Baseball Weekly recently ran a Bob Nightengale column that focused on some of Scott Boras’s ideas for improving competitive balance. Buried at the end of the article was an interesting quote from a major-league general manager that cited the most oft-repeated mantra of the small-marketeers. As part of the argument, Nightengale quotes Kansas City GM…
I grew up in New York City, so February to me has always meant cold, hockey, my birthday and cold, not necessarily in that order. As a young player, February wasn’t a time for baseball. Hell, some Aprils weren’t a time for baseball. And even though I now live in Southern California, where Little League…
PITCHING AND DEFENSE I wonder if you have looked at whether there is evidence that pitchers can “control” extra-base hits. By this, I mean, are there pitchers off whom batters generally do not hit the ball as hard or hit the ball on the ground? If there is no correlation between a pitcher and “giving…
Let’s see…the last time The Daily Prospectus appeared, Alex Rodriguez was an underpaid Mariner, Florida was just another big state with 25 electoral votes, the St. Louis Rams were on their way to becoming a dynasty and Mario Lemieux was a retiree. The world…she sure do spin fast these days, eh? In our little corner…
PEOPLE SKILLS "I can’t be satisfied with coming back to the Pirates and being a bench guy, not after what I did last season. I think the Pirates have to realize that. I’m not asking the Pirates to give me anything. I feel you should earn everything you get in this game. I feel I…
When Baltimore Ravens owner Heartless Art Modell stood at the podium in Tampa Bay Sunday night and said that the Vince Lombardi Trophy belonged to the people of Baltimore and the state of Maryland, he wasn’t kidding: they paid for his stadium, his team, and arguably his salary and the increase in his net worth,…
On Tuesday, Baseball Prospectus announced its Top 40 Prospects for 2001. The driving force behind that list is Rany Jazayerli, but the good doctor gets input from everyone on the BP staff. Below is a sampling of the discussions that took place in December, when the list was being compiled. Rany Jazayerli: Here is my…
This week, Baseball Prospectus 2001 will be released to bookstores nationwide. As always, the book will contain our list of the top 40 prospects in baseball, as compiled by Rany Jazayerli, along with Jazayerli’s commentary on each player. To celebrate the release of the book, for the first time ever we are announcing our Top…
Intro Voros McCracken’s article here on the BP website has generated a tremendous amount of attention, including at least two columns by Rob Neyer on his ESPN.com gig. Voros’s research, as presented in the article, contains the remarkable result that “major-league pitchers don’t appear to have the ability to prevent hits on balls in play.”…
Talk of records that ought to be set in 2001 revolve around topics we know well. Rickey Henderson ought to set the records for walks and runs scored, barring some sort of blackballing scheme. Barry Bonds is basically a lock to hit his 500th home run (six to go), and Sammy Sosa his 400th (14…
NOT GETTING HIS DUE It seems obvious to me that the attention Dave Parker receives in comparison to other players, and particularly to Jim Rice, has much to do with where they played. When Parker was the focal point of his team it was when he played for the Pirates. I think it’s fair to…
After allowing it to lay dormant for five months, Bud Selig dusted off the report of his Blue Ribbon Committee and announced plans to implement some of the changes it suggested. The one that received the most attention was the so-called competitive balance draft. As presented by Selig, the draft would allow the teams with…
“You’re insane.” That’s generally the response I get when I present the information you’re about to read. I’ve been accused of being the “epitome of ‘pseudo-stat fan’ gibberish.” I’ve even been accused of being Aaron Sele writing under a pseudonym. I’m not entirely sure why my little way of doing things stirs the emotions of…