Yardbarker: Aramis Ramirez

Bill James 2010 Projections for Cubs

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:44:58 -0500

Fangraphs is once again going to list the projections on their player pages from a variety of sources, Bill James, CHONE, Marcel....maybe more. Bill James projections are up first and here's how the Cubs ranked by wOBA and their 2009 wOBA (explanation of wOBA here). I'll try and expand when new projections are released. Age is their 2010 playing age. You can click on their names to get their full slash line predictions and more.

Player
Age
2009 wOBA
Bill James 2010 wOBA Projection
Derrek Lee
34 .412 .386 Aramis Ramirez
32
.392
.375
Jake Fox
27 .332 .375
Milton Bradley
32
.345
.365 Geovany Soto
27 .310 .362 Micah Hoffpauir
30
.315 .350 Kosuke Fukudome
33 .346 .349 Jeff Baker
29
.338 346 Alfonso Soriano 34
.314 .346 Mike Fontenot
30
.296 .334 Ryan Theriot
30
.318
.319
Sam Fuld
28
.367 .317 Tyler Colvin
24 .205 .316
Reed Johnson
33
.321 .312
Aaron Miles
33
.212
.300 Koyie Hill
31
.279
.289
Andres Blanco
26
.271 .285

For the pitchers, here's their projected ERA and FIP (explanation of FIP here).

Player
Age 2009 ERA
2009 FIP
2010 James Projected ERA
2010 James Projected FIP
Carlos Zambrano 29 3.77 3.61 3.60 3.90 Ted Lilly
34 3.10
3.65
3.76
4.30
Ryan Dempster
33
3.65
3.87
3.83
3.92
Randy Wells
27
3.05
3.88
4.16
4.10
Sean Marshall
27
4.32
4.19
4.06
4.34
Tom Gorzelanny
27 5.55
3.91
4.11 4.01 Jeff Samardzija
25 7.53
5.90
5.44
5.47
Carlos Marmol
27 3.41
4.06
3.45 4.00
John Grabow
31 3.36 4.20
4.00
4.17
Aaron Heilman
31
4.11
4.37
3.88
4.25
Angel Guzman
28
2.95 4.44 4.03
4.11

Alright, nothing too surprising in any of these numbers, although I can't tell you how much it makes my heart flutter to see the Cubs highest paid position player in the middle of the offensive pack.

Two pitchers stood out to me...Gorzelanny and Guzman. I was a bit down on Gorzelanny but his peripherals were pretty strong last year...9 K/9 rate and a 1.15 HR/9 to go with a 3.26 BB/9 rate. Definitely a legitimate 4th/5th starter candidate with an even higher ceiling considering his age and the very nice 2007 season he had. Guzman on the other hand, had a mere 6.93 K/9 rate last year with a 3.39 BB/9 rate with a miniscule .209 BABIP. A little luckier than I had previously thought, but he does keep the ball in the park and the James projections do expect an increase in his K/9 rate...although no guess on when he'll hit the disabled list.

Anyway, they're merely projections, nothing to take too seriously. They sure didn't nail Soto, Soriano or Fontenot's demise last year, so just consider it some fun off-season fodder.

Be sure you don't miss Arizona Phil's Top 15 prospect list...

What the Hell Happend with Aramis Ramirez?

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:20:54 -0500

Well, this for one: I couldn’t find a better picture of Ramirez getting injured via GIS for some reason - this just looks like Lou is blessing him. Here’s what we expected of RODRIGO! going into the season, contrasted with what we got PlayerPosPAwOBAUZR/150WAR Ramirez (ACB Average Projection) 3B 600 .378 2.2 4.1 Ramirez (Actual, as of 9/23)3B 317 .396 -6.8 2.4 Despite battling a few nagging injuries that left him day-to-day in April Ramirez was hitting the ball quite well, po...

Lee and Ramirez Drive In a Win - Cubs 10 Brewers 2

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:55:41 -0500

Game One Hundred Forty-Nine - Cubs 10 Brewers 2 WP - Tom Gorzelanny (6-2) LP - Braden Looper (13-7) Save - None According to several reports, the Cubs were very relaxed for one of the few times this season and came out swinging against Braden Looper. The Cubs scored four runs in the first inning highlighted by a two-run single by Derrek Lee and a sacrifice fly RBI in the first big league at bat by Tyler Colvin. The Cubs scored at least one run in five of the nine innings and put the g...

Aramis Ramirez Is A (Wimp)

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:58:40 -0500

Editor's Note: This post is by Dusty, but he can't figure out how to log in, so he posted it in the comments of a post below. The site then broke for 14 hours. I'm not sure these two events are unrelated. - Wrigleyville.It's been well established on this blog that my favorite Chicago Cub is Aramis Ramirez. He's essentially been my favorite Cub since he joined the team (well, ok, behind Sammy pre-cork and other issues).But enough is enough.Aramis is a *****. Plain and simpl...

Some Good News...

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:46:55 -0500

Aramis Ramirez should be able to play Friday and the Pittsburgh Pirates are coming to town...and we're on day 10,256,753(est.) of the last apocalyptic asteroid hitting the Earth.

That's all I got...hey, you get what you pay for here at TCR.

Okay fine, more ranting, raving and rumbling after the jump...

- I guess when the team is playing so bad, it's easy to set your sights elsewhere, but the guy turning himself in who threw the beer at Shane Victorino is "breaking news?" Really? Sun-Times had not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 articles (cue Feist ) on it last night.

- Justin Berg was perfectly adequate in his 2 inning major league debut last night, throwing 17 strikes on 26 pitches inducing 3 ground-balls outs including a double play with his sinker/change combo.

- The answer to the Cubs second base problem apparently is hoping that Jeff Baker stays hot. Why not?

- Somehow the writer of this "rumor" for Yahoo got "The word is that Cubs executives are not amused." and that "The rumor going around is that the team may be losing patience with Piniella, according to the Chicago Tribune." If you look at the actual Trib article, there's no mention of any Cubs executives and it's just a piece by Paul Sullivan trying to stir the pot that Lou is beginning to receive some heat, but it doesn't specify from whom and most likely he's just trying to compare it how the fans turned on Dusty Baker if you examine the quotes from players. Nothing to see here...move along.

- There was a request to create an open thread and discuss how to fix the team. Here's my take...keep Aramis healthy. The team is 26-17 when he' s played...32-38 without. In somewhat seriosness though, they'll be more time for what the Cubs should do this offseason, but if you're gonna play that game now, just try to keep in the mind the difficulty in trading players and then multiply by 1,000 when you take into account most of these guys contracts. No one is going to touch Alfonso Soriano right now, so if you think the Cubs need to move money, your best trade bets are Derrek Lee and Ted Lilly in the lasy year's of their deal or maybe Kosuke Fukudome if he keeps up the hitting the rest of the year.

- Randy Wells vs. Charlie Morton today, Tom Gorzelanny against his old teammates and Zach Duke on Saturday and Russ Ohlendorf and Rich Harden on Sunday.

Enjoy the weekend....

Ramirez Takes Cortisone Shot, Will Miss 2-3 Games

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:52:46 -0500

Once again, Bruce Levine is kicking the ass of every beat guy in town: Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez received a cortisone shot in his left shoulder on Tuesday. Ramirez, who hasn’t played since Saturday, is expected to miss the next 2-3 days. I’m going to have to defer to the medical professionals and the player here, but I still wonder what the point is of keeping Ramirez on the diamond. By his own admission, his shoulder hurts so much that he “wouldn’...

Shoulder Soreness Fells Aramis Ramirez

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:08:53 -0500

It wouldn’t be a normal day in Cubdom without an “Uh-Oh” moment. Saturday’s was a doozy: Five innings in to the second game of the Rockies series, Aramis Ramirez had to remove himself with soreness in his shoulder. Yes, the same shoulder he separated earlier this season, putting him on the DL for two months. “Today [...]

Is Aramis Ramirez Making The Difference?

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:30:53 -0500

Causation and correlation are two very different things. That said, the correlation between Aramis Ramirez returning on the July 6 and the Cubs winning - not to mention hitters hitting - is very interesting.Since July 6:The Cubs are 11-6. That's good.Aramis Ramirez is batting .293 with a .363 OBP.Alfonso Soriano is batting .404 with a .452 OBP.Milton Bradley is batting .263 with a .440 OBP.Derrek Lee (who was hitting anyway) is batting .288 with a .333 OBP (not to mention his .610 SLG).Th...

Aramis Ramirez: “I Won’t Be Looking to Hit Homers”

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:49:15 -0500

Aramis Ramirez is realistic about the kind of stick he’s swinging coming off the separated shoulder that cost him nearly two months of the season. In other words, don’t hold your breath for home run power. ”I can’t go to the plate and try to hit a home run because that ain’t going to happen,” Rammy [...]

Can he do it?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:34:37 -0500

Many uncertainties remain with four games to go until the All-Star break. However, the Cubs and their fans hope one major question will be answered ... soon. Will Aramis Ramirez be able to produce at the level he has for years coming off of a dislocated shoulder? Or will Ramirez be tossed into a shuffle of dizzying disappointments for the 2009 Cubs?

Aramis Is Back, And Nothing Has Changed

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:34:43 -0500

Here's what happened while Aramis Ramirez was broken: Chicago Cubs, May 8: 16-13, third place, 2.5 games back Chicago Cubs, July 6: 40-39, third place, 2.5 games back And Lou is feeling good: "It could have been much worse," manager Lou Piniella said. "The important thing is we're 2 1/2 games out of first place, forget what our record is. I've said all along I thought we would make a run the second half. I still feel that way." Perhaps this is the best deadli...

Ramirez Expected Back on Monday

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:17:54 -0500

According to a report from the Tribune, Aramis Ramirez is expected to back in the Cubs lineup on Monday against the Atlanta Braves. Ramirez has been out since May 8 (placed on 15-day DL on May 9)and the Cubs are 20-24 with him on the DL.

Ramirez to Begin Rehab Assignment Thursday?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:37:10 -0500

According to reports during Monday night's game, Aramis Ramirez could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Thursday. Ramirez is with the team in Pittsburgh and will continue to take batting practice throughout the series. If all goes as planned, Ramirez will go to one of the Cubs' minor league teams on Thursday while his teammates return to Chicago for a big four-game series against the Brewers.