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By Jimmy, 11/22/2011 9:30 am

A few weeks ago I scoffed at the idea that Bobby Valentine was a serious candidate for the managerial role in Boston. Fast forward to today, and it seems as if he is not only a candidate, but the odds-on favorite to win the position.

The 62-year-old Valentine’s most-recent MLB gig was 10 years ago, when he finished in last place with an overpaid, aging Mets team (my apologies: “overpaid & aging” and “Mets team” is a redundancy). I admit to not being very familiar with Valentine’s managerial tactics. Neither is Dan Shaughnessy, it seems. However, that did not stop Danny Boy from penning an entire column on why Valentine is the right guy for the job.  Oh, sure, Dan mentions interesting tidbits, like the fact that Valentine is Ralph Branca’s son-in-law, and the fact that he has a cult following in Japan. Not much was said about Valetine’s actual track record and tendencies as a manager, though.

I think that I should be an astronaut. Why?  Well, I may or may not be a direct descendant of the Bourbon Kings of Naples, and I can belch really, rally loudly on command.  The above statement makes just about as much sense as much of Shaughnessy’s column promoting Valentine.  Here is the most memorable trait of Bobby Valentine: he once wore a Groucho Marx mask while hiding in the dugout after being ejected. It made Sportscenter.

Valentine is a pseudo-celebrity, and Dan’s one salient point is that this might help him in the leadership department. Players might be more prone to respect a guy with star power. While I can agree with that, there’s a whole lot more that should go into this type of analysis, and as of now, I haven’t read much else in the media’s argument for Valentine.

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By Jimmy, 4/8/2011 4:24 pm

Some breaking news on the Red Sox radio broadcast: Manny Ramirez, on the roster of the Tampa Bay Rays, has announced his retirement from professional baseball.

More on this later.

Update: There’s been some murmuring regarding a drug-related issue.  If this is actually a second violation, and not some residual issue from the first time he was caught, then a) he’s officially pissed away his Hall of Fame chances, and b) he’s officially the dumbest player in baseball history.

Update 4:40 pm:  It is a new violation.  Manny failed another drug test during spring training.  He was facing a 100 (one hundred) game suspension, so he decided to instead retire. Sigh…

Here’s an old piece I wrote on Manny, ranking the top “Manny Ramirez Moments” during his time in a Red Sox uniform.

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By Jimmy, 4/6/2011 2:18 pm

A Fenway business-related matter has been in the news here, causing a minor controversy in some circles.  It seems that the Red Sox are planning to take on a practice currently seen at most American professional sports venues: the sale of mixed alcoholic beverages.  Now, before I embark on my rant, I’ll preface it by saying that I have no intentions of purchasing mixed drinks at Fenway Park; I prefer instead to have one or two beers while taking in the game.

Boston and Massachusetts are known for their proud embrace of 400-year-old puritanical “blue laws”, most of which do not have any practical application to modern society.  Stupid shit, like business owners needing a permit to open shop on Columbus Day (because we all know that Chris Columbus single-handedly discovered America, so it only makes sense that we commemorate his heroics by chipping away at the already-fragile state economy).

Mayor Tom Menino, seeking to continue a Boston tradition of shackling the free market in the name of idiocy, took issue with the Red Sox selling these drinks at Fenway.   His argument was something along the lines of, “Err-ehh (I’m doing my Mayor Quimby voice here) err-ehh, these drinks should nawt be sold in the bleachahs, err-ehh“.  Somehow, in Menino’s mind and in the minds of a bunch of grandstanding city and police officials, it’s completely fine for people in the bleachers to swill a dozen 5% ABV beers and drive home to Reading or Dedham in their Ford F-150′s, but the appearance of a whiskey sour in Section 35 will cause Armageddon.

Why, you ask, is it acceptable to have a free-flowing torrent of domestic beer at the ballpark, but no mixed drinks with roughly the same alcohol content?  It’s simple: certain people have this Norman Rockwell image of what a baseball game should look like.  Wooden stadiums, wool uniforms.  Beer, peanuts, and hot dogs (but nothing else!).  All children should have red hair, freckles, and huge smiles.  Umpires should be fat and authoritative.  Players should have a gruff blue-collar appearance to them, like coal miners.  There should be very few minorities around, and everyone in the crowd should be wearing fedoras.  There are no strawberry daiquiris or pomegranate martinis in the Norman Rockwell world of baseball, it’s as simple as that.

The same type of people who are raging against the sale of mixed-drinks at Fenway are generally the same type of people who complained about the kiosks serving sushi or pizza.  It’s baseball!  There’s no sushi in baseball!

Thankfully, it appears that a compromise has been reached.  Fenway can sell their mixed drinks, as long as they err-ehh, keep them away from the bleachahs, err-ehh.  Because, you know, God forbid the unwashed masses get their hands on a watered-down Tom Collins.  The universe would collapse on itself.

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By Jimmy, 3/28/2011 9:03 am

I’m sure you’ve heard about this one already, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter (known as a bit of an oddball for quite some time now) issued some bold statements in a recent interview with a men’s magazine:

“I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll,” he barked. “You got Carl Crawford ’cause you paid more than anyone else, and that’s what makes you smarter? That’s why I like whipping their butt. It’s great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying ‘How the hell are they beating us?’”

Okay, a few quick points:

• The Red Sox payroll was $168 million last year, and will be around $180 million this year
• In 12 years as a MLB manger, Showalter has had 1 postseason appearance and zero championships
• In 8 years as GM of the Red Sox, Theo Epstein has 6 postseason appearances and 2 championships
• Showalter is 18-24 in his career against Epstein’s Red Sox

In all honestly, the comments don’t bother me a bit.  The Orioles play Boston roughly 18 times per season, and the games tend to be among the dullest on the schedule, aside from the fact that it gives Red Sox fans a chance to visit Fenway South and help themselves to some crab legs and Yuengling.  If Buck wants to play the Rex Ryan role and fire up the rivalry a bit, it’s fine by me.

Coming up: a blitzkrieg of team previews.

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By Jimmy, 2/14/2011 9:03 am

I’m not one of those guys who continuously bashes the print media, except in certain cases where they clearly deserve to be called out. However, let’s face it; the writers benefit from controversy. When things are going badly and there is dissension within the ranks, the columns write themselves. There is no need for journalistic creativity when you see a player headbutt an umpire and throw profanity-laced tirade in the clubhouse.

Anyway, the media knows that there is some potential for drama in the Boston bullpen this year, given the fact that you have three guys who cold potentially close for most teams in the league, and the guy who currently wears the crown is a) known for being very blunt and outspoken in front of the microphone, and b) coming off of his worst season yet. Naturally, they decided to ask Bobby Jenks a couple of loaded questions, hoping that he would say the wrong thing and start an avalanche of awkwardness before spring training even begins.

Must to the chagrin of the folks holding the microphones and asking the questions, Jenks masterfully returned the volley:

On his role: “It’s going to be different, obviously. It’s going to be an adjustment that I have to make on the field. … It’s going to be an adjustment day-to-day and something I’ll have to learn from quickly once the season starts and get myself adapted to that type of mindset this spring.”

On working with Jonathan Papelbon: “We’re fine. I didn’t come here to step on anybody’s toes. I know what my role is. Coming here, we’ve been friends, shoot, for many years now. I don’t think that’s going to be any problem throughout the year at all.”

On what will happen if fans want him to close: “If those questions do come up, it’s going to come down to the decision of the manager and whatever they think is best for the team. If that means whatever it means, they’re doing it for their own reasons.”

Bobby Jenks just got himself an A+ in Handling the Boston Media 101.

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By Jimmy, 2/4/2011 10:11 am

One of the things I’ve been working on is a permanent page where I list my Top 25 Red Sox prospects, and as of 5 seconds ago, it’s finally up. Just clink the “Top 25 Prospects” link in the gray bar at the top of the page, and you’re there.

I’ll be updating the list and shuffling the rankings periodically based on new information as it comes in (sparingly in the pre-season, and more regularly once the minor league season begins).

Over the next few weeks, I plan on adding several more pages to that gray bar, including MLB Power Rankings among other things.

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By Jimmy, 12/22/2010 11:43 am

It’s been rather quiet since the recent volley of bullpen acquisitions, so while I have some time I’ll go ahead and make my picks for this year’s Hall of Fame class.

One major thing to keep in mind when reading my ballot: I don’t penalize heavily for alleged steroid abuse.  My feelings can be summarized by the idea that many, many Hall of Famers have benefited from outside influences over the years, whether it was amphetamines, doctored pitches, a segregated “whites only” league, gambling, etc.  I don’t see why we should draw a line at steroids while ignoring all of these other things that have skewed the baseball almanacs for nearly 150 years.

We have a strong ballot this year, and I’ll end up using the maximum 10 votes.  I can’t remember another year in which I would have voted for 10 guys.  I’ll list my inductees by order of preference, along with the team that should be on their cap in Cooperstown.  In the interest of time, my argument for each will be very brief.

1) Barry Larkin – SS – Cincinnati Reds
12-time All Star, 2 Top Ten MVP votes, 1 MVP, 1 World Series Ring
Larkin is quite possibly one of the top ten shortstops in the history of the game.  He may not have had Cal Ripken’s durability, but he was on par with Ripken in nearly all other facets.  Played his entire career for the same franchise (this gets you a slight edge in my ballot).  Would have received around 90% of the vote last year if he played in a big market (he ended up with 50%).

2) Jeff Bagwell – 1B – Houston Astros
4-time All Star, 6 Top Ten MVP votes, 1 MVP
It’s kind of odd to see that Bagwell only made 4 All-Star teams, but the 1990′s were an era with lots of good first basemen (three of them are on this ballot).  Easily the best hitter in Astros franchise history.

3) Tim Raines – LF – Montreal Expos
7-time All Star, 3 Top Ten MVP Votes, 1 World Series Ring
Played his entire career in the shadow of Rickey Henderson, and thus is severely underrated.  Raines actually had a better SB percentage than the SB king himself (86% vs 81%).  Maybe the most productive NL outfielder during the 1980′s.

4) Mark McGwire – 1B – Oakland A’s
12-time All Star, 5 Top Ten MVP Votes, 1 World Series Ring
People are starting to forget how much of an offensive wrecking ball this guy was.  Right now, you can buy a ticket to the Baseball Hall of Fame and marvel at the plaque of Joe George “High Pockets” Kelly, but not McGwire’s.  A bunch of pretentious writers will probably ensure that it stays this way.

5) Bert Blyleven – SP – Minnesota Twins
2-time All Star, 4 Top Ten Cy Young Votes, 2 World Series Rings
The arguments I’ve read for not voting for Blyleven (“he wasn’t a big game pitcher”, “you never looked at the scorecard and said ‘oh no, we’re facing Bert Blyleven”, “baseball is about winning, and he didn’t win enough ballgames”) are all stupid.  Nine of Blyleven’s top ten comparable players on baseballreference.com are Hall of Famers.

6) Roberto Alomar – 2B – Toronto Blue Jays
12-time All Star, 5 Top Ten MVP Votes, 2 World Series Rings
Alomar never really identified himself with one franchise, which I think is a reason for his lack of support last year.  He and Blyleven were both a couple of votes short, so I’m guessing that they both get in this year.

7) Larry Walker – RF – Colorado Rockies
5-time All Star, 4 Top Ten MVP Votes, 1 MVP
The fact that his best seasons were played in Coors Field probably hurts him in the eyes of some voters, but Walker’s numbers would have been impressive if his home park was located on one of Jupiter’s moons.

8) Alan Trammell – SS – Detroit Tigers
6-time All Star, 3 Top Ten MVP Votes, 1 World Series Ring
Alan was hurt by inconsistency.  He has some years that were truly great, followed up by years in which he was so-so.  Still, next to Ripken, he was the 2nd-best SS in the American League during most of his career.

9) Raphael Palmeiro – 1B – Texas Rangers
4-time All Star, 3 Top Ten MVP Votes
An excellent player for a very long time.  I fully expect Raffy to get less than 10% of the actual vote and fall of the ballot completely.  If voters want to discount his career that much based on a PED he may have ingested later in his career, that’s fine.  It’s not how I would vote, though.

10) Kevin Brown – SP – Texas Rangers
6-time All Star, 5 Top Ten Cy Young Votes, 1 World Series Ring
Like Alomar, he bounced around for most of his career, and he was also a notorious douchebag.  Both of these things will hurt him in the voting.  His career is pretty similar to that of Curt Schilling, who would also get my vote once he becomes eligible.

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By Jimmy, 12/16/2010 3:51 pm

There have been recent reports that the Red Sox are on the verge of signing right-handed reliever Bobby Jenks.

Jenks is a behemoth with closer-caliber stuff who was non-tendered by the Chicago White Sox earlier in the offseason.  He’s had high K rates and low HR rates throughout his career, and could be a terrific addition to the Red Sox bullpen.

Nothing is done yet, so we’ll monitor this one.

Update:

Rob Bradford tells us that an agreement is in place: $12 million over 2 years.

As of right now, on paper, this appears to be one of the best Red Sox teams ever assembled in my lifetime.  The caveat is that they still need to actually play the games, but on paper, the talent on this team in on par with the 2004 team.

This team is engineered to win the World Series.

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By Jimmy, 12/6/2010 10:48 am

Now that the dust from the Adrian Gonzalez trade is beginning to clear, let’s take a quick look at what we have here.

First and foremost, any analysis of Gonzalez should be done while using his road performance, since his home park is extremely favorable to pitchers.  Let’s take a look at how he fared on the road, in comparison to his elite peers at first base:

Keep in mind, Adrian’s shoulder injury was sustained in May.  He was playing hurt most of the year, and was forced to change his approach at the plate to compensate for the weak shoulder.  Still, he ended up with some pretty impressive power numbers despite the shoulder issues.

The shoulder surgery is a mild concern, but we’d have to think that the Red Sox medical staff kicked the tires here before any decision was made.

Let’s take a look at what type of hitter Gonzalez is, and how his style might translate to Fenway Park.  Earlier, I commented on how Carl Crawford (another left-handed hitter) might struggle to hit for any power here since he was a dead-pull hitter and Fenway is deep in straight-away right field.  Fortunately, Gonzalez does not discriminate when it comes to the long ball:

Those were his home runs in 2010 thanks to HitTrackerOnline.com.  Plotting his homers, doubles, and fly outs at Petco on MLB.com tells a similar story:

See that nice little cluster of fly ball outs near the left field wall in Petco Park?  In Fenway, those will not be caught by any outfielder who isn’t wearing circus clown stilts.

Okay, now that we’ve established that Gonzalez is a lefty who hits to all fields, we can address the other concern people have in regards to left-handed power hitters; how does he do against left-handed pitching?  Before 2010, Adrian did struggle a bit against lefties.  However, his splits have gradually improved until last year he managed to actually hit better against left-handed pitching than he did against righties.  Behold:

Finally, let’s take a look at how Gonzalez performed against difficult competition (Interleague play and a select few elite pitchers with whom he’s familiar):

Adrian crushed the opposition in Interleague play last season, and has done fairly well against some very good pitchers, with the exception of Lincecum and Jiminez.

While no one is exactly sure how Adrian will play in Boston over the next few years (assuming he signs an extension) most of the recent data we have available seems to indicate that he will probably excel here.  It appears that Red Sox fans have a reason to be excited over this one.

Other tidbits:

• It doesn’t look like any contract extension is in place as of yet.
• Seven years for Jayson Werth.  Good god.  I’m guessing Nationals ownership will get a holiday fruit basket from the MLBPA union lawyers, and another one from Carl Crawford.

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By Jimmy, 12/3/2010 10:23 am

I’ll start off by saying that I think it would help the Red Sox immensely if they were to sign Carl Crawford, thus allowing them to perhaps package one of Ryan Kalish or Jacoby Ellsbury in a prospect-laden deal for another offensive weapon in the near future.  However, I feel the need to point something out.

I’ve heard some folks (most recently, John Wallach on 98.5) claim that Crawford’s power numbers should increase in Fenway Park.  I don’t really think this is the case.

When Crawford, a lefty, hits the ball in the air, he is a dead-pull hitter.  He’s Johnny Damon with slightly less power.  Let’s take a look at this home run chart from last season, courtesy of HitTrackerOnline.com:

The vast majority of Crawford’s home runs were hit to right field, which in Fenway in deep (with the exception of the area near the foul pole).   Even when the fences are moved in 8 feet this season, it will still be one of the more difficult straight away RF areas to hit a home run.

If you need more evidence, check out Crawford’s home run rate at Fenway compared to everywhere else:

Crawford would bring a lot to the table were he to come to Boston.  A dynamic presence at the top of the order.  Elite baserunning.  Excellent defense in LF.  Just don’t assume that he will morph into a 25-30 HR guy in a Red Sox uniform.  It probably won’t happen.

Other tidbits:

• Ron Santo, a guy on the top of the list of those snubbed by the HoF, has died.  If only he had some sort of aquatic creature nickname, like “Sturgeon”, “Pickerel”, or “Zebra Mussel”, he’d be enshrined by now.
• In an odd turn of events, the Red Sox have non-tendered Taylor Buchholz and Andrew Miller (yes, the two pitchers they acquired last month).  My guess is that the team may have some sort of verbal agreement worked out with one or both guys.

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By Jimmy, 11/10/2010 4:22 pm

This is more of a feel-good story than anything else, but Brian Daubach, a power-hitting 1B/DH/OF and fan-favorite here for a few years, was hired to manage the Low-A Nationals affiliate in Hagerstown, MD next season.  Daubach’s only other managing experience has been in independent leagues, so this is a significant step up for him.

The job is most notable due to the possibility that Daubach will end up managing Bryce Harper, the minor league sensation du jour.

Notes and Takeaways:

• Today marks a rare day: WalMart Incorporated can claim that they are not the most evil, faceless corporation in the state of Arkansas today.  (See here for explanation.)
• Pity that Major League Baseball doesn’t have a legitimate award that honors excellent fielders at each position.  I suppose that will be left up to our imaginations.  Well, as promised, below are some statistical leaders in fielding metrics from last season.  The first metric is UZR per 150 games from Fangraphs.com, and the second is Total Fielding Runs Above Average from Baseballreference.com:

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By Jimmy, 11/9/2010 5:41 pm

The 2010 American League Gold Gloves were announced today.  You can see the list of winners here (I’m not going to waste precious bandwidth by even typing their names).

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is that.  Until they radically change the selection process, I’m done even acknowledging the existence of Gold Glove Awards.  They serve absolutely no purpose, since the voting has absolutely zero correlation to actual defensive ability.

I’m not even going to cover the NL Gold Glove Awards tomorrow, aside from posting the UZR leaders.  My time would be better served trying to teach my cat to speak Italian.

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By Jimmy,

The “Ted” I’m referring to in this case is former catcher Ted Simmons.

Simmons spent 20 years as a catcher in the Major Leagues, and during that time, he was one of the most underrated players in the game.  His misfortune was playing during an age where lots of teams featured excellent catchers, including Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Thurman Munson, and Gary Carter.  While Simmons never reached the pinnacle of greatness that the four aforementioned guys attained, he has the benefit of consistency on his side.

Let’s do a simple compasion of SImmons and Gary Carter (who happens to sit on the Veterans Committee):

Gary Carter’s resume is slightly more impressive due to his longevity, but other than that, these guys had very similar careers.  Carter was elected into the Hall of Fame without much resistance, while Simmons only received 3.7% of the vote in his first year on the ballot, disqualifying him from future ballots.

That 3.7% number reflects poorly on the BBWAA, whose job is to research and write intelligently about the game of baseball.  It’s time for the Veteran’s Committee to right a wrong.

Notes:

• Trever Hoffman says he will pitch one more year, as long as he gets to close.  By “close” I hope he means he will sweep up the peanut shells after games, because he does not belong anywhere near the pitcher’s mound in the 9th inning.
• The Blue Jays continue to plunder our organization, this time hiring Pawtucket manager Torey Lovullo to coach first base.
• The AL Gold Gloves are announced today.  For posterity, here were the UZR/150 leaders at each position sans catcher and pitcher (I’m not saying that these guys were necessarily the best fielders at each spot, I’m just using what little quantitative evidence we have available):

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By Jimmy, 10/27/2010 2:29 pm

Injuries aside, the Red Sox didn’t win this year because other organizations simply wanted it more than they did…

A well-known baseball columnist wrote that.  That’s right.  Aside from losing their two best players, their opening day starting pitcher, and two thirds of their outfield to significant injuries, the Red Sox (with a payroll of over $170 million) simply did not want to go to the World Series.

Analogous statements to the above would be “iceberg aside, the Titanic simply didn’t want to stay afloat” or “heart-piercing stingray barb aside, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin simply didn’t want to live”.

Texas and San Francisco both “wanted it”, and that’s why they are in the World Series.  I honestly wish my mind operated in simple binary code so I could accept statements like that.  Life would be much more bliss without those pesky shades of gray.

I should probably avoid reading print media altogether after a sub-par Red Sox season, since folks like the fellow I’m quoting have an incentive to wave the red towel in front of people like me.  Unfortunately, I’m a masochist.  When I’m not applying a welding torch to various body parts or yanking hair out of my nostrils with a Leatherman, I enjoy reading opinion pieces on the internet, even when I’m relatively certain that the content of these columns will enrage me in some way.

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By Jimmy, 4/6/2010 5:43 pm

Through my sources, I’ve managed to obtain a full transcript of Randy Levine’s comments to the Milwaukee Brewers’ ownership group.  Below is the portion of Levine’s comments that were not quoted by the press.  A Dewey’s House exclusive:

OOM-pah LOOM-pah, dipadee-doo. 
I’ve got a little message for you.
OOM-pah LOOM-pah dipadee-dee.
We’ve outspent you by a factor of three.

What do you get when you sit in the sun?
Sizzling like a burger well done?
Why do I look a like a basketball?
Melanoma’s not really fun..at..all.

(Cashman: I don’t like the look of it)

OOM-pah LOOM-pah dipodee-din.
If you wish to have healthy skin.
You will use SPF thir-tee.
And then you’ll avoid looking just…like..me.

Doopidee-dee.

Weird. I’m not sure of the origin of the strange dialect Levine seemed to be using there. I’ll report back if I hear more.

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By Jimmy, 4/1/2010 6:50 am

Wow.  I can’t say I’m surprised, but wow.  People complained when President Obama won the Nobel prize last year, and I think this one takes it to a entirely new level of ridiculousness.  I’ll just paste an excerpt from the AP article here, so you can see for yourselves:

STOCKHOLM – No MVP?  No Problem.  New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has a new piece of hardware to add to his trophy mantle: the Nobel Prize.  The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decided to bestow their recently-created award for the field of “Character” to the 10-time All Star, selecting him among a field of less-qualified nominees.

“When we created the Nobel Prize for Character, we knew Mr. Jeter would be given strong consideration” explained Swedish Academy professor Olaf Fleugenpleurg.  “Derek was a landslide winner over other inferior candidates, such as Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, and Nelson Mandella”.  When asked how an athlete with relatively few philanthropic endeavors would win such a prestigious award over these historical icons, Fleugenpleurg explained the Academy’s logic behind the choice.  “You see, Jeter comes into work every day and does his job the right way.  People on every team respect him for that”.  Fleugenpleurg took a bite from his danish and elaborated, “MLK was shot to death, so there was at least one person who didn’t respect him.  Nelson Mandella was imprisoned for years; but did he hear the ghosts in Monument Park speaking to him?  Churchill needed the help of the Unites States to win a war; Derek Jeter wins all by himself.”

It seems that even the most indirect, unorthodox acts of humanity can earn you a Nobel Prize.  Fleugenpleurg explained, “Jeter has spread awareness by infecting so many young women and men with the herpes virus.  He obviously does this for the greater good.  He is saying to the world ‘This is what you should not do’.  This act of selflessness and courage is incredible.”

When questioned as to whether there will be other athletes in the future who win the Nobel Prize in the field of Character, since Jeter’s qualities seem to be shared with roughly 75% of highly-paid sports icons over age 30, Fleugenpleurg laughed, wiped lingonberry jam off of his Santa-like beard, and spoke. “What we have here is not an athlete.  He is a saint, who happens to play baseball.  While his UZR is low, his heart is enormous.”

There you have it.  I can’t say I really agree with the logic of the choice, but then again, the guy seems to win Gold Gloves, so…

Coming up next, the Red Sox team preview.  Maybe the Lowell situation will be resolved by the time I hit the “publish” button, but I doubt it.

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By Jimmy, 3/29/2010 9:11 am

The Sox recently acquired yet another potential backup infielder in Kevin Frandsen, a 27-year old who hit .295/.352/.438 for the Giants AAA team last season.  Frandsen is similar to Tug Hulett in a few ways: both are roughly the same age, and both have had moderate offensive success as infielders in AAA while not being able to carry that success over to the MLB level as of yet.  Just for kicks, here are both players’ PECOTA projections stacked up against Bill Hall, who has a roster spot just about locked up at this point:

The projection engine at Baseball Prospectus seems to like Frandsen a bit more than the other two backup infielders currently looking to make the major league squad (for what it’s worth).  One thing that Frandsen has over the other two guys: he’s played a lot of SS recently: 67 games in 2009 between San Francisco and AAA Fresno.

Other notes:

• Apparently, the Red Sox are making a stand in the Josh Beckett negotiations, refusing to go beyond four years.  I think that’s the right move, since Beckett hasn’t exactly been the Greek God of Health and Consistency during his time here.  Maybe you throw in an incentive based option year at the end of the four guaranteed years.  All the same, I wish this type of stuff wouldn’t get leaked, since we don’t need Beckett’s camp “losing face”.  Beckett has a temper.  I once witnessed a child approach him for an autograph, and he responded by stabbing the kid with a hunting knife and dousing him with deer urine.  I could only imagine what he’ll do to Theo Epstein if these talks get tense.
• Speaking of Beckett, he will be the Opening Day starter on Sunday night.  He’ll be followed by Lester, Lackey, and Wakefield.  Buchholz will jump into the rotation  after Beckett’s second start.  I suppose this makes Buchholz the de facto “5th starter” which may not bode well for him during his final option year.
• A Red Sox-Yankees Opening Day at 8 pm is really just an asinine idea.  Since there appears to be some sort of language in the official MLB rule book which states that every Sox-Yanks game must be at least 3.5 hours long, this game has sleep deprivation written all over it.  You don’t really need to entice viwers to watch the first game of the season.  Why not save thel whole rivalry opener for mid May, when the luster begins to wear off.  Add to this the fact that Sunday is a travel holiday for some of us in the Northeast, and the ESPN/MLB cabal deserves a public flogging for this one.

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By Jimmy, 3/11/2010 8:43 am

Just too predictable:  Yawn.  You could see this Dan Shaughnessy column coming from a mile away as soon as yesterday’s ceremony began.  Writers hold grudges like elderly Sicilian widows.  I stopped reading at the headline.

E tu, McAdam?: Less predictable was the usually rational Sean McAdam flying off the handle just minutes after the harmless show of gratitude ended, dubbing it the moment at which the franchise “jumped the shark”.  Really?  After all the dog-and-pony shows we’ve witnessed during the past decade or so, this one is the straw that breaks the camel’s back?  It seems like Nomar rubbed some newspaper guys the wrong way, simple as that.

Talking turkey: It appears that contract talks with Josh Beckett are progressing smoothly, with the end of spring training set as a target date for an agreement.

Unlikely power source: Yesterday’s most notable in-game moment was Jacoby Ellsbury jacking 2 HRs.  It’s not out of the realm of possibilities that he adds some modest pull power to his game as he enters his prime.  He’ll never be Carlos Beltran, but he might approach 20 HRs in a season.

I, robot: The Sox face ex-teammate Jason Bay in game action for the first time this afternoon.  Also in that Mets lineup is another ex Red Sox player, one known for his mental proficiencies…

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By Jimmy, 2/5/2010 11:42 am

The LoHud Blog is one of the more reputable Yankee blogs (ignore the oxymoron for a moment).  Their most notable alum is current Globe writer Peter Abraham, and they seem to enjoy a vast network of sources / contacts, something that your garden variety baseball blog probably does not have.

So, it came as a surprise when LoHud issued a hilarious piece arguing that Derek Jeter is the greatest Yankee of all time.  Some reasons for why Jeter is better than Ruth/Gehrig/Mantle/Ford/Alviro Espinosa:

“Jeter has had to contend with a 24/7 media, with paparazzi following him and his girlfriends and reporting about his personal life in addition to his play on the field.”

The paragraph goes on to compare Minka Kelly (yeah, I don’t know who she is either) to Marilyn Monroe.

“In 2009, he passed Lou Gehrig as the Yankees hit leader…”

Gosh, I wonder why that is.  It’s almost as if there was some event that happened in Gehrig’s life that caused him to retire early.  Well, I’m drawing a blank.  Jeter has more hits, that’s the important takeaway here.

And here’s my favorite paragraph:

“His heart and passion (yes…more please) for the game can be found in his spectacular defensive plays (SPECTACULAR DEFENSIVE PLAYS) and clutch hits. Derek Jeter is the most clutch player ever to put on the pinstripes. There are no specific statistics for clutch situations (except for the one called “clutch” I suppose) but his play when the game on the line is incomparable that he has earned the nickname “Captain Clutch.” Jeter also gets credit for one thing that Gehrig, Ruth, DiMaggio or Mantle had to deal with: playing for George Steinbrenner. (Yeah, it has to suck playing for the owner that gave you one of the most lucrative contracts in the history of the game. Like Osama Bin Laden, I’m not even convinced that Steinbrenner is still alive.  And the owners during the 1910′s-1960′s were all notoriously ethical and gracious, I guess).

You can read the whole thing here: http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2010/02/02/pinch-hitting-chris-and-trevor-kaftan/

The hysteria over Captain UZR is a welcome sign akin to the Groundhog Day: baseball season is almost here.

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By Jimmy, 12/16/2009 7:52 am

Free agent Aroldis Champan, a 21-year-old left-hander from Cuba, showcased his arm in a workout for representatives from 15 teams yesterday.  Among the representatives was Boston’s Craig Shipley, as the Red Sox have been interested in Chapman for months.

Technically, Boston already offered Chapman a major league contract worth around $15 million dollars, but that was before he switched agents.  In accordance with the insane brand of logic used by bloodthirsty lawyers, it’s as if the offer never happened.  The Sox now start their negotiations from scratch, and will be competing with a bunch of other franchises, including the Yankees.

In the workout, Chapman’s fastball ranged from 92-97 MPH, with some secondary pitches mixed in.  This is pretty impressive, considering it was done on a random day in December.  The velocity will likely increase during actual season, once Chapman has been throwing regularly in competition.  In the past (most notably, the World Baseball Classic), Chapman has been clocked in triple digits.  He’s very raw and will need some minor league seasoning, but will instantly become one of the top prospects in baseball as soon as he chooses a team.

Odd and Ends:

• Nothing new on the pending Lowell / Ramirez trade.  FOX’s Ken Rosenthal says the odds of the deal happening are greater than the odds of it falling through.
• Big Halladay trade yesterday, of course.  The spurned Yankees are claiming that the Blue Jays imposed a Yankee Tax on them during trade talks.  The persecution continues!  Cue the violin music!
• This new-look Red Sox team will not be cheap, and the luxury tax is a real possibility.  Actually, it could be the most expensive non-NY team in baseball history (they would likely still fall about $50 million short of the top MLB payroll, however).
• Two press conferences today, one for each new guy.  It would be great if Lackey threw a tantrum and trashed the media room for no reason whatsoever.