Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Finally.. Spring Training is Over!

Most of this spring training I've been saying that Spring Training results and statistics are virtually meaningless. However, even the biggest cynic has to be impressed with a 16-10 record, the best in the American League, during these exhibition gamess. There would no doubt be a lot of carping if the Jays went 10-16, so let's take a moment to enjoy their fine record.

Moment over.

From the "Power of PECOTA", I give you the 1980's version of the 2005 Toronto Blue Jays. Here is the team as it stands today:

C  Gregg Zaun
C  Greg Myers
1B Eric Hinske
2B Orlando Hudson
SS Russ Adams
3B Corey Koskie
DH Shea Hillenbrand
IF Frank Menechino
IF John McDonald
LF Frank Catalanotto
CF Vernon Wells
RF Gabe Gross
OF Alexis Rios
OF Reed Johnson

SP Roy Halladay
SP David Bush
SP Gus Chacin
SP Josh Towers
RP Miguel Batista
RP Jason Frasor
RP Justin Speier
RP Scott Schoeneweis
RP Vinnie Chulk
RP Brandon League
RP Pete Walker
DL Ted Lilly

And here are their 1980s equivalents. Please don't take these comps too seriously. This is for entertainment purposes only.

C  Rick Cerone     (1988) BOS 264 AB .243/.320/.345
C  Rick Dempsey    (1988) LOS 167 AB .251/.338/.455
1B Jack Howell     (1989) CAL 474 AB .254/.323/.422
2B Ron Oester      (1983) CIN 549 AB .264/.322/.384
SS Danny Heep      (1982) HOU 198 AB .237/.311/.379
3B Wayne Gross     (1984) BAL 342 AB .216/.346/.442
DH Mickey Hatcher  (1985) MIN 444 AB .282/.308/.365
IF Kurt Bevacqua   (1981) PIT  27 AB .259/.333/.407
IF Mario Mendoza   (1981) PIT 229 AB .231/.254/.266
LF Rick Leach      (1988) TOR 199 AB .276/.336/.372
CF Kevin McReynolds(1986) SDP 560 AB .287/.358/.504
RF Gerald Perry    (1986) ATL  70 AB .271/.342/.376
OF Jeff Leonard    (1980) HOU 216 AB .213/.274/.333
OF Dave Gallagher  (1989) CWS 601 AB .266/.320/.314

SP Mike Witt       (1988) CAL 4.15 ERA 249.7 IP 13-16
SP Brian Kingman   (1980) OAK 3.83 ERA 211.3 IP  8-20
SP Bob Ojeda       (1982) BOS 5.63 ERA  78.3 IP  4- 6
SP Bill Long       (1988) CWS 4.03 ERA 174.0 IP  8-11
RP Rick Mahler     (1987) ATL 4.98 ERA 197.0 IP  8-13
RP Jeff Montgomery (1989) KCR 1.37 ERA  92.0 IP  7- 3
RP Steve Bedrosian (1989) PHI 3.21 ERA  33.7 IP  2- 3
RP Shane Rawley    (1987) PHI 4.39 ERA 229.7 IP 17-11
RP Dave Stewart    (1983) LAD 2.14 ERA  59.0 IP  5- 2
RP Tommy Boggs     (1978) ATL 6.71 ERA  59.0 IP  2- 8
RP NO COMP FOR PETE WALKER
DL Pete Falcone    (1983) ATL 3.63 ERA 106.7 IP  9- 4

There you have.. the 1980's 2005 Toronto Blue Jays.

Question of the Day: Word has it that Phillies minor league slugger Ryan Howard wants a trade. What's the absolute most you'd give up for him? Not what you think it will take, but your absolute maximum price.

For me, it wouldn't be too much. 48 homers is impressive, but given his huge number of strikeouts, he looks to me to be the bastard son of Josh Phelps and Bob Hamelin. But that's just one man's opinion. What's yours?

Media Roundup

Fordin: "Jays seek a quick start to the season"
Fordin: "Myers fights back from injuries"
Castrovince: "Reds down Jays to wrap up spring"
Rutsey: "Looking Up"
Ganter: "Bush working on finding a groove"
Ganter: "Blue Jays spring watch"
Rutsey: "In the cage: Ricciardi takes a few hacks at his critics"
Elliott: "On the move: Jays will have to manufacture more runs"
Elliott: "Building blocks: Elliott offers his blueprint for success"
Ganter: "New feel for Jays: Difference noticeable to manager, players"
Robinson: "Bush appears all set to go in `games that really count'"
Woolsey: "That Slash just doesn't cut it for this Blue Jay fan"
Perkins: "Dave Perkins laments the misguided marketing that turns real fans off"

Posted by Pepper Moffatt on Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 10:02 AM EDT.

Finally.. Spring Training is Over! | 58 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

NDG - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 10:56 AM EDT (#108774) #

I just posted this in yesterdays thread but I'll copy it here since this just showed up.

The most amazing spring stat I've seen yet

Pujols ain't bad.

Magpie - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 11:12 AM EDT (#108775) #

Geez, Pepper. That scares the crap out of me.

Anyone else have that "we are experiencing a lull" kind of feeling? As Letterman used to say?

Oh well. Let me draw everyone's attention to some reading matter. At the Sun, Mike Rutsey has an interview with J.P. Ricciardi:

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/Sports/2005/04/03/981055-sun.html

The Toronto Star has a piece on your new play-by-play guy, Mr Jamie Campbell:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1112440117121&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

At ESPN, Peter Gammons has a long piece about what he thinks the game needs to see happen this year, along with the usual (reluctantly offered!) forecasts for the coming year. Of interest to Jays fans: Halladay is in the mix for AL Cy Young, Russ Adams' name comes up in the Rookie of the Year discussion, Ted Lilly is a guy "who could be traded" (so is Roger Clemens!), Brandon League is a candidate for a "breakout season." And he provides a handy list of players who will be free agents when 2005 is over.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/story?id=2028294

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 11:14 AM EDT (#108776) #

I wouldn't take the comps too seriously. But yeah, that's one ugly group.

Fun fact: The number 1 overall comp for Gabe Gross according to PECOTA is Jason Giambi circa 1996!

JayFan0912 - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 01:05 PM EDT (#108782) #

Re. Ryan Howard

I think he is sort of a gamble, at best he could be the next adam dunn, at worst, he could be josh phelps. He is probably worth a guy like rosario or mcgowan along with a lower valued prospect such as tablado. Guys that hit 50 HR are far and few
in between.

But, given his trade demand (and a lousy performance which could lower his value) perhaps the phillies would settle for Banks and Perkins/Tablado.

Mick Doherty - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 01:08 PM EDT (#108783) #

What a great thing to see in the agate type of today's newspaper, whether you're a fan of either team or not:

Red Sox (David Wells) at Yankees (Randy Johnson), 8:00 ET

And here's a terrific column from today by George Will (hey, any time we can get him writing about baseball rather than politics, we're all better off!) ...

The Old Ballgame Still Has Its Grip

Here's a user ID and password to get in without registering, but in return you have to be honest about whether or not you get any of the three trivia questions he starts with right: User ID/e-mail - media.relations@battersbox.ca; Password - halladay.

Magpie - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 01:46 PM EDT (#108786) #

Well, off the top of my head, how about:

a) Roberto Alomar

b) four pitch walk. Stolen base, third on throwing error.

c) The pitcher was hitting.

OK, now I'll go read the rest of it.

Magpie - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 01:48 PM EDT (#108787) #

Ok. I got none of them.

CaramonLS - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 01:50 PM EDT (#108788) #

Re: Howard.

This fills a giant long term hole in ball club.

Banks + Jackson + Perkins + Hinske or Cat or Shea (reason for this last part is that even if the phillies wont take him in a trade, we have to dump one of those guys.)

Yep, I'm willing to give up a lot/our excess pitching talent for a moderately low risk/very high upside batting talent.

Dan - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 01:58 PM EDT (#108791) #

I first posed this question in the earlier thread. I'll do it here too. Would it be too much to offer a package including Brandon League?

Gerry - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 01:59 PM EDT (#108792) #

Yep, I'm willing to give up a lot/our excess pitching talent for a moderately low risk/very high upside batting talent.

Ryan Howard struck out 179 times in 2004. If you know anything about prospects that makes him high risk, not low risk. If he strikes out that many times against mainly AA pitchers then what will major league pitchers do to him?

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:05 PM EDT (#108793) #

Howard also isn't all that young, as he'll be 26 in November.

Here's his PECOTA Top 10:

1. Josh Phelps (2003)
2. Sam Horn (1989)
3. Daryle Ward (2001)
4. Kevin Witt (2001)
5. Fernando Seguignol (2000)
6. John Russell (1986)
7. Hensley Meulens (1993)
8. Franklin Stubbs (1986)
9. Ron Jackson (1959)
10. Bob Chance (1966)

CaramonLS - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:10 PM EDT (#108794) #

I honestly could care less about strikeouts.

Could turn out like Josh Phelps? GOOD.

Because Howard is left handed and absolutely tees off on Right Handed pitching. As we know, Its a lot better to have someone who can mash RHPs than LHPs. Maybe we can reaquire phelps and have the best 1B platoon in Baseball.

And how much would you pay for Adam Dunn?

Thomas - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:11 PM EDT (#108795) #

From the Bush Working on Finding His Groove article there is some interesting news on Rios. Apparently he lost his stance last year and couldn't get it back to exactly where it was before. He dug up some old video a few days ago and made an adjustment and is since 8-for-20 and was crushing the ball in the cage well enough to make Ken Griffey Jr. go "Wow."

While it's too soon to say if this will result in any real improvement or not, it looks like a positive sign, if only for the fact Rios appears to feel more comfortable at the plate.

Dan - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:14 PM EDT (#108797) #

The strikeout rate is alarming. I wonder if this is a player J.P. is even considering at this point. If J.P. has shown anything with regards to his patience with young hitters, it's that he does not like high strikeout rates.

Are there any examples of good Major League hitters that had similarly high K rates in the minors?

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:15 PM EDT (#108798) #

There's a world of difference between Adam Dunn and Howard. For instance:

Dunn and Howard are the same age, but Dunn has already hit 118 homers in the majors, Howard has hit 2. The most Dunn ever struck out in the minors was 101 in a full season at AA.

If you gave Howard 600 AB this year in the majors, he'd probably strike out over 250 times.

CaramonLS - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:34 PM EDT (#108800) #

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/craig_wilson.shtml

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/corey_patterson.shtml

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/geoff_jenkins.shtml
(At or around 1 per game in the minors).

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/brad_wilkerson.shtml
(2000-2001 seasons around 1 per game in the minors)

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/jim_edmonds.shtml

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/andruw_jones.shtml
(Not exactly howard like, but quite a few)

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/mike_cameron.shtml

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/derrek_lee.shtml
(For Minor Stats, very good comparable to Howard, Howard had a better Slug %).

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/mark_bellhorn.shtml

Plenty of players in the minors had @ or around 1 strikeout per Game played. Now thats just a rag tag list going up and down the Strikeout leaders of the last couple seasons, but most of them are formaidable hitters, who didn't display Howard's power in the minors (or did display power, but howard was better).

jsoh - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:42 PM EDT (#108802) #

Would it be too much to offer a package including Brandon League?

IMHO, yes. I'm with Pepper and Gerry on this one. A 26 yr old slugger who puts up Dunn-ian K rates against AA pitching (AA!) isnt something you ship the farm out for.

If I can channel NFH for a moment, I've got $5 that says Howard gets brutally exposed against ML pitchers - I'm thinking 200/250/400. Yeah. He'll crush cripple pitches, but he'll also have a 1:5 BB/K ratio.

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:47 PM EDT (#108804) #

Wilson is a pretty good comp for Howard. Most of the other guys aren't, because they were significantly younger than Howard. The only guy on that list who struck out at the same rate as Howard for even one season was Derrek Lee, who was a 21 year old in AA.

I think Howard could hit 25-30 homers by accident in the major and could have a decent season or two in the majors. I think his PECOTA comps are pretty accurate, though.

Dan - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:49 PM EDT (#108805) #

Last year at AAA Howard had 14 walks in 111 at bats. Thats not a bad walk rate. Unless those are intentional, this leads me to believe he doesn't have a bad eye. Perhaps he can't hit the breaking stuff.

Mick Doherty - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 02:55 PM EDT (#108806) #

Well, strikeouts "per games played" is a little specious since that doesn't measure performance per plate appearance terribly accurately, but I'll just randomly pick one guy from your list and compare him to Howard. Let's go with Cameron, disregarding the incredibly higher defensive value he would bring to a team, and use your metric:

Cameron, 658 minor league games, 546 strikeouts, or 0.83 K per game, from ages 18-24.

Howard, 444 games, 517 srikeouts, or 1.16 strikeouts per game.

Even if we assume that these totals would remain constant in the majors, which would be specious in and of itself, that would mean 134K per season for Cameron, which is actually about right, and 188 per season, or the pre-Dunn record, for Howard.

At the age of 24 in the majors, Howard had 13 K in 39 AB while Cameron, playing regularly due at least in part thanks to his GG-quality leather, had 105 in 379 AB.

I'm not discounting that Howard might be a nice player in the majors, but I think he has "Steve Balboni" written all over him. And the 1984-86 Balboni just might be worth League. But he's no Mike Cameron, in many, many ways. I suspect most of the other names on the above list would play out similarly.

CaramonLS - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:00 PM EDT (#108807) #

WHOH Mick, Calm down there buddy.

Someone asked Can you tell me who has had high K rates and has had success at the major league level.

In No way am I comparing most of those to Howard, I was simply answering the question of high K ratios.

jsoh - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:05 PM EDT (#108808) #

And the 1984-86 Balboni just might be worth League.

If I could quibble/run with this. The '84-'86 version of Balboni might be worth League if the Jays were one slugger away from taking the division.

They're not. So giving up League for someone's who's upside is Balboni (yuk) doesnt strike me as being a wise use of resources.

(Yeah, I know you werent advocating that Mick, just making the larger point)

And re: Howard's defensive abilities, I cant find it now, but I coulda swore that Baseball America had an piece where they unfavourably compared Howard to a bit of marble statuary.

CaramonLS - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:10 PM EDT (#108809) #

I wouldn't doubt it Jsoh. The guy can only play 1B which is why they are in this situation.

Andrew K - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:13 PM EDT (#108810) #

According to this information, which appears to be new, mlb.tv are carrying *all* Blue Jays games this year. That's great news for anyone outside of Canada and Japan. Last year, they only had approximately 70% of the games.

But, as ever, I'll only be able to watch afternoon games live, because I really can't justify staying up late enough to watch evening games (which start after midnight, local time). So once again I'll be avoiding Batters Box on such days, until after I've caught up with the game on archive.

JayFan0912 - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:21 PM EDT (#108811) #

Although howard is an interesting option, I don't think it is a good idea to take a gamble on him right now. For instance, it seems like it would take less to obtain kearns from the reds, and stick him at 1B.

IMO, something like Banks + Hinske + Hinske's half paycheque should do it, and you have a more advanced hitter with similar upside. I guess if you are willing to eat ligtenberg's and koch's salaries not to pitch, you might as well ...

Magpie - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:31 PM EDT (#108812) #

This is amusing. Or sad.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/03/Rays/More_long_term_deals_.shtml

So that's why he hasn't signed anywhere else. We were all wondering.

Justin (T-Birds) - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:44 PM EDT (#108813) #

The potential trade talk has to be my least favourite aspect of the Box's evolution (not that anybody cares). Statements like this are absurd:

"Banks and Hinske + 1/2 of Hinske's salary for Austin Kearns"

If the Blue Jays had Kearns, would you be willing to trade him for that? I don't know why everybody assumes that most general managers are clueless. This was discussed after Ricciardi's interview, but it still persists.

robertdudek - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:47 PM EDT (#108814) #

Here's a question.

Who would you rather acquire, Dan Johnson or Ryan Howard? Answer: Johnson - better K/W ratio, so a better bet to succeed.

For whom will the asking price in a trade be higher? Answer: Howard.

Just say no to the Phillies and yes to the Athletics.

Marco S. - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 03:59 PM EDT (#108815) #

Andrew K,

Living in Portugal means I don't get a chance to watch the Jays, so I figured I might as well sign-up for MLB.tv. If it works out (i.e., if I manage to watch enough games to make the purchase worthwhile) I'll sign up for the rest of the season, instead of just for the month of April.

CaramonLS - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 04:06 PM EDT (#108816) #

Why would the As trade Dan Johnson?

In all likely hood, hes the successor to Hatteberg at 1B next year. Sure hes got nice numbers, good BB/K ratio, but I don't see any reason for the As to trade him.

Not to mention I don't think Johnson is much of an upgrade over Crozier, yeah hes exactly a year and a day younger, but asider from .020 OBP, and the BB/K rates, slightly higer SLG% for Crozier, they produce around the same numbers.

Ron - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 04:07 PM EDT (#108817) #

I'm all jacked up for baseball to start.

Too bad I won't be able to watch the first 2 HR's of tommorow's game.

Here's an interesting book coming from Crasnick

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1594860246/qid=1112558711/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-7003147-6202359?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

A - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 04:21 PM EDT (#108819) #

ESPN's reporting on their homepage as "Breaking News" that Alex Sanchez has been suspended for 10 days for a steroid infraction...That explains a little better why the Tigers released him like that.

Jobu - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 04:22 PM EDT (#108820) #

Questions on a lazy Sunday:

"When you need baseball help, ask the box.... or Jack Bauer, he can do anything". That's what my loser friend Rick said while we were looking up Red Sox tickets, and for once he's right.

So here's the plea for help to anyone who's starred the Green Monster in the eye or lives in the Boston area. My friends and I are planning to go to Boston and by now all online tickets are gone. We know nothing of scalpers, how much would they overcharge us? We've also found some "legal" scalping sites online but the only seats we can afford from them are bleacher seats or those back grandstand seats that don't face home. Anyone know what we can expect in those seats? Do the bleachers even have a back, will the grandstand make our necks ache? Should we roll the dice with illegal scalpers? What are we gonna do in Boston after we get the game out of the way?

Baseball-y yours,

Jobu

CaramonLS - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 04:34 PM EDT (#108822) #

Wow A, my first reaction is... "Damn, THAT guy takes Steriods??".

Career 4 HR hitter.

Mick Doherty - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 04:36 PM EDT (#108823) #

In something of a surprise, the Rangers just optioned Laynce Nix to Oklahoma City, which I guess means Gary Matthews is the starting CF there. Nix is a guy the Rangers wouldn't give up for Kris Benson in July of last season, so not sure what's going on there.

Ron - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 04:55 PM EDT (#108825) #

Sanchez could have been taking them to improve his speed.

But he said he's innocent and is appealing the suspension.

Pistol - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 04:56 PM EDT (#108826) #

"That explains a little better why the Tigers released him like that."

Sanchez had a $1.35 million, one-year contract that was not guaranteed. By releasing him before March 18, the Tigers owe 30 days' termination pay, $221,311, instead of 45 days' termination pay, $331.967.

Billy Koch was released on March 17th. The timing seemed odd at the time, but perhaps his contract was structured the same way as Sanchez where the Jays didn't owe the fully amount by releasing Koch prior to March 18.

Petey Baseball - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 05:25 PM EDT (#108831) #

I know this is like beating a dead horse, but I just sick and tired of watching TSN's version of the reporters and its horrible baseball analysis. I enjoy the sports debate and all, but most of the time there are 3 guys on it that just make me sick. Damien Cox trying to talk about baseball, when he doesn't know his arse from second base, let alone have any real knowledge about the Jays this year. Steve Simmons is a blabbering moron, who had the the gull to bash Trailer Park Boys in his latest column. This guy doesn't know sports...And Dave Hodge is nothing but a hockey obsessed pessimist, who never has anything relevant to say about baseball, or anything other than hockey. Just three guys who can't grasp the concept that baseball in Canada is down because they are just too damn hockey oriented.

Rob - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 06:34 PM EDT (#108835) #

My answers to those George Will trivia questions, and I did not look at anything before answering:

1) Alomar was my first instinct (San Diego, Toronto, Cleveland, Baltimore) but I don't think he got 500 hits with all of them.
2) Either it was a suspended game with a runner on base from the previous day or a 4-pitch walk and stolen base
3) To get the 3-2 count and the automatic head start for the runner on first?

After checking the answers, I guess I got one right. Not Alomar, though -- I never would have guessed that player.

VBF - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 06:38 PM EDT (#108837) #

Pete Warren:

Isn't a sell-out something like 55,000

Atually full capcity for baseball setup at the RC is 50,100 or something within 100 people of that. It's the Argo setup that can hold about 54,000 people.

To be honest with you I can't remember the last full sell-out. Technically the last one was Opening Day 2003 but I couldn't tell you because I wasn't there. The highest attendance after 2003 was Saturday October 2nd vs. the Yankees when the announced crowd was 50,000 and change. This wasn't true since there were some seats left over but nevertheless there was a very large crowd of about 47,000, made mostly of Jays fans. Roy Halladay pitches and it was IMO the best game of 2004.

robertdudek - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 07:15 PM EDT (#108839) #

Okay,

So you're saying that Johnson isn't much of an upgrade over Crozier AND the A's won't trade him because he's too valuable?

Both can't be true. Crozier is a fungible AAA player right now - I'd trade him for Hatteberg today and I'm sure J.P. would too if he had a hole at first base.

The truth is Johnson is a significantly better prospect at this point than Crozier. His edge in K/W ratio is significant and he probably has the edge in power as well. Being a year younger is absolutely HUGE in the prospect game.

The A's might trade Johnson if they thought he'd be a defensive liability at first base. I haven't seen him play first, but he committed 9 errors in 98 games in AAA last season at first. They've got Durazo at DH, so they may decide to trade him and keep Johnson. In that case they might trade Durazo.

And Durazo would look pretty good as the Jays DH too.

jvictor - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 08:06 PM EDT (#108844) #

jobu;
Went to boston in 93 and got scalped tickets for two games. The first game was reasonably priced from some guy making a buck - don't know what they'd cost now. But the second game was a piece of blind luck. Just walking around the park just before game time, ran into a man and his kid who just wanted to get rid of the seats, and oh what seats they were. Another idea is to talk to the Hotel staff. Highly recamend the trip, my baeball Mecca.
yours jvictor

StephenT - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 08:09 PM EDT (#108845) #

No game thread? Where do I complain that the game isn't being shown in HD tonight? :-)

Cristian - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 08:18 PM EDT (#108846) #

Do you really want a couple of hundred closeups of Randy Johnson in high definition?

Rich - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 08:24 PM EDT (#108847) #

The Elliot article actually wasn't too bad today. One of his suggestions was interesting, but misguided: draft a Boras client. That was all he said about it, other than the team can afford it because they won't have a second round bonus to pay out this year. The weird thing is that Elliot didn't say, "draft the best player EVEN IF he is a Boras client", but rather just "draft a Boras client". What kind of lunatic plan is that? If a player is a Boras client he must therefore be the best guy available??

Money would still come into it anyway. Elliot explains that the team could afford to go as high as $5 million plus a major league deal on their first-rounder, but both Drew and Weaver are asking for double that. So much for Bob's theory...

Did anyone else read his column and have similar thoughts about this idea? Just curious.

mistermike - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 08:28 PM EDT (#108848) #

Where do I complain that the game isn't being shown in HD tonight?

It's because the game is on ESPN2 rather than ESPN. No HD feed.

What in the world is ESPN showing that pushes this game to the little brother network?

CaramonLS - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 08:30 PM EDT (#108849) #

Dudek you like to mince words and things I say.

I SAID "In all likely hood, hes the successor to Hatteberg at 1B next year."

Successor does not mean MVP.

Considering Hatteberg is 35 years old, they might be looking for a change, especially for a very average 1B like him.

Brian W - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 09:18 PM EDT (#108850) #

What in the world is ESPN showing that pushes this game to the little brother network?

Women's college basketball :)

Named For Hank - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 10:01 PM EDT (#108856) #

No game thread? Where do I complain that the game isn't being shown in HD tonight? :-)

1) Game looks great.

2) Baby Theo was staring at the TV and a close-up of Randy Johnson came on and Theo started to cry.

True story.

StephenT - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 10:03 PM EDT (#108857) #

There's now an ESPN2 HD channel, and ESPN advertised the game as being in HD at http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tvlistings/schedule?date=20050403&network=02 . Sportsnet also previously advertised the game as being in HD at http://www2.sportsnet.ca/tvschedule/hd_sked.html , but they don't list it there any more.

The announcers haven't mentioned HD, so it appears ESPN changed its mind on delivering an HD feed.

brent - Sunday, April 03 2005 @ 10:08 PM EDT (#108858) #

I read it the Elliot article, too. At that high in the draft you take the best player, unless there is a glaring hole at the farm needing filled, or the best player at a position that is bereft in the draft. Thinking of a supply and demand scenario. Elliot should go back and read a little about two G.M.'s comments about limited draft money as a reason for not spending the money. Further, how much do you spend on a high school pitcher even if he is a Boras client?

Jobu - Monday, April 04 2005 @ 02:59 AM EDT (#108870) #

Thanks for the friendly tips jvictor!

I guess I'll just play it safe then and go with the online scalpers, though that hotel staff idea aint to shabby.

Jim - Monday, April 04 2005 @ 10:08 AM EDT (#108879) #

Fenway 1993 is not even close to Fenway 2005.

The bleacher seats are better seats then those seats in the back of the grandstand. The bleachers at Fenway have regular chairs, they aren't benches.

Mike Green - Monday, April 04 2005 @ 10:14 AM EDT (#108880) #

It's interesting that the 1980s comps for this year's pen were actually pretty good pitchers- Bedrosian, Montgomery, Dave Stewart, even Shane Rawley wasn't bad.

Pepper Moffatt - Monday, April 04 2005 @ 10:20 AM EDT (#108882) #

Two comps that really stood out for me:

1. John McDonald to Mario Mendoza. Yes, *that* Mario Mendoza.

25 years ago McDonald would likely be a starting player for someone. The expectations for middle infielders sure has changed

2. David Bush for Brian Kingman.

Despite his horrible record Kingman wasn't all that bad. He was just worked to death by Billy Martin and got very little run support (though part of that was due to the stadium).

Mike Green - Monday, April 04 2005 @ 10:41 AM EDT (#108886) #

Yeah, I noticed Mendoza. It's not a bad comp actually for McDonald.

Bush is a significantly better pitcher than Kingman was. Kingman's peripheral stats in 1979 (his rookie year at age 24) were similar to Bush's, but not as good, and they were achieved in a much more favourable environment. IIRC, Kingman's minor league record was not as good as Bush's.

Finding comparisons is a tough business. Fergie Jenkins, who Bush shares a number of traits with, had his first big season at age 24. BR lists Jenkins' closest comparable after this year as Russ Bauers.

Pepper Moffatt - Monday, April 04 2005 @ 10:45 AM EDT (#108888) #

Bush's PECOTA comparables tend to be of the Eldred-McCaskill-Tomko-Drabek-Lieber-Eric Rasmussen class of pitchers. If you take out the guys who imploded due to injury, it's not a bad group. Not Hall of Famers, mind you, but guys who can win 16-20 games in a good season with some run support.

Mike Green - Monday, April 04 2005 @ 10:53 AM EDT (#108890) #

Pepper, that's a fair comparison group for Bush. Eldred/McCaskill at the low end, Drabek at the high end. For those who have forgotten, Drabek had 6 good to excellent years out of 7 from age 25 to 31; McCaskill had 3 very good years and 4 so-so ones during that same period.

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