Guest alkeiper Report post Posted March 29, 2003 Good question. I considered the Astros myself, but decided against it. For one thing, the Astros are weak at third, catcher, and center field. Biggio's just not going to cut it. They've got two untested youngsters in the starting rotation. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have one of the best lineups in baseball, and just need for their pitching staff to hold together. I figure if they could do it last year, they can do it this year as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted March 30, 2003 Tomorow Night the season starts. Since my bracket is shot. I'm even more anxious for the season to start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Some Guy Report post Posted March 31, 2003 Hillenbrand is the starting 3rd basemen as of now and will move over to first late in games and Mueller will come in. Shea is a much more dynamic player. I'm not into this OBP. shit unless the guy can run. Mueller is slower than Shea. He is a better defensive player though. Two points here. First off, think of on base percentage as an out percentage. A player with a higher on base percentage gets outs less often. Second, rest assured your new GM is most definately an OBP fanatic. I know Theo is an OBP nut and it bothers me a little bit in some cases. Shea will bat 6th. That's not exactly an OBP intensive postion in the line up. His job is to knock in runs, it's hard to knock in runs when you don't swing. I'm not sayign that OBP isn't important but the extreme that the Sox are taking to this year is a little nuts. Mueller's numbers from last year: YEAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS 2002 111 366 51 96 19 4 7 38 52 42 0 0 .262 .350 .393 .743 Shea's line: YEAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLGOPS 2002 156 634 94 186 43 4 18 83 25 95 4 2 .293 .330 .459 .789 (sorry it doesn't line up perfectly) 83 RBI v. 38, 186 hits v. 96, 18 HR v. 7, 43 2b v. 19, .459 SLG v .393 I'll take Shea as my #6 v. havign Mueller as my #9 hitter. MY problem with this OBP stuff is taht they don't look beyonf that number. Shea out performed Mueller in almost every offensive way except drawing walks. But he is considered not to be as good because of that one stat. For example Jeremy Giambi has done nothing in his entire career to impress me, but he can draw a walk and hit 20 solo shots a year so he gets a job. Teh guy batted like .220 last year. So Giambi can draw a walk and get on, ok now what? He's slower than dog shit in the winter. He hit .259 last year. His 20 home runs came in 313 at bats. Give him 500 at bats, and that translates to 32 home runs. As for drawing the walks, baserunners = runs. You'll be presently surprised by Giambi. I loved watching him in Philly last year, because he battles in every at bat. He's not an easy out. OK, he hit 20 HR and had a whopping 45 RBI. He doesn't hit HR with runners on base. .188 AVG with RISP, .195 with runners on, 6 hr with runners on. .111 with the bases loaded. He doesn't hit in the clutch. I don't give a shit that he battles in every AB, that's nice if he's pinch hitting but he's supposed to be protection for Manny, he's not. A pitcher is going to pitch to Manny because the guy behind him hits .195 with runners on and might draw a walk? I don't think so. Millar will be teh first basemen, Giambi is useless anywhere in the field. Offerman and Clark were pretty good in at first but their bats sucked. Millar/Shea/Ortiz should be a big upgrade. Millar isn't much better at first. Fortunately, you don't really need a good first baseman. Someone who can catch the ball will do just fine. Millar is a better hitter and is a little better defensively. I wish he were taller than 6' because Nomar tends to sail his throws. Shea has an incosistant arm too. I agree that first base defense isn't that important if you have A-Rod or Vixqquel as your SS but with eratic throwers like Nomar and Shea it is pretty important. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alkeiper Report post Posted April 1, 2003 One little thing about Muellar and Hillenbrand. You can't really compare counting statistics when one guy was injured until June. As for the OBP stuff, the other way hasn't worked for 85 years, so why not give it a shot? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted April 1, 2003 Dislocated Shoulder for Jeter. Red Sox pen blows one of Martinez. How times will that happen this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
