Things I'm Thinking About Today
Written by Bill   
Monday, 01 February 2010 13:11

Five of them:

  • There's a somewhat interesting discussion of my 1985 AL MVP piece over on Baseball Think Factory. (Always very grateful to Repoz for the pub.) Others there, like Lar did in the comments here, brought up Wade Boggs, and he certainly belongs in the discussion (more than Mattingly did), but I'd definitely still give it to Henderson.
  • Mike and I drove up to TwinsFest this weekend -- two days of it, Saturday and Sunday, and we were there for basically the full allotted time both days -- and it was awesome. I'll have some pictures, probably tomorrow. Unlike most bloggers who attend these things, I am (and am not at all ashamed to admit I am) an autograph collector -- mostly baseballs, I just like the way a clean baseball with a signature on the sweet spot looks, got a couple display cases on my wall...and it's fun having those few seconds to directly interact with the players -- and it was certainly a good weekend for that, but also just to wander around, see the sights, chat a bit with other fans. If your team has one of those, you should check it out.
  • I was a bit taken aback to get home and find out that the Mariners had signed Eric Byrnes. At first blush, it just doesn't seem like the Zduriencik way. But because he was DFA'ed by the Diamondbacks, they're on the hook for his crazy $11 million salary, and he becomes the Mariners' for just the league minimum. Byrnes is one of those fairly rare righties who has a huge platoon split; he's a career .284/.345/.511 hitter against lefties (though that's down, as is his career generally, over the last couple years), yielding an OPS almost 140 points higher than vs. righties. As Dave Cameron points out, this move gives the M's what could be a very good defensive and passable offensive platoon (between Byrnes and Ryan Longerhans) for a total cost of $900,000. What this proves, yet again, is that Jack Zduriencik is smarter than I am.
  • Speaking of the Mariners and the amazing Jack Z., I'm a little concerned. Every move he's made has been somewhere between "very good" and "brilliant." There are really no two ways about it. Yet you've already got some bloggers (I won't link because they're otherwise excellent and I think they have just a bit of GM envy) who are questioning whether he's really all he's cracked up to be, or if it's an "emperor's new clothes" type of situation. What I'm concerned about is this: the Mariners won 85 games last year, but were very lucky to do so; their pythagorean record, based on runs scored and allowed, was 75-87 (which still would've been a 14-W improvement over 2008). It's possible, then, that they could be a vastly improved team (in fact, it's almost hard to imagine that they won't be) and still struggle to even match their 85 wins from 2009. Jack Z will have succeeded, but luck will have made him look like a failure. If that happens, what kind of backlash will we see among the fans and blogosphere?
  • It's obvious that any team that signs Orlando Cabrera to play shortstop doesn't have a front office with a metrics department. But do the Reds just not have scouts, either? Any engaged observer who watched him with the Twins last year would be able to tell you that his going from a +14 UZR in 2008 to a -15.3 in 2009 wasn't a fluke or a flaw in the stat; he just got old fast. He now plays shortstop like Adam Dunn plays first base. I don't often give fantasy advice (nor am I remotely qualified to do so), but if you're holding on to any Reds pitchers right now -- especially Bronson Arroyo, whose moderate success the last two years has depended on getting a lot of ground balls -- a trade inquiry might be in order.


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Comments (9)Add Comment
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written by Mike, February 01, 2010
Good times were indeed had by all. You were a complete gentleman. For anyone interested, I'm planning a series of articles inspired by the weekend for the rest of this week. The first is up.
autographs....
written by True Grich, February 01, 2010
I collect them too. I like getting baseball signed on the sweet spot as well, but the last couple years, I really enjoy getting photos signed; especially if they're personalized. Players seem much more willing to personalize items and I love it.

BTW... How much do Twins fans miss Torii Hunter? We love him in Anaheim. He was actually my favorite non-Angel baseball player. Imagine my joy when he signed with the Angels.

Happy collecting...
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written by Mike, February 02, 2010
I think we miss having a decent CF. Denard Span is a terrific hitter and will be playable out there, but I'd rather he was providing ridiculous defense at an OF corner along with his .400 OBP.

As for Hunter himself...I think casual fans miss him, especially because Gomez was so frustrating. And they still have an unrealistic assessment of his defense. But I think many fans (and I count myself in this group) don't miss his self-aggrandizement and his tendency to criticize other players in the media. In particular, he threw both Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau under the bus for not playing through injuries. I wish him well, but am ok with him playing elsewhere (especially for that much money).
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written by True Grich, February 03, 2010
Wow. I'm not used to seeing anyone being critical of Hunter. We love him in Anaheim. I know that he's not the offensive force we'd like him to be and maybe he's lost a little speed on D, but he's so much fun to watch and I really appreciate what he does in the community and with the fans.

He was critical of some Angels last year after a tough road trip to Boston and New York, but the team responded well to it and played better afterwards. Of course, a lot of that had to do with Scioscia getting after some people too.

I love Hunter's leadership. Clearly, I don't see his actions in the same light as you do Mike, but that's okay. I'm happy he's on the Angels and I enjoy watching him play this game in the manner that he does. He's a breath of fresh air as far as I'm concerned. He makes himself available and clearly enjoys playing baseball.
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written by Bill@TDS, February 03, 2010
There wasn't really another light to see some of Hunter's Twins comments in. Either you admitted that they made him a whiny hypocrite, or you pretended they never happened. He publicly ripped Joe Mauer (who, believe it or not, was kind of a popular media scapegoat back then) for not being willing to play through injuries, when Hunter himself had missed over 100 games over the previous three years with some questionable ones (see the July 19 post here:http://www.aarongleeman.com/20...chive.html). His general treatment of the Twins and their fans during his last year was just pretty questionable overall.

That said, I think he's probably a good guy overall. Does some great things for the community. Over the course of his entire Twins career, he was looked at as quite the leader (just fell apart a bit at the end). And he's been a very good player, despite his defense being pretty badly overrated.

There's just no way he's ever been worth $18 million a season, and while I would've liked to keep him, as soon as I heard that number thrown out there, any inclination to mourn the loss passed. Anybody who wants him that badly can have him.
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written by True Grich, February 03, 2010
I've been thinking about this some more and I was wondering what Mike might have meant by saying that he thinks the "casual fan" misses Hunter. I am wondering if I should assume that more "serious" fans have a different opinion. A blanket statement like that makes me curious. I have issues with the labels attached to fans and how some fans believe they in a different class that is somehow better than others. I'm not saying that's happening here, but it is a question that enters my mind.

I remember when the Angels signed Hunter and I found this article:
http://www.startribune.com/sports/11918701.html by Jim Souhan. I read that to believe Hunter would be missed in a big way.

I'm also curious about "his general treatment of the Twins and their fans..." statement - especially about his treatment of fans. I've spent a lot of time watching this game and spending time at spring training, etc. Hunter is easily in a class by himself, IMO.

Is he worth $18 million? I don't know, but I don't know of many, if any Angel fans who regret the signing.


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written by True Grich, February 03, 2010
One last thing... I'm having trouble understanding the need to point out that he missed over 100 games in three seasons - when the vast majority of those games came in 2005 when he broke his foot. It's not like he was dogging it then.

That being said, I can see why his statements would upset some Twin fans. But I have to believe if you look at his entire career, the good far outweighs the bad and it's not even close. We just tend to focus on the bad a lot more than the good.

I read something from Joe Posnanski today... the context isn't important, but this statement is: You know, I have tried hard to write about the fun side of sports, the optimistic side of sports, the bright side of the street.”

I think I need to be more like Joe. That's just me. I'm not saying everyone should, but I sure should.
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written by Bill@TDS, February 03, 2010
Well, I can't speak for Mike, but when I say things like "the casual fan" I certainly don't mean it in a derogatory way. There's nothing wrong at all with being a casual fan, and I have no problem with casual fans (until they call me an idiot for relying on advanced metrics or tell me all my fancy numbers are ruining the game). It's just that the "casual fan" would rely more on appearances and on things people like Jim Souhan say, when if you look at it, Torii's end in Minnesota just isn't a pretty picture.

On the injuries themselves, you have to take it in the context of what he actually said (from the link I provided):
"Me, I grew up in a different time. I'm ready to play no matter what--broken toe, hamstring, groin, back--and that's the mentality I've grown to have."

In the three years preceding 2007, Torii missed 103 games, and while it's true that 60 of them were because of the broken foot, he missed 15 and 24 games in the surrounding years as well. He had wrist injuries, groin injuries, ankle and foot injuries...basically all the different types of injuries that the big, manly Torii who lives in Torii's head had learned to play through. And anything you might say by way of justification -- maybe the injuries were really bad, maybe the trainers or manager made him sit out, etc. -- apply with equal force to Mauer's injuries. Torii didn't know how Mauer was really feeling or what other extenuating circumstances there might have been, just as we don't know these things about Torii, and yet he shot his mouth off in public about it nonetheless. You just don't do that in public...especially not about your 24 year old superstar, and especially if your own record can't back it up.

Again, nothing against Torii in general. Good player, seems like a good person, glad the Angels fans like him (and they should). But I just don't think there's any way to excuse making public comments like that. It was shameful, and made it a lot easier for many of us to get on with life without him.
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written by True Grich, February 04, 2010
I see where you're coming from. I guess I try not let stuff like that bother me too much because we all say and do things we probably shouldn't from time to time.

I've found ways to justify the loss of John Lackey and that makes it easier to move on without him.

A lot of times we let one bad incident over shadow a ton of good ones and it shouldn't necessarily be like that.

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