Baseball: - Vampire Baseball, Grind Media, Posting, Dontrelle Willis, Yu Darvish

 Look, I don’t mean to be racist, but baseball was better when it was just for humans. Vampires have, as usual, ruined the game with their distinct physiological advantages. They’ve also made it more difficult to watch through that gloomy blue filter that follows them everywhere. Maybe this is what’s necessary for baseball to appeal to the next generation of fans. But if it is, count me out. I, and right-thinking Americans everywhere, prefer our baseball fangless. http://www.fangraphs.com/not/index.php/rip-baseball

GrindMedia, a leading action and adventure sports media company and division of Source Interlink Media, has announced the acquisition of Baseball America, and baseballamerica.com. Baseball America, which has been published since 1982, and its associated titles will be added to GrindMedia’s expanding portfolio of enthusiast media, according to Norb Garrett, Senior Vice President and Group Publisher of GrindMedia. Baseball America joins SLAM Magazine (a basketball-focused property) in the company’s stable of stick-and-ball properties broadening a portfolio of trusted brands focused on men’s lifestyle - http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111214006201/en/GrindMedia-Division-Source-Interlink-Media-Acquires-Baseball

Whether it’s been Yu Darvish, Daisuke Matsuzaka, or Ichiro Suzuki, the “posting system” that has been part of the US-Japanese Player Contract Agreement since 1988 has remained somewhat of a mystery. It was driven, in large part, by the late Hideki Irabu. The Padres won the rights to the pitcher that led the Pacific League in ERA and strikeouts in 1995 and 1996. But, Irabu did not want to play in San Diego and he eventually wound up with the Yankees. The “posting system”, while arguably flawed, was designed to stop that leveraging from occurring. But how, exactly does the process work. While The Biz of Baseball does not have the most current US-Japanese Player Contract Agreement, we do have a copy from 2002 that breaks it out close, if not exactly, as it is today. The following is directly from the agreement, describing the posting process: http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5553:demystifying-the-posting-system-for-japanese-players-entering-mlb&catid=26:editorials&Itemid=39

When it comes to retiring lefties, Dontrelle Willis takes LOOGYs’ lunch money. The low percentage of lefties he faced suggests that teams were stacking their lineups with righties against him, so it probably follows that the lefties who did stay in to face him were better than average. Not only that, but Willis recorded these numbers as a starter; the other pitchers on the list enjoyed all the benefits of pitching in short bursts. Despite that, Dontrelle still dominated same-handed hitters to a degree unmatched by anyone but Randy Choate. If his act doesn’t catch on in the bullpen, there’s nowhere for him to go but back to the minors. However, there’s every reason to think this role change will put the D-Train back on the tracks, even if those tracks no longer lead to the same superstardom he once enjoyed. Willis is making a smart career choice—assuming he had a choice—by swallowing his pride, and the Phillies are just as smart to attempt to establish their own lefty specialist rather than pay a premium for someone else’s. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15685

It's safe to say that Yu Darvish will divide opinion if and when he is posted - just look to the comments on yesterday's piece, where one commenter said he would rank him no higher than 50, while another said Top 15. Part of the trepidation with Darvish is going to be his status as a Japanese pitcher. Here's an important point: Yu Darvish is not Daisuke Matsuzaka or Akinori Otsuka, anymore than Clayton Kershaw is Chris Young, even though they graduated from the same high school. The fact is that Darvish had a historic season for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2011, and it's not his first taste of success. If we accept that Darvish has a chance to succeed in Major League Baseball, then what can we expect? There are people out there suggesting that he could put up a 10 WAR season, based on MLE (Major League Equivalency) calculations they've done, and while I would reject those out of hand, I wouldn't be shocked to see a K/9 approaching 9 with an ERA in the low 2s and a WHIP that is above average. Of course, a lot depends on what organization he ends up with (if he does come over), but for now, 25 seems right...to me, at least. http://www.faketeams.com/2011/12/15/2636920/fantasy-baseball-thoughts-yu-darvish-and-others