Honestly, at a visceral level, I never would have thought this argument could be sensibly made. But today on the really fine MLB Dirt blog, Jonathan C. Mitchell posits a pretty convincing case (Historically Underrated: John Olerud) that ex-Jay John Olerud had a better, if not necessarily Hall-worthy career than feared slugger Jim Rice. Here's part of his conclusion:

"This post is not to say that John Olerud belongs in the Hall of Fame or to say Jim Rice does not belong but to point out that the career Olerud had, although slightly better than Hall-of-Famer Jim Rice’s ... is historically underrated for his on-field accomplishments."

Your thoughts, Bauxites?

Great idea from Bauxite bpoz:

Just for a laugh...does anyone want to comment on The Book of AA? For example: "We don't comment on any specific player, mainly free agents." ...  And, "If it makes sense then we will do it."  I know these are weak examples.  So hopefully more creative Bauxites will have a go at it.

So. then, let's have that "go at it" ... what other rules and commandments would go in The Book of AA? Keep each one to a line or two. Stay serious! And feel free to disagree with each other, in a friendly-like way. Ready? Go! ...

Just was thinking about how dominating Bautista has been these last two years and got to thinking about which Jay had the most dominating season (vs teammates) all time? What about by position?

Blue Jays pitchers with different catchers. The Data Table....

Just before the All-Star Break, Bauxite 92-93 was grumbling about John Farrell's tendency to cycle through relief pitchers, one inning at a time. I think I suggested that this was simply standard practise in the modern day (which by no means makes it a good idea), to which 92-93 responded that "Plenty of managers ask for 2 innings from their relievers, even in today's game."

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Jays organization has shipped veteran right-hander Shaun Marcum to the Milwaukee Brewers. Top prospect Brett Lawrie, a Canadian second baseman, is rumored to be the return for the veteran hurler.

Major League Baseball’s best individual blogger, Jamey Newberg (yes, he’s a registered Bauxite), the widely-acknowleged #1 fan of the Texas Rangers, took a day off from his daily Newberg Report e-mail updates this week, a breather after what was an admittedly crushing World Series dominance by the San Francisco Giants. There’s already a lot on the off-season table for the Rangers – who catches if Molina retires? Does Guerrero come back? Can Josh Hamilton stay healthy? And, oh by the way, how far north of $150 million is the new Greenberg/Ryan ownership group willing to go to hang on to ohmigod-we-have-an-ace-for-the-first-time-since-Fergie free agent lefty Cliff Lee?

But – wait on all that for a second. The Texas Rangers played in the World Series???

What follows is Jamey’s final screed on the 2010 season – warning, it’s 2,800 words long of passion-meets-brutal-logic, exactly what you’d expect from a brilliant corporate attorney like Newberg. It covers the Series, Lee and much more. If you want to see other Newberg Report archives or even subscribe to that e-newsletter (I do), information on how to do that is at the bottom of this post

Read on, Macduff. It’s worth your time!

Well, this has been a year to remember for Jose Bautista. Jumping his Slg by 214 points, OBP by 34, Avg by 30 from last year. He is 29 though, a great age for peak seasons. But how odd is this? How often has this happened, and to whom?

Spring training still has almost three weeks to go but the roster picture is starting to get clearer based on front office decisions, injuries and player performances.  At the beginning of spring training the battles were for starting pitcher spots, four of the bullpen jobs, the right handed DH and the one of the bench jobs.  Some of the spots have been decided and the list of candidates for the others are getting shorter.

Bauxites don't generally like Michael Young's chances to reach the "magical" 3,000 hit mark.

So who does get 3,000 hits, among active players? Let's start by looking at the Active Top 10.

Ken Griffey Jr. is the active hits leader with 2,763 -- let's just admit it, he doesn't have another 237 base knocks in his future arsenal ...

Can once-upon-a-time Blue Jay prospect Michael Young reach 3000 career hits? Well, sure, he can, but will he?

Former Bauxite Scott Lucas, now the #2 man in Jamey Newberg's stellar Texas Ranger writer rotation, examines this question -- recently addressed on both MLB.com and in the Dallas Morning News -- in his latest edition of The Ranger Rundown.

It's one of the most sensible uses of historical statistical comparisons I've ever seen in this age of "most similars" and "closest comparables." Give it a read and check in with your opinion -- personally, I think he's hit the nail on the head. (And I hope he's wrong! My guess is he hopes so, too ...)

In perhaps the most analyzed deal in recent memory, the Toronto Blue Jays dealt former Cy Young award winner - and life-long Jays hurler - Roy Halladay to the Philadelphia Phillies in a set of trades that involved four teams. With the dust now settling, the club has received back three solid prospects: Right-handed starter Kyle Drabek, corner infielder Brett Wallace, and catcher Travis D'Arnaud.

As reported in earlier threads, it's been a busy day for the Jays organization. General manager Alex Anthopoulos has signed five players today: catcher John Buck (Kansas City), outfielder Joey Gathright (Boston/Chicago NL), as well as three players that suited up for the Jays in '09 in catcher Raul Chavez, IF/OF Jose Bautista and the injured right-hander Dustin McGowan.

We're agreed, are we not, that the first 41 games of the season didn't count - that the team (and the players) rolled up some impressive numbers against the inferior competition in the Al Central and West...

For the seventh year in a row, I am once again asking for hardcore baseball fans to participate in the annual Scouting Report project, in which you evaluate the fielding characteristics of players on your team. If you have a few minutes, please drop by and evaluate your team.
http://www.tangotiger.net/scout/