Bellhorn04
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Everything posted by Bellhorn04
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I'm a little more cynical than that, I'm afraid. Most big-time sports, professional and college, have never been anything like that. And frankly I'm not sure big-time sports would be as interesting if everything was all nice and equal. I'm certainly not complaining about the Red Sox utilizing their payroll advantage the way they have. Also, I think Red Sox fans have an argument that they deserve higher payrolls because they're the ones pumping all the money into the team's accounts.
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It's depressingly habitual for baseball to get itself into these CBA cliffhangers-especially when a number of the cliffhangers have ended up so badly. Maybe they need to make the negotiation window a lot longer or something.
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Although final year arb awards have gotten very close to free agent prices. Such as Mookie getting $27 mill.
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There's generally more physical separation in baseball, no question about that.
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No, because the batter has to deal with the pitcher and the fielders as a unit. And the pitcher has to rely on his fielders unless he strikes out the hitter. Baseball and football have more similarities than differences. Both involve a lot of team play.
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Any such advantage is wiped out by the loss of the year or years of control. Maybe you could go for "partial negation."
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OK, so you're a more observant than average fan. For years people assumed Jeter was an elite shortstop because he made the plays that he got to, but the advanced stats showed his range was poor. That didn't prevent him from winning a lot of Gold Gloves.
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Well, just remember this the next time someone talks about Red Sox pitchers being let down by their defense this year, BAbip against and all that.
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Football involves a ton of one-on-one battles.
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That's true, but in football you can also be all alone plenty of times, like a defensive back trying to cover Gronk or tackle him, for example. As Belichick said "Do your job". If a football player isn't doing his individual job, it might not get noticed as much by the fans, but it sure as heck gets noticed by the coaches and other players.
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For the sake of argument, how are baseball players more isolated than football players?
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This certainly shows that teams who are in the lower third of spending have little chance. OTOH it's interesting that over the last 20 years, 11 of the champs were 10th in spending or lower.
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I don't disagree with any of that. But I think the same principle applies on offense. A single at-bat that results in a hit or walk can be the turning point in a game and 'open the floodgates' too. What WAR seems to indicate is that offense is more important than fielding simply because of the volume of opportunities. Every single plate appearance can be a difference-maker. Just my take too.
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That's true, but in this case the "rule" seems to be purely anecdotal.
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Confession: I'm sort of itching for an argument today. It's been so freaking dull here lately!
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But Bogaerts, and the infamous Jeter, seem like good examples of why that may be a fallacy.
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Bottom line, Gonzo and Iggy are about 10 WAR players for their careers. Bogey is at 30 WAR and counting. Offense is much more valuable.
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That defensive porn stuff doesn't do much for me. I like the fact that WAR demonstrates how overrated flashy defense can be. A Xander Bogaerts is worth multiples of an A-Gon or an Iggy.
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Yes, but his offense was terrible and he also missed a lot of games. His 2006 fWAR was 1.6 and his bWAR was 1.2. Theo was so impressed that he signed Julio Lugo to replace him.
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But the people who say most relievers vary like crazy from one year to the next are also right. We invested money in Barnes last year and he turned to crap right after that. Spending doesn't guarantee a thing.
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Based on what numbers? His WAR with the Red Sox was nothing special.
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I'm very relaxed. I'm also realistic though, I think. That trend with shorter outings for starters is not going to reverse...it's a snowball rolling downhill. Another point about doubleheaders - if the average fan thinks the game is too slow and too long now, it seems unlikely they're going to want twice in one day... I think that idea actually does appeal more to hardcore fans like us.
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I don't think anyone disagrees about how important the pen is. The trickier question is how much money to allocate to it. A big question for the Red Sox is whether to leave Whitlock and Houck in the pen or give them a shot at starting. We've had lots of chat about that here, of course!
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Only one mistake I can see - Lackey was traded.
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One practical problem with doubleheaders now is that with starters only going 4-5 innings, they could instantly fry a bullpen.
