I already looked at the 20 best, as measured by WPA,so it only seems appropriate to look at the 20 worst. I'll be using WPA again, but it's by no means the only metric you could use to create a similar list. I'll be doing so without any commentary this time and will be breaking it down into pitchers and position players because late-inning relievers are easily going to have had the most negative impact on the game (think Carlos Marmol blowing a 32 run lead by walking 36 straight).
Of course Koyie Hill would be in this list. I'm actually surprised Joe Mather isn't in it more frequently. Soriano and Castro each made the list 3 times, but when you play as many games as those two did, that's going to happen. Not surprisingly, the Cubs closer led the way with 4 times on the list. That's probably true of almost every team.





aside: http://www.obstructedview.net/aside/muskat-top-prospect-baez-develops-in-arizona-fall-league.html
another aside: http://www.obstructedview.net/aside/cubs-prospect-all-stars.html
Do they assign WPA to the defender if they make a really stupid error, rather than the pitcher?
@ mb21:
Think Baez has a chance of skipping AAA like Castro did? It wouldn’t make sense contract wise, but it would put fans in the seats.
I guess I could see it if he would be an improvement and we have a shot at being a good team. The chance of us having a good time anytime soon though is somewhere between slim and none.
I don’t know what I was expecting Raul Ibanez to sound like, but it definitely wasn’t “not even slightly Hispanic.”
@ josh:
Would it surprise you to know that Raul was born in NYC?
@ josh:

@ Rice Cube:
I looked all that up after I heard him. You get so used to hearing guys with thick Dominican accents that it really struck me as unusual that a guy with such a distinctly Hispanic name (an accent AND an enye!?) would have no accent at all.
@ josh:
I think Carlos Pena is like that too.
@ WaLi:
Incorrect. “Hispanic” is not a race. It’s an ethnicity.
@ josh:
You’re ethnicist then.
Go sports team! Beat other sports team!
@ Rice Cube:
True, but he has a detectable accent, just a hint. Seriously, Raul sounds totally neutral. Players never sound like I expect them too. Strange, b/c you spend so much time staring at them, but have no idea what their voice even sounds like.
@ josh:
His ethnicity of name-to-ethnicity of accent ration is extremely high is my point, asymptotically approaching infinity.
Speaking of racist…
I totally (dying laughing)
@ WaLi:
Baez was pretty bad in his short stint at high a ball. He’ll go back there and spend most of 2013 with a potential promotion to AA late in the season if he’s had a good year. Then in 2014 he’ll go back to AA and at that point he could get called up if he’s hitting the shit out of the ball. So yeah he could skip AAA but that won’t be happening until 2014 at the earliest.
@ mb21:
At which point he will almost be 22 – if he’s just cracking the MLB roster at 22 then may as well consider him a bust and trade him. All the cool kids are getting in younger than that.
/Harper’d, Trout’d, and Castro’d
@ WaLi:
(dying laughing). FWIW I think 2015 is a more realistic ETA for Baez.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/arod-im-very-happy-for-raul-ibanez-and-i-want-him,29874/
(dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
Might be a bit morbid but based on certain articles about A-Rod’s ego it seems to be on the mark.
Giants! Woo!
I like the part where Matt Cain is being nice and trying to give some of it back.
Reds! Ooh!
K-TOOTBLAN!
@ Rice Cube:
Or is this better as a TOOTBLANK?
Wilson’s face blanket freaks me out.
TCR on Baez @ 3B:
http://www.thecubreporter.com/10102012/javier-baez-tries-3rd-base-hohokam-park
@ Rice Cube:
BUST
So are you all playing Postseason Bingo and Moundball?
Xavier Nady ————————–> schmoe
Pagan just shat on the Reds’ (likely) last chance.
Way to make Chapman waste 25 pitches.
Fucking Giants.
mb21 wrote:
I always pegged you as a midgets guy
It’s not over yet.
Dammit, bullpen.
This is getting exciting.
What an at bat (so far)
Jesus Christ that was an insane at-bat.
Goddamnit
I prefer the Giants to the Nats and Cards but I am a little bit of a Reds fan so this sucks ass.
Oh shit. More Brenly and Stockton.
Hello? Anyone there? The Cube? Insect Boy? Statfucker?
@ Suburban kid:
Part of me wanted Dusty to advance, but I do like the Giants. So fuck Cincinnati (dying laughing)
I see Detwiler is doing a bit better than his rotation counterparts so far.
My lying eyes tell me that Kyle Lohse is inducing an unusually high number of foul popouts.
@ Suburban kid:
It’s my afternoon with the kid (i.e., swim lessons an daddy dinner. So don’t expect much from me.
I didn’t take this pic, unfortunately, but it’s still awesome:
So I guess the Reds can’t even complain about home field advantage then.
@ josh:
I’ll…be…right…here…Elliot…
GBTS, senorgif please:
Tim Lincecum is naughty:
http://deadspin.com/5951054?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
@ Suburban kid:
I was rooting for the Reds too. If the Cardinals win this series I just don’t give a shit about the NL. I’ll root for anyone in the AL.
@ mb21:
A’s please.
Or Yankees, I’d be okay with the Yankees.
@ Rice Cube:
(dying laughing)
Anyone but the Cardinals or Yankees, please.
I’m kinda rooting for the Tigers because my happiness is directly correlated to how often I see Verlander pitch.
Zimmermann was fucking filthy. Holy shit.
@ josh:
The best pinch hitter in the NL struck out on a ridiculously shitty pitch.
Werth’s at bat is rivaling Bruce’s.
OK, it was better than Bruce’s. (dying laughing)
@ Suburban kid:
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH
@ Rice Cube:
Yeah, I got all excited that they knocked the dreaded Nards out of it, then quickly realized there was one more game to play (dying laughing)
@ Suburban kid:
Do or die games are extra sweet.
BASEBALL
Perhaps Mr. GorillaCock could verify this when he is able. I got this from Cubs Fan Report:
Beer status: New Glarus Spotted Cow
Werth:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25386901&c_id=mlb&topic_id=vtp_budweiser
They really should show the entire 14-pitch sequence.
Rice Cube wrote:
GBTS wrote:
Legendary Jeter at-bat in progress.
@ Rice Cube:
Legend denied.
How is Joe Saunders doing this? This should be impossible!
@ Rice Cube:
Performance enhancers?
@ Aisle424:
l(dying laughing)
@ mb21:
Eye of newt and dragon’s tail.
Rice Cube wrote:
All 13 pitches of the Werth AB:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25387797&partnerId=aw-4825227882425020533-996
Nate McLouth. Of course!
@ Aisle424:
(dying laughing)
@ Aisle424:
Someone should gif those showing Alvin in each frame.
TOOTBLAN
bonus baseball!
The O’s are making it exciting anyway
Go A’s.
The Yankees are way off their regular season scoring average. This is highly unusual.
I like how the ump is giving Verlander the opposite batter’s box as well for the “strike zone”.
By Grapthar’s hammer, Joba has crappy injury luck. He must have had a blood transfusion from Mark Prior or something.
Berselius wrote:
I wouldn’t mind seeing Swish in a Cubs uni next year.
Unless the A’s can make Verlander throw about 30 pitches next inning I don’t think Moneyball has enough oomph to mount a comeback
@ GBTS:
It’s really too bad that Swisher wants stupid money.
I was thinking that Swisher would look pretty good in a Cubs uniform too. Also wouldn’t mind the Cubs exploring a trade for Phil Hughes. Shouldn’t cost all that much and he’s still flashed quite a bit of potential at times. Maybe a move to the NL would help him our. Plus, he could always become a really good late inning reliever for the Cubs. They should also have the Yankees throw in Robinson Cano in any trade for Hughes.
(dying laughing) Jeter missed that pitch by about 3 feet. Maybe 4.
A’s lose.
Moneyball dies tonight.
O’s my gawd.
I know the people who did this ivy double check commercial with Kerry Wood thought it would be funny to find Andre Dawson in the ivy, but I find it much funnier that he found a fucking french horn in the ivy. That’s easily the best part of that commercial. I can kind of see how you might find Dawson in the ivy. I can’t think of a single damn reason why you’d find a french horn though.
@ mb21:
Those old dudes who play music usually stay in the main concourse so unless a drunken fan threw one of their instruments in the ivy…
Although I don’t think any of them actually plays the french horn.
GBTS wrote:
Ew.
@ Rice Cube:
Over the next week we’ll read a million articles about how sabermetrics doesn’t work and why computer geeks are ruining baseball.
Swisher had a good year, despite being a bit of a douche.
@ mb21:
The A’s made it to the postseason with how much budget again? I mean, that’s really the key that people can’t seem to wrap their minds around.
fuck yeah
Those O’s…
so tomorrow is hammel vs. who?
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Sabathia I believe.
@ mb21:
This.
I wonder if Leyland lets Verlander go complete game to seal the shutout.
@ Rice Cube:
Correct.
So it’s pretty exciting that all the division series games got to a game 5.
Unfortunately I only enjoy watching shitty baseball.
Fangraphs wOBA, wRAA, wRC, wRC+ —-> no longer include SB/CS
@ Rice Cube:
I missed this. What’s he asking for?
@ Mish:
Good. I never liked it and then I hated it when they added BRR or whatever it’s called.
Rice Cube wrote:
I don’t think Fangraphs does as far as I know, but they should. WPA on Fangraphs helps poor fielders and hurts good fielders. That said, it’s not a big deal because I don’t think anyone is going to use it for hardcore analysis.
@ mb21:
How do batters accumulate -WPA? Coming up with bases loaded and one out when down by one and then hitting into a double play? I see it a lot easier for a pitcher to accumulate -WPA and a batter to accumulate +WPA
@ mb21:
Yeah Fangraphs WPA is just for hitters and pitchers (I assume base running is in there too as it should be easy). I sometimes enjoy WPA for a single game analysis, but I don’t think I’ve ever meaningful used it in analysis unless I’m telling people that there are better “context-dependent” stats than RBI.
@ Rice Cube:
You’d figure with those nice flowing locks that he’d have had a facial well before now, eh?
So far, I’m quite happy with the results of the play-offs. Let’s have a Tigers–Nationals World Series!! Seems that RtR and I am the only ones happy about the Tigers.
http://twitter.com/JWerthsBeard/status/256743827551948801/photo/1
(dying laughing)
@ GBTS:
That’s incredible. (dying laughing)
@ WaLi:
Exactly like that. Any out is going to be negative WPA (it decreases their chances of winning the game). An 0-4 in which you strand 9 runners is going to really hurt, especially if the game is close.
@ SVB:
Fuck the Tigers. In the Ear. Fat assholes.
All right Baltimore. You and the Nationals are my last hope to stave off utter baseball apathy.
new shit: http://www.obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/a-rough-estimate-of-justin-uptons-trade-value.html