MLB 2008-09 Hot Stove League

[Lammycat]

I don't know if he ever ate a lucky steak--that's really a lifestyle choice, but did you read the conversation earlier that included discussion about the good post-seasons he had?

I must have missed the discussion on how Arod has performed well in the post season. Must be the lack of lucky steak.

[mfwahl]

I just want to say that I'm OK with Jackson leaving the Rays.

[Lammycat]

prove it

I'll have Bill Gates whip up some saber stats....."generally."

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

I must have missed the discussion on how Arod has performed well in the post season. Must be the lack of lucky steak.

1997, 2000, 2004

[Lammycat]

Arod has been unfairly maligned, then.

[MrRain422]

Exactly.

[CrushOfVeils80]

Royals actually have a good pen, IIRC.

 

 

agreed, I follow KC quite a bit, I went to High School with Alex Gordon their 3rd baseman

 

Soria is a good closer but Farnsworth is terrible, also they traded Ram

[rareair]

no one can kick a cooling fan better than farnsworth.

[bjorn_skurj]

The Mets have a Putz now.

[Lammycat]

1997, 2000, 2004

To be fair, Arod kind of sucked in the ALCS part of the 2004 post-season (against BOS) and shit the bed in 2005. He also shit the bed in 2006 against DET and CLE in 2007.

 

So basically he performed admirably in 2 post-seasons out of 6 (I'll discount 1995). Arod is an amazing hitter but has not done a lot in the post season (at least lately) to shake the stigma.

[bobbob1313]

He had two bad postseasons in 05 and 06. He was probably the Yankees best hitter in the Cleveland series, from what I remember of it.

 

And the Putz trade is a better one for the Mets than the K-Rod signing, because he'll actually be used to pitch in high leverage situations, unlike Rodriguez, who will have the cushy closer's role. They also gave up Joe Smith, who was one of their better bullpen arms last year and Heilman who I think could still be pretty good.

[MrRain422]

A-Rod gets exactly zero pitches to hit in the post-season, and yet manages to eke out a good series nearly half the time. What a bum.

 

Also, as has been noted, he's better in the post-season than Mr. November Derek Jeter, especially since 2000, though yes, Jeter had a monster series vs. Detroit in 2006 when the rest of the team laid an egg.

[CrushOfVeils80]

I dont think anyone called ARod a bum, who said that?

 

I will carry the flag for the "ARod doesnt hit in the clutch" club but I dont think he is bum, he is obviously one of the best players of this generation and a great ball player....a little bitch but a good ballplayer

[bobbob1313]

I won't buy that he doesn't hit in the clutch until someone shows me exactly what "clutch" is and then can prove, using statistics and not anectdotal evidence, that he hasn't come through in those situations.

[Winston Legthigh]

I won't buy that he doesn't hit in the clutch until someone shows me exactly what "clutch" is and then can prove, using statistics and not anectdotal evidence, that he hasn't come through in those situations.

 

I have a suggestion for "clutch", based on this article from the Hockey News.

 

There's an old axiom in hockey that suggests they don't care how, they care how many. Well, at THN.com, we don't care how many. What we care about is how many were important.

 

That's the premise behind Campbellnomics, a statistic that is unique to THN.com and updated every Tuesday. Campbellnomics measures the offensive contributions, with a weighted emphasis on goals over assists, players make in key situations of the game.

 

We're not interested in who scores the sixth goal in a 6-2 game, but we do want to give credit to players who score the goal that put the team up 3-2, or the player who scored the first goal of the game.

 

Here's how it works: Players are awarded one point for a goal (including the shootout) and a half point for an assist

[rareair]

And the Putz trade is a better one for the Mets than the K-Rod signing, because he'll actually be used to pitch in high leverage situations, unlike Rodriguez, who will have the cushy closer's role. They also gave up Joe Smith, who was one of their better bullpen arms last year and Heilman who I think could still be pretty good.

 

putz's arm was close to falling off last year and he was tremendously ineffective.

 

he could easily bounce back from his arm issues, but wasn't wagner supposed to do that?

[Lammycat]

I won't buy that he doesn't hit in the clutch until someone shows me exactly what "clutch" is and then can prove, using statistics and not anectdotal evidence, that he hasn't come through in those situations.

ARod "clutch" stats... Amusing, at least:

 

"Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment."

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...amp;position=3B

[bobbob1313]

I'm not exactly sure how that is calculated or what the numbers actually signify, but there you go. Arod isn't clutch. And from a tiny sample size of notoriously "clutch" guys (Ortiz and Jeter), clutch isn't a repeatable skill, since both of those guys pretty much fluctuate year to year.

 

Also, that shows that Arod was unclutch before he got to New York. Whatever.

[Sir Stewart]

For the record, I'd love to see A-Rod in a Red Sox uniform and I would not be especially concerned whether or not he was a 'clutch' hitter should he approach the plate in a playoff game in a 'clutch' situation. I just love how much Yankees fans hate him.

[Lammycat]

I'm not exactly sure how that is calculated or what the numbers actually signify, but there you go. Arod isn't clutch. And from a tiny sample size of notoriously "clutch" guys (Ortiz and Jeter), clutch isn't a repeatable skill, since both of those guys pretty much fluctuate year to year.

 

Also, that shows that Arod was unclutch before he got to New York. Whatever.

Yeah, I'm not too sure how to read it either. I was just amused that someone has stats on "clutch."

[MrRain422]

Also, that shows that Arod was unclutch before he got to New York. Whatever.

 

Also shows that Arod is more clutch in the postseason than Jeter is.

[bobbob1313]

Yeah, I'm not too sure how to read it either. I was just amused that someone has stats on "clutch."

 

I would assume it's some sort of measure of how close his total production is to his production in higher leverage situations, but I'm just not sure what a good number would be.

 

Reggie Jackson rates as unclutch.

[Lammycat]

BOS 2009 "alternate" road unis;

http://shop.mlb.com/family/index.jsp?categ...9543607-5693571

 

I'm not a fan of the two socks hat (and I own a similar one). The "B" is where it's at.

 

Pretty drab gray, too. Thin lettering. eh.

[bjorn_skurj]

Yeah. I kind of liked the plain block lettering of the mid-1980s road jerseys.

[Guest Hollinger.]

They grays are actually their primary road jerseys. It's the blue jersey that is the alternate. I like these better than the red BOSTON lettering.