The Roundup – Tuesday
Posted by basebal5 on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 1:17 pm
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- The NY Yankees have pulled the plug on a radio show where their set-up man, Joba Chamberlain, was supposed to do a weekly appearance.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman nixed the idea. Turns out such gigs are a Yankees no-no.
“It's a policy I've had in place for a long time now,” he said before yesterday's mist-out. “We should speak with one voice, whether it is the manager or general manager. They can speak postgame or pregame or in their normal interview process but not have a regular schedule.”
(Asked about being denied a place on Kay's show, Chamberlain said he was not aware of any such deal. Strange. Maybe his agent worked on it without telling him.)
Cashman said the Yankees also prohibit players from writing diaries or columns for newspapers come playoff time.
“We've had that shut down for years now,” he said. “These guys are paid to play baseball; they're not paid to be columnists or talk show hosts. They can do that when their playing careers are over.”
In the late 1990s, Yankees were allowed to write guest columns – until 1999, when Darryl Strawberry broke news about the lineup in his. That was the end of that.
- Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel takes on the Samson-Loria evil duo in this morning's column:
Let's discuss like grown-ups what this season is really about, which is another all-out money grab by owner Jeffrey Loria and team President David Samson. The Marlins have an Opening Day payroll of $21 million.
That's less than any team in baseball, except maybe the St. Lucie Mets. Tampa Bay has the second-lowest payroll in the major leagues. It's at $42 million. That's twice as much. The major league average is $89.9 million. That's about four times more.
(…)
The Marlins got $600 million in public money for a new stadium and amenities. They can't just brush the subject of their embarrassing payroll under the carpet anymore and hope no one notices. As much as they want to, they can't just keep saying, “This is all we can afford until we get our new stadium.”
Um, no.
These owners get $30 million in revenue sharing from other teams, which neither H. Wayne Huizenga or John Henry got in their tenures. They also get $30 million in local and national TV money. All that before selling a ticket.
So you do the math.
You figure if they can afford more than a $21 million payroll.
At some point, doesn't someone like Commissioner Bud Selig or another team owner step in and ask Loria and Samson, “Just what are you doing with all the money we're giving you?”
Please repeat after me…
Amen!
- The Biz of Baseball, where I am also a staff member, offers an interview with Art Garfamudis:
Bizball: Describe to us your idea of the perfect owner.
Garfamudis: He should be overweight and wear a three-piece suit with a watch fob on the vest. He should smoke a big stogie, of course. And have a pinky ring. You gotta look the part. Embrace what you are, I always say. Oh, and he should have a mistress. Maybe a younger woman who aspires to be a singer; and he should do everything in his power to help her singing career no matter whether she's good or not and maybe she faces public humiliation when he pushes her too far. But he presses on, because he's a can-do guy who won't take no for an answer from anybody.
Bizball: This year will see the Washington Nationals open a new stadium, followed by new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets in 2009. What are your thoughts on new stadium development?
Garfamudis: I wish taxpayers would just be quiet about footing the bill for these places. Where's your civic pride, people? These buildings are the symbols of your godforsaken cities. Most people would never want to set foot in your stupid town if not for the new ballpark, so shut up and pay up! I say all stadiums should be replaced every 12 to 15 years. 20 at the most. As soon as chewing gum stains start appearing on the concourse, it's probably time to draw up plans for the replacement ballpark.
Bizball: What are your thoughts on the Mitchell Report?
Garfamudis: I always thought Billy Mitchell got a raw deal, but that's military bureaucracy for you. Everyone's afraid of new ideas and he paid the price. Turns out he was right, though.
Consider quickly visiting this link to know who he is exactly…
- Cubby-Blue does it again:
The post is titled: “Another Layer of Opening Day Fog”
“I don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame”
- Xavier Nady, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, homered twice yesterday. Ok…but that's already 10% of his production last year, a year that saw him post career high in home runs (20) and strikeouts (107)
- Baseball America has released its latest organizational rankings (for subscribers) and Tampa Bay lead that list:
Cumulative Ranking, Last Five Years: No. 3
State Of The System: It hasn't translated into a winning season at the major league level—yet—but the Rays have ranked No. 1 on this list for two straight years. They've made the most of their early first-round picks, hitting on the likes of OF B.J. Upton, 3B Evan Longoria and LHP David Price, but they've also scored on less-touted players in later rounds, such as LHP Jake McGee, RHP Wade Davis, SS Reid Brignac and OF Desmond Jennings. Though they haven't been nearly as productive internationally, that may change as they did field a Dominican Summer League team again and opened a Venezuelan academy in 2007.
Best-Stocked Position: Righthanded starters. Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann could crack the big league rotation this season, and Jeremy Hellickson is on the verge of a breakout. There's a lot of depth behind that trio, with Chris Mason, Alex Cobb, Josh Butler, Nick Barnese, Heath Rollins, Mitch Talbot and Will Kline. Rollins tied for the minor league lead with 17 wins last year, while Mason topped the Double-A Southern League with 15 victories and a 2.57 ERA.
Prepare For Takeoff: Hellickson. The Rays like to bring their high school pitchers along slowly, so Hellickson has advanced only as far as low Class A after three pro seasons. But he was the hottest pitcher in the South Atlantic League down the stretch in 2007, and this year should be his coming-out party.
At A Crossroads: 3B/1B Joel Guzman. He ranked fifth on our Top 100 Prospects list entering the 2005 season, but his power and his energy have disappeared. He batted just .242/.281/.408 while repeating Triple-A, and he has no chance to unseat Evan Longoria at third base or Carlos Pena at first.
The next four are: Boston, Cincinnati, Texas and the NY Yankees.
- How can you compare a spray-painter to Daisuke Matsuzaka? Tony Massarotti explains:
Fewer pitches.
More outs.
After all, the Red Sox didn't shell out $ 103 million for someone who walks to work every day when he could get there a lot faster by taking the bus.
“That's the way they're schooled, and we respect that,” Sox pitching coach John Farrell said yesterday of Japanese pitchers. “But we're also trying to strike a balance.”
Last season, especially late, watching Matsuzaka pitch was a downright maddening experience. It was like watching someone try to paint a house with a 1-inch brush. The power sprayer was right there on the ground, waiting to be used, and the process was needlessly long and painstaking.
In Matsuzaka's final 13 starts of 2007 (including the postseason), he threw 1,331 pitches in 71 innings, an average of nearly 19 pitches an inning. His average outing was 5 innings, and he needed about 102 pitches to get through it. This put additional strain on a Red Sox bullpen that had a weary Hideki Okajima [stats] and an ineffective Eric Gagne.
- Speaking of Gagne, have you seen the Cubs game yesterday? The Brewers entered the bottom of the ninth with a 3-0 lead:
E Gagne relieved G Mota.
D Lee singled to right.
A Ramirez walked, D Lee to second.
K Fukudome homered to right, D Lee and A Ramirez scored
3-3 the score, with no out. The closer earns $10 M this season….t-e-n million.
Fukudome was asked for a curtain call by the Wrigley Field crowd. The Brewers finally scored in the top of the tenth, on a sacrifice fly by Tony Gwynn Jr. Who else?
- What do you guys think about the infield in when a guy is on third base? I hate it. Following the Blue Jays last season, I got to see John Gibbons find a middle-ground between bringing it in and leaving it behind. I liked it…a lot.
In the game I'm watching for my Game Notes (they will be available in a few minutes on the BDD blog), between the Angels and Twins, Mike Scioscia brings the infield in (fifth inning, score 2-2) with Gomez on third and Michael Cuddyer at the plate. What do you think happens? The ball is hit hard and a normal play for the shortstop (Izturis) became a hit after he only touched it a little.
That's another topic in baseball that needs to be discussed more. You really handicap your infield by doing this kind of shift. You either leave it behind or bring it in a step or two, but not all the way in, that's the best way to get beaten.
- You can read an interview with the famous Steve Bartman, right here.
Cameron Martin: What? Geez, that's bold. I mean, well, OK, forget how I think people
would typically treat you. Tell me yourself. Did people recognize you? Say anything? Threaten you?
Steve Bartman: Since 2003 I've had my share of near scrapes and screaming matches, I'm not going to lie to you. Without the support of my friends and family, I probably wouldn't have gotten through it too well. Nobody recognized me at Game 3, and no, I wasn't wearing a disguise. And no, I wasn't wearing that same outfit (from the 2003 playoff game). Even if people had recognized (me)…listen, it was just a baseball game. I mean, don't get me wrong. I was sick to my stomach for weeks after that. But at some point you have to let it go. And I have. And that's what I tell anyone who meets me and says, “Geez, you fool! What were you thinking?” Man, that was the whole point: I wasn't thinking! which is what I said in that statement after the game. I mean, did I feel responsible? Sure, I did. But do I feel like I personally cost the Cubs their chance to make the World Series? I know Cubs fans would love for me to say yes, but the truth is, I don't. I'll probably get blasted for saying that, but that's that.
Cameron Martin: Steve, I can't imagine having had to live your life for the last four and a half years. Given all the crap you've had to endure, I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd become a White Sox fan. I read in that Drehs piece for ESPN that you're still a diehard Cubs fan, but come on, wasn't there ever a moment where you said, “You know what, fuck this shit, fuck the Cubs, fuck all Cubs fans, fuck Ron Santo, because this shit isn't worth it”? Also, what did you think of Drehs' stalking you at work? I liked the part where you said you'd have to consult with your lawyers before agreeing to talk with him.
Steve Bartman: I can respect a reporter's responsibilities, and I can respect the fact that people are interested in me, but that kind of stuff — waiting around, skulking in the bushes, harassing my friends and family — was why I never would talk to reporters., because it wasn't something that happened gradually. Overnight I was constantly hounded. That went for reporters, so-called Cubs fans, and idiot drunks. It got bad, it did. I needed to protect myself, my family. I mean, I studied Krav Maga, felt I needed to. (Ed: That's what the Israeli army teaches its soldiers for self defense). At bottom, nobody's ever laid a hand on me, but well. And that's the most surreal thing: That I actually had to take self defense classes to defend myself against other Cubs fans. I mean, who do you root for? Could you ever see fans of your team trying to kick your butt over something like interfering with a foul ball?
In a strange twist, Moises Alou now says he would NOT have caught this ball if it had been let go by Bartman:
“Everywhere I play, even now, people still yell, 'Bartman! Bartman!' I feel really bad for the kid,” Alou told Associated Press columnist Jim Litke.
“You know what the funny thing is?” he added a moment later. “I wouldn't have caught it, anyway.”
That stands in stark contrast to Alou's reaction at the time. After the play, he jumped up and down with his arms outstretched.
After the game, he said: “I timed it perfectly, I jumped perfectly. I'm almost 100 percent that I had a clean shot to catch the ball. All of a sudden, there's a hand on my glove.”
He didn't have kind words for Bartman on that night either.
“Hopefully, he won't have to regret it for the rest of his life,” he said.
Bartman is fine and still in hiding somewhere in the Chicago area. The baseball didn't fare quite as well.
- ESPN must be real happy that baseball is back. This is for the Sunday game between the Braves and Nationals:
The game drew a national 2.8 household cable rating, with 3.6 million viewers in 2.7 million households, representing a 7% increase from last year's season opener.
The telecast ranks as the most watched season opener since 1994 among men 18 to 54.
- What are managers worth? J.C Bradbury tries to answer the question:
A team might choose to spend big bucks on a manager is to signal to fans that the team is making a serious commitment to winning, which causes fans to pay attention and come to games. Managers like Lou Piniella, Dusty Baker, and Joe Torre are household names whose reputations as well-known public figures may combat fan outrage over a team's previously poor performance. Also, these managers may also be adept at working with the media (Piniella and Baker have done a good bit of media work) and might be able to manage PR in a way that keeps more fans in tough times. This certainly can affect a team's bottom line. Managers might also be able to recruit better players through free agency for less. My guess is that some players would be willing to take a little less to play for Torre.
- Baseball-Reference has found the single worst performance by a White Sox starting pitcher in a Opening Day game:
2007 – Jose Contreras – 1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 K, with 27 out of 48 pitches for strikes.
- From Kevin Goldstein's chat this afternoon:
gmulligan1 (Kew Gdns, NY): Is there any hope at all that Omar Minaya might do some research and take the amateur draft seriously this year?
Kevin Goldstein: They have a ton of picks this year, and they're willing to spend money — that's the early word on the streets.
- Will Carroll offers the following today in his 'Under the Knife' column:
Johan Santana (0)
I mentioned yesterday that Jack Morris thought Johan Santana had fallen in love with his change. I wondered if he was using it as a strikeout pitch, and Dan Fox checked it out from the Pitch F/X data. Turns out that Santana was using it a lot with two strikes, indicating a high confidence in the pitch. He used the change in 123 of 269 two-strike, non-full counts. This isn't to say it always resulted in a strikeout, though Dan's data does show that he gets a disproportionate number of strikeouts, over 60 percent of the ones recorded by Pitch F/X, using the change. On the other side of this coin, Dan also checked to see if Santana's recent homer-prone tendencies also came from a reliance the changeup. The answer? Not even close; of the 11 homers records, eight came on heaters, two on changes, and one on a slider. (Man, who turned on one of those, or did he hang it?) This type of thing is just scratching the surface of what we're going to learn from Pitch F/X; it's the future of baseball analysis.
- Buster Olney had this to say about Jake Westbrook this morning:
Wrote here Monday that the Braves' hitters had very good things to say about the Indians' Jake Westbrook and the changeup that they say has transformed him, in spring training, from a ham-and-egg sinkerballer into a big-time swing-and-miss pitcher. Consider that for his career, Westbrook has averaged 4.9 strikeouts per nine innings in his eight-year career. His numbers from this spring: 18 innings, 20 strikeouts, a 0.00 ERA, with opponents' hitting .190.
- Joe Sheehan is preaching to the choir as far as BDD is concerned…and I like it!!
The problem isn't that this is a bad team. It's that it's a bad and boring team, with veterans who weren't good enough to win when they had Bonds as a teammate, and now form a lineup that calls to mind the waning days of the Rachel Phelps Era. In a legitimate rebuilding, the Giants would eat the contracts of Roberts, Aurilia, Winn, and Durham. (Molina is miscast as a cleanup hitter, but he's not a bad player, and he's not blocking anyone of note.) They would play Fred Lewis, Nate Schierholtz, Rajai Davis, and Eugenio Velez. It's not like those players are anything special, either, but there's at least some chance of upside, and you can sell inexperienced players under the guise of a youth movement. (Although of that group only Velez is actually young.) The Giants don't have the stomach for this, however, so they have this desiccated group of role players starting. In a related story, they lost 5-0 yesterday.
This isn't an effort at rebuilding. Frankly, I have no idea what it is, and I suspect the Giants front office doesn't, either. The 2008 roster, the 2008 season, seems to be more about pretending that the 1993-2007 seasons didn't happen than anything else, which is a ridiculous way to put together a baseball team.
Links to propose or just want to talk baseball? Reach me at drouleau@baseballdigestdaily.com
