ORS

"See Ya" won't be out of the booth if Leiter is in. Kay does just about every Yankee game. It's his color commentator that changes. Sometimes Kaat, sometimes Justice, sometimes O'neil, and now maybe sometimes Leiter.

I'd like for every Chicken Little Sox fan and every trash talking Yankee fan, who think that the Sox don't respect their players by extending them before they hit FA, to remember this moment once the Sox do extend D.O. They are willing to do it for elite talent, something that Pedro and Johnny probably were going to lack the last two years of their contracts.

Wouldn't be any different than any other July. Regardless of what's going on in the guy's head, you can still pencil him in for .300 40 120. As long as he keeps doing that, he can request all the trades he wants.

I don't think they want to trade him, so by being overly demanding on what they get in return they can turn to him and say, "Sorry Miguel, we couldn't strike a deal that we thought was fair, so see you in March." Tejada has already said he won't disrespect the game by tanking or not showing up if not traded.

They certainly do have the pieces to win now. If a package with Clement, Lester, and Marte got the deal done, then you would essentially have 2004 redux, which isn't a bad thing. However, that would mean that after 2007 (bye Curt, bye Keith, bye Trot, one year of Manny left) we would be seeing another disassembling of a championship caliber team as we are seeing now. Only, this time, there would be less in the cupboard to restock the roster. I think they can compete now, while still building that post-2007 club that they have evidently been assembling. Call me patiently greedy, but I prefer to see how that team pans out since it has a good chance to be a powerhouse that would stay together for longer than a couple of years (provided they pony up the dough to keep the younsters beyond arbitration).

That would be a fearsome heart of the order; however, I think moving blue-chippers for Tejada puts the team in a win now mode. I don't know if the pitching staff is strong enough to do that. If Schilling and Foulke aren't able to bounce back, then they have mortgaged the future in vain, which is something I don't see them doing. As it stands right now, they are a CF and RH 4th OF away from having a contender if Schilling and Foulke can return to form.

What exactly do they stand for other than trying to win baseball games? I guess I missed the mission statement where they came out in favor of ethnic cleansing and forced prostitution. :sarcasm:

I found this over at S.o.S.H. Apparently, in an interview with ESPN Deportes, Manny has said he's willing to stay in Boston now. No surprise, if you ask me. ESPN Deportes - I can't translate it, perhaps someone here can.

Date & Time............... Favorite................ Spread........... Underdog 1/7 4:30 ET.............. At Tampa Bay............. -2.5................. Washington 1/7 8:00 ET.............. At New England............ -8...................Jacksonville 1/8 1:00 ET.............. At NY Giants.................-2.5.................Carolina 1/8 4:30 ET.............. Pittsburgh.................... -3...................At Cincinnati What the heck, I'll play for the prize and do some good with the money if I win.

Just got off the phone with the fandom moderators, and you only get to say "we" about one team. So, you need to pick one, either the Yankees or the Mets.* *Note: I've been drinking, so I'm feeling frisky. If you don't like my mishievous tone, well, I don't really care, but don't take this too seriously.

Probably vs. Prolly = 2 extra keystrokes, don't be lazy. About the starting rotation. Trade Arroyo for two reasons. One, he's likely to land more as a trading chip due to the fact that he still has arbitration time, making him cheaper. Two, Clement is the better pitcher, despite his annual 2nd half hiccup. Both experienced a decline in K/9 rate last year. Arroyo went from over 7 to 4.38, while Clement went from over 9 to 6.88. However, Clement came from the NL to the AL which requires an adjustment. Translated K rate reflects this league adjusted difference, and Clement only declined by 1.4, while Bronson "I wish I could quit my day job and go on tour" Arroyo declined by 2.4. Both struggled with lefty/righty splits against LH batters, but Arroyo was more proned to giving up the long ball. Clement's LH split problem really became evident from July on, which makes me inclined to think the ball off the noggin rattled him a little. I think Matt deserves another chance. Bronson, thanks for your role in 2004, but it's time to move on. EDIT: Spelling

It depends on what you are looking for. A correlation of -1 means that every time the variable being examined increases, then the desired output decreases. That is what I meant by increase/decrease relationship. In this case a negative correlation wouldn't be ideal because runs scored would be decreasing as the stat you looked at increased. Off the top of my head, without reference, my best guess to this kind of relationship would be how often a team strikes out, or fewer pitches per AB, and how increases in those stats lead to less runs. Although, I suspect that if the SO correlation is indeed negative, it is a small number (between 0 and -.1) since the Sox lead the league in SOs and runs scored a couple of years ago. EDIT: And I didn't take your comments as rude, just skeptical. I'm a skeptic too, and I questioned these metrics when I first came upon them as well. And, I do not hold them as absolutes in any way whatsoever. I prefer traditional stats (although I do like EqA) when comparing players of the same position, but it gets messy when you add the importance of different defensive positions into the mix, so these metrics become useful IMO.

That's right, didn't think about the spreads. You know me, I like to pick for fun, so I'll leave the prize determination up to you and the others that provide input. If you have enough entrants, I'll be picking for fun, but if you need me to I'll play for a prize if there is one.

I like the sound of format #2, but I have a question. Do we make the picks for the entire playoffs now or do we get to pick each week? The format sounds similar to NCAA B-Ball tourney pools, where you fill out the bracket for the entire tournament before the games begin. I prefer this method, although some may prefer to pick week-by-week since wrong picks in the first week can really hurt you in the method I suggested. Either way, count me in, I'll play whichever game the majority wants.

A shorter definition of RARP and how to calculate it is already there in the terms I added. Yeah, I've always liked numbers. So engineering, accounting, or statistics would be the best fit. I picked engineering because I like the science too.

I don't see this happening. Tampa turned down Lugo for Marte from the Braves, realized they were trying to squeeze too hard when they lost him, and then ran the "Marte needs surgery" story as part of their spin on not doing the deal. And the Boston FO knows this. Sounds like Tony Maz is just doing his job, trying to sell papers.

VORP/RARP are calculated from league averages at that position. RARP (runs above replacement player) is simpler so I'll explain it to give you an idea of how it's done. First you look at a player's EqA* (equivalent average). This takes all of the player's offensive contribution (H, XBH, BB, HBP, SB, CS, SF, SH) and puts it into one number. *Note, before you start questioning this number, consider this. Statisticians have looked at every season of team statistical data and determined which statistics actually lead to more runs. This is called correlation. Correlations range between 1 and -1. A correlation of 1 means that every time a stat increases, then the team's runs scored increases (-1 is a perfect increase/decrease relationship). A correlation of 0 means that the statistic has no output on runs scored. Here are the correlations of BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, and EqA. BA - .828 OBP - .866 SLG - .890 OPS - .922 EqA - .928 Once the you have the EqA, you convert it to EqR (equivalent runs). Replacement level has been statistically determined to be about 73% of league average. So, you take the league average EqA for that position, take 73% of it, and convert that number to EqR. The difference between the player's EqR and this number is the RARP.* *Note, I keep saying you, but you don't really have to do all these things to find these numbers. Non-subscription users can access all of this information at Baseball Prospectus. Why did I go to the trouble to explain this? To show that part of your assertion is right. These numbers are computed from league averages, so more elite hitters at a position will raise the league average, making the replacement level (RL) higher. That means that the replacement level for SS is lower. By these metrics, if you were to take Manny + a RL SS it would be about the same as Miggy + a RL LF. However, teams aren't limited to replacement level when building their roster. Last year there were 26 COFs with a 30+ VORP, while there were only 5 SSs, meaning it would be easier to get a higher combination of the two postions with Tejada.

I was a joke. Relax, heck, go to that arts-&-crafts link you posted in another thread. You are a self-proclaimed phishead, and a lot of phisheads smoke some funky s***, hence the joke; I know I did in my younger years. Lighten up.

Ksushi, don't take this the wrong way, but you ought to lay off the s***. From the New Manny Rumor thread. Page 1 Then, on Page 2, you ask for an explanation why people like the Tejada/Manny trade. I respond later on the same page with: Can somebody find out if he has me on ignore?

RotoWorld.com If the Sox are going to stick to this demand, and/or Manny requires his contract options to be picked up to waive his 10/5 rights, then he won't be going anywhere. See you in Ft. Myers, Manny.

I think Jacoby needs at least one more year, probably two, of development. Yes, he did very well in his professional debut at Lowell, but that is just short season A-ball. Having him on the big club means skipping low-A, high-A, AA, and AAA in one offseason. Jeff Corsaletti was picked in the same draft and put up a .919 OPS in low-A, and he needs more development too.

That means they are essentially trading Wells for Gathright. No thanks. They already have a Gathright named Adam Stern. Similar numbers in each MiLB level (disregarding injury years for Stern). Although, I'm all for it they get multiple 'spects from the Dodgers and manage to keep one in the Gathright deal.

I don't believe I need to explain this, but here goes. Dante Hall only gets 40 touches because he couldn't run out of a wet paper sack. He's only good in the open field, hence the ST specialist usage. Sanders, and Bush for that matter, are excellent in the open field, but can/could break tackles and use leg drive to move tacklers forward. It does make sense for them to try and get more picks because they have a lot of holes, but the package needs to be right to consider it, IMO.

Fiesta sounds right. 2004 - Sugar: LSU over OU 2005 - Orange: USC over OU 2006 - Rose: USC vs. UT

Shannon Sharpe, Derrek Thomas, and a bevy of others say, "Hi".