Lukewarm Stove Report

The off-season has essentially passed for Royals fans and I’m sure that 99% of fans took exactly zero notice of any moves (or lack thereof) made by Dayton Moore. Part of the 1% reads this blog. It truly was an uneventful off-season and now we’re getting closer to February 17th. Yes, in 35 days, the Royals Pitchers & Catchers report to Spring Training in Surprise, AZ. Speaking of catchers…


Jason Kendall:
One of the catchers who will be reporting on Feb. 17 is 35 year old Jason Kendall. Yes, the same Jason Kendall that was good in the 90’s! Jason’s average season line from 1996-2004 was .305/.386/.417. That is a very good line for a MLB hitter, even better for a catcher who had speed and was a good defender. In 2004, Jason turned 30. Would you like to see his line after the 2004 season? No you wouldn’t, trust me. But I’ll show it anyway - .260/.335/.321. That is a really bad line for a MLB hitter, even worse for an old catcher with no speed and average defender. I don’t like this signing – I think it was dumb. But what really makes it dumb – I mean what really makes it a indefensible stupid, idiotic signing - what would make Allard Baird cringe – what even ol’ CABG can’t defend – is that it was FOR TWO FREAKING YEARS. Yep, $2.25M in 2010 and $3.75M in 2011. That is so bad, Dayton. It’s insane. I was glad you cut ties with an overpaid Buck and an overpaid Olivo, but then you just went and overpaid the next guy. Some fans say “at least Kendall/Pena is cheaper than Buck/Olivo”. Yeah, that’s true, but why do we have to pay Kendall almost $4M next year when he will be 36 and even worse. Last year (in his contract year) Kendall was .241/.331/.305. Yep, that right there Clark is the Real McCoy. The lowest slugging percentage in all of baseball, tell him what he’s won Rod… A NEW $6M DEAL!!! You may be saying, “What a minute DP, aren’t you constantly begging for OBP?? Isn’t Kendall’s .369 career OBP much better than Olivo’s .292 last year (career high mind you).” Yes it is better, but two things. 1. He hasn’t had an OBP over .331 in 3 years, so I’m expecting .330 max next year 2. You don’t replace a shitty player with a marginally less shittier player and be excited about it. If Kendall has a league average OBP of .330 that will be good for our lineup, but his .305 slugging is even worse in comparison to Olivo’s .292 OBP (at least that came with an above league average slug of .490). Kendall will block balls better than Olivo and apparently calls a really good game. However, all of his positives are trumped by the $3.75M guaranteed to him next year. So next year we get rid of the awful Guillen, Farnsworth, and Bloomquist contract and how does Dayton celebrate? By rolling into the 2nd year of his awful Kendall contract. You’d think he’d learn from his mistakes – why does he insist on giving old veterans two year deals??? People will argue that we had to give Kendall a 2nd year to get him to come to KC. Well if Kendall is playing hardball about not coming here on a one year deal – then you remind him that he is 35 and slugged .305 last year. Kendall on a 1 year deal for $2M wouldn’t be great, but at least he could teach Pena a thing or two and maybe call a decent game here and there – put the ball in play from time to time and have an OBP of .330; but a two year deal is indefensible. It really is.


Brian Anderson:
Pretty exciting offseason when signing Brian Anderson deserves some keystrokes. Sad. This guy is pretty similar to Mitch Maier. Not as good with the stick, but better with the glove. Scouts rave about his defense in CF and the metrics back it up too. Lots of range and good routes – which is something that Dayton has been forcing the issue on (See: Gathright – well sans routes). Career MLB line of .227/.290/.370 leaves quite a bit to be desired. Even his minor league line of .287/.359/.469 doesn’t jump out at you because of the certain regression against ML pitching. You may remember the White Sox trying to make Brian Anderson “happen” for the 2006 and 2008 season. At $700K, it’s not an awful move, but I’m not excited about it by any means. Here is what my buddy Rocko (die hard Sox fan from South side) has to say on Anderson: “Brian Anderson plays great D but can’t hit for shit. Although without the pressures of Chicago media (he was the anointed one and took over for fan favorite Rowand so he never really had a chance to begin with) I think he might be able to come into his own. I think it’s a good gamble for you guys.


Scott Podsednik:
Some people are freaking out about this signing. It was a popular joke in the blogosphere. I’m not wild about the signing, but it’s only a one year deal. Before the signing we were looking to start either Mitch Maier or Brian Anderson at CF (I’d vote Maier because he plays good D, has a decent approach at the plate, and is cheap and controllable). Now Podsednik gives us another option. Scotty Pods (too much Ken “Hawk” Harrelson last year) plays average defense in LF according to the metrics and slightly below average in CF. He is faster than Gayvid, but that’s not saying much. He played 78 games in LF last year and 49 in CF. Dayton hasn’t indicated whether he will start in LF or CF – I would guess a little of both and it also depends on Maier/Anderson as CF options. This also opens up the possibility of trading DeJesus now that we have a guy who can play LF (I’d love to trade him for a nice return). Bottom line on Scotty - his best days are behind him (sound familiar). Career line of .277/.340/.381 with his best years coming early in Milwaukee. Coming into last year his best OPS season ever was .822 when he was 2nd in ROY voting in 2003. For the next 5 seasons he couldn’t crack an OPS of .700. Gulp. However, last year he had an OPS of .764 - .304/.353/.411 (basically league average OPS thanks to above average OBP). If he re-creates that line next year, he will be worth $1.75M. He stole 30 bases last year at a 70% clip (the minimum % to be worthwhile). My worry is that last year was a fluke. Pods turns 34 before opening day and his OBP in the 3 years before last year was .322, .299, and .330 (albeit in limited duty for you optimists). Not lead-off hitter material. If he has an OBP over .350 then it’s a good deal. I guess we’ll find out. The one gripe I do agree with is that we are not going to compete this year – I’ll slap a Men’s Warehouse on that. So if you’re not competing and you’re crying about payroll, and you talk about getting players in that 0-3 range pre-arbitration, and you have that exact player in Mitch Maier – why not just roll with him at the league minimum? Mitch had a nice OBP in 2nd half last year. Maybe he builds on that and is a .340-.350 OBP guy who plays solid CF and is cheap, and is young. I don’t see what Pods gives us this year that is worth $1.35M more than Maier and also worth banishing Maier to pure back up status. Oh well, the Scotty Pods era begins… Oh, also and most important. His wife is smoking hot. Like hotter than donut grease. Do I admire him for this? Ok, maybe I hate Scott Podsednik? Yeah, I hate him. Also, Rocko’s thoughts on Pods: I like Pods…he played really well last year and single handedly saved our season. To be honest with you I don’t see him playing that well again, but you never know. He’s average on defense. Where would he play for you guys? I think that it’s a good signing for the Royals because you got him for 1 year I believe less than $2M so you really can’t go wrong. Who else would you get? His base stealing days are over though.


By the way, here are the following new Royals who were on the 25 man roster for the White Sox at some point last year: Chris Getz, Josh Fields, Wilson Betemit, Brian Anderson, Scott Podsednik.

So where do we go? Ugh, who knows. If we bring back DeJesus, we have an outfield of DeJesus, Podsednik, Guillen. Wow. Then Anderson and Maier to back them up. Maybe DM is thinking of putting Pods in RF as soon as Guillen goes down in week 2. The reality is that it is all moot because the team this year will not be that good. We are just waiting for our young pitching next year and in 2012 – but I promise you it is worth getting excited about.

Another young pitcher to throw in the mix is Cuban defector Noel Arguelles – a 6’3” lefty with plus stuff. He is only 19 years old and some scouts said if he was eligible for the last year’s draft that he could’ve gone top 10. Dayton just outbid the other clubs interested and signed him to a FA deal. The deal is for $7M, so we basically got another 1st round talent from last year. This is a great move and these are the moves that keep me from turning on DM. Here are a list of arms that are considered legitimate talent in our system: Montgomery (L), Crow, Arguelles (L), Melville, Duffy (L), Lamb (L), Dwyer (L). Those are 7 guys who are projected to be major league starters – not like Christ George or Dan Reichert, I mean serious prospects. Here is the thing – if only 3 of them make it then we have a core rotation (and a guy named Greinke). Crow & Montgomery could be ready for 2011 (Crow definitely). I’m telling you our only chance to win anything is to hoard young pitching and Dayton is actually doing that. Now, it would be nice if Moose and Hosmer could be a part of this, but after last year’s disappointing seasons, they aren’t looking like the slam dunks everyone promised – they are huge prospects to watch this year. I’ll do a more in depth prospect breakdown before spring training starts up so you can know more about the names above.

Sorry for the delay in posts, I’ve been caught up over at Big Matt’s Chiefs Chat (Great Chiefs blog by Eggs that you should check out). I know things have been slow with the Royals the past two months, but I should have posted more. Sometimes I get a thought I want to write about and then I’ll think “wait for some more big news and roll that in”. That is dumb. I am going to try to do posts more frequently – it wouldn’t hurt if they were a little shorter anyway – I know I tend to ramble.

Exit Question: What are your thoughts on the moves made above?

Teahen Gone; Callaspo Next?

Well, DM made his first big “splash” of the off-season by moving the star of the “Mark Teahen Show”. My sources tell me Fox Sports Midwest is scrambling to fix its programming lineup for next year. An early rumored candidate for a replacement is “The Luis Silverio Show: translated by Carlos Febles” – and I’ve got to be honest when I say that has me pretty excited.

I like this trade. I actually like this trade for lots of reasons – more than just the players we got back. My first reaction to the trade was “Nice, we just moved some salary”. I’m sure you all the know the Royals are in a financial bind these days and I don’t think Barry will be bailing out small-market franchises anytime soon. That would be interesting if the Baseball Czar gave out one big FA to each of the small market teams. Would you complain if American tax payers bought us Matt Holliday this Winter? I digress… You see, Mark Teahen was due for a raise this year. When you hit .251 for a full season, you deserve a raise in the MLB arbitration system. Mark was set to make between $4.5M and $5M. I’ll bet he makes $4.8M next year due to his coveted “versatility”. The Royals just cant afford to pay super-utility guys who hit .250 this kind of money. In fact, I was hoping that we would non-tender him this off-season if we couldn’t find a trade partner. Non-tender would essentially be releasing him by not offering him arbitration – it has happened in the past (ie. The Marlins were going to non-tender Mike Jacobs last year, but got us to ship them Leo Nunez last minute- ugh. And to think, I believed in Mike Jacobs – that was dumb). I know Mark is a clubhouse presence according to sources, but he also has been associated with more losses than any player in baseball over the past 5 years. Which leads me to another point on why I like this trade. It gets rid of a cornerstone piece of the brutal last 5 years of Royals baseball. With all due respect to Teahen, that is not fair to label him as that - its not necessarily a slight on him. Mark had flashes of very good baseball in his time here. He also had some bad stretches, but for the most part was an average player. I think Teahen is such a laid back guy that he found a way to deal with the losing (probably to keep his sanity). That is what kind of bothered me though, that is not what we need here. We need to create a culture of winning – now, how do you do that in Kansas City? Well, that is the hard part. But I think you start by moving some of the pieces of the last failed rebuilding effort (John Buck – you better be next). I think its sends a message and sets things in motion for this off-season (this is what I’m HOPING). So before getting into the return of the players – I like this trade because it saves us money and it moves on from the Baird rebuilding core.

Now, the other thing this trade does is bring in fresh faces (two). The first safe, non-flashy face is Chris Getz, a 26 year-old left-handed batting 2B. The second risky, upside face is Josh Fields, a 27 year-old right-handed batting 3B (who can dabble in LF and 1B).

Chris Getz: Career minor league line: .286/.362/.380; 2009 MLB Rookie line: .261/.324/.347

Getz has the tools to be a high OBP guy as you can see from his minor league career .362 OBP – he also had 168:143 career BB:K ratio in the minors. He has little pop – though he hit 11 HR’s his last full season in AAA in 2008 which led to a lofty .448 slugging % that he will never recreate. However, Getz does bring speed to the table. Something the Royals haven’t had in years. He stole bases at a 73% rate in the minors and last year in the majors was 25 for 27 in 107 games – that is very good and very promising. His glove rated slightly below average in baseball defensive metrics, but scouts say he has average to slightly above average range and glove. His arm is average, but at 2B, that is fine. He certainly will be better defensively than Callaspo (more on that later), though it is yet to be seen how AB’s will be split up with our middle infielders. Getz does not play SS or 3B – he is exclusively a 2B. His major league numbers weren’t great last year, but it was limited duty and he battled a groin injury down the stretch that finally cut his season down. For what its worth, my Sox buddies from Chicago really liked this kid and thought he was going to be their 2B in the upcoming years. I think he is a valuable piece to our puzzle. An average defensive 2B with OBP skills (in the minors) and proven MLB speed. Get his OBP back to the .340-.350 range and he is a solid starting MLB 2B. Oh, and he costs $400K for the next two years before arbitration. We need more of these cheap players.

Josh Fields: Career minor league line: .274/.359/.459 Career major league line: .229/.302/.416

Fields is the wild-card of this trade. He is former 1st round pick of the Sox (18th in 2004) who had tremendous power potential out of college. You may remember him as the solid QB for Oklahoma State from the early 2000’s. He skipped his senior year at OSU to enter the draft. His minor league numbers weren’t exceptional, but solid. His rookie year in 2007 really created a buzz: .244/.308/.480 in which he belted 23 HR’s in only 100 games. This had Chicago buzzing with his power potential and actually had Joe Crede on his way out of town due to the youngster. Unfortunately 2008 was derailed by an injury and then Crede took his job back. Last year Fields battled injuries and got off to a slow start and eventually lost his job to super rookie Gordon Beckham. So a little pop and fizzle from this one time phenom. He strikes out a lot and doesn’t walk a lot – which DM fans will love about this guy. However, I think anytime you can get a former first rounder who is still relatively young (turns 27 next month), I think its worth a flier – especially when you’re a small market team. The Rays did it with Carlos Pena, the Angels with Juan Rivera – maybe the Royals are due for a break. Maybe we need someone to out-perform their expectations rather than under (see: Gordon, Alex). Speaking of Gordon, what does this mean for 3B? Alex Gordon is still our starting 3B, but Fields offers some options. He can play 3B against a tough lefty and give Alex the day off, he can play a little 1B as well. He can dabble in the OF and I would love for him to start the season in RF and get his AB’s rather than Jose Guillen. In the least, I like Fields as a platoon guy at 3B with Gordon. Check out his splits against lefties: .285/.356/.580 – that’s a .936 OPS for you math majors. That is big time pop against lefties. Honestly, I think he should start at 3B against lefties, which will help Gordon’s confidence as he avoids his strikeouts against Lefties. Gordon’s OPS: RHP vs LHP - .785 vs. .653. Seriously, Trey – you can juggle 3B depending on the starting pitcher and have a pretty solid 3B production. His glove isn’t great, but he plays average 3B and his sample size in the OF is too small. He could also serve as a DH at times. If we do give Kila Ka’ahuie a shot at DH next year, you could also platoon Fields at DH against LHP’s. I just think his bat needs to be in the lineup against Lefties, as we have very little pop from the right side of the plate (the left too). Oh, and he costs $400K. We need more of these cheap players.

What’s next? I would hope this acquisition rids us of Mike Jacobs (saving another $4.5M after his “well earned” raise), but I’m not holding my breath. My worry is that he keeps Jacobs around to platoon at DH with Fields, (Jacobs line against RHP: .243/.311/.447), and I would hate that. Do you know that Jacobs had a .500 OPS in 111 PA’s against Lefties last year? Wow, Trey – that is pathetic you gave him that many chances with his track record against LHP. I’d love to just cut bait on Jacobs, admit he didn’t fit and save the money, but time will tell. I really want to give Kila a shot out of the gates and use Fields in spots where he can succeed. The next big topic is what to do with Callaspo and I don’t know how I feel. Bert’s offense was great last year and the 3rd best 2B in the AL (behind Cano and Hill). He overachieved power-wise and I have to think that is going to regress slightly. He had zero career HR’s in his first 441 AB’s, then 11 in his next 534. Maybe he found something, but I have to think there is a little luck there. I love his approach and the fact that he walks more than strikes out. Some will say its crazy to trade him after posting an .813 OPS on an offense starved team. But we are also a defense and pitching starved team as well. On the other hand, you could say that we are trading him at his peak. It will be tough for him to repeat last year on a consistent basis (though he does have a very good minor league track record). Ok, now the big con’s on Bert: his defense and his drinking. First off, he is the worst defensive 2nd baseman I have ever seen. No joke. The numbers all reflect how bad he is too, but you can just watch him to see it. It goes beyond errors for me. It’s not covering 2B with two outs and sharp grounder up the hole at short which leads to a prolonged inning because SS can’t flip the ball to 2nd to end the inning. Its not covering on stolen bases or not rotating on bunt plays – the dude is never where he needs to be. He really is an abomination in the field. I wouldn’t mind giving him a shot at DH and a little 3B as he plays better there with less need for range and/or a brain. He could play 3B against Lefties with Fields at DH and Gordon on the bench. Split time at 2B with Getz and get him 150 starts someway or another – I would be ok with that. He doesn’t have the pop you’d like from DH, but he has great OBP skills. If he does come back, it will be interesting to see how he is used. Oh yeah, the other con: the drinking. A domestic violence charge in AZ, a DUI on UMKC campus and a stint to rehab. Apparently, he still likes to party so I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. The Royals shipped off two promising prospects in deals earlier this year, both of these prospects had repeated run-in’s with the law. Is Bert getting the same treatment? I don’t know.

There is a rumor that Callaspo may be heading to the Dodgers for AAA catcher A.J. Ellis. Ellis is interesting as he is a light hitting catcher but has a career OBP in the minors of .398. Including .436 and .438 in AAA the last two years - that's not a typo. He is also regarding as a very good defensive catcher – something we badly need. Sounds like we should do this deal in a heartbeat right? Well, the problem with Ellis… is that he turns 29 in April of next year. Not really a young prospect. Some ask why he hasn’t made the bigs yet, well he is blocked by Russell Martin – one of the best young catchers in the game. It would be risky trading your 2nd best hitter for a 29 year old minor leaguer. However, the OBP and defensive skills are definitely there – just a question of can they translate to the majors. Another big plus about this deal is that DM recently pointed out that we led the majors in passed balls and wild pitches and that he needs to fix that. With this rumored deal, it proves to me that DM has actually looked at a statistic and then applied it to his decision making – an encouraging sign to say the least! This deal would also signal the end of John Buck (saving us $3.5M and ridding another piece of the losing Baird project) which is a plus. With this trade, you could potentially could save over $8M of money (Teahen & Buck) and bring in 3 league minimum pieces to your 25 man roster. It is intriguing to say the least and a step in the right direction – improved defense and OBP – big steps for a small market team. The risk is moving Callaspo and betting on Ellis. We’ll see what happens. I’d like it a lot more if they threw in a young arm to go with Ellis, maybe an upside reliever to help our pen.

Bottom line: I really like the Teahen trade and I’m waiting to see what happens with Callaspo. Either way, it looks like a step in the right direction to me. That direction is at least something different. I want to see change.


Exit Question: Do you like the Teahen trade? Would you move Bert?

Playoff Chatta

I love watching playoff baseball (especially on 50 inches of gorgeous HD). Every pitch counts, every decision questioned, and every ounce of execution is critiqued. It is night and day difference from a standard Royals game in September.

The other day I was watching a Torre managed game and started thinking about the day when that bushy bearded Fr. Hillman would be on TBS HD in a ALDS. Boy, would it be CRAZY to see him manage a playoff game. I’ll set the tone. Game 4 of the series: Royals trail the Angles in the series 2-1. Game 4 was rained out the night before, so game 5 (if necessary ) will be played tomorrow in Anaheim. Two outs in the top of the 8th and the Royals lead 3-2. Zack is laboring in the 8th with a line of 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K’s. He just gave up a double to Torii Hunter and now its runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Greinke just threw his 118th pitch and he looks like he’s tired. Time for a call to the pen. Does he bring in Soria? Chip Carey says, “In this situation, you have to think that Trey Hillman will turn to the best arm in his pen and bring in the closer Soria”. The booth (and everyone outside of KC, MO) is stunned as big Kyle Farnsworth jogs out of the pen, but us Royals fans knew better. So, Big Vlad Guerrero steps in, and although he’s lost a bit of his magic, he is still a potent bat. It took 3 pitches for everything to unravel. A straight 95 MPH fastball fouled straight back. Wow, that was close – Vlad just missed it. Better stick to off-speed away from here on out. Just like Miguel Olivo – why throw him a fastball? That’s all he can hit (how the AL pitchers refuse to only throw off-speed away to Olivo continues to baffle me). Farnsy throws a slider away and Vlad waves and misses. It’s now an 0-2 count. Everyone knows what’s coming right? It’s gotta be off-speed away. Just makes sure Olivo is ready to block the ball in the dirt if you want the pitch down and we’re home free. Easy enough? Nope. Hillman makes the call from the dugout – he’s got faith in Farnsy. He loves that heater that Farnsy revs up. He signals to Miggy to put down the big one finger. Here it comes…WHAM! There it goes, a rocket double that short hops the Left Center wall. Two runs score and the Royals now trail 4-3. Farnsy gets out of the 8th and the Royals don’t score in the bottom of the frame. Farnsy goes out for the 9th and pitches around a one-out walk. The Royals strand the tying run at 2nd in the bottom of the 9th and lose the series. Afterwards, a defiant Trey Hillman defends his decision to not bring in Soria. “It was the top of the 8th and I didn’t want to use Jack for a 4 out save. If we won tonight we would’ve had game 5 tomorrow and I wanted him to be available for that. Farnsy’s been having really good bullpen sessions the last few weeks, so I figured his fastball would do the trick. Vlad’s a great ball player and we’ll tip our caps to ‘em. We played our hardest and we had some fun. Most importantly, nobody got hurt. God Bless.” After thinking this whole thing out in my head, I punched myself in the face and continued watching the Dodgers.

Dudes, how sweet is the Dodgers lineup? I love it. Kemp, Either, and Loney? Man, that is sweet to have 3 young dudes like that. I’m obsessed with Matt Kemp, have been for a few years now. Back when we were trading Dotel in ‘07, nerdy homers thought we were gonna flip 3 months of an injury prone Dotel for Matt Kemp straight up. I laughed at the time knowing it wouldn’t happen, but thought it would be the sweetest trade in the history of baseball. Obviously it didn’t happen and those nerdy homers can now see why. He is a pure 5 tool player. A younger, bigger, more disciplined Beltran with less speed. Wow, it will be fun to see how good he can get. These 3 young hitters to go with Kershaw, Billingsly (inconsistent this year), and Broxton and damn – what a nucleus. Obviously the Dodgers supplanted these dudes with bringing in a Manny, a Furcal, an O-Hud and a Randy Wolf – but you can see what a young core can do for a team. This is what we have to hope for as Royals fans. We have to hope that our core is 3 of these guys: Butler, Gordon, Moose, Hosmer, Meyers and a couple of these guys: Duffy, Montgomery, Crow, Melville, Dwyer, Coleman. As always, all we can do is hope and wait that these guys progress at a decent clip (and that Trey Hillman resigns due to a higher calling from the “true boss upstairs”).

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE UPDATES:

Mike Moustakas, 3B
.462/.500/.923
6-13 1 HR 8 RBI
3 R
3 2B
1 SB
0/1 BB/K

Jeff Bianchi, SS
.278/.316/.278
5-18 0 HR 2 RBI
3 R
1/4 BB/K

Very encouraging start from Moose. Very small sample size, but its important to remember that he played in one of the worst hitters parks in the minor leagues last year, so I’m hoping for a nice off-season and rebound numbers next year in AA.

Bianchi played himself back into prospect status this year. The former 2nd round pick put together a nice season split between high A and AA. Could start next year as a AAA SS.

More in depth minor league review to come soon this off-season.


Exit Question: If you could have one player from one of the remaining 4 playoff teams to have on the Royals and assume their contract. Who would it be?

Mr. September

Oh boy, I've heard a few people get excited recently with the way the boys in blue are playing. Really? Seriously? Are the Cheifs that depressing? I'm so mad with this recent "surge" because I know that Moore is thinking to himself - "See Kansas City, I told you all that my friend Trey is the right guy for this team. I have no doubt in my mind". There was a pathetic interview with Gayvid DeJesus the other day where he was saying that we are just too good of a team to have a drop off in the middle 4 months. He said after our great April and this recent solid September he can't wrap his arms around the idea of how we struggled in the middle portion of the season. Let's not forget that we didn't just struggle in the middle portion, but we were far and away the worst team in baseball - even worse than the Nationals. So, these fluff articles make me irate. Nothing has changed about this team. Jacobs was a bust (I was way wrong on him), Davies killed our rotation, and Hillman/Moore's building/usage of the bullpen was laughable. We are far away from being a contender.

On a positive note, 3 of our minor league teams made their playoffs (I know its pathetic to even point this out, but I am). Moose and Hos took their team to the playoffs - with a lot of help from the great pitching on their squad. Moose ended up hitting 18 HR's with 86 RBI's, decent production. His numbers with guys on base were: .298/.340/.461. His numbers with RISP: .355/.397/.567. Smaller sample size, but hey at least he came through with guys on base. Yes, I'm reaching for anything right now.

The problem is boys (we'll get into this deeper in the off-season breakdown) is that there is no help on the way for 2010. Just want you want to hear, right? Our impact prospects are 2 years away. We may be able to get something out of Kila next year, and Bianchi is getting closer, but I don't see those two making a 2010 a year to remember.

Greinke - This dude better win the Cy Young award. I will be extremely livid and depressed if he doesn't win it. If I were him and I lost to Verlander, I'd consider painting the locker room with a 12 gauge. His teammates have seriously effed him harder than Peter North this season. It really makes me mad.

Looking forward to a nice finish so Kaegel and Dutton can fluff Trey Hillman going into the off-season. Those articles should induce vomiting. Cheers.

ZacKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

I was at the game last night when Zack struck out 15 batters. It was one of the best baseball moments in my life. We have the best young pitcher in baseball. Which makes me a little depressed because every other jack ass surrounding Greinke cost him a Cy Young. The fact that he isn't going to win it this year is depressing. The fact that we will lose 100 games with a Cy Young pitcher is even more depressing. On to the post...




Eggs – Solid post, my friend. Thanks for filling in for me. A couple quick hitters in response to your thoughts.

I agree with you wanting to get rid of Guillen (seems very difficult to do), Jacobs (terrified Dayton offers him arbitration), and Buck (see: Jacobs, Mike). I sure would feel a helluva lot better if those 3 jokesters were gone come opening day next year (or yesterday).

I understand wanting to bring back DeJesus and Teahen because on our awful team, they are decent players. However, I still feel that these guys would never start on a division winning team, so why do they start for us (well, cause we suck). I don’t want to settle for DeJesus and Teahen as our corner OF’s with their .760 OPS. Not gonna help this offense become better than 14th in the AL. By the way, I have a feeling that Teahen is our starting RF next year. Has everyone noticed his slip to completely average again? He just won’t ever hit at a consistent .800 OPS level – he should only be a super-sub. Problem is that he’ll be due over $4M next year – no way a 100 loss team can pay that for a utility guy! Also – has everyone noticed Gay-vid DeJesus sliding back UP to an average player. Thank God he is having a solid August (as we plunge towards 100 losses) to get his numbers back up to a level where Royals fans will talk themselves into another average year of David DeJesus (for $4.7M mind you).

I’m 100% with you on Kila at first…I’m really gay for Callaspo’s bat, but his glove is pathetic – so I’m ok with moving him for a return – though what can you really expect to get for him with his flawed defense. I’d like Gomez – that would be pretty cool.

I disagree with you on Scutaro. Dude is 33 and having a career year in a contract year (Are you aware that before this year, he had 1 career season with an OPS over .702?). Depending on the economy, he could command over $6M per year. The last time we signed a guy like that is was 2007 - and that man was Jose Guillen. In his defense Guillen had put up 3-4 really good seasons (though always in between garbage seasons).

Regarding trading our starting pitching, I wouldn’t do it at this point because their stock is low, but damn – I wish we would’ve flipped Banny and a pitching prospect at the deadline for an impact bat. Maybe Dayton tried and their was no market, but Banny’s stock was really high then. As much as he embraces the statistical knowledge that I like, he also lacks some physical abilities I like. Offense is our concern; pitching is the currency of baseball, so I say again – SPEND IT.

A couple shout outs to some valued Bullpen Boys:

Kneedlez – as a Royals fan, you seem like you are in a dark place, brother. I think it would be great if gave your belts and shoelaces to your neighbor for a while. I’m worried about you, big cat. That being said, I’m one more idiotic Trey Hillman interview away from pulling a Carradine (sans binding).

CABG – Do my eyes deceive me? Did I see you pencil Josh Anderson, whom you called “a good CF”, into our starting lineup next year? Excuse me while I bet the under of 61.5 wins next year in Vegas. What has that kid showed you that has you planning on him starting for us next year? Is it his ability to misread balls in the OF or his inability to get on base?

Kansas City – Very impressive debut post. I think you made some excellent points. Not very creative on the name, but hey – I’ll take substance over flash any day of the weak (Joey Gathright notwithstanding)


There was a lot of chatter regarding Dayton Moore and I think my feelings can be summed up in this. He saw the miserable top to bottom talent in the organization after 2007. He knew his farm was 4-5 years away from providing enough homegrown fruit for a pennant run. He also had pressure to win with the new stadium and new management. He succombed to the pressure and took some dumb risks he shouldn’t have taken. He did this hoping that he could win 80+ games and pick up attendence, establish a more competitive atmosphere at the big league level, help convince Glass for more money, and save a little face before HIS young players arrived. It didn’t work. It failed miserably. Oh well, that is where we are. What he must do now is do something I’ve yet to see from him: admit he screwed up. He doesn’t have to say it, he just has to act on it. He acts on it by not bringing back Guillen, Jacobs, Buck, and possibly Teahen (unless he gets a discount deal like 3 yr/$7M). That sends a clear message to the players and fans. He rides out 2010 and then he sees what he has in Bianchi, Lough, Duffy, Mongomery, Melville, Crowe, all of our young bullpen arms, etc. Then he can do it the way he orginally intended before he sold his soul*. That is the only hope to which I cling.

*Is there a funnier story line from this season then that twit Trey Hillman saying that he “would never sell his soul by letting Soria throw two innings” in a game? Aside from the underlying religious reference, its also hysterical because he has now made 4 deals with the devil since that sweet quote. This guy is so far in over his head, he makes Barry look capable.

Exit Question: Do you still believe that Dayton can win?

Guest Post from Eggs

Well things have been quiet over here at the Bullpen Boys lately. That blame rests squarely on the shoulders of ol' DP. I've recently moved back to KC from Chicago and have been dealing with getting my life organized back home (I'm probably at about 8% right now, so I'm turning the corner). I've been working on my minor league review, which I heard Rany just did his - so good timing! (Side note: I don't read Rany any more so I can try to formulate original thoughts and ideas, but I hear from others on his work. I thought it would be tough not reading him, but I'm pretty sure I know exactly what he is writing about.) I hope to have my review for you soon (its actually a little promising), but in the meantime I asked one of our best posters to write a guest post to help me out during my hectic schedule right now. He is busy kicking off another season of his Chiefs blog (which you should definitely check out) but he was gracious enough to help out. So, without any further ado, I present to you...Eggs uncut!



When it comes to Royals baseball (and KC sports in general), I like to think of myself as a realist. Most would probably call me a pessimist. I think the years upon years of disappointment and humiliation have robbed me of a certain hopeful enthusiasm I was once full of. What's left is a cold, calculating fan that, while still passionate, is definitely fed up. Now I seek solace in truth, rather than hope. I wish I could just switch my allegiance, but true fandom doesn't work like that. As much as they disgust me (and they do), I'm a Royals fan for life.

This season, for me, has been harder than the others. Partly because of the now-famous 18-11 start and all the false optimism it engendered, but thats not the only reason (or even the main one). What's been far worse, for me, is what this season has taught us about Dayton Moore, the man we all hoped so desperately would lead us back to the promised land. We've learned a lot about Moore this season, and none of it has been good. We've learned that not only does he not use sabermetrics, he doesn't even understand them. He refuses to. This realization has been less painful for some of us (me) than others (CABG), but I think we can all agree by now that Moore has placed himself squarely behind the 8-ball. He's put together the worst team in the league, and he honestly has no idea why. His trades have backfired, his free agent signings have been a colossal waste of money, and his approach has been proven to be totally outdated. Moore needs to adjust, or he'll take his seat next to Allard Baird and Herk Robinson in the "GMs who failed" section. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear an adjustment is imminent. Moore's responses to criticism have been increasingly bizarre, and it looks like he's just not really based in reality. To say Moore has a bunker mentality would be an understatement. He's starting to seem downright delusional.

But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about the future. As bad as things have gotten, I still think our future is brighter than it was 3 years ago. I don't realistically think we can compete in 2010, but there are a few simple steps we can take that can at least bring us back towards respectability. If we play this right, Royals baseball can be relevant again in 2011. But thats two years away. What can we do now? What steps should be taken this offseason?

1) Get rid of Jose Guillen by any means necessary- The rest of these steps aren't in any particular order, but I put this one first because its by far the most important. Guillen must go. He's arguably the worst every-day player in the major leagues*, and makes more money than anyone else on our team. To say his contract is a waste of money would be the understatement of the century. But as important as it is for us to get out from under that contract, its more important that we get Guillen off our team. He can't get on base, he's losing power by the day, and he is BY FAR the worst fielding outfielder in the major leagues. In other words, he's a total drain on our team, and we can't afford to have him in our lineup.

*Anyone care to guess who the other option here is? I'll give you a hint: the Royals recently traded for him.

So what do we do? Well, we should try to trade him obviously, but I kind of doubt anyone would be stupid enough to take him on. Getting actual value for him is totally out of the question. But maybe, just maybe, we could get some team to take Guillen off our hands if we agree to pay enough of his salary. We should start by offering to pay half, and if that doesn't work, we should offer to pay $9 million out of 12. Hell, if it comes down to it we should offer to pay whatever it takes. Even if we have to pay $11 million to see him off, thats better than keeping him and paying 12. And if we can't find anyone to take him on even under those conditions, we should release him. I know it would hurt to pay Guillen $12 million just to bounce, but not nearly as bad as it would hurt to pay him $12 million to stick around. Whatever it takes, Jose Guillen's days with the Royals need to end.

2) DO NOT re-sign Mike Jacobs- Those of us who panned the Jacobs trade when it happened literally couldn't have been more right. Jacobs, much like Guillen, can't get on base (at all) or play defense (at all). His modest power potential is a pretty hollow reward for that kind of ineptitude. Factor in our bullpen's struggles and Leo Nunez's success, and this trade has got to go down as one of the worst in team history. I've heard Dayton is considering bringing Jacobs back. I believe this would be the definition of not learning from your mistakes.

3) Release John Buck- Simply put, John Buck has been our catcher for long enough. This guy has been behind the plate for 6 years, and in that time has averaged a sub-.300 OBP and sub-.700 OPS. Even the Royals front office can no longer talk about Buck's "upside" with a straight face. Dayton Moore's decision to re-sign both Buck and Olivo to multimillion dollar deals after last season was mystifiying. Again, this is a mistake he must learn from. There's not a team in the majors that pays their backup catcher anywhere near the $3 million we pay Buck. A small-market team like us cannot afford to be spending stupid money like that. If given a choice between Olivo and Buck, I'll take Olivo. At least he can throw. That's one more thing than John Buck can do well.

But really, neither of these guys should be starting for us. Brayan Pena is a cheap option with a little bit of upside. That's exactly the type of player the Royals should be playing at catcher. Another option would be to bring in one of the Molina brothers. Both are free agents after this season, both are pretty good defensively, and neither should be very expensive.

4) Keep David DeJesus- I know some of you are fed up with DeJesus, but letting him go at this point just doesn't make a lot of sense. It would be like if your car had a flat tire and you tried to fix it by installing a new radiator. DeJesus isn't the problem. And its not like he's blocking any hot prospects. If we move DeJesus, who's going to take his place in our already barren outfield? Do you really trust Dayton Moore to find someone better? I certainly don't.

Also, I've read some statistical analyses of DeJesus that indicate he's actually an above average major league player. Apparently his defense in left field is among the best in the game. That's important in Kauffman stadium. In fact, I read something over at Royals Review a while back that said DeJesus, with defense factored in, was almost as valuable as Jason Bay (I believe this was in terms of win-shares). Obviously I'd rather have Bay, but the evidence was pretty convincing, and those guys at Royals Review definitely aren't homers.

5) Keep Mark Teahen- Teahen, like DeJesus, has been a little disappointing in his time with the Royals. He's not quite as good as we hoped he would be, but he still has value. We shouldn't be rushing to trade our few players that aren't terrible. In all likelihood our return on a Teahen trade would not be very high anyway, particulalry given Dayton Moore's track record with trades. We're much better off just keeping him. For one thing, I suspect Alex Gordon's days at third base may be numbered. If a decision is made to move Gordon, we'll need Teahen to step in and play third. In that regard, he's an excellent backup plan.

6) DO NOT move Alex Gordon to first base- Obviously we'd all like to see Alex Gordon succeed at third, but the fact is he may not. In 2008 his defensive numbers were straight-up bad. Among the worst in the league. This has led some to speculate that a George Brett-esque move to first is in Gordon's future. I think that would be a huge mistake. For one thing, Gordon's offensive numbers, while potentially good for a third baseman, don't play nearly as well at first. For that reason alone we should keep him at third until we're absolutely certain he can't play there. And if he can't, what then? Well, what about a move to right field? He doesn't have any experience there as far as I know, but neither did Mark Teahen. And Gordon, like Teahen, runs pretty well and has a third baseman's arm, so the tools are there. In my opinion we can't afford to move Gordon to a position already occupied by all our top propspects. Prospects such as....

7) Start Kila Kaihuee at first base- This one is a no-brainer. We're in desperate need of players who know how to work the strike zone, and Kaihuee has better plate discipline than anyone currently on our team. If it were up to me he would've been our first baseman this year. Yes, his power has dropped off a bit, but he could still probably hit as many homers as Mike Jacobs while having an OBP 100 points higher. Billy Butler may be improving in the field, but DH is where he belongs. Kile Kaihuee needs to be our first baseman in 2010. For some reason, the Royals don't seem to want that. I honestly have no idea why. Kila must not pass the infallible Dayton Moore eyeball test.

8) Trade Alberto Callaspo- This might sound crazy given that Callaspo is one of the few good hitters on our team, but hear me out. Callaspo is a good hitter, yes. He's also an absolutely terrible fielder. Possibly the worst second baseman in the majors. And not only that, he is SLOW. JoPo did a blog post a while back saying that Callaspo is BY FAR the worst player in the majors at going from first to third. He just can't do it. That's a pretty serious flaw, particularly for a singles hitter. At the trade deadlne my boi Rany floated the idea of trading Callaspo for Twins CF Carlos Gomez. I've become obsessed with the possibility. Gomez hasn't hit like people hoped, but his defense is maybe the best in the game and he's got great speed. Play him in center field and hit him ninth and I think he'd be a pretty valuable piece of the puzzle. As I mentioned earlier, outfield defense is important in Kauffman stadium. And when it comes to outfield defense, it doesn't get any better than Gomez.

Would the Twins agree to this deal? Who knows. Gomez was the centerpiece of the Santana deal, but that was when people thought he'd develop into the next Carlos Beltran. That no longer seems likely. Furthermore, the emergence of young outfielders Denard Span and Jason Kubel has pushed Gomez to the bench. Given the Twins' desperate need of a second baseman, a Gomez for Callaspo deal would seem to make sense for them. Given Mike Aviles and Jeff Bianchi's presence, selling high on Callaspo certainly makes sense for us.

9) Sign Marco Scutaro- Scutaro is 34, which isn't ideal. And he's having a pretty awesome year, so he's likely to command a nice chunk of change. This would probably be the only major free agent acquisition we could afford to make. It would be worth it. Scutaro has a .386 OBP and an OPS in the .820s. Not only that, he plays good defense. Factor in the occassional homerun and stolen base, and this guy is a pretty great player. Better than most give him credit for. In other words, exactly the type of player we should be looking for. The icing on the cake is we'd be stealing a good player from that douchebag J.P. Ricciardi. I hate that guy.

Make no mistake, we won't sign Scutaro. In Dayton moore's mind, the shortstop position is already locked up for the forseeable future. But these are things we should do, not things we will do. We will have Yuniesky Betancourt starting at shortstop in 2010. We should have him slinging nachos on the Pepsi Party Porch.

10) Don't trade any of our starting pitching- This is the one area of strength on our team, and that shouldn't be tampered with. We have a young, good rotation that should only get better with time. They deserve that chance. Maybe you trade Gil Meche once Aaron Crowe is ready for the majors, but not before. And anyway, I want Dayton Moore making less trades, not more (Moore?). He may be good at scouting, but when it comes to actual major league players he's completely out of his element. And while players like Brian Bannister and Gil Meche may not be great, they're certainly better than what we'd get in return.

OK gang, so thats my list. I'm not optimistic the Royals will see things the way I do (they seldom do), but I'm fairly certain these moves would make us a much better team than we are now. Of course, according to Dayton Moore he already put together a good team this year. Darn those injuries!



Exit Question from DP: What are your thoughts on Eggs off-season decisions?

Stats That Matter

Before I jump into the post, I’d like to address some recent chatter regarding Hillman and Moore. Coming into this season I was a pretty big fan of Moore and very skeptical about Hillman. At this point in time, I am getting very nervous about Moore and I’m completely done with Hillman (as you all know I have been for a while). It doesn’t matter that I never played beyond high school ball – Trey Hillman is a moron. It’s extremely evident that this is true. All you have to do is listen to that numnuts talk.

What a complete and utter joke. I mean that with all my heart (to steal a sappy line from Dayton Moore’s recent “I have faith in my process” article). My concerns with Dayton Moore can probably be summed up with this quote from the Star:

“We’re going to keep the group we have, and we’re going to work. That’s the only way I know how to do it. It might not be the right way, but it’s the only way I know how to do it.”

So much for adapting on the job... We are 19-46 since our nice 18-11 start (small sample size). People like to point to last September (“a run for the ages” – CABG) or this April as “proof” that Hillman is a good manager or that our team is good. My explanation for those two months: Even a blind squirrel finds a nut. I agree with Dayton that we don’t need a massive overhaul and I’m not calling for that. But I certainly don’t agree with “do nothing and hope/wait for it to get better” approach either. Ugh, what a depressing situation we’re in – though it’s nothing new. By the way, we should trade Joakim Soria right now because we obviously don’t know what to do with an elite reliever. On to the post…

Stat guy vs. baseball guy has been quite the topic at the ol’ Bullpen Boys these days. I think a post is definitely called for at this point. If you read the comments section (If you don’t do this, I highly recommend you do as it is a great gathering place for the wide spectrum of Royals fans) then you know that there has been some debate over stats vs. the little things.

I'd like to clarify something. I myself have never attacked any of the following: 1. The little things 2. Hustle 3. Grinders 4. Team cohesiveness 5. Knob location

All I've done is staunchly defend the attacks on stats.

Baseball is my favorite thing in life (sad) and there is no way I could be this perverse about the game without loving and respecting the hell out of the "little things". Those are the things I look for when I’m watching games on TV or out at the ballpark. I love watching the guy in the on deck circle to see how he prepares. I like to see which players hop over the foul line on their way to and from the dugout and which guys could care less about that superstition. I love watching SS and 2B play “daylight” with a runner on 2nd to limit his leadoff. Turning two is probably my favorite play in the game and there is nothing prettier than a smooth turn at the bag. I could go on for hours. All of these little things are very important to winning a baseball game. I fully agree with that. I enjoy all of these things, but I also enjoy WINNING. Something the Royals haven’t done in 24 years. I’m 25. That is pathetic. You see I agree that you need players who grind it out and do all the little things, but if you want to win – you need guys to get ON BASE. In my opinion,OBP is the most imortant statistic in baseball. Even old school Earl Weaver knows that (read this article, long read, but well worth it). Ok, let’s talk shop…

First off, let’s get a little more detail about OPS. OPS stands for On base % Plus Slugging %. OBP = (H+BB+HBP)/(AB+BB+HBP+SF) SLUG = (Total Bases)/(AB) It is a way to quantify a players ability to get on base AND their ability to hit for power. I must say upfront that OPS gives a little more weight to slugging% (contrary to claims in the comment section). The AL average this year for OBP is .335; SLUG is .427 – therefore average OPS is 762. There is more variance (range) in the SLUG because the mean (average) is higher. This means that the difference between the top 10 in SLUG vs. league average is a greater number than the difference between the top 10 in OBP vs. league average – make sense? This means that OPS stat will give a little extra bump to the exceptional SLUG hitters more than the exceptional OBP hitters. Let’s take the SLUG and OBP leaders in the AL from 2008 and assume that they would be league average in the other category. A-Rod had a SLUG of .573 (146 pts above avg) and Milton Bradley (yes, the same guy) had an OBP of .436 (101 points above avg). So, you can see that there is more “room” in the SLUG department.

Now, because this stat combines two stats (and leans towards SLUG) it may not be fair to certain players. Let’s take SS for example. A lot of shortstops don’t hit for much power, so even if they do a good job of getting on base, their OPS will trend lower. Let’s take a “gamer” type player (David Eckstein) who does all the little things right. He may be the ultimate gamer who does crazy hustle things like sprint to first when he draws a walk (Cabby just got a semi). In 2005, David Eckstein had an OPS of .758 which was below league average. However, his OBP was .363 – well above average. So David Eckstein had a very good year for a SS who doesn’t bat in the middle of the order. This is a good example of not blindly following OPS as the end all be all (as I've been accused of doing). That is my disclaimer as I sit here and praise OPS. OPS is used for impact bats (like Gordon and Butler) and that is what the Royals desperately need.

Great baseball minds marginally smarter than I have poured through all the stats in the game and have found that this is one of the best measurements to define a well rounded player. This stat has forced intuitive sports fans to trend away from the measurements we used on the back of baseball cards and look more closely at these stats with PROVEN success. Let’s play a couple games, shall we…

The following two players are from the 2008 season. Both put together nice seasons, but which player would you rather have?

Player A:
Runs: 100
HR: 37
RBI: 116
Runs+RBI: 216

Player B:
Runs: 101
HR: 36
RBI: 119
Runs+RBI: 220

If you are in the belief that Runs and RBI are the most important stats, then you would pick player B. Sure the two players above are close, but you might as well pick the one with higher Runs & RBI because those are really the “only two stats that matter” Congratulations, you just picked Adrian Gonzalez over Albert Pujols. In 2008, Albert Pujols put together one of the most dominating seasons in the past 10 years. But how you ask? He had less Runs and RBI’s than Adrian Gonzalez, so how was his season so dominating? If Albert had better hitters behind him, he probably would’ve scored another 20-30 runs. If Albert had better OBP guys ahead of him getting on base, he probably could’ve driven in 30-40 more runs. You see runs and RBI depend on the guys before and after you. But OPS has to do with only one person’s performance: the person in the box. Ok, now let’s look at some new and improved stats to go along with these “old school” stats.

Player A: OBP: .462; SLUG: .653; OPS: 1.114
Player B: OBP: .361; SLUG: .510; OPS: .871

You see Albert got on base at a rate 100 points (10%) higher than Adrian Gonzalez. Basically, every month that season, Albert would get on base 10 more times than Adrian. In that same month, Albert would get 14 more total bases than Adrian. So, even if they had the same amount of hits per month, maybe Albert hit 14 more doubles, or maybe 7 more triples, or how about 4 HR’s and 2 doubles. As you can see, Albert was a much, much better hitter than Adrian last year. There are no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. It is clear as day. But if all you saw were Runs, HR’s, and RBI’s, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference!

Next example, from the 2005 season…

Player A:
RBI: 101
BA: .247

Player B:
RBI: 117
BA: .286


Again, if I’m looking at these two players and I’m a “baseball” guy, I’m gonna take player B here because he clearly delivered more with guys on base. He also hit 40 points higher in regards to batting average, so he definitely is doing a better job of getting on base and moving guys around, right? Wrong.

Player A: OBP: .387; OPS: .927
Player B: OBP: .311; OPS: .808

You see Jorge Cantu (Player B) got on base 196 times that season. Sure he drove in 117 runs and had a pretty good season, but batting average doesn’t tell the whole story. Adam Dunn (Player B) got on base 260 times that season! The only reason Dunn has less RBI’s than Cantu is because pitchers pitch around him all the time when guys are on base. Though it limits his RBI opportunities, he takes a walk and prolongs the inning and leads to creating more runs. It’s a no brainer who to choose if you had to pick between Dunn and Cantu.

Final example, also from the 2005 season…

Player A:
Runs: 95
RBI: 128

Player B:
Runs: 95
RBI: 108


Player A is cleary better at driving runners in as he drove in 20 more runs than Player B, right? Wrong

Player A: Base runners during AB’s – 503; RBI % - 15.31%
Player A: Base runners during AB’s – 378; RBI % - 20.11%

RBI % is calculated by dividing the number of runners you drove in by the number of runners you had on base. It also removes the RBI's where a player drives himself in (HR's). You see Andruw Jones (Player A) drove in a lot of runs that year, but he also had 503 guys on base throughout his season. Of the 503 guys on base he only drove in 77 of them. Vladimir Guerrero (Player B) drove in 76 base runners that same year and did it with 125 less runners than Jones! If he were given the same amount of base runners as Jones and kept his RBI % the same, he would’ve driven in 101 runners compared to 77. If you were a manager and you could choose between having Vlad or Jones up to bat with runners on base, who are you picking?


Ok, so I hope those examples help show why OPS and other advanced stats are important and why Bill James is on to something here. I wish Earl Weaver would come out of retirement and take the reigns from Hillman. Seriously – read that article.