Talking Chop (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
More photos » by Winslow Townson - AP Billy Wagner could wind up in an Atlanta Braves uniform next year. Browse more photos » Keith Law ranks the top-50 free agents at ESPN Insider. Some interesting notes: He lists Mike Gonzalez 16th, ahead of Rafael Soriano , saying they are the two best relievers on the market, but he considers Gonzo healthier and more valuable from the left side. Rafael...
The Reference & Education Blog (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
By Kelly Johnson Millions of high school students throughout the country are currently enrolled in some type of online schooling. An online or virtual high school is an alternative to the traditional brick-and-mortar learning style and system. Students can use online schooling to make up missed credits, repeat courses, or even earn a complete high school diploma through the internet. There are actually...
Beyond the Boxscore (Free subscription) | 11/14/2009
I created UZR projections for the 2010 season and the values are available on a Google Documents Spreadsheet . I got 4 years worth of UZR numbers from Fangraphs. Then I did a 5-4-3-2 yearly weighting regressed to 125 games with a -0.7UZR aging factor ( article where the math is explained ). I selected for the worksheet any players that played in at least 63 games at the position over the last 4 years....
Talking Chop (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP Was it Divine intervention that prevented the Atlanta Braves from signing Rafael Furcal... or just his agents. Browse more photos » Last off-season the Atlanta Braves announced they had come to terms with free agent Rafael Furcal on a three-year contract... but less than 24-hours later Furcal had signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers . In the aftermath...
Career Hub (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
Looking for a job? Are you familiar with the K.I.S.S. principle? Curious about its origin, I did what people do -- a Google search. It seems that the acronym K.I.S.S. was first coined by Clarence Leonard (Kelly) Johnson, a lead...
MLB Trade Rumors (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
In today's blog post at ESPN.com, Buster Olney indicates that there is belief among general managers that the "financial restructuring that has been occurring across the landscape is about to hit the arbitration-level players like a tidal wave." He mentions underperforming, but well paid players like Garrett Atkins and Kelly Johnson are prime non-tender bait, especially since their clubs...
Fake Teams (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
Buster Olney's Saturday blog post Executives say that many of the names being discussed by teams as possible trade bait include a growing number of players with three to five-plus years of service time -- players who are eligible for arbitration. This is being read widely as a precursor to a wave of players in that group not being tendered contracts before the Dec. 20 deadline. "I think the market...
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Braves. Their likely commitments for 2010: C - Brian McCann - $5.5MM C - Dave Ross - $1.6MM 1B - 2B - Martin Prado - $415K SS - Yunel Escobar - $425K 3B - Chipper Jones - $13MM IF - Kelly Johnson - $2.825MM+ IF - Diory Hernandez - $400K IF/OF - Omar Infante - $2.225MM LF - Matt Diaz - $1.2375MM+ CF - Nate McLouth - $4.5MM RF - Ryan Church - $2.8MM+ OF -...
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
A fresh batch of links for Saturday afternoon... According to John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus, Pirates right-hander Ross Ohlendorf missed arbitration eligibility by just two days. On the other hand, as Perrotto notes, right-hander Jeff Karstens is eligible for arbitration. Marty Noble of MLB.com fielded a ton of hot stove-related questions from Mets fans for his latest "Inbox" article....
Sportsviews (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
I'm in the midst of one of my hell projects at work, this one just happens to be a little more hellish and is gonna last until December. In order to keep the fun going around here, I thought I'd present some reasonable trade and free agent targets over the next weeks - some of the low-hanging fruit that will probably be more in line with Hendry's budget for 2010. I'm not really going to make a case...
Talking Chop (Free subscription) | 10/23/2009
More photos » by Tom Mihalek - AP Browse more photos » When considering the 2009 season of Garret Anderson , I think it's more useful to look at the alternatives to Anderson that the Braves were considering, or at least rumored to be considering. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG 2009 - Garret Anderson 135 496 52 133 27 0 13 61 27 73 1 0 .268 .303 .401 G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB...
Talking Chop (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP The Atlanta Braves have a decision to make with second baseman Kelly Johnson this off-season. Browse more photos » People have been hoping for big things from the Braves ' Kelly Johnson for quite some time. The question again this off-season is, "how much longer do you wait?" As bad as his 2009 season was, was it just a down year and can...
The Cub Reporter (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
I'm in the midst of one of my hell projects at work, this one just happens to be a little more hellish and is gonna last until December. In order to keep the fun going around here, I thought I'd present some reasonable trade and free agent targets over the next weeks - some of the low-hanging fruit that will probably be more in line with Hendry's budget for 2010. I'm not really going to make a case...
Sabernomics (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
According to the 2010 Bill James Handbook, Kelly Johnson projects to hit .274/.354/.445. That sounds about right to me. It’s also better than Jeff Francoeur’s »»
Oil Is Mastery (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
"We already have the means to travel among the stars, but these technologies are locked up in black projects and it would take an act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity.... Anything you can imagine, we already know how to do." -- Benjamin R. Rich, aeronautical engineer, 1995 Lockheed CEOs and employees both say UFOs are real. Examiner: CEO of NASA contractor Lockheed knew of...
Videos