I don’t hate the Mets by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to admit I’m fascinated by the frequency and ferocity of their self-immolations over the past few years. The latest has team brass cracking down on Jerry Manuel cracking wise about the team’s injury situation, while VP of Player Development Tony Bernazard …
Continue reading ‘Some People Crack Wise, Some Just Crack’ »
Gene Autry or Aerosmith, it’s all good: [#1 Dodgers] Prodigal Sons: The Dodgers regain the Hit List top spot as Manny Ramirez returns from a 50-game suspension. He goes 6-for-18 with two homers and seven RBI, drawing louder jeers for being ejected after an awful strike three call than for his transgression. With Juan Pierre …
With Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and J.J. Putz on the disabled list for extended periods of time due to injuries, our New York-centric brethren over at ESPN asked a handful of Baseball Prospectus writers — myself, Will Carroll, Christina Kahrl, and Kevin Goldstein — to partake in a roundtable regarding what the Mets should do …
For my money, last year’s biggest story in baseball was the way the Tampa Bay Rays’ turnaround was triggered by a record-setting improvement in their Defensive Efficiency. Of course, it certainly helped to have a stockpile of young talent, a shrewd GM and an innovative manager, but none of them would have likely gotten such …
A fistful of links from the past couple of weeks, none of them having to do with steroids or A-Rod (we’ll get those in another post. Maybe.)… • Baseball Prospectus 2009 is shipping from Amazon.com and on the bookshelves of your local retailer. I’ve had a copy in hand since last Friday, and it’s as chockfull …
Continue reading ‘Clearing the Bases – Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Edition’ »
Taking a break from the 28 years we’ll have to digest the Alex Rodriguez steroid saga — his contract runs through 2017, which if he retired then would mean his Hall of Fame eligibility would run from 2023 through 2037 — I meant to post something I read last week. It’s from “The Fadeaway,” by …
Given that I woke up Monday morning with a fever of 100.8, I’ve gotten a lot done over the past 36 hours, including a pair of articles that went up on Baseball Prospectus today, with the second mirrored at SI.com. One piece is on the Hall of Fame voting, the other on the first big …
Today my Baseball Prospectus column on the Mets’ bullpen woes is not only syndicated on SportsIllustrated.com, it’s on the front page of the site for the moment. For posterity’s sake, here’s the screenshot: Cutting to the chase: The sad fact is that through the first half of the season, even with [Billy] Wagner performing at …
I’ve got an article in today’s New York Sun about the war of attrition being fought over the NL West and NL Wild Card playoff spots. As I conceived the piece, in thinking about the recent struggles of the Brewers and Mets I was reminded of a great old quote. Had I been able to …
Quick note: I’ll be chatting today at Baseball Prospectus at 3 PM Eastern. Stop by and drop off a question if you’ve got one. Injuries are an inevitable part of baseball. Last Friday’s Hit List noted the absences of the likes of big-name players like Alfonso Soriano, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, John Smoltz, Rafael Furcal …