Among the numerous feats Bill James accomplished as an analyst in the 1980s, his greatest achievement was the way in which he legitimized the importance of minor-league batting statistics. Where once the remark “Yeah, but just because he hits in the minors doesn’t mean that he’ll hit in the majors” was an accepted, unchallenged claim, James’ work on the subject proved decidedly otherwise–eventually spawning an industry of minor-league analysis that still flourishes to this day.
Scot Hughes analyzes the rest of Montreal’s roster, which will probably be filled with players who are not yet arbitration-eligible.
The price of loyalty is $22 million and an extra year. The two contracts Jim Thome agonized over between turkey and potatoes were Cleveland’s five-year, $60 million deal, plus a vesting option year, and the contract he took, which started with six years for $82 million plus a vesting option year.
The week in quotes, November 19-December 1.
Thanks to everyone who suggested that
we post the HACKING MASS results for 2002 and let people figure out how
they did themselves–something we completely failed to consider–here are the
complete 2002 results.
The 2002 HACKING MASS Results: All Players, By Name
We list the 2002 HACKING MASS Results: All Players, By ESPN
One of the biggest questions this off-season has been what Major League Baseball will do with the Montreal Expos.
Soon after yesterday’s installment of “Aim For The Head” appeared on the web site, my e-mail starting getting reader comments.
Based solely on offense, expected runs created – given the scenario that your total starting lineup team OPS was fixed at a certain number. Would you be better off building a team with a few superstars, balanced off with some truly horrible players or a team of mostly mediocre players?
The week in quotes, featuring Omar Vizquel, Bob Melvin, Bud Selig and more.
The 17th installment of Joe Sheehan’s excellent newsletter appeared in my inbox last night, and it featured analysis of the big, weird Rockies-Marlins-Braves deal that was hinted at last week and finally agreed upon–pending approval from the commissioner’s office–this weekend. In analyzing the deal, Joe puts the Rockies in the winner’s column and gives the Marlins a goose egg.
Transaction analysis, September 28-November 10, 2002.
This edition of From the Mailbag includes comments on the AL Cy Young and Barry Bonds.
Let’s say you’re a pitcher of some repute, and you’re making mad cash at the front end of a long-term contract. You signed with a mediocre team that plays in a hostile environment as part of Revision 12 of that team’s ongoing quest to solve the riddle of their home field.
Since the reader response was copious and positive last time I published a rambling conversation with “Dave”, I thought you all might enjoy this. Sorry about the infrequent updates, but it is the offseason, and more importantly, the BP staff is up to their collective neck in writing Baseball Prospectus 2003. Thanks for your patience.
Below is an encapsulated conversation between myself and a close friend who’s an insightful guy and dedicated baseball fan. Since I’ve mentioned him before in this space, and he’s fond of his privacy, we’ll call him “Dave” for purposes of this column. Dave is not affiliated with BP.
Obviously, this is paraphrased, but has been run by Dave to make sure everything’s on the up and up as far as he’s concerned. I hope you enjoy this edited transcript as much I as enjoyed the conversation. It’s long, and it’s rambling, so perhaps you should check it out in small bites.