Cody Ransom: why is he still around? (Latest: claimed on waivers by Diamondbacks; post 43)

[danzig6767]

Ransom has impressed me quite a bit defensively in how well he does at all three infield spots.

 

Offensively, he's a typical utility infielder in that he's not a good hitter. That's why utility infielders aren't starters instead. As for the strikeout numbers, i don't care much. An out is an out and his power is a decent tradeoff.

[RightFieldCoder]

O yeah and I dont know if this has been said but he strikes out at a very high rate....

If he would only pop up on the first pitch instead of striking out, he would be a much better offensive player...

 

 

An out is an out. Sometimes certain outs are better. Sometimes those same outs are worse.

[Funketown]

 

If you have the stats of when Ransom has come to the plate with a runner on first and less than two outs, I'd like to know how he compares...

 

O yeah and I dont know if this has been said but he strikes out at a very high rate....

 

That wasn't the point. The point is that a strikeout is really no worse than any other type of out.

[brwrsfan]

I get outs being outs, regardless of how they come, but when you strike out 46% of the time, you aren't even giving yourself a CHANCE for anything good to happen. The little flair that falls or the 12 hopper through the infield or an error or whatever. It doesn't make that much difference, but that is an alarming strikeout rate.

[Outlander]

I agree he isn't giving himself a chance but it is also a good indication that he just can't hit major league pitching. His current stats with the Brewers are as good a sample size as any because no team has ever given him the chance that the Brewers did this year and no team likely ever will again because of his poor year.

[1992casey]

…when you strike out 46% of the time, you aren't even giving yourself a CHANCE for anything good to happen.

 

Yuni Betancourt put everything he could reach into play. that didn't give him much of a chance for good things to happen either.

[monty57]

I hate to say it, but Yuni was a far better hitter than Ransom. Yuni just had the range of a piece of granite.

[Funketown]

I get outs being outs, regardless of how they come, but when you strike out 46% of the time, you aren't even giving yourself a CHANCE for anything good to happen. The little flair that falls or the 12 hopper through the infield or an error or whatever. It doesn't make that much difference, but that is an alarming strikeout rate.

 

Yeah, but those things are already in BA and OBP (errors are in OBP).

[chad25]

Ok well besides arguing over the "an out is an out" phrase, Do any of you realistically see Ransom with the team next year? We have other, younger options and there might be players who we could sign very cheap with lots of incentives.

[markedman5]

Reaching on an error is not considered getting on base when calculating OBP. Only walks, hits and HBP.

 

I get outs being outs, regardless of how they come, but when you strike out 46% of the time, you aren't even giving yourself a CHANCE for anything good to happen. The little flair that falls or the 12 hopper through the infield or an error or whatever. It doesn't make that much difference, but that is an alarming strikeout rate.

 

Yeah, but those things are already in BA and OBP (errors are in OBP).

[Funketown]

You're right, that's my mistake. A friend of mine used to tell me ROE's counted in OBP because it raised his JV Highschool OBP up about 100 points.

 

I don't think Ransom is part of the team next year but I won't be too upset if he's the 25th man on the roster. The fact is that most guys who fill the backup IF/utility man roster spot simply aren't very good players, and Ransom plays decent defense all over the infield and isn't a completely horrible batter. Yes, he's significantly below average at the plate, but a ~.300 wOBA out of a utility guy is pretty decent.

[1992casey]

I wouldn't be too wound if Ransom was the backup infielder next year, but I'd hope they'd go toward youth if a starter had to be replaced for a period of time.

 

However, I'd be wound if Cody ate up a 40-man roster spot over the winter that could have been put to better use.

[adambr2]

I wouldn't be bothered if he is back next year, either, mainly because he's a 0-3 which means we can bring him back for the minimum salary and don't have to mess around with going out and finding another Cesar Izturis. Ransom is half the price of what "Izzy" was, and can do the same thing -- play every infield position respectably. That's good enough for me for a utility infielder.

 

The excessive strikeouts don't bother me any more than it bothered me seeing Izturis hit a soft tapper to second every AB. When Izturis came up in situations where a runner was on first, he grounded into double plays more times than he got a hit. Strikeouts are outs. Maybe they feel a little worse emotionally to us, but I'm not sure that they really statistically are.

 

Plus, 46% is an abnormality. His career MLB rate is less than 20% of plate appearances, so even if you figure on 20-25% going forward, that's still high, but it's tolerable.

[reillymcshane]

Cody Ransom is around, and might be around in 2013, because we need a person to rally around and fight about - and most importantly - devote pages upon pages of message board discussion as to why the guy is still on the team.

 

After all, many of the big issues surrounding the team the last couple of years will be obsolete. Such as:

 

1. Still no Yuni

2. The Kottaras/Wolf battery is gone

3. Izturis is gone

4. Weeks is hitting respectable now (not maybe for the entire year, but for the last couple of months)

5. Gamel is out for the season and may be done as a Brewer (at least as a starter, if we keep Hart at 1B)

6. K-Rod will be gone

7. Tim Dillard is gone and likely won't come back

8. Morgan may be gone next year

9. Axford has a chance to rebound and be good again next year

 

With so many contentious players gone - or on the rebound - we'll need a target for our wrath - even if he is a back up infielder. Cody fits the bill.

 

No doubt someone else will emerge. Nothing stokes a debate like the 12th pitcher on the roster.

[jerichoholicninja]

 

No doubt someone else will emerge. Nothing stokes a debate like the 12th pitcher on the roster.

 

I'm going to predict that Aoki will be the heated discussion next year as he fails to live up to his first season. I hope not but I could see it happening.

[Funketown]

 

With so many contentious players gone - or on the rebound - we'll need a target for our wrath - even if he is a back up infielder. Cody fits the bill.

 

No doubt someone else will emerge. Nothing stokes a debate like the 12th pitcher on the roster.

 

It can't and won't be Ransom. He satisfies one condition (he's not very good) but to be the Brewerfan.net Hated Player of the Season a player needs to be the type of guy that has gotten far too many chances in recent years, proven he's horrible, and clings to the roster simply due to being a "veteran" who gives good at-bats, whatever that may mean. For example, Kotsay was really bad from 2007 to 2011, but he got about 300 PA's per season. Yuni was horrible, and everybody knew it, but for some reason or another it took until this season for somebody to decide he didn't deserve 500 PA's. Izturis was mostly out of the league due to injuries, but he still seemed to get by on only the fact that he is a "grizzled veteran who gives good AB's".

 

Ransom is a 36 year old journeyman who until this year had never gotten over 100 PA's in a season, and now he's gotten a bit of a chance to at least hang out on a MLB roster. He might not be very good, but he's spent so many years toiling in the upper minors that I hope he does well enough to at least find a position as a utility infielder somewhere.

[logan82]

Izturis as a backup wasn't great but not on the level of Yuni and Kotsay. He wasn't really a big part at the beginning and didn't stick around all year like the other 2.

[torts]

Ransom claimed by Arizona, will be on roster starting tomorrow

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/08/diamondbacks-claim-cody-ransom.html

[torts]

this opens up yet another 40-man roster spot, right?

[trwi7]

So the Diamondbacks got their own sloppy seconds.

[markedman5]

So I guess Ransom won't be our utility guy next year afterall..................

[torts]

So I guess Ransom won't be our utility guy next year afterall..................

 

AW SHUCKS

[reillymcshane]

Maybe we'll Izturis to take his place. Or Yuni. Or Both! Imagine the fun.

[djoctagone]

this opens up yet another 40-man roster spot, right?

yes. now at 37.

[brewmann04]

Eric Farris being called up.