Comments on: Around the horn: Can Mozeliak emulate Ed Wade?

By: Liam

Liam — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 06:51:56 +0000

I should have left a link so's youse know I'm not just making things up. Google news search brings up this.

By: zubin

zubin — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 04:20:31 +0000

Thanks Liam

I didn’t know that and I can’t believe I was alone in my ignorance.

By: Liam

Liam — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:45:49 +0000

Re: Base coaches wearing helmets…

Coolbaugh wasn’t hit in the head. The ball hit him in his neck. The sudden pressure in his carotid artery caused a fatally sudden spike in blood pressure to his brain and aneurysms. A helmet wouldn’t have saved his life—nothing would have short of Mike seeing the ball coming.

By: Pip

Pip — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:08:32 +0000

JEd was at 99.32, and So was at 103.35. But Taguchi’s number should be downplayed, since it was based so much smaller a sample (less than half the balls in play as JEd). Do I consider JEd’s defense pretty good? Indeed, I do, since he was 11th among CFs who has as many balls in play as he did. I’m not claiming he’s as good as ever, but he’s still putting up better PMR numbers than Rowand, Wells and Sizemore.

By: Pip

Pip — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:53:39 +0000

Helmets: Good observations, Zubin. I’m really not that bothered by the coaches wearing them (like John Olerud, who was one of my favorites, they shouldn’t be begrudged their desire to live). It’s more of an aesthetic thing: I prefer natural to the video-gamelike caricatures that so much of baseball looks like today. Nice risk-assessment, btw.

By: Pip

Pip — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:48:45 +0000

You guys may be right on the Lidge deal. We should revisit the deal next year at this time! I guess I liked it mostly for the Astros from a philosophical viewpoint. But it's worth noting that Lidge's FIP and HR/G numbers have been steadily increasing despite improving support/luck numbers (DER and HR/F). I hadn't considered the compensatory draft pick, though -- good catch.

By: zubin

zubin — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:30:43 +0000

Pip:
Unless I misunderstand, the data you cite on Edmonds shows he plays a below average centerfielder and the So is the superior fly-catcher for the Cardinals… Do you really think J’Ed defense is still “pretty good.”

By: zubin

zubin — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:26:15 +0000

A few quibles on coaches wearing batting helmets.

(1)I’d wouldn’t really put helmets in the same class as body armor. The problem with body armor is that it makes players less fearful (rightfuly so) of being hit by a pitch, so they crowd the plate more. Body armor on coaches or pitchers as you suggest would hardly encourage “heading” a baseball a’la soccer.

(2) When assesing risk priority. The ocurance, prevention/detection and severity are all factors. Obviously the occurance of being hit by a batted ball is very low for a coach. But as Coolbaugh showed the severity is very high and that is why prevention/detection is needed despite the low occurance.

By: bigskyredbird

bigskyredbird — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:48:36 +0000

Yeah, pip, I also disagree with you on the Astros/Phillies trade. Lidge may be replaceable, but he’s still a reliever who will give the Phils a solid season, and he always has the potential to be lightsout (even if that is a swiftly diminishing possibility). But on top of that, he’ll walk on free agency, giving Philadelphia compensatory picks that they will be able to use to procure (most likely) better players than the guys they sent to Houston.

By: roarke

roarke — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:38:57 +0000

I’m not so sure about that Lidge trade. I’ve read conflicting reports about Costanzo (who should play for the Yankees, if only for the Seinfeld references), and I’m not sold on Bourn being anything other than fast. They sound like two spare parts to me (one a AAAA 3B and the other a defensive replacement/pinch runner). If I were an Astros fan, I would have hoped for more than that, even if it was more in the way of ‘potential down the road’. The market does still overvalue closers and I’ve got to believe that a team like the Tigers (after Zumaya went down) would have given up a bit more for Lidge.