"The Brewers, realizing they’d better get more pitching if they’re going to contend in the future, nearly traded outfielder Jeromy Burnitz to the Mets for pitcher Glendon Rusch." — Bob Nightengale, USA Today Baseball Weekly, August 8-14, 2000. Thank God Dean Taylor doesn’t go to Bob Nightengale for his baseball expertise. Nightengale’s musings aside, the…
Much ado is being made in the baseball press these days about the high cost of draft picks, and the increasing probability that some sort of draft cap or rookie cap will be put in place in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the Lords of the Realm and the MLB Players Association. While…
Last night’s performance by Bud Smith really illustrated for me one of the difficulties of being a major-league manager. Smith, as you probably know, no-hit the Padres last night in just his tenth major-league start, becoming the second Cardinal rookie in three years to throw a no-hitter (Jose Jimenez in 1999). The hard part for…
Of the many talents Bill James has a baseball writer and analyst, his ability to inform and entertain in a light-hearted, insightful way has to rank near the top of the list. In his 1987 Baseball Abstract, James introduced one of his most memorable concepts, the "Ken Phelps All-Star Team." For those of you too…
Tell me again about hope and faith. Before the season–heck, before every season–the irresponsible among the baseball media like to tell us that half to three-quarters of the teams in baseball have no hope of contending or reaching the playoffs. Most readers of Baseball Prospectus know that this isn’t true, regardless of their opinions on…
2001 NL MVP "Guys work out all year round now. We have personal trainers–we all do. Guys don’t want to go on breaks. The game has changed…. When we came in the game, a second baseman was a 4-foot-2 slap-hitter. Now you have second basemen that hit 40 home runs. I don’t know what they’re…
Let me admit up front that this week’s article is a little short on the analysis. I’m heading off to Atlanta for a family reunion this weekend, but didn’t want to leave our readers without any kind of AFTH fix to get them through the holiday weekend. So accept my apologies if this doesn’t meet…
I have shamefully little credibility on the following topic, less so than I do on Paul Wilson or on speaking French or on dunk techniques. So read the following with a salt shaker by your side, and for some history, check out this piece from last year, or this one from earlier in 2001. (Dear…
The Twins are falling, and therefore, so is the sky, according to those who drink heavily at the fountain of MLB swill. It’s no surprise that one of the first cries showed up on MLB’s own site. Mike Bauman, apparently just purchased from Jim Henson Productions, issued a typically opinion-laden, fact-free piece last week stating…
I got a great question from reader Keith Blue over the weekend: Albert Pujols is the obvious frontrunner for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. But who would you rather have in the long run: Pujols or Adam Dunn? I’ll admit, this stood out because it was a rare missive that didn’t include the…
Through the beneficence of an anonymous, nonexistent informant, Baseball Prospectus has obtained tapes of an actual conversation from the night of July 31. "Hello?" "Carl?" "Yes. Who’s this?" "What do you mean who’s this? It’s Bud!" "Bud…oh, yes, Bud. What can I do for you?" "It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?" "What…
COACHING "Sometimes, they learn better from their peers than us genius coaches." —Bob Boone, Reds manager, on pitcher Jose Rijo‘s tutelage of Jose Acevedo "I think he’s going to be a good big league player. He’s very disciplined for a young hitter. He takes a walk. He hits the ball to the other way well….
We at Baseball Prospectus have a feature where we respond to selected e-mails from our readers. You can find this "From the Mailbag" feature on a recurring basis under the Features section of the BP main page. But today, I want to take this opportunity to respond to a few of the e-mails I’ve received…
I’ve spent some time on the road this week, which is why this is just the second DP since the weekend. I’m going to be bouncing around the East Coast, seeing friends and family, for most of the next few weeks, so the column’s schedule may be even more erratic than usual. As an aside,…