moonslav59

To me, the JD decision is not that big of a deal. If he stays we have a top DH, next year. If he doesn't we'll probably bring back Schwarber. I don't see much difference for 2022. Beyond, yes, but not much for 2022- money and talent wise. The biggest choice I see is a 2 part one: 1) Offer a QO to ERod? 2) Does he accept or decline? One could argue the same thing here: if we lose him, we'll have the $18M to spend on other pitchers. If he stays, he may eat close to half our winter spending budget.

I'm not a big John Tomase and Justin Leger fan, but here are who they think Bloom should target, this winter: Tomase thinks a SS (2B) is the #1 target. Leger gives his top 10: 1. SS/2B Semien 2. SP R Ray/3. Stroman/ 7. Gausman 4. RP Graveman/ 5. B Hand/ 6. R Iglesias 8. Other S Marte OF/ 9. Bryant 3B/OF/ 10. C Taylor Utility

LOL. I've played more basketball than you ever dreamed of playing. (LOL) I know they miss calls, but they review the ones on baskets made. I'm surprised you did not know that.

AL Team Stats OBP .339 HOU .336 CWS .330 TOR .328 BOS .322 NYY .321 TBR .316 OAK SLG .466 TOR .449 BOS .444 HOU .428 TBR .423 MN .422 CWS .407 CLE .407 NYY ISO .200 TOR .188 BOS .186 TBR .182 MN .177 HOU .169 NYY Base Running (fangraphs) 132. KC 11.8 OAK 11.2 TBR 7.4 CLE 6.8 LAA 2.8 TOR We were... 2nd in BAbip .309 8th in BB/K 0.37 5th best K% 22.6 8th best BB% 8.4 5th in Hard Hit Ball % (33.1%) 5th in LD% (20.8) 14th in GB/FB (1.04) 7th HR/FB 13.7%

No, PAs. My bad, eagle eye.

Further proof the A's should move to Sacremento or somewhere else.

That's one reason I never advocated for benching Vaz or even significantly reducing his playing time. I also know Vaz has many plusses, and that the CERA-related aspects are just one of many areas to place value on catchers. I still saw some of our high IP pitchers do much better with someone not named Vaz. (3 out of 4 with 90+ PAs each and 3 out of 3 with 75+ PAs) I just think that should be a factor that is looked at when deciding who starts. I'm not arguing it should be the biggest factor, or that I know more than Bloom and Cora. I think it is a significant factor. MVP and many others do not. We are not sure how much, if any, of a factor it is with GMs and managers. I happen to think it probably is with Houston and Maldanado, but I don't know for sure. The only one acting like they know for sure is MVP. Why not question his firm position? I have said I don't know for sure. The problem with 2021 is that hardly any sample sizes have 100+ PAs with both catchers, so it's hard to argue anything. ERod never had Plawecki catch him and Perez, the one guy Vaz did better with had just 75 PAs with Plawecki. This is one reason, I was not firmly behind Plawecki being the clear choice to catch more often. 2021 ONLY (all pitchers with 80+ PAs) OPS Against (IP) Vaz/ Plawecki .766 (675)/ n/a ERod .766 (282)/ .644 (401)Eovaldi .771 (462)/ .639 (199) Pivetta .783 (434)/ 1.163 (75) Perez .854 (523)/ .699 (94) Richards

Yes, the Houck sample is 180 points. My bad. The IP'd are smaller, but that was not the point I made. I do think keeping Vaz over a couple 30 IP sample sizes is not reason enough, but if the powers in charge think Vaz is worth more than $7M, then I trust them to be right.

How many blue chippers (or even purple), who are eligible for Rule 5, are still in single A? (Can you name any from the past that were there for the taking but were not?)

CiCi's is all you can eat- but you can't eat more than a bite. Worst crust. Worst sauce. Same cheese.

The Houck differential is not that great. (He's at .510 with Vaz- career!) These sample sizes are much larger (most large with 2 or more catchers) and just as stunning: EOvaldi: CERA/OPS 4.60/.781 Vaz (155 IP) 4.85/.748 Salty (124) 2.95/640 Plawecki (110) Sale: 4.12/.759 Vaz 127 IP 2.79/.578 Leon 436 IP (granted- pre- TJS) 2.51/.622 AJ P 226 IP (pre TJS) ERod 4.18/.725 Vaz 614IP 4.05/.700 Leon 118 IP 3.78/.778 Hanigan 50 Price 4.27/.738 Vaz 360 IP 2.96/.647 Leon 204 IP Porcello 4.96/794 Vaz 211 IP 4.19/.728 Leon 576 IP Those are the 5 biggest IP guys on the Sox since Vaz was our catcher. I think the fact that RP'ers are more even has to do with little chance to build lasting comfort levels.

CiCi's is the worst of any. Trust me.

So, you do value these numbers? WOW! I'm not alone, even though I do NOT value 9.2 IP sample sizes.

I've accepted that. Does anyone know for certain that it has nothing to do with anything related to CERA? MVP seems to know, for sure. How about you?

I doubt they will, too, but that 26th man slot could create a situation where someone grabs a single-A guy. (That guy will NOT be Jimenez, if anyone is taken.)

Yes. Some were not sure Whitlock would pitch anything more than mop-up duty, when we selected him. That quickly changed, but it might not have.

I know all about the unbalanced sample sizes and other factors, but that does not mean many pitchers do about the same, no matter who is catching. I've never claimed to know the reason why, but some pitchers- mostly starters- do way better with one catcher over another, year-after-year, with very little variance. It could just be a psychological comfort factor, but even that does not make it any less real. It may or may not have to do much with pitch calling, but when years and years of sample sizes all point to the same thing, I tend to think there is something driving the numbers. Just because that something is hard to quantify, does not make it valueless.

Maldanado has a playoff OPS of .244. That's his OPS and NOT his BA. I'm not sure another Astros catcher even has played one inning. Since catchers need more breaks than other positions, over the season the Astros had these numbers from their catchers: .573 Maldanado (426 PAs) 1011 innings .799 Castro (179 PAs) 355 innings .458 Stubbs (38 PAs) 79 innings If Maldanado has such horrific defensive stats and hit .573, why else could he be chosen to start every playoff game? I'll save MVP the trouble in looking up the useless team CERA numbers: 3.72 Maldanado 3.89 Castro It's about pitcher by pitcher- something MVP can't seem to grasp. Castro did seem to do well with the younger pitchers. and Maldando with older ones, all year, but it does seem strange he is the 100% catcher, now, despite sucking on D, according to traditional defensive numbers.

That very well may be true. We don't have access to all the information managers have. I never claim to know why they start one catcher over another. (There may very well be some pitchers that will or already have done better with Castro or others.) You, on the other hand, totally shut off any chance that how a catcher handles a pitcher or staff has anything to do with the choices made. You act like anything related to CERA has zero value. You act like I am claiming I know more or that managers use this type of information. I have repeatedly said I don't know, but you seem to act like you know they do not. Correct me, if I am wrong in this observation on this debate.

And of course, none of that info could possibly have to do with the chance pitchers just do way better with Maldanado, despite his obvious defensive weaknesses shown by stats, right?.

They must like Vaz's "other numbers" enough to outweigh the numbers I provided. I never claimed all GMs were onboard with my beliefs or that I am sure I am right. I give my opinion, and I provide facts to support it. I do think Bloom/Cora started Plawecki with Eovaldi, in part because his numbers blow away others. I think they like Vaz's bat more, his framing and blocking more, and that's enough for them to choose Vaz. I trust they know how to quantify values better than i do, but the fact that vaz starts more does not mean they don't think other catchers are better at getting better numbers from the staff. It just means they don't think it's by enough to make a change, or as harmony might say, or not. I think it is obvious many managers think some pitchers do better with a single catcher than the other. Do you dispute this? They don't platoon catchers by batting splits or every 4 or 5 day plans. They almost all pick a pitcher to match with their back-up, because, IMO, they believe in "comfort factors."

Like with Maldanado, right?

I just read it. I just responded. (BTW, I think Vaz is a better hitter than Plawecki, but not this year.)

I never claimed managers and GM all follow my beliefs. Plawecki caught Eovaldi, who had a very clear differential in CERA. The other pitchers not so much. Also, I am not a big Plawecki fan. I've never said he was great or even good at "handling the staff." My point has always been about Vaz not matching his back-up numbers with most starters and some having massive differentials.

Why else would Maldanado be playing, if he is so horrible at traditional defensive stats and is hitting like .100? You tell me. These numbers support my position.