God clearly has a sense of humor. Every member of the Yankees homers except A-Rod. Damon, Abreu, Matsui, Posada, Melky, Cano, Shelly Freakin' Duncan all go yard. And yet poor A-Rod remains mired at 499.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Four Hundred and Ninety Nine, One to Go
God clearly has a sense of humor. Every member of the Yankees homers except A-Rod. Damon, Abreu, Matsui, Posada, Melky, Cano, Shelly Freakin' Duncan all go yard. And yet poor A-Rod remains mired at 499.
Retarded arguments beware, 26 is on ya
My morning ritual involves a large iced skim latte and Mike and Mike on ESPN radio as I drive to work. Normally this is my time to relax and let my mind wonder before thinking about the work before me. This morning, I had the unfortunate pleasure of listening to Erik Casilias sit in for Mike and Mike. Casilias is one of the normal sit ins for the Mike and Mike crew, and while not my favorite, I usually enjoy the change of pace he provides. This morning, I was stunned to find out that Erik Casilias is a glue-sniffer, the only possible explanation for this morning’s rant. Let me explain:
Now for the record, what I heard today was the conclusion of a rant started on Friday morning. So I did not hear the genesis of Mr. Casilias’s addled thoughts. But what I caught today was this, Mr. Casilias proclaimed that while Derek Jeter will be a first ballot hall of famer, he is not one now. He then made two further proclamations. The first being that if Jeter were to retire today and make the Hall of Fame, he would be the worst offensive player in the history of the Hall. He justified that claim by stating that Jeter didn’t have 3,000 hits, wouldn’t have 500 homers and so far has no MVP awards. Then, after taking another huge huff of industrial strength glue, he boldly proclaimed that he didn’t like Jeter, because he prefers his Hall of Famers to have “hardware.” Explaining that “hardware” meant MVP or Cy Young awards. He concluded with “that’s why I like Rollie Fingers, he has a Cy Young and an MVP award.” (To be fair, that was a lead in to Rollie Fingers appearing on the show. Although it is possible that Mr. Casilias does not know that Derek Jeter is ineligible for the Cy Young Award. )
Here’s my what I imagine Mr. Casilias’s pre-show prep went like.
Mr. Casilias “Derek Jeter is over rated.”
ESPN Intern “Why do you think that?”
Mr. Casilias “He has no MVP awards.”
ESPN Intern “So.”
Mr. Casilias “Well Juan Gonzalez has two MVP awards, so he must be twice as good as Derek Jeter. And, more important, twice as worthy of Hall of Fame induction.”
ESPN Intern “But he washed out early and almost all baseball experts consider his MVP results a matter of the voters overvaluing RBIs more than anything else.”
Mr. Casilias “Hold on, I need another hit of glue. Okay, well what about George Bell.”
ESPN Intern “What about George Bell.”
Mr. Casilias “Well George Bell has one MVP award, and one is more than zero, so George Bell is more worthy of being in the Hall of Fame than Derek Jeter.”
ESPN Inter “Ummm…okay…whatever, here’s some more glue.”
Look I know some people think Derek Jeter is overrated. Even we’ll admit he didn’t deserve his gold gloves, but anyone who questions Jeter being a first ballot Hall of Famer is an idiot. Let’s break down Casilias’s statements. His first one, about if Jeter’s career ended today would he be Hall worthy, is simply idiotic. It is the equivalent of me arguing “If the war in Iraq ended today, there would be no more soldiers dying in Basra.” Sure it’s true, but it’s absurd and irrelevant as the war in Iraq is not ending today. Neither is Derek Jeter’s career. I’m not sure what Casilias is going by, but Jeter is just over halfway done with his career. He has played 12 full seasons and he is only 32, he has never been an injury risk and has no statistical signs of slowing down. Oh, and by the way he already has 2,292 hits. Over the last 11 seasons he has averaged 194 hits per year. Which means he should break 3,000 in four seasons, this would put him on pace for about 3,500 hits for his career. For those who don’t know, and I know Erik Casilias doesn’t know, Tony Gwynn has 3,141 hits for his career, and Gwynn was a first ballot Hall of Famer. Here’s another equivalent of Casilias’s argument “If Albert Pujols retired today he wouldn’t have 500 homers and would not be worthy of the Hall of Fame.” Sure, that would be true, but that would come as quite a surprise to Pujols who will probably play ten more seasons. I mean for fuck’s sake, how many players are evaluated based on their first 11 seasons. Did Greg Maddux have 300 wins after 11 seasons? No. Did Roger Clemens have 300 wins after 11 seasons? No. Did Barry Bonds have 500 homers after 11 seasons? No.
Casilias stated that if Jeter retired today and was voted in, he would be the weakest player in the Hall. Stunningly Casilias even got this wrong. Compare Jeter to two Hall of Fame shortstops, Pee Wee Reese and Phil Rizzuto. Reese retired with 2170 hits, .269 career Batting Average, .366 career On Base Percentage and .377 career Slugging Percentage (in 16 seasons). Rizzuto finished with 1,588 hits, .273 Batting Average, .351 On Base Percentage, and .355 Slugging Percentage (in 13 seasons). For sake of comparison, Cal Ripken Jr. finished with 3,184 hits, .276 Batting Average, .340 On Base Percentage, and .447 Slugging Percentage (in 21 seasons). Jeter has 2,292 hits, .318 Batting Average, .389 On Base Percentage, and .463 Slugging Percentage. So to be clear, as of right now, Derek Jeter has a higher career Average, On Base Percentage, and Slugging Percentage than current Hall of Famers, Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto and Cal Ripken Jr. Now, those are just pure numbers. Without even getting into the Rookie of the Year Award, the World Series MVP, the All-Star Games, the two MVP Runner Ups, Jeter has the stats to get into the Hall of Fame.
Now, Casilias’s statement about hardware is so stupid it barely deserves a comment. But, here are some of the luminaries who have won the MVP Award over the last 20 years: Terry Pendleton, Jose Canseco, George Bell, Kevin Mitchell, Mo Vaughn, Larry Walker, Juan Gonzalez (twice) and Jason Giambi. According to Casilias all are more Hall of Fame worthy than Derek Jeter - pure stupidity.
I recognize that Casilias probably spent very little time actually thinking about his argument and simply seized upon what he thought would be a controversial topic. As the stats show, he clearly never bothered to look up Derek Jeter’s career numbers and compare them to actual Hall of Famers. Furthermore, trying to evaluate Jeter’s career when it is halfway done, is a cheap way of making an argument. More importantly, most baseball fans who care about the sport are not listening to Erik Casilias for insight. Those real fans are reading Baseball Prospectus, or Baseball Analysts, or the Hardball Times. But the sad thing is that it is people like Casilias who have repeatedly cheapened the MVP and Cy Young awards. Journalists who are too lazy to look beyond RBIs or Wins when placing their ballots. Journalists who give us Cy Young awards winners like Bartolo Colon and MVPs like Justin Mourneau (who is incredible, but was merely the third best player on his own team). It is sad to me that because of those journalists those awards have been cheapened in the eyes of so many. I know Casilias wants to make a splash, but maybe he should think before he speaks…it would go a long way.
(i wanted to put up a pic, maybe casilias sniffing glue out of a Cy Young award, but i couldn't find a picture of him... which sorta says it all about actually considering his argument, if anyone does have a pic of this genius please send it over, im sure well need it again soon.)
Now for the record, what I heard today was the conclusion of a rant started on Friday morning. So I did not hear the genesis of Mr. Casilias’s addled thoughts. But what I caught today was this, Mr. Casilias proclaimed that while Derek Jeter will be a first ballot hall of famer, he is not one now. He then made two further proclamations. The first being that if Jeter were to retire today and make the Hall of Fame, he would be the worst offensive player in the history of the Hall. He justified that claim by stating that Jeter didn’t have 3,000 hits, wouldn’t have 500 homers and so far has no MVP awards. Then, after taking another huge huff of industrial strength glue, he boldly proclaimed that he didn’t like Jeter, because he prefers his Hall of Famers to have “hardware.” Explaining that “hardware” meant MVP or Cy Young awards. He concluded with “that’s why I like Rollie Fingers, he has a Cy Young and an MVP award.” (To be fair, that was a lead in to Rollie Fingers appearing on the show. Although it is possible that Mr. Casilias does not know that Derek Jeter is ineligible for the Cy Young Award. )
Here’s my what I imagine Mr. Casilias’s pre-show prep went like.
Mr. Casilias “Derek Jeter is over rated.”
ESPN Intern “Why do you think that?”
Mr. Casilias “He has no MVP awards.”
ESPN Intern “So.”
Mr. Casilias “Well Juan Gonzalez has two MVP awards, so he must be twice as good as Derek Jeter. And, more important, twice as worthy of Hall of Fame induction.”
ESPN Intern “But he washed out early and almost all baseball experts consider his MVP results a matter of the voters overvaluing RBIs more than anything else.”
Mr. Casilias “Hold on, I need another hit of glue. Okay, well what about George Bell.”
ESPN Intern “What about George Bell.”
Mr. Casilias “Well George Bell has one MVP award, and one is more than zero, so George Bell is more worthy of being in the Hall of Fame than Derek Jeter.”
ESPN Inter “Ummm…okay…whatever, here’s some more glue.”
Look I know some people think Derek Jeter is overrated. Even we’ll admit he didn’t deserve his gold gloves, but anyone who questions Jeter being a first ballot Hall of Famer is an idiot. Let’s break down Casilias’s statements. His first one, about if Jeter’s career ended today would he be Hall worthy, is simply idiotic. It is the equivalent of me arguing “If the war in Iraq ended today, there would be no more soldiers dying in Basra.” Sure it’s true, but it’s absurd and irrelevant as the war in Iraq is not ending today. Neither is Derek Jeter’s career. I’m not sure what Casilias is going by, but Jeter is just over halfway done with his career. He has played 12 full seasons and he is only 32, he has never been an injury risk and has no statistical signs of slowing down. Oh, and by the way he already has 2,292 hits. Over the last 11 seasons he has averaged 194 hits per year. Which means he should break 3,000 in four seasons, this would put him on pace for about 3,500 hits for his career. For those who don’t know, and I know Erik Casilias doesn’t know, Tony Gwynn has 3,141 hits for his career, and Gwynn was a first ballot Hall of Famer. Here’s another equivalent of Casilias’s argument “If Albert Pujols retired today he wouldn’t have 500 homers and would not be worthy of the Hall of Fame.” Sure, that would be true, but that would come as quite a surprise to Pujols who will probably play ten more seasons. I mean for fuck’s sake, how many players are evaluated based on their first 11 seasons. Did Greg Maddux have 300 wins after 11 seasons? No. Did Roger Clemens have 300 wins after 11 seasons? No. Did Barry Bonds have 500 homers after 11 seasons? No.
Casilias stated that if Jeter retired today and was voted in, he would be the weakest player in the Hall. Stunningly Casilias even got this wrong. Compare Jeter to two Hall of Fame shortstops, Pee Wee Reese and Phil Rizzuto. Reese retired with 2170 hits, .269 career Batting Average, .366 career On Base Percentage and .377 career Slugging Percentage (in 16 seasons). Rizzuto finished with 1,588 hits, .273 Batting Average, .351 On Base Percentage, and .355 Slugging Percentage (in 13 seasons). For sake of comparison, Cal Ripken Jr. finished with 3,184 hits, .276 Batting Average, .340 On Base Percentage, and .447 Slugging Percentage (in 21 seasons). Jeter has 2,292 hits, .318 Batting Average, .389 On Base Percentage, and .463 Slugging Percentage. So to be clear, as of right now, Derek Jeter has a higher career Average, On Base Percentage, and Slugging Percentage than current Hall of Famers, Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto and Cal Ripken Jr. Now, those are just pure numbers. Without even getting into the Rookie of the Year Award, the World Series MVP, the All-Star Games, the two MVP Runner Ups, Jeter has the stats to get into the Hall of Fame.
Now, Casilias’s statement about hardware is so stupid it barely deserves a comment. But, here are some of the luminaries who have won the MVP Award over the last 20 years: Terry Pendleton, Jose Canseco, George Bell, Kevin Mitchell, Mo Vaughn, Larry Walker, Juan Gonzalez (twice) and Jason Giambi. According to Casilias all are more Hall of Fame worthy than Derek Jeter - pure stupidity.
I recognize that Casilias probably spent very little time actually thinking about his argument and simply seized upon what he thought would be a controversial topic. As the stats show, he clearly never bothered to look up Derek Jeter’s career numbers and compare them to actual Hall of Famers. Furthermore, trying to evaluate Jeter’s career when it is halfway done, is a cheap way of making an argument. More importantly, most baseball fans who care about the sport are not listening to Erik Casilias for insight. Those real fans are reading Baseball Prospectus, or Baseball Analysts, or the Hardball Times. But the sad thing is that it is people like Casilias who have repeatedly cheapened the MVP and Cy Young awards. Journalists who are too lazy to look beyond RBIs or Wins when placing their ballots. Journalists who give us Cy Young awards winners like Bartolo Colon and MVPs like Justin Mourneau (who is incredible, but was merely the third best player on his own team). It is sad to me that because of those journalists those awards have been cheapened in the eyes of so many. I know Casilias wants to make a splash, but maybe he should think before he speaks…it would go a long way.
(i wanted to put up a pic, maybe casilias sniffing glue out of a Cy Young award, but i couldn't find a picture of him... which sorta says it all about actually considering his argument, if anyone does have a pic of this genius please send it over, im sure well need it again soon.)
So...
Sorry it has been so long between updates, life has a way of interfering with blogging…anyways. Here are some thoughts:
1. The Yankees have largely lived up to our post All-Star Break plan, taking 3 of 4 from the 6 of 8 from Tampa Bay (2 series), 3 of 4 from Toronto, and 3 of 4 from the Royals. When you couple that with the pre-All Star Break series wins against the Angels and the team had a nifty little streak going. But, that somewhat ground to a halt when Baltimore took 2 of 3 over the weekend (I’m discounting the already won game, the teams completed Friday night). While one doesn’t want to overreact to one series loss, the weekend was bad. In order for the Yankees to make up ground on Boston and the Wildcard they simply cannot afford to lose series against losing teams. The Yanks have the next 6 against the White Sox and the Royals – anything less than 4 wins could be devastating.
2. The Yankees finally got rid of Will Nieves. I can’t tell you how excited I was watching Jose Molina collect 3 hits in his first game against Kansas. In fact, I was so thrilled by the prospect of having an actual living, breathing ballplayer back up King Jorge that I didn’t care that the Yanks lost. I can’t believe it only took Brian Cashman half of a season of watching a guy hit below .200 with no power before he thought about replacing him.
3. Phil Hughes comes back on Saturday, August 4th – cue the angels singing and the golden lights.
4. Joba Chamberlain is coming up to help the pen. Part of me likes this move, Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth are awful. Joba throws in the high 90s and can be dominate. Furthermore, there is a blueprint for success here – look at Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano. Of course, neither of those pitchers were managed by Joe Torre. Torre is awful when it comes to managing his bullpen and the thought of what he might to do poor Joba’s arm is horrifying. However, this could provide the Yanks with a strike out pitcher from the pen, other than Mo, something the teams sorely needs.
a. Actually, I take that entire paragraph back. There’s such a likely hood that Torre will irreparably harm Joba that I think the team needs to hold off till Torre leaves – it is just not worth it.
5. Trade Deadline Thought: I kind of hope the team stands pat. There’s not a whole lot out there, I don’t think adding Eric Gagne is going to make a tremendous difference (and it will kill one of my Fantasy teams) and Texas wants too much for Mark Teixeira. Moving Kyle “disaster walking” Farnsworth or Scott “home run” Proctor would be addition by subtraction and if the team can get some live young arms, or better yet, some young hitting prospects, I’m all in.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Part Deux
"I realize the outfield got a D not an F, but they still blow."Right now Alex Rodriguez leads the Major Leagues in Value Over Replacement Player (see www.baseballprospectus.com - Value Over Replacement player is basically how many more runs over the course of the season a player is worth in comparison to your league average player), Posada is 19 and Jeter is 20, the next highest ranked Yankee hitter is Hideki Matsui at 107. To really make you really want to slice your eyelids, Jason Giambi, who has been out for the last month, is 5th on the team as of now. Yup, Mr. DL himself has been more valuable than Robinson Cano, Bobby Abreu, Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon - simply putrid. Which brings us to our outfield grade.
Outfield: D
Wow, I'm still feeling nauseas after that last paragraph, so here goes nothing. In a word, the Yankees outfield has been atrocious. Bobby Abreu can't hit, Hideki Matsui can't field, Melky Cabrera can't identify a breaking ball, and Johnny Damon can't stay off the disabled list. Not really sure what else there is to say. For most teams, the outfield is a source of offense, come to think of it, so is First Base, but not for the Yankees. Nope, we are going to become the first team to succeed while getting almost zero production from the outfield. Oh wait, .500 isn't success for the team with the highest payroll in baseball?
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Truly Dope
"No seriously, everyone else does suck."Starting Catcher: Grade A
What is not to love about what King Jorge has been doing this season? He’s hitting .326, slugging .505, and getting on base at a .399 clip, he also leads the team with 25 doubles. Not only that, he actually called out his teammates for being the slackers that they are. We could nitpick about the fact that opposing teams are running against the Yanks at will. However, I’m not sure how much of that is Jorge’s fault and how much is the fact that Moose and Clemens couldn’t keep my grandmother from taking a big lead.
Backup Catcher: F-----------
Words fail to describe how truly awful Will Nieves actually is. Just looking at his stats makes me want to roll around in a bathtub full of rusty nails. The only thing good taste allows me to print is 50 at-bats, 6 hits – I’m going to be sick…
Note: I am separating catcher and back up catcher because to put Will Nieves and King Jorge in the same paragraph is straight blasphemy. Seriously, my computer refused to let me type when I even tried to write about them together. Now if only my computer could keep Nieves out of the Yankees dugout.
First Base: F
The only thing keeping this from being an F- is that Josh Phelps (before getting cut) actually hit the ball. Watching Miguel Cairo at first makes me embarrassed to root for this team. And by the way, can Yankee fans please get off Cairo’s jock. I mean we put a picture up of him on the website, but it was a joke. Saturday night, a good friend tried to argue that Cairo playing first isn’t the problem and that Cairo’s the kind of guy the Yankees need. First of all, I’m not sure how a first baseman who is hitting .263 with 6 extra base hits provides anything to a team, unless Cairo gets credit for not being Doug Mientkiewicz. And, second of all, why do the Yankees need a barely competent hitter on our team at all. Someone, please explain the allure of Miguel Cairo to me.
Given the state of things for the Yankees this year, the fact that Andy Phillips has actually been hitting since he’s been called up, means he’s likely to get hit by a bus over the All-Star Break.
Second Base: C
Right now Robinson Cano has two things going for him, according to Zone Rating (see www.nomaas.org) he is ranked 2nd out American League Second baseman, which is a very good thing; and the fact that he rakes in the second half of last year. As most experts, see Steven Goldman or anyone form Baseball Prospectus, have pointed out, if Cano is not batting over .300 he’s simply not a good hitter. This year he is hitting .274, not a bad batting average by itself, but his on base percentage is only .314 which is putrid. To put the utter awfulness of Cano’s .OBP in perspective, Bobby Abreu is having as awful a year as humanely possible and he is getting on base at a .352 clip. Cano is either going to have to learn to identify pitches or hit above .310 to really have any value.
Third Base: A+++++++++
If you disagree with this grade you are retarded. If you think that the Yankees should not do everything in their power to make sure Alex Rodriguez is in pinstripes next year, you are too stupid to sit in the back of the short bus. The next person who says that the Yanks need more guys like Cairo and to get rid of A-Rod is getting beaten till they are bloody. Look at the numbers - 30 homers, 86 RBIs, 79 runs, .317 batting average, .413 on base percentage, .665 slugging percentage at the break – he is out of his freakin’ mind.
Shortstop: A-
It is kind of weird, Derek Jeter has been so good for so long that he has almost become underrated. He’s batting .336, slugging .463, getting on base at a .408 clip and no one notices because we all expect him to do that. For the first half of the season the Yankees are 1 game under .500 and Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are the only players hitting like they are capable of – that says something about how good these guys are.
The only knock on Jeter is his defense, which has been especially awful this year. Zone Rating has him as worst in the American League and anyone who has watched a few games this year knows how much trouble the Captain is having going to his left. Unlike Posada whose trouble with base runners involves others, Jeter’s defensive problems are all his own fault so it is costing him half a grade.
Tomorrow – the outfield
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Torre waves the white flag...
Even though the Yankees are 2 games under .500 and 11 games behind the Boston Red Sox, Joe Torre has decided the Yankees don't need to win this game. How else do you explain starting Miguel Cairo, Will Nieves, Melky Cabrera, Andy Phillips and Kevin Thompson against Johan Santana? In case no one's noticed Santana is the best pitcher in baseball.Happy Birthday George, your 2007 Bronx Bombers, featuring such feared automatic outs as Will Nieves and Miguel Cairo.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Congrats to the Rocket Man!!!!
Thanks to Roger Clemens' vintage performance, we suggest the Yankees hold off blowing up the team for one more game. However, if A-Rod is really hurt, then screw it, sell the lot of them.
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