner because they will have had to use their best pitcher, or second best, in the play-in game and have less rest.
@ SVB:
My understanding is that the wild-card round allows a different roster so they could set up a bullpen day before they set the division series roster. So the wild-card winner may not be at too much of a disadvantage either….
Also, this amused me.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/03/great-moments-in-metaphors-bobby-valentine-crashes-his-bike-while-texting-dustin-pedroia/
Want.
Wouldn’t it make more sense if the Triple Crown were steals, BA, and Fielding%?
The thing with the Triple Crown is that I’d never even heard of it before last year. I wasn’t alive in Ted Williams’s day.
Pretty exciting that Game 162 ends up deciding the division leader in the AL West.
@ Aisle424:
It feels like I knew half the people who went to last night’s game. There’s probably a decent chance you sat next to my in-laws (dying laughing)
SVB wrote:
For my part, I’m annoyed that the only series that’s set in stone right now is Braves-Cardinals for the NL Wild Card play-in game. Don’t these teams understand that I have previews to write? Sheesh.
@ josh:
@ Rice Cube:
And their GM is dreamy.
Berselius wrote:
The box score wrote:
(dying laughing)
Winter is coming. I hope. I miss snow.
@ Rice Cube:
Yeah, no kidding. We have some serious hills (well, slag piles with grass growing on them) that the boy needs to experience this winter.
Popup ad alert! from Vizu or something.
@ josh:
I was thinking it could have been one of the other tabs I have open, but I generally have adblock on except this site.
@ Rice Cube:
Me too, though I do not miss shoveling it.
@ Berselius:
Didn’t it snow like half an inch in Texas last winter for you guys and the entire state shut down? (dying laughing)
@ Berselius:
I like shoveling snow. It’s a nice little workout. I like the feeling of being warm when the air is cold.
@ Rice Cube:
It was two years ago (dying laughing). FWIW they do get snow in Dallas, though nothing like the midwest. What I found even more baffling was how much everyone freaked out when it went below freezing for a few days. None of the houses here are built to deal with it. Exposed pipes everywhere, the plumbers made a mint that week.
@ josh:
I’m thinking more a long the lines of “I’ve spent an hour shoveling snow, then a fucking plow just dumped a two foot pile in front of my driveway”
New shit http://www.obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/playoff-play-in-chaos-scenarios.html