The oft-injured outfielder said $33 Million isn’t enough. That’s his right and he shouldn’t be criticized for exercising it, but I’ll be surprised if he gets more money guaranteed.
Players
Padres Deal Barfield!
Padres trade 2B Barfield to Indians for two prospects – MLB – Yahoo! Sports
At Ron Shandler’s First Pitch Arizona Forum over the weekend, Blue Jays scout Kimball Crossley and Baseball HQ prospect analyst Deric McCammy looked at videos of Arizona Fall League players and analyzed their mechanics and predicted their futures.
Crossley said he never looked at video and was a little put off watching from the side angle (first base) rather than behind the plate, but that didn’t keep him and McCammey from gushing over Kevin Kouzmanoff. Both analysts like his swing, like his power, like his body and like his makeup, which is enough for me to say that maybe the Padres didn’t get taken in this trade.
Neither analyst thought Kouzmanoff would be a star, and while Barfield probably isn’t going to be one of the elite either, he’s a top notch defender at a middle position who has proven he can handle big league pitching.
No knock on Kouzmanoff, really. Seeing him play in person, well actually seeing him hit in person, makes you believe that he will hit. But he’s a slow runner who will be average at best in the field. And he’s older than Barfield.
The Padres got a pitcher, too. Andrew Brown is out of options. This is the third time he’s been dealt for a big league hitter. The first two were Gary Sheffield and Milton Bradley. He may well end up having a big league career but at this point that’s all.
Ask Rotoman This Week Aug 30 2006
I’m out of the Maine woods now, woods I was in last week shortly after posting and which is why I didn’t plug last week’s excellent Ask Rotoman column in these pages. This week’s is being promoted as an analysis of Juan Rivera, though in retrospect I don’t really pay enough attention to him. What I wanted to say, however, I said: Nick Markakis is a better alternative than Shawn Green. Also this week I advise against Chien-Ming Wang tepidly, before he threw seven scoreless innings against the team with the best record in baseball, I choose, tepidly, between three youngsters as freezes for next year and beyond (they’re Jason Kubel, Carlos Quentin, and Ryan Shealy). Plus there is chatter about Kevin Mench, who is getting an unmanly amount of playing time in Milwaukee, and a cage match between Delmon Young and Chris Duncan. Ouch.
The Physics of Ball on Bat
Thanks to James in Kansas City, this link is to a story that mostly recapitulates Robert Adair’s research on how far a ball might be hit by a human. So give props to James and to Robert Adair, but don’t snub the Alaskans who remind us of this question. Could it be true that none of the steroid enhanced sluggers of the past 30 years matched the distance of the besotted Mick?
Ask Rotoman The Column
Major League Baseball : Fantasy : Fantasy
The new one went up yesterday afternoon, with a look at the demise of Chris Shelton and Dan Johnson, trading a phenom for a flake (a really good flake), and why you shouldn’t cancel even a really bad trade. Plus chatter about that flukey outfielder in Detroit.
Soriano to White Sox? Not so fast.
Major League Baseball : News : Major League Baseball News
We don’t know how this thing is going to turn out, of course, but my reaction yesterday to the so-close Soriano for McCarthy deal was that it sounded like a typical last-minute leak intended to either sink or force an agreement. Most trading deadline deals have a whiff of surprise about them, because it is very hard to operate when everyone is standing around commenting on what you’re doing.
The denials of Kenny Williams (McCarthy is going nowhere) and Jim Bowden (There is no deal for Soriano) may just be window dressing, allowing them time to put all the pieces in place, but when it comes to baseball trading at the deadline, it’s best to remember that where there’s smoke there often isn’t any fire.
Ask Rotoman This Week
This week, why there can be more to a trade than the players involved, learning something about 12 offensive categories, using BABIP, Component ERA and Defense Independent Component ERA to find buy-low pitchers. Plus chatter about the Rockies pitchers, Justin Verlander, Stephen Drew and Chris Denorfia. With lovely charts. Really lovely.
Should be: The Indispensible Baseball Musings
DAVID PINTO WROTE: “Update: Jason Marquis is allowed to take a beating for the second time this year. He gives up two hits in the sixth before he comes out of the game. Just to finish his night off, the bullpen allows the runner they inherited from Jason to score. He’s charged with 12 runs. He allowed 14 against the White Sox earlier this season. Almost 30% of the runs Marquis allowed this year came in those two games.”
Pinto has created a baseball news site with fantasy relevance, excellent data tools, and it’s all free. Unless you do the right thing and pony up some cash, if you feel the way I do. I sent money last year and I’m not bragging, it wasn’t really enough. So I’m sending more this year.
Highly recommended.
As for Marquis, he’s killing me. Or Tony LaRussa is. I’d been riding the matchups the last couple of weeks (since the last time he was left in to take a beating) and it’s worked out well, so I didn’t see the spot to dump him. Mercy.
RotoRob
A New Baseball (and other sports, too) blog.
Rob Blackstien has been writing and editing the Fantasy Baseball and Football Guides for a couple of years now, so I wasn’t surprised how well written and good looking his new site is. I’ve been travelling and I’ve also been surprised how often I’ve checked in just to get Rob’s take on the latest stories. Check it out, click some links, buy some stuff, and if you like Rotorob like I do, support a good writer who loves (and plays) baseball.
Midseason Fantasy Prices
As usual, my midseason fantasy prices (single and mixed leagues) are up at mlb.com. Even if you don’t play by the exact rules you can make use of them by comparing the preseason prices (guesses) and the actual thing. Most surprising to me is just how valueless Dontrelle Willis’s season has been so far, but pitching prices swing wildly when they run hot or cold.