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SportsJustice (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
Are you ready to be a champion? You are? I hope you know that championships are expensive, and, uh, well, the local baseball team is in kind of a bind. Drayton McLane's net worth is still above $1 billion, but it'll go down fast if he starts throwing sawbucks at these ballplayers. Oh sure, he could raise the payroll a bit and considering it an investment in the future. If the Astros got back to respectable,...
5Vote!
Fake Teams (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009
More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP Browse more photos » Yesterday Bobby Abreu signed a two-year, 19 million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. If we were to draft for 2010 today, my guess is that Abreu would be taken around 50th overall which is right about where he was drafted in the 2009 preseason. In 2009, Abreu put up his seventh consecutive season ( eight of his last...
5Vote!
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP Hunter Pence (center) and Carlos Lee (right) are equivalent players? Browse more photos » Previously, I wrote about the Bill James Projections for selected Astros ' pitchers. Today, I will look at the Bill James projections for selected Astros' hitters. Below, we compare the 2010 projection for OBP, OPS, RC/G with the player's actual stats from 2009....
8Vote!
Lookout Landing (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
Baseball players can make contributions in a number of different ways, the most obvious and talked-about of which is how they do at the plate. Defense, position, and baserunning tend to be brushed off as secondary concerns. What follows are the top and bottom 15 in the sum of these latter three values, as determined by UZR, Fangraphs' position adjustment, and Baseball Prospectus' EQBRR. Note that catchers...
Explore : Adam Dunn,
Adam Lind,
Adrian Beltre,
Andre Ethier,
Aubrey Huff,
Ben Zobrist,
Billy Butler,
Bobby Abreu,
Brad Hawpe,
Brendan Ryan,
Carlos Quentin,
Chase Utley,
Chone Figgins,
Delmon Young,
Elvis Andrus,
Evan Longoria,
Franklin Gutierrez,
Gerald Laird,
Ian Kinsler,
Jack Wilson,
Jermaine Dye,
Jose Guillen,
Michael Bourn,
Michael Cuddyer,
Nick Johnson,
Nyjer Morgan,
Rajai Davis,
Ryan Braun,
Ryan Sweeney,
Ryan Zimmerman,
Sports
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The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP Congrats to the second-best right fielder in the majors. Browse more photos » Don't know if you noticed, but Hunter Pence was a close second to Ichiro in the third annual Fielding Bible Awards , which were announced Monday. It was a nice finish for Pence, who has worked hard to turn himself into a very capable right fielder. Since Michael Bourn also finished...
Explore : Carl Crawford,
Chris Dickerson,
David DeJesus,
Derek Jeter,
Electronica,
Hunter Pence,
Juan Pierre,
Leftfield,
Michael Bourn,
Music,
Nyjer Morgan,
Sports,
Troy Tulowitzki
7Vote!
MetsBlog (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors looks at 14 left fielders who could be traded this off season, from Rays OF Carl Crawford and Astros OF Carlos Lee to O’s OF Luke Scott and Rockies OF Matt Murton. Lee, who will earn $57 million during the next three seasons, has hit at least .300 with at least 26 home runs and 102 RBI [...]
5Vote!
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 10/29/2009
More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP I get the feeling we'll be seeing a lot of this look of confusion on Mills' face in 2010. Carlos Lee, will likely inspire of most of it. Browse more photos » In case you've been under a rock for the last 12-14 hours, you might have missed this . There are a pantheon of names that strike fear and respect into the hearts of us mere mortals. Last night, another...
4Vote!
Another Cubs Blog (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
Rally’s bottom 10 in TotalZone: 1. Michael Cuddyer, RF, -26 2. Bobby Abreu, RF, -25 3. Vernon Wells, CF, -19 4. Gary Matthews Jr., CF, -17 5. Alberto Callaspo, 2B, -16 6. Orlando Cabrera, SS, -16 7. Lastings Milledge, LF, -16 8. David Wright, 3B, -15 9. Carlos Lee, LF, -14 10. Miguel Tejada, SS, -14 Rally updated these with park factors (scroll down to the comments) and Abreu was -9. Just to...
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The Hardball Times (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
That is, relative to position, and with the warning that these are imprecise ratings, not the final word, and that multi-year data, if available, must be used to determine who really is a good or bad fielder, preferably supplemented with scouting information. These ratings measure range and reliability only, and do not include an outfielder's throwing or an infielder's proficiency at the double play....
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MLB Trade Rumors (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
With baseball dark until Wednesday, let MLBTradeRumors.com light the way for you... Rob Neyer has a must-read piece about the Astros refusing to give Manny Acta a three-year contract offer. As Neyer writes, "If you think it's silly to give a manager a three-year contract but don't mind throwing $100 million of your ill-gotten gains at Carlos Lee, you probably need to have your head examined (though...
5Vote!
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
via images.chron.com View full size photo uploaded October 25, 2009 If I would have know how prescient it would be when I wrote it, I probably wouldn't have. But I wrote it, and now we have to deal with the fact that Drayton McLane still hasn't figured it out. How much money is spent or how good the team has been in years past, is not actually what determines the on field product. What determines the...
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SportsJustice (Free subscription) | 10/25/2009
Manny Acta was the guy they wanted. The Astros liked everything about him. His presence and personality. How he forged relationships with players. His ability to run a game. I said from the beginning that there was no right answer in this search for a new manager. Manny Acta would have been terrific, but then so would Phil Garner, Bob Melvin, Tim Bogar, Jim Fregosi and a dozen or so others. But the...
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SportsJustice (Free subscription) | 10/18/2009
Drayton McLane Houston Astros P.O. Box 288 Houston, TX 77001-0288 You might be able to make a difference. You can vote for hope and change. Yes, we can. Do you want to do the right thing? Sure you do. It may be a close call deciding who'll manage the Astros in 2010. It could come down to the smallest things. That's why I'm asking you to do your part. I'm asking you to sit down and write Drayton McLane...
5Vote!
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 10/17/2009
More photos » by Paul Beaty - AP The Astros most important outfielder? Browse more photos » We take a break from the managerial search to look at the Astros ' 2009 outfield. The three starters in Lee, Bourn and Pence combined to be the most productive portion of the offense in a number of ways. Each totaled over 600 plate appearances and two of the three hit 25 home runs. While the Astros...
7Vote!
SportsJustice (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
Brian McTaggart has come up with the perfect solution. He suggests Phil Garner be the next manager of the Astros and that Garner's buddy Bob Melvin should be the bench coach and that Dave Clark should be the third-base coach. This plan is absolutely brilliant. About the only surprise is that I didn't think of it myself because good ideas are my speciality. Garner and Melvin would put their heads together...
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