10/23/10

Cutnpaste: - Yanks, Jose, Texas, and BABiP

Yanks:


The Yankees totaled 19 runs in six games, and unless you’re playing the San Francisco Giants, that’s not going to get it done. Cano dominated offensively and Granderson performed at the plate, too, but no one else did much of note. Even Derek Jeter proved just as human in October as he was for the 2010 regular season. Game 6 provided a fitting last stand, with Texas starter Colby Lewis - considered a capable yet hittable pitcher - limiting the Yankees’ lineup to a run, three hits and three walks in eight innings


Mack Ade



Jose:


This might be slightly controversial. Jose Reyes is often thought of as an elite shortstop, but even though he’s still a solid keeper, his last season highlighted too many of his flaws to put him in the top tier. His old problems garnering walks returned (5.1% BB%), and with so much of his value tied up in stolen bases, a low total in that category, or another injury to his hamstrings, and he’s pretty much a liability. Selling now would be selling low, but a nice half-season might be all you need to move him along. Ditto Rollins, actually, who is no longer a spring chicken and has flaws of his own (declining speed and injury concerns). Andrus has flaws, but he’s still young enough that there’s hope that he ups the average a bit and fills out for some (still probably marginal) power. In real life, Castro is the better hitter than Andrus, but he’s also more likely to move off the position eventually, and he probably won’t rack up ‘counting stats’ on the same level of Andrus’ stolen bases. In roto leagues, though, Castro’s all-around excellence is preferable.


fangraphs



Texas:

The financial troubles of the team early in the season, and the drawn out battle to settle ownership makes this even more special for the team. Despite the constraints of MLB funding the team, they were able to make the trade of the deadline, picking up Cliff Lee, who was undefeated in the playoffs. The front office did a great job of putting this team together, and the scouts did a great job of preparing them for the Yankees.


Congratulations to the Rangers on their first AL Championship! They’ll wait for the end of the NLCS before either head west to San Francisco or east to Philadelphia.



baseballmusings.



BABiP:



Bill knows what BABiP means. The great majority of Bill's readers -- all of whom are interested enough to spend actual money to read his missives on the Internet -- know what BABiP means. BABiP's been around for 10 years, and is well-established among the people who pay to read Bill James. In that particular space, spelling out Batting Average on Balls in Play would be almost as pointless as spelling out Earned Run Average.



I think Bill just doesn't like BABiP because he didn't grow up with it. When I worked for him, he didn't like it when I wrote that a player slugged .472 (or whatever).


ESPN  

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