2004 Win Shares

Studes never fails: 2004 Win Shares are now available!

Here's how the AL All-Star team might look if you only looked at 2004 AL Win Shares

C - Ivan Rodriguez, Jorge Posada
1B - Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Scott Hatteberg(!)
2B - Ronnie Belliard, Alfonso Soriano
3B - Melvin Mora, Troy Glaus
SS - Michael Young, Carlos Guillen
OF - Jose Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, Rondell White, Vlad Guerrero, Chone Figgins

SP - Tim Hudson, Curt Schilling, Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, Freddie Garcia
RP - Keith Foulke, Francisco Rodriguez, Joe Nathan, Mariano Rivera

And the NL All-Stars... (2004 NL Win Shares)

C - Johnny Estrada, Paul Lo Duca
1B - Sean Casey, Lyle Overbay
2B - Mark Loretta, Alex Cora
3B - Scott Rolen, Mike Lowell, Adrian Beltre
SS - Jack Wilson
OF - Barry Bonds, Adam Dunn, Lance Berkman, Pat Burrell, Craig Biggio

SP - Carlos Zambrano, Tom Glavine, Matt Clement, Roger Clemens, Wilson Alvarez, Jake Peavy, Randy Johnson
RP - Armando Benitez, Eric Gagne, Braden Looper

I would love to see these two teams play a 7-game series - or even just the standard one-game all-star exhibition. Now that I look back at the lists I've put together, you might take Hatteberg off the AL team in favor of that A-Rod fella'. And you might even take Palmeiro off the team to make room for (gasp!) Johhny Damon.

Interesting to see the number of Angels, including three outfielders not named Garrett Anderson! Who would have predicted that one?

Also interesting to note the name *not* on this list, including Kerry Wood, Sammy Sosa, Albert Pujols, any Red Sox positional player, Carlos Beltran and on and on... Clearly, we're looking at a smallish sample size, and this list will change as we inch closer to the actual all-star game. I'd like to see how this list looks a month from now, so maybe I'll pull that together sometime...

Anger Management

Man angry at Verizon hurls phones

The highlight:Police said Perala took off his shirt and put on safety glasses before throwing around computers, phones and other items.Sounds like fun...

[thanks to AlexR for the link]

NotGoingToHappen.com

I don't know Paul Ladewski from a hole in the wall, but after stumbling across his latest column, I can't say that I'm impressed.

His suggestion for improving the White Sox is to trade Magglio Ordonez for Mark Mulder. He goes on to make a case for why a contending team would want Mulder (cheap and good) and not want Ordonez (great player but too expensive).

Now, wouldn't the A's see those same arguments and just keep Mulder? Especially since he's signed through next year (with an option for 2006?) and Ordonez is about to become a well-compensated Yankee - uh... I mean "free agent."

And then there's this...

2003 Win Shares
Mulder - 17
Ordonez - 23

2003 Salary
Mulder - $2.65M
Ordonez - 9M

That's $1M per incremental WS and $3M per incremental win. I don't know what a reasonable price per incremental win is, but $3M sounds steep. (yes, I'm mixing last year's stats and salaries with today's realities - it's crazy!)

UPDATE: Studes suggests, among other things, that a marginal win costs about $1.5M, so paying $3M per marginal win might not be a great idea.

Frankie No-Game

Frankie Menechino was something of a fan favorite for awhile. He was a short, plucky second basemen with guts - a Staten Island Mike Gallego.

But Joon Pahk of Barry Zito Forever suggests, "Menechino is a versatile infield defender, and you could do worse (a lot worse) as your utility infielder." (link here)

Wow. Here's what Baseball Prospectus had to say about Frankie:

Since [mid-2001], he's been absolutely awful at the plate. His once surprising pop has abated and his ability to hit for average has gone the way of the dodo... He basically brings two skills to the table: the ability to draw walks, and the ability to passable play the middle infield.

Now, let's take a look at his stats so far this year: (.091/.143/.091)

That's right. Three singles in 33 AB with one walk. That's WAY below replacement level. Now, take a look at Studes' stat page and scroll down to the A's. Notice that Menechino has "created" (-1) runs. We'd do just as well letting the pitchers hit.

So, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with Joon. You really *could not* do much worse than Frank Menechino as your utility infielder.

I know he's a good guy, and I wish him the best. But I am not sorry to see him move on to Toronto. He was killing us.

Bonderman

Thinking about Jeremy Bonderman's time with the A's - or rather, minor-league service with the A's - I'm trying to figure out exactly what the A's got in that deal.

Initially the A's gave up:
Carlos Pena
Franklyn German
Jeremy Bonderman

And got (from the tigers):
Jeff Weaver

They immediately turned Weaver around and got (from the yankees):
Ted Lilly
Jason Arnold
John-Ford Griffin

But it's been almost two years since that three-way deal was consumated. What have those players become for the A's?

Ted Lilly was traded to the Blue Jays this offseason for:
Bobby Kielty (He's an unimpressive .246/.342/.435 so far this year for the A's)

Arnold and Griffin were, as far as I can tell, traded to the Blue Jays together for:
Erubiel Durazo (.272/.382/.486 year-to-date)

In effect, the A's gave up Pena, Bonderman and German for Kielty and Durazo. Only time will tell if that worked out for the A's, but I don't think we A's fans can really complain.

Youngsters

Tonight's A's-Tigers game pits 22 year old Rich Harden against 21 year-old Jeremy Bonderman, a former A's farmhand himself.

That's 43 years of "combined age," just a shade less than 41 yr-old Roger Clemens.

And what's more, it's been a hell of a pitchers duel so far. Harden has allowed four hits and two walks through four innings while striking out 6 and Bonderman has allowed two hits and two walks with one K through 5 IP. The difference in the game so far is Adam Melhuse's solo HR for the A's in the top of the fifth.

Imagine Harden and Bonderman pitching in the A's rotation together behind Zito, Mulder and Hudson. I wouldn't mind watching that staff develop over the coming years...

UPDATE - As I've been pecking away over here, Detroit has grabbed a walk, a bunt single, a sacrifice, another infield single and a run... apparently the ball never left the infield. If someone saw this, please tell me what happened there.

I'm Back

Sooooo, to make a long story short... I started a new job in early March (more on that in a bit). In early April, I moved this site over onto my new company's server. And it's taken me until early May to get it working again.

Basically, I've been working too hard and neglecting my site. That, my friends, will no longer be the case. Now that the site is back up, you can look forward to see at least a little something here every now and then.

(How's that for non-commital?)

Next on the task list is for Greg (tech buddy at the new job) to get the comments working...