**The MLB Thread**

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

yes YOU did //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Why aren't you picking a pitcher?

I have no idea what the hell you are talking about. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Why aren't you picking a pitcher?
I have no idea what the hell you are talking about. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

you said wins and losses dont matter as they are team stats but i quoted you as to the fact that wins and losses matter. im not going to pick a pitcher because i am having too much fun picking on you!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

you said wins and losses dont matter as they are team stats but i quoted you as to the fact that wins and losses matter. im not going to pick a pitcher because i am having too much fun picking on you!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

1 or 2

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

neither nor

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

LOL so I proved my point. #1 had more wins then #2, even though #2's numbers across the board are all better.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

Ranking the best center fieldersposted: Friday, February 1, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

filed under: MLB

Before I present the list of candidates for Best Center Fielder of the Next 5 Years, I'll tell you this: there are only three serious candidates for the No. 1 spot. Maybe four. See if you can spot them ...

Player Age OBP SLG OPS+ WARP

Curtis Granderson 27 .361 .552 136 10.4

B.J. Upton 23 .386 .508 136 5.7

Josh Hamilton 27 .368 .554 131 3.3

Hunter Pence 25 .360 .539 130 6.2

Nick Swisher 27 .381 .455 127 5.6

Carlos Beltran 31 .353 .525 126 8.4

Aaron Rowand 30 .374 .515 123 7.8

Torii Hunter 32 .334 .505 122 5.5

Ichiro Suzuki 34 .396 .431 122 8.7

Grady Sizemore 25 .390 .462 122 6.3

Those are the top 10 center fielders of 2007, OPS+-wise (and it's a long drop from Sizemore to No. 11 Marlon Byrd). Looking at a list of players with at least 50 games in center field last season, I see three others who should be considered, if only because of their youth: Arizona's Chris Young, New York's Melky Cabrera and Chicago's Felix Pie. One might also argue for Vernon Wells, who certainly is paid like a top-10 guy and should bounce back this year from his shoulder injury.

Running through the guys in the table ...

• As a hitter, Granderson was a bit over his head last season, but he's obviously an outstanding player. What shocks me is that Upton, four years younger, was just as good with the bat. The Rays spent far too long realizing that Upton's not an infielder, and it's impossible to know how he'll fare in center field, long term. But he's always looked like a center fielder to me, and I have a faith-based belief that he'll be just fine out there.

• Speaking of impossible, does anybody have any idea if Hamilton can do for a whole season what he did last season in roughly half a season? Hamilton turns 27 this spring, and he's never played more than 101 games in a professional season. I suspect we're all pulling for him, and he's one of the reasons we think the Rangers have a real shot at second place this year. But we simply need to see him stay healthy and stay clean for a year or two before we consider him among the best in his chosen profession.

• There's little point in questioning Pence's bat, as he's hit everywhere he's played. Is he a center fielder, though? The Astros don't seem to be sure; he didn't become a full-time center fielder until late in the 2006 (minor league) season. The scouts don't seem to be sure; at least when he was in the minors, opinions were divided. The numbers aren't sure; he did well in BP's Fielding Runs Above Average last season, but not well in John Dewan's +/-. Earlier I mentioned that maybe there are four candidates for No. 1 on our list of future center fielders. Pence is the maybe, and it's because of the questions about his defense.

• Beltran's also one of the smartest baserunners around, which doesn't necessarily show up here. The guy's just a great baseball player, period. Injuries remain a concern.

• Swisher played mostly right field with the A's, but according to this story he'll get most of his action with the White Sox in center. Initially, at least. My guess is he winds up in one of the corners within a few years.

• Rowand's a fine player, but he's 30, his style of play doesn't generally lead to productive 30s, and ditto for his .343 career OBP. He may still be a good and valuable player in 2011 and '12. But one of the 10 best center fielders in the majors?

• Same goes for Hunter, who's older than Rowand, just as OBP challenged, and not as good with the glove as his reputation suggests.

• If we're looking out five seasons, Ichiro obviously doesn't belong here ... but among the 34-year-old stars in the majors right now, I think he might be the most likely to retain much of his value for another five years. I'm not saying he's going to keep hitting .350 and stealing 35 bags and winning Gold Gloves every season. I'm saying he's better than Kenny Lofton ever was, and Lofton's still playing at 40.

• And finally we come to Sizemore, and the most controversial thing I'm going to write today ... Sizemore is not a good center fielder. Am I sure about that? No. But I've got two systems in front of me -- BP's Fielding Runs and Dewan's +/- -- and both suggest that Sizemore's average with the glove. At best. Yes, they could be wrong. But these days the metrics have become sophisticated enough that if they come to a consensus about a player and you disagree, you have to figure out why they're wrong (it used to be the other way around).

Last summer I wrote something about the Granderson-Sizemore comparison, and I came down (just barely) for Sizemore because he's 17 months younger. But his defense now gives me pause. While I think they'll be roughly the same hitter in 2008, I also think Granderson will play Gold Glove-caliber defense and Sizemore won't. If the Indians had a good center fielder in the minors, I might even predict that Sizemore will find a new position in a few years. Which leads to my top 10 ...

1. B.J. Upton

2. Curtis Granderson

3. Grady Sizemore

4. Hunter Pence

5. Chris Young

6. Carlos Beltran

7. Melky Cabrera

8. Felix Pie

9. Josh Hamilton

10. Jay Bruce

Perhaps I've been too aggressive here with the youngest players. I do feel good about Upton, but the others -- Young, Cabrera, Pie -- really haven't been good yet in the majors. Hamilton's obviously a wild card, and perhaps there should be a place on this list for Wells. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of hot center fielders coming up, and so I've strayed from convention and filled in that last slot myself. It just seems to me that when you've got a player who's the consensus No. 1 prospect, he's your guy. Better, though, over the next five years than Wells and Rowand?

Bolded some key highlights. This goes back to the whole debate we had on CF's and this just backs up everything I said months ago.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

LOL so I proved my point. #1 had more wins then #2, even though #2's numbers across the board are all better.

nooo i didnt concur so you still lose!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif im just trying to pick on a stat monger

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

nooo i didnt concur so you still lose!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif im just trying to pick on a stat monger

You know you'd take pitcher #2 given those numbers, but you know #1 won more games and you just don't want to admit it.

 

[Slammed 5,000+ posts]

Sean Casey Signs With Red Sox

Sean Casey has signed a one-year, $700K deal with the Red Sox according to ESPN's Peter Gammons. The Boston Globe says it's $800K. Casey, 33, provides a left-handed bench bat and can spell Kevin Youkilis at first base. His power may not be much but he can be counted on for a .350 OBP.

 

[Slammed 5,000+ posts]

UPDATE, 2-1-08 at 1:32pm: Jon Heyman has an update as we near the deadline. The Mets are expected to give Santana a six-year extension worth $132MM ($22MM per) and also tack on a $7MM bonus to up his '08 salary. That would put Santana over $152MM for the 2008-14 seasons.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

You know you'd take pitcher #2 given those numbers, but you know #1 won more games and you just don't want to admit it.

winners>losers , cardinals>tigers , red sox>you!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[Slammed 5,000+ posts]

Red Sox do pwn //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

LOCKED UP: Tigers give Curtis Granderson extension through 2013
February 5, 2008

BY JON PAUL MOROSI

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

His mother made him breakfast. He worked out at his alma mater. He ate fast food -- including a double cheeseburger off the dollar menu -- at McDonald's.

It was an average Monday for Curtis Granderson, with one small exception: The popular Tigers centerfielder signed a five-year, $30.25-million contract extension -- a sum that might affect the scope of his real-estate search but not necessarily his personality.

"I don't see a change too much in terms of being flashy," Granderson said during an afternoon teleconference. "I blend in easily. A lot of people don't recognize who I am until I've left."

To clarify, Granderson was speaking about his sweatshirt-and-jeans trips to the grocery store. His performance on the field has been too impressive to ignore. Granderson is coming off a remarkable 2007 season in which he batted .302 and became the second major leaguer with at least 30 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same year.

The season cemented Granderson, 26, as a franchise cornerstone and prompted club officials to pursue the long-term deal. Granderson had been slated to enter free agency after the 2011 season, but the Tigers now control his rights through 2012 and hold a $13-million club option for 2013.

Never before in Dave Dombrowski's tenure in Detroit had the team signed a pre-arbitration-eligible player to a long-term extension. In this case, though, Dombrowski said he was reassured by Granderson's ability, character and work ethic. He called Granderson "one of the top young players in baseball."

"It's an honor to have him as a member of our organization," said Dombrowski, the team's president/general manager.

"Those guys don't come around very often," said Granderson's agent, Matt Brown. "He's such a good human being."

Granderson, who earned $410,000 last season, will receive $1 million this year. Over the next three seasons -- the salary arbitration time frame, had he not signed -- Granderson will make $3.5 million, $5.5 million and $8.25 million, respectively.

The Tigers will pay him $10 million in 2012, during what would have been his first post-free-agency season. The club option for the following season includes a $2 million buyout.

On Monday, Granderson marveled at the word "million."

"It's funny," he said. "I can't even put it into words. I don't feel any different. Hopefully, nothing changes when it comes down to that. I'm still going to be the same person. I'm still trying to get a house, and it's not going to be anything ridiculous."

Granderson stayed in a Chicago condominium this off-season while continuing to look for a place of his own. His lease expired at the end of January, and he returned to his parents' home in Lynwood, Ill., for the short time that remains before spring training. So, what celebration did the family have planned for Monday?

"Everything he owns is in the garage," said his mother, Mary Granderson. "We have to get all that organized. That's what we'll spend the day doing."

Mary said she loved having Curtis around the house during the past several days. He attended church with her Sunday, and the pastor asked him to say a few words as the congregation celebrated the start of Black History Month. When he finished speaking, she said, everyone applauded.

"As a parent, and especially as a mother, you always want your child to be respected and loved because of the individual they are," Mary Granderson said. "You look at them growing up, and you have all these plans for them. It's been one of those things in the back of my mind, that I wanted him to be a whole person, a good person.

"And he grew up to be that."

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080205/SPORTS02/802050390/1050

Excellent deal. Considering what Ichiro, Rowand, Wells, Beltran, Jones, Hunter, Mathhews etc. all make, this is a steal. I know Granderson had no leverage, but he could've probably cashed in if he were to have waited for arbitration.

 

[Slammed 5,000+ posts]

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1071967&srvc=sports&position=0

they shouldve went after Santana instead of playing with the Yankees //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

**** that just makes Detroit that much better. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Best off season ever. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif