Random MLB news that is pointless to say anywhere else thread

[logan82]

Carlos Lee, 2010

Slash Line: .246/.291/.417/.708
FRAA: -15.9 (Fldg. Runs Above Avg.)
WAR: -0.8
Dollar Value: -$3M
Actual Salary: $18.5M*

* Lee is guaranteed $18.5M each season through 2012

 

 

Among players who played enough to qualify, Lee was the second-worst position player in baseball in 2010. I guess El Caballo's only consolation is that Melky Cabrera's dollar value was -$4.9M.

Dodged two bullets if I remember correctly. Didn't the Yankees try to pawn off Cabrera for Cameron a couple years ago?

The Yankees wanted the Brewers to take Kei Igawa, too.

 

and kick in part of Cameron's salary.

[Principessa21]

NY Times had a visual feature on World Series gloves from 1910. LINK It's not every year, only 16, but still fun to look at.

[Invader3K]

There's a very interesting story up on MLB Trade Rumors, stating that the White Sox and Marlins discussed an Ozzie Guillen/Mike Stanton swap earlier this past season.

 

Yes, you read that correctly.

[jerichoholicninja]

Part news, part rant on Yankees fans. I don't know if it's speculation or actual rumor but there was talk of the Yankees trading for Greinke and Jesus Montero possibly being one of the players that Kansas City would get. The Yankees fans on MLB Trade Rumors are adamant that Montero would be too much for Greinke. Maybe if Soria was throw in too they might consider it. They are such idiots and I hate them all.

[Invader3K]

Doesn't Greinke have partial no-trade protection to certain teams? I know there's been talk he would not want to go to New York at all (due to his past issues).

[TooLiveBrew]

The Yankees fans on MLB Trade Rumors are adamant that Montero would be too much for Greinke. Maybe if Soria was throw in too they might consider it. They are such idiots and I hate them all.

 

Jesus Montero might be the most valuable hitting prospect in all of baseball (if he can stick at C, you're looking at amazing value), so that's really not that crazy.

[Ennder]

Montero probably is too much for Greinke. You have to consider price and service time into things. The same reason Fielder isn't going to bring back all that much in trade for just 1 year.

[TooLiveBrew]

I got curious about Andres Torres today, since he kinda reminds me of McGehee in going from a relative unknown to regular starter seemingly out of nowhere. Unlike McGehee, Torres actually hit with some authority in MiLB (albeit as a 29- & 30-yo), especially when you consider that he appears to be a solid defender in CF. One almost comical similarity between the two players, though, is that Torres spent 2008 with the Iowa Cubs. He posted a slash line of .306/.391/.501/.892. The Cubs apparently didn't make an attempt to keep him, and Torres filed for free agency, of course landing with the Giants prior to the '09 season.

 

I also found this writeup at Chris O'Leary's site: "My Experience with Andres Torres". An excerpt:

I am frequently asked about my experience working with higher-level hitters and, more recently, my experience working with Andres Torres. As a result, I recently put this essay together to explain our history.

 

The History

I have known and worked with Andres Torres since the Spring of 2008. He has called me to talk hitting 30 or so times since we first met. Most recently, we talked in person in August 2010 when the Giants were in St. Louis.

 

Getting to Know Andres

Andres first called me in late May of 2008, a few weeks into his AAA season with the Cubs. I'm not sure exactly when or why the lightbulb went off, but at some point prior to then he realized that what he was doing at the plate -- which was trying to be another Ichiro and slapping the ball into the ground and trying to beat out the throw -- wasn't working at the major league level. He had to try something different.

 

In four seasons, Andres struggled to hit better than .210 at the major league level. He knew that he was going to be out of baseball if he didn't figure out how to improve his hitting. As a result, he started to learn everything he could about hitting and began studying the swings of the best players in the game.

 

As part of that process, Andres decided that one thing he needed to understand was what Albert Pujols did and why. That was logical, since Pujols is one of the best all-around hitters in baseball. While doing that research, Andres came across my photos of Albert Pujols and, in particular, one of my flipbook analyses of the swing of Albert Pujols.

 

After studying my Pujols flipbook in depth, Andres called me to discuss some of the things I said in it. He was a bit confused because while he could see that my observations about what Pujols was doing seemed to be correct -- all he had to do was look at the pictures -- they contradicted pretty much everything he had been taught about hitting up to that point.

This was a really interesting read. Recommended for any baseball nerds that like a good redemption story (not involving substance abuse)

[Invader3K]

I didn't know where to put this. I'm listening to 1250 WSSP right now, and Gary Ellerson just said the Brewers will win "about 50 games next year." The other hosts told him they play 162, and he stuck to his guns on the prediction.

[hawing]

What, he was that heavily on the Valentine-as-savior bandwagon?

[Invader3K]

What, he was that heavily on the Valentine-as-savior bandwagon?

No, he was looking at the roster as presently constructed, with the assumption Fielder will be traded this winter.

[TooLiveBrew]

You can't argue with science

[Principessa21]

This year's series was tied for lowest ratings ever, and down 28% from last year. Sad, because I love baseball and, even though I'm still bitter about the Rangers beating the Yankees, this was a great matchup.

ETA: FYI Dallas and SanFran 4th and 13th in metro population, and 5th and 6th in television market.

[Invader3K]

Maybe if MLB promoted all the teams properly...

 

Personally I don't really care what the ratings were. Not a knock on Principessa posting about them. I just hate how people will use this to basically say, "The Yankees should be in the Series every season."

[owbc]

It's sad to see the bad ratings but then again, MLB sort of deserves it. The media cycle constantly drones on about the Yankees and Red Sox to the point that the playoffs have the same tone to them every year. After the almighty Yankees and Phillies were defeated, people were left wondering, "Why should I care?" Of course those who know baseball were interested in the series, but the average sports fan could probably name about 3 players combined from the Rangers and Giants. Heck, I bet 25% of America thinks that Barry Bonds still plays for the Giants.

 

Contrast that with other sports like the NFL where teams are given more equal coverage. As a result, everyone knew about the Colts and Saints long before they met up in the Superbowl. ESPN's favorite team is the team that Brett Favre is on. If Derek Jeter was traded to the Brewers, ESPN would cover his first game and then forget about him. Look what happened to Johnny Damon, who does he even play for again?

 

It all comes down to the economic system again. It would be good for baseball for the Yankees and Red Sox to have some 90-loss seasons so that the average baseball fan can forget about them for awhile and concentrate on some other teams. As long as the same teams keep winning, baseball's ratings will keep falling. Of course, speeding up the games and getting some intelligent announcers would help also.

[Principessa21]

Maybe if MLB promoted all the teams properly...

 

Personally I don't really care what the ratings were. Not a knock on Principessa posting about them. I just hate how people will use this to basically say, "The Yankees should be in the Series every season."

I don't think you're saying this, but to just be clear I would never say the Yankees (or Red Sox, Phillies, etc.) should be in the series every year because of ratings. I posted this because I find it sad to see such low ratings for the World Series.

It's interesting though that fans complain about the same teams (even though there are been 10 different winners since the Wild Card), yet a new, exciting matchup couldn't even draw their own markets.

[GAME05]

i don't know, nobody really seems to complain about the NBA Finals even though that only features the same few teams every year.

 

baseball would lose billions of dollars if the World Series featured the Royals and the Brewers.

[GAME05]

San Diego just picked up Adrian Gonzalez's option. shocking.

[Baldkin]

The NBA is marketed by players. It's 5 on a team, with one individual making a huge impact in any given game.

MLB is marketed... as... um... the Yankees and the Red Sox.

I'm a huge baseball fan, I went to 40+ Brewers games this season. I couldn't have told you 5 players on Texas's roster before the playoffs.... and they were in first place all season.

[Principessa21]

Can anyone give any examples of how MLB unfairly promotes the Yankees over other teams? ESPN favors east coast teams, but that's not MLB. Concerning the postseason commercials, I remember watching the Lincecum and Rays ones a lot more than the others. If anything MLB favors the hot stories, like Hamilton, because it brings in the casual fan. The Yankees doing well doesn't prevent someone (casual fan or not) from paying attention to other teams. BTW, there are plenty of Yankees fans who say ESPN's Yankees coverage is always negative and favors the Red Sox. Same thing with Selig - he hates on the Yankees. I'm not one of those though.

[owbc]

Can anyone give any examples of how MLB unfairly promotes the Yankees over other teams?

They designed a system that lets them make the playoffs over 90% of the time.

 

They allowed them to be so good for so long that they became far more popular than any other team.

 

Yes, fans do complain about the same teams, but they are the minority.

[TooLiveBrew]

They designed a system that lets them make the playoffs over 90% of the time.

 

I'm sorry... what?

[GAME05]

the system as we know it was designed decades ago. it's not like Selig had any part in that. he hasn't made it better or worse, only maintained the status quo. and if that status quo means that the Yankees' spending buys them a playoff spot more often than other teams, then all the better for ratings and money, so why change anything?

[TooLiveBrew]

he hasn't made it better or worse, only maintained the status quo

 

In terms of opportunity to make the playoffs, he made it (marginally) better by adding the WC.

[owbc]

Selig has had 15 years to change things, so MLB in 2010 is essentially his creation. The Yankees didn't make the playoffs 90% of the time in the 1980s/early 1990s, but they did during the post-strike years. 16 out of 17 seasons. The luxury tax was designed to appease the small markets without upsetting the status quo. I have no doubt that Selig cares about small markets and promoting baseball, but he is too focused on the revenue numbers and is missing the bigger picture.

 

Thus, the Yankees get additional attention every October that other teams only get every few years. They always are given the prime time TV slot. MLB directly controls that.

 

The Yankees are relevant every single year. They will never again have a sub-.500 record under the current system, much less a 90-loss season. In order for other teams to get attention, the Yankees need a few years where they fade into oblivion by July.

 

You can't just ignore teams like the Rangers and Giants for 90% of the season and then expect them to draw ratings. The only time any of these guys get attention is the All-Star game. The Sunday night baseball game on the last day of the season was Yankees-Red Sox, not Padres-Giants. There was no build up toward anything except "Can anyone beat the Yankees this year?"

 

This is like the housing market in the mid-2000s. There are serious problems with MLB and the way it is run, and it is only a matter of time before things get out of control and people lose interest.