The Globe unveils
their blowout 2006 preview section today, focusing on the harvest we’re about
to reap from our bumper-crop farm
system. It’s comprised of far too many features, charts, graphs, and
sidebars to link to individually, but check it all out here.
One of the
more interesting pieces is Edes’s piece about the change in the evaluation
of prospects, in which he talks to Bill James about major
league equivalencies. (“Baseball men generally believe that minor league
batting statistics are not a reliable indicator of how a player will hit in the
major leagues,” James says. “After studying the issue extensively, I concluded
that minor league batting statistics predicted major league performance with
the same accuracy as previous major league batting statistics.”)
James, of
course, works for us. "Numerous teams employ their own sabermetricians,”
Edes writes. “Those that don't can always turn to Baseball Prospectus, which
publishes an annual rating of players and is available on a daily basis on the
Internet.”
Speaking of
Baseball Prospectus, as
promised, here’s the full interview I did with BP contributor Steven
Goldman, in which he discusses Big Papi’s quote-unquote clutch hitting (“there
are very few players who are terrible hitters overall who suddenly turn into
Babe Ruth just because a guy is standing on second base with two outs. David
Ortiz is Babe Ruth all the time. He’s Babe Ruth with the bases empty and Babe
Ruth with a runner on second, so it’s sort of a natural thing that he tends to
drive in these runs”); puzzles over Alex Gonzalez (“it was a very un-Red
Sox-like signing. I think they kind of got boxed in... But the upshot of it is
that is that if Pedroia can mature quickly — and we at Baseball Prospectus
probably like Pedroia better than anyone; certainly better than Baseball
America, or anyone else — if he can do that and be a real contributor,
that’s gonna make a huge difference.”), and evaluates Coco Crisp (“I think
Coco’s gonna be very good, and I think [comparing him] and Johnny Damon, you’re
going to have a very hard time telling their numbers apart this season.”)
Etc.
Arroyo sure
got
his revenge yesterday, eh? Yikes. Too bad, then, that this is untrue.
(Uh, April Fools Day isn’t until tomorrow, guys.)
Looks like
Oil Can has slipped the surly bonds of Brockton and agreed
to a deal with the Nashua Pride, playing for old friend Butch Hobson.
(Can’t Ricky
get some love?)
But if you
can believe your Babelfish, a
bigger deal is coming right down the pike. ESPN Deportes
is reporting that...
The Dominican
toletero David Ortiz is near signing an extension of 50 million dollars with
the Red Averages of Boston.... ‘Big Papi’ would gain an average of 12.5 annual
million in the seasons from the 2007 to the 2010.
Discussion here is more or
less in favor of it, of course, but there are some reservations expressed about
laying out that kind of cash for a guy who can’t play the field. Baloney.
That’s a
hefty chunk of change, sure. But if there’s anyone they should be overpaying
for, it’s him. If we don’t, someone else will. If you need more convincing,
ThePhoenix.com web dude Ryan S. whipped up this horrific photoshopped nightmare
(Dirt Dog eat your heart out!)
‘Nuff said.