Angels 9, Rangers 6 - CBSSports.com
Vladimir Guerrero doubled after receiving a standing ovation from Angels fans, but the Texas Rangers lost to Los Angeles 9-6 Thursday.
Angels offense beginning to click - angelsbaseball.com
With Opening Day drawing nearer, manager Mike Scioscia, for the second day in a row, drew up a lineup on Thursday that could surface more than occasionally this season. It responded with some lightning and thunder in a 9-6 decision over the Rangers at Tempe Diablo Stadium. "There are a lot of good signs, starting with continuity in the lineup," Scioscia said. "Bobby Abreu with Torii [Hunter], Hideki [Matsui], Kendry [Morales] and [Juan] Rivera are all connected. We've swung the bats well the last couple days. "We'll get all the pieces together. We like our offense, how deep it is."
Nothing but good news in this post...and nothing most fans didn't already know. It is good to see what looks to be the most regular batting order in use this early in spring. Hopefully this "continuity" will carryover into the regular season.
Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim: Making The Other Team The "Other" Team - 2010 Baseball previews - Deadspin
The default team in Los Angeles is the Dodgers. For now. But the Angels are making their move. They are succeeding. The ground can shift. All it takes is the right owner and the right approach. Who would you rather have owning your team right now: a baseball-obsessive, mustachioed Vietnam vet who has vowed to take over the city, or a Boston real estate developer with less money than everybody thought, hanging on to his half of his estate for dear life?
This is a very good article. Deadspin used to have some solid writing, at least in my opinion, but have become a TMZ-type site covering fallen athletes and moronic fans. It's good to see something not boob-related coming out of there.
More links after the break...
Kazmir latest Angels' starter to skip start - The Orange County Register
Kazmir was scratched from Thursday's start against the Texas Rangers due to tightness in his pitching shoulder, centered around the deltoid muscle. The left-hander threw 62 pitches in his most recent outing, going four innings and allowing three runs on five hits to the Rockies on Saturday. He said the "tightness" and fatigue cropped up just in the past couple days.
Most pitchers go through a "dead arm" phase or some sort of tightness during spring training, so this probably isn't anything to be concerned about. Just keep him away from Santana's chair.
World Series MVP Matsui motors on - Yahoo! Sports
"Matsui!" Moreno cried Thursday afternoon, the first he’d seen of his cleanup hitter since the insurance estimates had come back. "Thanks for the ball!" Matsui flushed and played along. "Any time," he said, laughing. They shook hands. "Everything good? Everything OK?" Moreno asked. "Yes," Matsui answered. "Thank you."
And yet again we're reminded how cool Arte Moreno is. This post is 99% about Matsui, pretty much the same "former Yankee, now Angel" story, but the bit with Moreno is entertaining.
Aybar's new leadoff role crucial move for division champ Angels - CBSSports.com
"With Erick, there will be some things he's not going to bring that maybe Figgy [Chone Figgins] brought," says Mike Scioscia, who has guided the Angels to three consecutive AL West titles and five in six seasons. "There was a time in his career when Figgy developed the talent to work deep in the count. "I think Erick will, too. I don't know if it will be by April 5. But what he did last year sets up for what we need for the middle of our lineup [to be effective]."
I think this is the most important thing facing the Angels lineup, and this isn't that big of a deal. If Aybar can continue to develop his on-base skills, it'll impact the Angels. However that can be said about any player regardless of where in the batting order he hits. The lead off hitter only actually leads off the inning once (usually), which is about 11% of the time. The important thing is a hitter getting on base, any hitter, from the guy in the #1 spot all the way down to whomever is hitting last.
Aldridge persistent in quest to big leagues - angelsbaseball.com
Cory Aldridge is 30 years old with five Major League at-bats in 13 professional seasons, but he pushes forward nonetheless, striving to fulfill a dream in the Angels' camp as a non-roster invitee."He's been impressive," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He can swing the bat, and he's made some terrific plays in the outfield."
A player doesn't all of a sudden develop into a major league player after 13 seasons and there are reasons a person becomes a "career minor leaguer". Is it possible a player could fall through the cracks, being overlooked for 13 years as the type of player who could impact a major league team? Sure. Is it likely? Probably not. Not with the amount of scouting and player evaluation in baseball. But wouldn't it be pretty cool if it happens? Absolutely.
MLB: Fallen Angels? - Yahoo! Sports
With two stars now wearing different uniforms, the defending AL West champs could struggle.
Video reviewing the Angels off season.
Padres shifting from not so swift to fast lane - SignOnSanDiego.com
They have become the Push-Push Padres, with a low drag coefficient, built for speed, built for the spacious Petco Park Speedway, built for derring-do, built to manager Bud Black’s specifications.They no longer are the Plodding Padres, John Deere lawn mowers who ran the bases as if their shoes were lemon meringue pies, moving from first to third with the swiftness of continental drift. Not all these Padres are Usain Bolts, mind you, but many of them have been asked — ordered? — by Black during spring training here to act as though they are. And they’ve bought into it.
Angel baseball is spreading. It's latest victim...the Padres.
Padilla named Opening Day starter - MLB.com
Vicente Padilla, released just seven months ago by the Rangers, was named the Dodgers' Opening Day starter on Thursday by manager Joe Torre. Torre said that Padilla's selection demonstrates that the Dodgers, while lacking a true ace, have four quality starting pitchers. "We just had to pick somebody, and he was the one," Torre said.
How bad is it when your opening day starter was released the previous season by a team who has been known to be shorthanded in pitching? And how inspiring is it when your manager says, "We just had to pick someone, and he was the one"? What did Joe Torre do, pull names from a hat? Throw darts? The ugliest guy in the room gets the start? Or did Padilla draw the short straw? Another thing. Why isn't anyone writing about how the Dodgers don't have an ace, and how that'll impact their season?
Jim Edmonds earns spot on Milwaukee Brewers 40-man roster - ESPN
The Gold Glove center fielder, making a comeback after taking the 2009 season off, had his minor league contract purchased Thursday, giving the 39-year-old a spot on the 40-man roster."His defense is still there and his throwing arm is still there," manager Ken Macha said. "He still needs more at-bats. But to be away for a whole year and be hitting the ball the way he has this spring has been pretty impressive."
Good job Jimmy!
A's righty Ben Sheets hit hard by minor leaguers - nbcsports.msnbc.com
Oakland Athletics right-hander Ben Sheets allowed three runs and nine hits in six-plus innings against minor leaguers on Thursday in one of his final tuneups before the start of the regular season.
Uh-oh. It might be a long season in Oakland.
Cubs' Lee recovering from freak back injury - Chicago Breaking Sports
Derrek Lee was receiving treatment for a back injury incurred in a freak accident in the clubhouse before Wednesday's game against Texas in Surprise. "He was eating before the game and the chair just collapsed on him," manager Lou Piniella said.
The chairs, they're striking back!
10 minutes with Bill Jame - azcentral.com blogs
What are the biggest issues facing baseball right now?
We’re making a lot of progress on the income disparity between the teams. We haven’t wiped that out but we have made significant progress on that. It could be that the biggest issue now is getting the -- well, I’m between a rock and a hard place here. I’ve got to make news to sell books, but not make too much news to avoid being fired. We have some franchises now that are happy to make money and don’t care whether they win. That destroys the enterprise if you get too much of it. If you get too many franchises that are just counting the cash and are not committed to the effort to win, that seriously undermines the game. At some point, we have to get a hold of that. There may be perverse economic incentives in the game that need to be restructured in order to prevent that from happening.
Joe Posnanski - Heart of the Matter
"There’s no stat yet that measures heart." – Nomar Garciaparra
This, of course, is true … or at least it’s sort of true. There are so many things that baseball statistics do not even attempt to count — pep talks given, bits of helpful advice doled out, small favors done, dinners bought to make a rookie feel welcome, jokes cracked at the batting cage, routine grounders run out, hustle plays that hold a hitter to a single, interviews given when no one else really feels like talking. And so on.
Phillies fan found not guilty of prostitution - FOX Sports on MSN
The 44-year-old from West Philadelphia had admitted to being desperate to find reasonably priced tickets to a home game. She was arrested on October 26 after meeting an undercover police officer at a restaurant in Bensalem and allegedly offering to perform sex acts with him and another man in exchange for two tickets for herself and her husband.
But she was found guilty of being a Phillies fan.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balk: Holland. HBP: Andrus, El (by McKiernan). Groundouts-flyouts: Holland 10-3, Ogando 0-1, Snyder, B 1-1, Ramirez, E 1-3, O'Sullivan 6-3, Fuentes 0-1, Stokes 2-0, McKiernan 0-0, Aldridge 0-1. Batters faced: Holland 23, Ogando 6, Snyder, B 8, Ramirez, E 5, O'Sullivan 22, Fuentes 3, Stokes 8, McKiernan 6, Aldridge 4. Inherited runners-scored: Ogando 1-1, Snyder, B 3-0, Ramirez, E 2-0. Umpires: HP: Derryl Cousins. 1B: Dana DeMuth. 2B: . 3B: Gary Darling. Weather: 70 degrees, sunny. Wind: 6 mph, R to L. T: 3:08. Att: 7,609. March 25, 2010 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 recs | 43 comments
The issue isn't the rate at which a #1 batter "leads off."
That’s a complete red herring. It’s the number of total plate appearances he gets — the most of anyone in the lineup.
The player on the team given the most opportunities to score runs should be the player who can best maximize that opportunity, ie, a player who can get on base and come home with a higher frequency than anyone else.
Aybar averages 25 BBs per 500 ABs. That’s miserable. His SB% is 66%. That’s miserable. He averages 3.41 pitches per plate appearance. Below average. He scores one run every 8.1 plate appearances. Unimpressive.
Folks seem to want Aybar to be a #1 hitter because he “looks the part” — even while freely admitting that he lacks the skills currently to fill that role. But this is a player that lives and dies by his defense and his batting average. He really should be a #9 hitter, a la Adam Kennedy, or at pains, a #2 hitter — though I’ve always found the value proposition of the #2 contact hitter to be iffy at best.
I don’t know why we need to expend outs to try spin gold from lead when we have a perfectly fine leadoff candidate in Maicer Izturis who was recently signed (fairly cheaply) to the team for the next three years. Let Aybar learn “lead off” skills in the nine hole.
Turks Teeth - March 26, 2010
The only problem with Izturis leading off is, where does he play?
~MMP~ - March 26, 2010
Everywhere, just like Figgins used to.
Rotate him through 2B, SS and 3B. Make sure he plays 140-150 games a year. Aybar (or even an occasional experiment like Abreu or Bourjos) can leadoff the rest of the games, but give the lion’s share to Maicer.
Kendrick, Aybar and Izturis have all seen plenty of the DL in the last two years. Aybar is already banged up now. Rotate the four of them through three slots, and keep them fresh. But keep Izzy at #1 for the majority of games.
Turks Teeth - March 26, 2010
Let me throw this out there...
Although I like the signing, bringing in Matsui was a mistake.
The DH spot in the batting order could have been used by a combination of Izturis and Napoli. Napoli DH’s when Mathis is behind the plate and Izturis plays either 2B, SS, or 3B. Izturis DH’s when Napoli is catching. Matsui’s roster spot could have been used for one of the role players (Evans, Q, or one of the “no-name” spring training guys).
WiHaloFan - March 26, 2010
I'm with you, and have been since the signing.
I’ve been a fan of Napoil at DH since he was Cedar Rapids’ primary DH. And I’m also a fan of Izturis — the guy is consistent on all sides of his game, and we all know what he does with runners in scoring position. His only issue has been injuries — but that’s and issue with half the players on the club.
I’ve been overall neutral on the Matsui signing, because it was only for one year, it was cheap, and he probably has some gas still in the tank. But it also was unnecessary, it hurts us defensively, and is a lost opportunity for players like Naps and Izzy.
Turks Teeth - March 26, 2010
If Napoli can play 1b then we'll have something...
Rotate Napoli thru the DH, Catcher, 1b slots and you can keep his bat in the line up while giving Matsui and Morales and of course Mathis days off. You have insurance against anyone in those slots getting hurt and you can give Q’s roster spot to someone like Evans
Jietoh - March 26, 2010
I too have been an advocate of Napoli at 1B
Commander_Nate - March 26, 2010
Hmmm, I like that idea.
I think Aybar has the potential to be a pretty good leadoff man, but he could certainly benefit from another year of learning.
~MMP~ - March 26, 2010
Just out of curiosity, what are Izturis's stats in those same categories?
Just want to get an idea of how big a difference it is between the two.
~MMP~ - March 26, 2010
See immediately below: Aybar vs Izturis.
Turks Teeth - March 26, 2010
Ahh, I missed that. Thanks
~MMP~ - March 26, 2010
I think Izturis will lead off when he's in the lineup
mattwelch - March 26, 2010
MY LEADOFF NOMINEE
is named Bobby.
Rev Halofan - March 26, 2010
Aybar vs Izturis: seasonal averages
OBP: .324 vs .343
#of P/PA: 3.41 vs 3.78
SB%: .66 vs .77
Run-PA ratio: 1:8.1 vs 1:7.2
It’s pretty clear. Maicer sees more pitches, gets on base more often, is a more efficient baserunner, and comes home more frequently when on base. And he’s still a plus defender at every infield position he plays.
People seem to overlook the fact that he hit .300 last season, while carrying a .359 obp and a .796 ops. He walks nearly as much as he strikes out, and he strikes out less than almost anyone else on the team (one trait Aybar shares).
Izturis has had three seasons on our club where he’s seen at least 100 games and 350 plate appearances: 2006, 2007 and 2009.
2006: .293 avg .365 obp .777 ops
2007: .289 avg .349 opb .754 ops
2009: .300 avg .359 obp .793 ops
There’s a lot of consistency in those numbers, and we have have Izturis in his prime years (29-31). We should use him while we have him.
Turks Teeth - March 26, 2010
I agree, Izzy is the superior lead-off man......for now.
Both Wood and Izzy have been impressive this spring. Its going to be tough to find daily spots for them both. However, between Aybar and Izzy, I think at this point, Izzy is the superior lead-off man. Although, I think it would behoove the Angels to continue and groom Erick into a lead-off batter…even if it means putting him in the lead-off spot throughout the year to take his lumps…
BryanHarvey'sMoustache - March 26, 2010
I confess I don't understand the logic.
Aybar can cultivate the same skillset in the nine hole. If he’s trying to see more pitches, walk more and run the basepaths more effectively, he can do that from any slot in the lineup, as long as he plays five days a week.
This drive to “to take our lumps” feels more like a haphazard fetish than a reasoned strategy. Again, I think it’s more about hewing to conventional appearances than being smart and pragmatic.
Turks Teeth - March 26, 2010
I think its a question of who leads off when...
Wood is playing 3B and Izzy is on the bench. If you don’t have Aybar leadoff in this situation then who?
The “lumps” thing refers to this situation. That in order to get Wood significant playing time you are going, in many instances, to have to bench Izzy during these games (not always thanks to the diversity of Izzy but in many of them). When this occurs, the only, really, logical leadoff man is Aybar.
People in the past have mentioned Abreu but seeing how he hasnt leadoff once this spring, I dont think thats going to happen.
BryanHarvey'sMoustache - March 26, 2010
As I say above, Aybar would lead off on those specific occasions...
…in my scenario. But Izturis would be the default. The basic principle would be to rotate Wood, Aybar, Izturis and Kendrick through three slots in the daily batting order. That gives a baseline of 450-500 plate appearances to each. If Mike gets creative and rests his outfielders now and then and uses the DH occasionally for one of his infielders, you can get a few of them even more over the course of the season.
RE: Abreu — I do wish there were a bit more of Joe Maddon in Scioscia — that is, a willingness to defy convention and experiment a little more. I realize we’ve seen him monkey around quite a but with light-hitting types in the three hole in recent seasons, though there’s not a lot that was intuitive about those experiments. The most logical thing to do given the current pieces would be to bat Abreu leadoff, and to hit Izturis second. Abreu ‘only’ stole 30 bases last year, and got on base to the tune of a .390 OBP. Meanwhile, Izturis has been utterly dynamic in the two hole over the past three years, hitting .317 (.377 OBP) with a .836 OPS.
That could be really sweet, and it gives a real presence at the top of the lineup to see Abreu leading off. But I agree that that’s not going to happen on Scioscia’s watch.
Turks Teeth - March 26, 2010
This post was meant to thread to Bryan's 10:04 AM post.
I find the threading on HH to be a little flaky. I’m positive I was replying to the 10:04 post.
Turks Teeth - March 26, 2010
Leading Off
I totally agree with everything you’re saying.
Abreu would probably be the best choice to lead off. I would actually rather put Maicer in the two whole. With his bat control and ability to bunt, he could also more readily be able to move the runner over. Ideally, I always thought that Kendrick was the quintessential two hitter, but he has always been too inconsistent.
It has always frustrated me to see managers stick to players with skill-sets like Aybar in the leadoff position. His only advantage is that he’s speedy on the basepaths. Although, he’s never stole a ton of bases, so not sure even that applies. Its also worth repeating that Aybar had a career year last year. Will he be a career .312 hitter or even a career .300 hitter? His career line says that its doubtful. Should he hit closer to his 2008 which was more of his career mean, he would kill us as a leadoff man. His OBP was .314 then.
For those who say, that Aybar can learn to be a leadoff man. . .I will also say this, that its not easy to take pitches. I am not talking from any experience. Only from observation, that you don’t see people with low OBP’s suddenly reform themselves and learn how to take pitches. If you can think of someone who did this, please let me know. (not sure you can make that argument with Figgins over the course of his career, although I know that its been commented on).
Another scenario, I could see working out is that the Angels will finally give up on or trade Kendrick and just start Izturis at second. I think going to the minors basically put Howie on notice last year. If he continue to have brain freezes on the field and continues to be inconsistent, Scioscia will turn to Izturis. With all of Kendrick’s potential as a “future batting champ”, the Angels don’t want to be the one’s to give up on him, but at a certain point, you can no longer say that a player has potential, because the player you see on the field is the one you’ve got. Kendrick also still has trade value, so I really wouldn’t be surprised to see him get traded (assuming that Wood succeeds at third and Izturis is still a man without a position).
righteous halo - March 26, 2010
Re: Abreu
I can see how he could be considered an ideal lead-off man, but with a decent lead-off hitter in place he becomes a practically perfect 2-hole guy: takes a ton of pitches, hits for a good average, hits left handed so he can take advantage of the hole on the right side with a runner on, decent power and typically drives in a lot of runs.
I agree with your premise, though, that Aybar is not a decent lead off guy and probably won’t be. Just like Erstad or Cabrera hitting 2nd or 3rd when they should have been in the bottom 1/3 of the order, or Napoli hitting 7th or 8th when he should be in the middle of the line-up, this is going to be another case of Mike and his blind-spots for line-up construction. My fear isn’t that Aybar does horrible at lead off, but that he does just enough (hit around .285 and steals a few bags) that Mike is perfectly content to leave him there the whole year, better options be damned.
dmhead - March 26, 2010
Scioscia's Disposition
I don’t know if we can take anything away from the way Scioscia handled Figgins.
When Figgins struggled, Scioscia did not hesitate moving him to the 9 hole. Is struggling hitting .285 with a .320 OBP? I guess that’s the million dollar question. How much does Aybar have to stink as a leadoff hitter, before Scioscia moves him down. I am somewhat reassured by the Figgins example, because it reminds me that Scioscia sees the same things that everyone else does. Where its a little different now is that the team seemed to have more options for the leadoff position when Figgins was here.
righteous halo - March 26, 2010
All the speed in the world
won’t make up for a .320 OBP. And Figgy was AWFUL at the time Scios moved him down. Again, if Aybar struggles really bad, I don’t doubt Mike will eventually remove him from that role. I have no fear there. But as I said before, if he’s just holding his own, he’ll likely stay in that role, even though he probably shouldn’t.
I’ve come around on Aybar the last few years. I never thought he’d hone his baseball skills enough to be a successful big leaguer, but he’s grown quite a bit. I could see him having an Orlando Cabrera type career, but that doesn’t qualify him to be a lead off hitter.
dmhead - March 26, 2010
I think we'll see more of Turk's ideas implimented than not...
Mike has a history of rotating guys and giving players time off. He’ll do exactly like Turk describes and rotate Izzy thru the infield and of course he’ll play Izzy in place of anyone who’s hurt. I’ll be shocked if Izzy doesn’t get at least 120 games this season.
While I agree that he’s a better lead off man then Aybar the difference is not huge. Neither one walks enough to make me happy. Figgy didn’t walk enough either until last year when it sunk in that he HAD to, to be a good lead off guy. Sure you can ask a #9 hitter to look at pitches, take walks, be efficient on the basepaths but it won’t HAVE to do those things like he’s leading off if he’s hitting #9.
I’m not convinced a players rs/pa is a good stat to evaluate a player for the leadoff spot. A lot of that depends on what the guys behind him do and if he’s in the leadoff spot (or the #2 slot like Izturis was last year) he’ll fair better than someone who’s hitting in the #8 and #9 spots.
Jietoh - March 26, 2010
162 * 3 / 4 = 121.5
Split your 9 positions into 3 groups of three.
LF, CF, RF
DH, 1b, C
2b, 3b, ss
Get one guy who for each grouping who can play all three positions.
Izturis can play the 2b, 3b, and ss position
Evans / Willits can play all 3 out field positions (used to be GMJ)
Can Napoli play 1b? if so done.
Rotate each of those three through his 3 positions and everyone on your roster gets 121 games, more of someone gets hurt or underperforms.
If a guy gets hurt or underperforms he’ll get fewer games but that’s expected.
At the end of the season you can see who’s hot, who’s played well etc and pick and chose who plays during the playoffs.
Jietoh - March 26, 2010
vicente padilla
Inspiring story. needs to be made into movie. contracted swine flu. released by rangers. shot in the leg in a nicaraguan prison.
Over comes all these obstacles to become the dodgers opening day starter (and staff ace!).
weep weep weep.
disney, please cash in… i cant think of a more endearing ballplayer.
clover_black - March 26, 2010
alcohol abuse to boot!
hauldog - March 26, 2010
hitting all those batters on purpose
44FAN - March 26, 2010
Posted today at FanGraphs
Organizational Rankings: Current Talent Angels
From the article (as at PDT 11:55 AM)
“Remember a few years back when Howie Kendrick and Brandon Wood were slated to be destroy the league infield,”
I suspect that will be corrected.
XYZ123 - March 26, 2010
Here is link that works.
Link
XYZ123 - March 26, 2010
It also says “Juan Rivera had a career year in 2010.”
44FAN - March 26, 2010
I dont like the 'career year' description...
It sounds like that’s the best year he’s ever going to have.
Maybe its an apt description for a guy like Hunter who’s past his prime but for a guy like Rivera or Morales who’ve never really been given a full time starting position is BS.
Jietoh - March 26, 2010
Plus he had basically the same sort of season
in 2006. We all know the story from there. Why can’t these “intelligent” baseball fans get some historical facts straight before they throw around phrases like “career year?” So frustrating.
dmhead - March 26, 2010
Once again Kevin Jepsen's not mentioned...
Lots of bullpen talk about Fuentes and Rodney but no mention of Jepsen.
You’d think that a guy with a 98 mph fastball and a plus 2 seamer who posted a sub 3.0 era after the all star break would get at least a little attention as a potential back end reliever.
Jietoh - March 26, 2010
No mention of the return of Scot Shields either.
This year could be one of the best bullpens ever.
44FAN - March 26, 2010
No mention of Saunders? WTF
hauldog - March 26, 2010
Am I the only one who believes in Aybar
As I have said in past threads (1, 2). Last year was his 1st year as a full time player & produced. He is only 25 years old, why will he not continue to improve?
Seik1177 - March 26, 2010
He probably will continue to improve.
The question is will he show some patience as a lead-off hitter? He doesn’t seem like the patient type…but maybe he will channel his inner Abreu.
sothball - March 26, 2010
I don't think he will become Figgy
I think he will become a Furcal type leadoff man. If he continues to hit for avg and adds 15 – 20 walks to his 30 he had in 2009, you’re looking at a OBP of .370-385 (too lazy to do the exact math).
Seik1177 - March 26, 2010
I am very bullshish on Aybar
I am expecting a great year
hauldog - March 26, 2010
you're correct.
but nerds who masturbate too much on baseball-reference.com don’t have a ton of foresight.
clover_black - March 26, 2010
Infallible certitude leads to
FAIL
A FanGraphs article from last year about the AL West.
XYZ123 - March 26, 2010
CLASSIC
The comments are awesome, too.
yeswecan - March 26, 2010
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Halos Heaven to post a comment.