Youth Baseball Parks Blog

Sox Machine notes A.J. Pierzynski’s better hitting against lefties the last two years, and wonders if that would allow the White Sox to carry another left-handed hitting catcher.

Source:Leaning to the Left

Anyone who's listened to baseball for any length of time has surely heard the term, "five tool player." The general consensus these days is that the title is bestowed all too frequently—diluting its meaning—and that so-called five tool players are overvalued.
What exactly is a five tool player?
A player who excels at the following is considered [...]

Source:Who are 2008's five tool players?

Anyone who's listened to baseball for any length of time has surely heard the term, "five tool player." The general consensus these days is that the title is bestowed all too frequently—diluting its meaning—and that so-called five tool players are overvalued.
What exactly is a five tool player?
A player who excels at the following is considered [...]

Source:Who are 2008's five tool players?

Value Wins appear to be the new rage around the baseball blogosphere. Right now, they are just for batters, but it looks like the Yankees got a good deal on Teixeira, the Red Sox got an even better deal on Pedroia, and A-Rod earned his salary in 2008.

Source:New Values

Wezen-Ball looks at news reports of the day to see just how much Jim Rice was feared:

However, as great as Rice was for his relatively short career, the argument his supporters make today - that he was the “most feared hitter” of his time - is hard to substantiate when you look at the press clippings from the day. There were plenty of accolades written about him during those years, and there was a short time-frame where people did call him the “most feared hitter,” but it did not persist throughout his career. As questionable as the argument may be, there is some truth in it, but not nearly enough to make it such a cornerstone of Rice’s candidacy.

The whole post is well worth your time.

Hat tip, The Book Blog.

Source:Feared

The Orioles are on the verge of signing Mark Hendrickson. I hope they are paying him very little money. Mark is a low strikeout pitcher who is easy to hit. He doesn’t give up many walks because batters don’t need to wait around for a pitch to smack. As you can see at the link above, he’s especially bad with runners in scoring position. If an unclutch pitcher exists, Mark Hendrickson is it.

Mark Hendrickson pitching opening day 2008 for the Florida Marlins.
Photo: Icon SMI

The Orioles got rid of Daniel Cabrera, with a career 5.05 ERA, and move in Hendrickson with a 5.07 ERA. Why? The point is to improve. Derek Lowe is sitting out there cheap, and would improve the Orioles rotation. This move is just Baltimore spinning their wheels.

A bit of trivia, Hendrickson Ken Griffey’s 600th home run.

Source:Another Bad Pitcher

The Cubs shipped Jason Marquis to the Rockies for setup man Luis Vizcaino:

The deal, first reported by ESPN, likely won’t become official until next week. The Rockies made the math work to get a starter they have coveted for a month, while removing a setupman who asked to be dealt at season’s end after expressing unhappiness with his role.

The Rockies will ship the $4 million remaining on Vizcaino’s deal for the $9.875 million left on Marquis’ contract. The Cubs are expected to eat around a $1 million on Marquis’ contract, leaving the Rockies to pay approximately $5 million for one season of the right-hander.

Chicago, meanwhile, still nets a $5 million savings, crystallizing the motivation for both clubs.

I’m not crazy about this deal for the Rockies. Marquis’s FIP has been higher than his ERA in four of the last five years, and the big park in Colorado is tough to defend. He does induce a high number of ground balls, however, and although he hasn’t pitched much at Coors, the Rockies haven’t hit him there. We’ll see how he holds up over a full season.

Source:Marquis to the Rockies

Buster Olney wonders if the power struggle between MLB and the MLBPA is shifting in favor of the owners.

Wealth might have eroded the determination to enforce Miller’s core principles, however. The sport is generating billions; the players are making millions. The respectful and cooperative relationship that has developed between Michael Weiner, players’ counsel, and Rob Manfred, baseball’s labor guru, is often cited by peers as being as asset.

But soon enough, we will know whether the owners will look to take back some of the financial landscape ceded in past battles.

I don’t think so. My favorite book from college is The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. In that book Thomas Kuhn discusses how paradigm shifts happen becuase the old, hard-line believers in the previous theory die out. That happened in baseball. With George Steinbrenner stepping down, there are no owners who operated under the old reserve clause system. (George was always cool with free agency, so it was the departure of Selig from the Brewers that really ended the line.) Today’s owners never knew the joy of being able to renew players year-to-year, so they really don’t think about going back to that system. They operate in the confines of an agreement that allows them to keep most players under control through their prime seasons, and sign the best and the brightest when they become available. Owners today are much more interested in taking down the rich teams than the rich players. It’s the unions job to make sure that taking down the rich teams doesn’t hurt the players as well.

Source:Shifting Power

Another Red Sox fan defends the Yankees.

Source:More Defense

Anyone who's listened to baseball for any length of time has surely heard the term, "five tool player." The general consensus these days is that the title is bestowed all too frequently—diluting its meaning—and that so-called five tool players are overvalued.
What exactly is a five tool player?
A player who excels at the following is considered [...]

Source:Who are 2008's five tool players?