EVIL~! alkeiper

To his credit, Lawton took responsibility for his actions.

It's hard to project a player like this. His work ethic could suffer. He could suffer an arm injury pitching as players of his age tend to do. He could have simply physically matured early. It's a long way to the majors. Colt Griffin could fire a 100 mph fastball, but he can't break AA. Juan Richardson could hit light tower home runs, but he can't hit above .230.

Hero worship mostly, aided by some dazzling plays he made during the postseason in the late 90s. He has the reputation, and since simple fielding statistics do not tell the whole story, it is hard to dispel the fielding myth once it is established. It is difficult for a player to be labeled as a poor defensive player unless he makes many errors.

Abreu?! I'm as big an Abreu worshipper as you will find, and I have never, ever seen him as one of the best defensive outfielders in the league. Carlos Beltran and Willy Taveras were both more deserving. As for Vizquel, I recall the same issue coming up last season. I don't think he's a HOFer. Bill James' HOF Monitor, which predicts a player's chance at the Hall (and NOT whether or not he deserves it) pegs Vizquel at 89.5, with 100 making him a likely entrant. Vizquel's got some nice stats and the hardware. Superficially, fans like to compare him to Ozzie Smith. The difference is that Ozzie made 15 All-Star games to Vizquel's three. There's a reason for that. Vizquel is simply not an impact player on the greatest level.

I wonder how Toe Nash is doing these days.

Pinjockey Ruiz hit .300 in AAA and he turns 26 in January. If he's ever going to be ready, he's ready now. I'm not sure if he'll be a quality hitter, but his defense is considered to be an asset. He was solid when I watched him play. A quality backup at least. Spiff Cormier's owed $2.5 Million and I'm not sure they can get rid of that. The question is whether they can accept placing that kind of salary in a lesser role and using say Aaron Fultz in crucial situations.

There's not much they can do about Lieberthal, besides finding a defensive caddy. The Lieberthal and Bell contracts are unmoveable, and the only solution is to eat the contracts, release them, and sign replacements. At $7.5 and $4.5 Million respectively, you can imagine how well that will go over. If there is a silver lining, it is that Bell can not possibly be as bad as he showed last season. Lieberthal's iffy, but other teams are playing worse hitting catchers, including three of the four NL playoff teams. Jason Michaels really should be given a shot at the full time job. Rheal Cormier, Aaron Fultz, Geoff Geary, Ryan Madson, Aquilino Lopez, and possibly Eude Brito, Robinson Tejeda or Pedro Liriano. They need a closer, something that they have demonstrated they are willing to spend for. The big issue is whether the Phillies fill out the bullpen with expensive names (the big pet peeve about Ed Wade), or inexpensive live arms who can surprise people. The low minors have been promising in terms of prospects. It doesn't take much to build the minors. Just smart drafting really. I wish the Phillies would make more of an attempt to fill their minor league rosters with AAA veterans, instead of organizational longshots. The organization will almost certainly collect two extra first rounders in return for Billy Wagner, if he leaves (another advantage of going the BJ Ryan route). And let me review that for anyone reading the first time. Wagner is 34. He had a K/9 rate of 10.77, and BB/9 rate of 2.31. He missed half of last season with injury. BJ Ryan had a K/9 rate of 12.8 and BB/9 rate of 3.33. Both are left-handed. BJ Ryan will cost a few million cheaper, provide similar production, and come with two first round draft picks.

UZR is more involved than zone ratings. It takes the velocity of the batted ball into account (i.e. soft, medium, hard), and I believe a win probability system. Zone ratings simply measure where the ball was hit and a yes/no question on if it was converted into an out. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What about for a catcher. Is it the velocity of the pitch thrown? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I can't give precise details because UZR is a proprietary statistic. I imagine mostly it would involve fielding bunts.

UZR is more involved than zone ratings. It takes the velocity of the batted ball into account (i.e. soft, medium, hard), and I believe a win probability system. Zone ratings simply measure where the ball was hit and a yes/no question on if it was converted into an out.

I'm ok with Gillick for the time being. He has a huge track record of success, and he has experience working with the Dominican scouting network, something that has been a large component of the Phillies system in the past. We'll see.

I would point out that while Figgins has more win shares than Chavez, those are accumulated over six positions. Figgins played 56 games at third base.

They have the offense, it's just hidden in that pitchers' haven. Their pitching however was truly putrid.

Another point on the Varitek selection. If he is really the best defensive catcher in the league, why do the Sox use Doug Mirabelli to catch Tim Wakefield?

Officially, Amaro is the assistant GM.

The A's declined the option of Scott Hatteberg, making him a free agent.

I'd love to see the Phillies grab Trevor Hoffman, just so we can combine his entrance theme of Hell's Bells with the Liberty Bell.

That's my way of saying it happened last year and no one outside of a select few really gives a damn about it.

Let's not turn this into an argument about that dive, especially with Frigid Soul.

Jason Varitek's the worst selection, IMO. On what basis could Varitek possibly deserve a Gold Glove?

AL Gold Gloves C- Jason Varitek, Bos 1B- Mark Teixeira, Tex 2B- Orlando Hudson, Tor SS- Derek Jeter, NYY 3B- Eric Chavez, Oak OF- Torii Hunter, Min OF- Vernon Wells, Tor OF- Ichiro Suzuki, Sea P- Kenny Rogers, Tex

Bill James wrote an excellent piece regarding Rafael Palmeiro's Gold Glove in '99, stating that it wasn't that the voters were idiots, but that the process is screwed up. If you divided the vote into "Jeter" and "other," you would find that most of the votes went elsewhere. But since there is no concensus regarding who the best defensive SS in the American League is currently, it allows a player like Jeter with a devoted base of support to win these things. Jeter's defensive statistics improved again so I don't think it is a travesty. Juan Uribe put on a showcase this postseason, so if he remains a starter he will garner serious support next year.

That's an awfully gloomy lookout. First off, the Sox won't trade Ramirez without either getting value for his services, or clearing a ton of money. If they do clear salary, I would be surprised if they do not make a run for free agent OF Brian Giles. Third base is in the hands of Kevin Youkilis, who provides capable production. The relief corps can be improved with a few smart signings in a single offseason. There's never a lack of talent there on the market. The starting pitching saw Curt Schilling get shelled but his peripherals indicate he's still got some time left. The rest aren't outstanding, but they'll keep the team in the game. This club has two of the best hitters in baseball and one of the best catchers. Barring a rash of injuries, they'll contend.

I view a site called hardballdollars.com, which is a new version of the Dugout Dollars blog. Thank you for that information. At $2.5 Million, Trachsel becomes a decent buy.

Remind me again which team played Manny Ramirez in left field and played David Ortiz at first base in St. Louis? It's not hard to see where Theo went right here. The Sox plucked a platoon DH off the free agent market for cheap, and so far Ortiz has responded by batting .297 with 119 home runs and 388 RBIs over three seasons. The effect of that famous midseason 2004 trade can be debated and given how things turned out, it certainly helped. But it is clear where Theo's big move came from.

I'm stunned they picked up Trachsel's option. Trachsel's not worth $7 million and this is not a team hurting for pitching depth (they finished third in runs allowed). Given the presence of Jae Seo, Aaron Heilman, Brian Bannister and Yusemeiro Petit, I don't know why the Mets would spend so much money on a fifth starter.