Arbitration in Japan, bias in pitchF/X, and Peanuts in Kansas City
Racial bias, the similarities between hedge funds and bookies, and how to coach a Little League team during a blowout.
Would any proposal make enough sense for the Rays to part with their third baseman?
Third base coaches acting questionably, B.J. Upton playing shallow, and how Prince Fielder prevents (?) home runs.
The Padres would have an effective—and cheap—bullpen even if they traded Heath Bell.
Vin Scully’s jokes, the decline of empires, and baseball in China.
Centerfielders become pitchers, relievers become starters, and everyone hits the DL.
The future of competitive balance, contracting around military service, and Troy Tulowitzki’s opinion of zone rating systems.
Three teams vie for the title of the division’s best rotation.
Ichiro Suzuki is the most interesting player in baseball. I almost think other nominations for the spot are laughable, but try in the comments if you wish. In this clip, he pitches during a 1996 Japanese All-Star Game. His fastball tops out at about 90 miles per hour. Because 2900 words on ERA+ just aren't…
Imagine a black line tracing every Mariano Rivera pitch over the foot long distance before home plate. Imagine you are looking from the bird's-eye view and up is toward the mound. That's what mastery looks like, my friends. Do you remember Hee-Seop Choi? He was traded for Derrek Lee once. R.J. the Wunderkind provides this…
Phil Birnbaum has a good reminder of the difference between frequentist and Bayesian statistics. The central Bayesian insight is that you need information about the world as it exists "prior" to the test. For example, if we want to know how a Triple-A player with certain statistics will perform in the major leagues, we need…
The Twins figure to benefit from paying Joe Mauer his $184 million in equal installments.
I'm back from South by Southwest with links for all. At least now, in addition to waiting for opening day, I can await the release of the debut Sleigh Bells album. Is Joe Mauer's contract extension "good for baseball"? Walkoff Walk is tracking that cliche. Or is it a cliche? Drew Fairservice argues convincingly the…
Shawn Hoffman and his buddy Matt have created the most useful Chrome extension yet. Or, Shawn Hoffman have a hot dog with me. The tool allows you search nearly every baseball site in existence for a single player all at once. You can download it here. Baseball-reference is adding new splits, including one for how…