2015 Rosterbation

[MarcoPolo]

Not sure I agree.

Perez is just Aoki/Blanco lite. Ishi brings a whole different skillset with him. He is a very good PHer and has the added ability to play 1B (possibly not needed, granted). He also is set to make 1M this year, so the Giants have basically already stated he is getting the #5 job.

Blanco-lite. Ha ha ha ha. I think that's the worst baseball insult ever.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I love me the "This message is hidden" messages, protecting me from exposure to idiocy.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Blanco-lite. Ha ha ha ha. I think that's the worst baseball insult ever.

No, I take that back. "Hitting below the Neifi line" is the worst baseball insult ever.

 

[calsnowskier]

OPS+, dude. Try embracing the 21st century. Park factors count.

A fast, good glove, little power hitter. Blanco.

I am becoming a bigger fan of OPS+ by the day, but...



OPS+ does incorporate some judgment/opinion to achieve its value. SSS is also a rather big issue when determining park factors.

That said, I think it is quite possibly the best single stat that exists today to capture the overall contribution of a hitter.

 

[tzill]

No one cares, Nolan.

Maybe you should root for a team making a ton of splashy moves like San Diego or Miami or Toronto?

We'll keep supporting the front office that wins rings all the damn time.

Maybe Mallorca has a minor league team that he can get season tickets for?

What an effing tool.

 

[tzill]

I vote for Brown (to be DFA'd).

Thank goodness we signed another Blanco! Whew, off-season saved.

Three year averages:

Aoki: OPS+ 103; WAR 2.5; 287/353/387
Blanco: OPS+ 93; WAR 1.9; 257/344/344

In short, Aoki is a starting OF, and Blanco is a good #4. Sometimes the numbers match the eyeballs.

 

[BroncoInCALI]

OPS+, dude. Try embracing the 21st century. Park factors count.

A fast, good glove, little power hitter. Blanco.

So only one stat counts?

Oh, and kiss my ass......

 

[msgkings322]

So only one stat counts?

Oh, and kiss my ass......

Wow that escalated quickly....

You could've just pointed out to Marco what tzill posted, that in OPS+ Aoki has been significantly better than Blanco.

 

[BroncoInCALI]

Didn't think the "try embracing this century" crack helped escalate it, eh?

I was joking with him....not sure why he felt the need to insult me.

 

[BroncoInCALI]

And staying on the subject, and giving tzill his proper credit......That is one of the reasons I think the signing of Aoki will prove to be effective. Gregor Blanco is a much more effective player in spots. Hopefully Pagan stays healthy this year, because to me, Blanco is quiet valuable as a 4th OF.

 

[calsnowskier]

And staying on the subject, and giving tzill his proper credit......That is one of the reasons I think the signing of Aoki will prove to be effective. Gregor Blanco is a much more effective player in spots. Hopefully Pagan stays healthy this year, because to me, Blanco is quiet valuable as a 4th OF.

Being able to play Blanco as a 3.5 or as an OF-closer would be huge. Unfortunately, as you said, that would require keeping Pagan healthy, and I am not holding my breath on that one.

 

[tzill]

I am becoming a bigger fan of OPS+ by the day, but...



OPS+ does incorporate some judgment/opinion to achieve its value. SSS is also a rather big issue when determining park factors.

That said, I think it is quite possibly the best single stat that exists today to capture the overall contribution of a hitter.

My understanding (and I'm open to correction here) is that OPS+ involves very little "judgment." Park factors are determined with a Taylor regression, and they're data driven unlike, say, UZR which relies on someone making judgment calls on every play.

SSS doesn't really come into play as park factors are calculated over an entire year and updated annually.

That all said, it does have a weakness that OPS has: it weights OBP and SLG equally when it's been clearly proven that OBP is more valuable.

Bottom line for me: I agree that it's the best single stat available, as long as somebody else is doing the heavy lifting of calculating it.

 

[Stokes1931]

No, I take that back. "Hitting below the Neifi line" is the worst baseball insult ever.

Or pitching above the Tomko line.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Obviously Rasmus was not a fit.

Aoki's ops has declined each of the last three years to .710 last year. Blanco's has increased each year to .707 last year.

There is some upside to this. The one-year deal is great. Next year's off-season will be huge. Our park may actually benefit him at the plate. And if he wants to be here because of his heritage, that could be a plus.

I am concerned about the defensive decline. Would he play center and move Pagan to left? Would he play right and move Pence to left (Pence's defensive numbers aren't that good)?

If he can revert to more 2012-like numbers, great. Otherwise, he may just block a prospect.

Better than nothing, but not by much.

 

[Montalban]

My understanding (and I'm open to correction here) is that OPS+ involves very little "judgment." Park factors are determined with a Taylor regression, and they're data driven unlike, say, UZR which relies on someone making judgment calls on every play.

SSS doesn't really come into play as park factors are calculated over an entire year and updated annually.

That all said, it does have a weakness that OPS has: it weights OBP and SLG equally when it's been clearly proven that OBP is more valuable.

Bottom line for me: I agree that it's the best single stat available, as long as somebody else is doing the heavy lifting of calculating it.

LOL! Thanks, professor.

 

[Mays-Fan]

And I still think they will sign Vogey after Shields (likely) signs elsewhere. And Vogey may well begin the year in the pen. Or they may try a six-man rotation, or a hybrid where Bum is every 5th game and the others are every 6th game. They will need that insurance/flexibility well before the year is done, IMHO.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I am becoming a bigger fan of OPS+ by the day, but...



OPS+ does incorporate some judgment/opinion to achieve its value. SSS is also a rather big issue when determining park factors.

That said, I think it is quite possibly the best single stat that exists today to capture the overall contribution of a hitter.

Certainly a lot better than AVG (how 1950s to think looking at just batting average is a great way to evaluate hitters).

I don't like looking at just ONE stat to evaluate a player, but OPS+ comes close (or WHIP for pitchers). I also like to look at OBP (for both hitters and pitchers).

Aoki is a slightly better Blanco. Fast, steals bases, gets on base, no power, reputed to have good defense.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Obviously Rasmus was not a fit.

Aoki's ops has declined each of the last three years to .710 last year. Blanco's has increased each year to .707 last year.

There is some upside to this. The one-year deal is great. Next year's off-season will be huge. Our park may actually benefit him at the plate. And if he wants to be here because of his heritage, that could be a plus.

I am concerned about the defensive decline. Would he play center and move Pagan to left? Would he play right and move Pence to left (Pence's defensive numbers aren't that good)?

If he can revert to more 2012-like numbers, great. Otherwise, he may just block a prospect.

Better than nothing, but not by much.

You beat me to it (pointing out the obvious). Also, Aoki's OPS+ was 98 last year, while Blanco's was 103 (both in the "down for Aoki and up for Blanco over the last 3 years" trend mentioned). And yeah, the park could help him, especially if he has the same attitude as Pagan did on arriving here (I still fondly remember the comments he made during his first press conference).

Where did the "if he wants to be here because of his heritage" thought come from? Has he made comments about that? Or is it just a "CA is closer to Japan" or "more Japanese people in CA" thought?

 

[Mays-Fan]

You beat me to it (pointing out the obvious). Also, Aoki's OPS+ was 98 last year, while Blanco's was 103 (both in the "down for Aoki and up for Blanco over the last 3 years" trend mentioned). And yeah, the park could help him, especially if he has the same attitude as Pagan did on arriving here (I still fondly remember the comments he made during his first press conference).

Where did the "if he wants to be here because of his heritage" thought come from? Has he made comments about that? Or is it just a "CA is closer to Japan" or "more Japanese people in CA" thought?

Yeah, that's just speculation on my part. At the risk of generalizing, I'm guessing when a Japanese ballplayer dreams of playing in a US city, he more likely wants SF or LA or maybe NY. Probably not many dream of playing in Kansas City. It may mean nothing, or maybe it would...

 

[BroncoInCALI]

For the record, I don't look at Batting Average only to evaluate a player, but when someone says two players are exactly the same and there is a 30 point difference between their Batting Averages, I figured it was worth joking with them about.

It's not like I said we signed the next Mickey Mantle. I said I like the depth it adds, and I also pointed out that he strikes out far less than Blanco, so having a guy that handles the bat so well can only help in the NL.