LATEST STORIES FROM FANGRAPHS
Minimizing Risk In Atlanta
This afternoon, I mentioned that there may be an opportunity for teams to improve their rosters through diversification rather than purely pursuing upgrades. Let’s take a look at one of the specific opportunities and how this could work practically.
Atlanta, Left Field
The Braves...
Jim Thome
Despite his age, Jim Thome is still a productive hitter. But given that he can only play DH, how much is he really worth?
Detroit Tigers: Draft Review
General Manager: David Dombrowski
Farm Director: Glenn Ezell
Scouting Director: David Chadd
2006-2009 Draft Results:
First three rounds included
x- over-draft signees ($200,000+)
2009 1st Round: Jacob Turner, RHP, Missouri HS
2. Andrew Oliver, LHP, Oklahoma State
3. Wade Gaynor, 3B...
Adding Value
Free agency started 10 hours ago, and as of today, teams are free to spend money in the market to upgrade their rosters. A lot of teams will do just that, selecting from the available pool of free agents to fill holes on their roster or replace players that don’t live up to their [...]
Cubs Get Something for Heilman
Aaron Heilman joined his fourth organization in the last 12 months tonight. Last year Heilman was part of a three-way deal that landed him in Seattle. Prior to the start of the regular season he was shipped to the Cubs and today he avoided being non-tendered and was instead sent to...
What The Lincecum Vote Means
Two days ago, the BBWAA ignored win totals and gave Zack Greinke the American League Cy Young award. Today, they did it again, giving Tim Lincecum the NL version despite having only 15 victories, the fewest of any Cy Young winner in the history of the award. Despite my long-winded...
Piffle: Another Winsome Etherview with Ken Arneson
Note: While the following isn’t technically a book, it’s very close to book-length. This was unintentional. On the plus side, Ken Arneson knows how to rock the mic right.
Readers will remember Ken Arneson both/either from the etherview that appeared in these electronic...
St. Louis Cardinals: Top 10 Prospects
General Manager: John Mozeliak
Farm Director: Mike Girsch
Scouting Director: Jeff Luhnow
FanGraphs’ Top 10 Prospects
(2009 Draft Picks/International Signees Not Included)
Honestly, this is a pretty barren system, in terms of can’t-miss, impact talent… but it does...
Greinke’s Slider
Congratulations to Zack Greinke for his not only Cy Young season, but historically great season. For us here at FanGraphs it is especially nice for a stat-loving guy to win.
Greinke throws four- and two-seam fastballs, a change, a curve and a slider. A couple days ago Harry Pavlidischecked...
John Grabow Gets Paid
According to Paul Sullivan, the Cubs will announce later today that they have re-signed John Grabow to a two year contract. Previous reports have put the value of the deal at $7.5 million.
Once again, we’re witness to the power of ERA as a negotiating tool. Over the last two...
Remembering Corey Patterson’s Bright Spot
Have you ever had one of those occasions where a trip down memory lane leads to acquiring a new piece of information? As you can guess, that is exactly what happened to me yesterday. While sifting through the bargain bin — also known as the minor league free agent list – the...
The 2009 Alternate Universe Carter-Batista Award: RE24 (and Sitch?)
On the heels of the prestigious 2009 Carter-Batista Award for the player whose RBI totals most outstrip their actuall offensive contribution, we revisit the topic to see if better "situational" stats can solve the mystery of the RBI Guy.
What Mean Do You Regress Defensive Metrics To?
Jerry Crasnick has an excellent article on defensive metrics as they relate to valuing free agents, especially diving into how they affect Matt Holliday and Jason Bay. It’s no secret that, as the hosts of UZR, we’re big proponents of its usefulness. However, I still agree...
St. Louis Cardinals: Draft Review
General Manager: John Mozeliak
Farm Director: Mike Girsch
Scouting Director: Jeff Luhnow
2006-2009 Draft Results:
First three rounds included
x- over-draft signees ($200,000+)
2009 1st Round: Shelby Miller, RHP, Texas HS
2. Robert Stock, C, Southern California
3. Joe Kelly, RHP, UC...
Running the Bases – Part 3: The Laggards
Yesterday we looked at the best baserunners of the 2009 season; now let’s finish up by looking at the laggards. Again, these numbers are taken from Baseball Prospectus’ baserunning metric (EQBRR), which was created by Dan Fox. Stolen bases/caught stealing are already factored in...
R-Squared Fun with BB% and SO%
Some have expressed interest in the r-squared values for common metrics like walk and strikeout rates for starting pitchers. With that in mind I took each of the pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched in 2008-9 and ran their BB% and SO%. This gave us a sample of 92 pitchers and...
Belichick, Stats, and Authority
You may have heard that Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots, made a controversial decision in Sunday’s night nationally televised game against the Colts. I’m not going to get into the details of the play here – there are tons of football blogs...
Some Notes on the Idea of the Zone
Note: What follows contains little in the way of quantitative analysis. It does mention The Book, however, and that’s gotta count for something.
I believe the readership will agree that, of all the things that are great about wedding receptions, probably the best thing about...
Kansas City Royals: Top 10 Prospects
General Manager: Dayton Moore
Farm Director: Mike Arbuckle
Scouting Director: J.J. Picollo
FanGraphs’ Top 10 Prospects
(2009 Draft Picks/International Signees Not Included)
The system certainly has some talent brewing, but most of it lies below the double-A level, so fans are...
Free Agent Joel Pineiro
Joel Pineiro is a guy who got a lot of press this season because of his drastic shift from an ok pitch-to-contact, slight ground ball pitcher to an amazing tiny BB rate, extreme ground ball pitcher. As a free agent it is incumbent on teams examine the roots of this change as they evaluate [...]
Edwin Jackson in Control
It wasn’t too long ago that Edwin Jackson was considered a bit of a bust after failing to produce with the Los Angeles Dodgers and his early career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Through his first five minor league seasons, Jackson made 46 starts between both teams in question...
Running the Bases – Part 2
Yesterday we looked at team baserunning; now let’s take a gander at the individual leaders for the 2009 season. Again, this is taken from Baseball Prospectus’ baserunning metrics (Hip-hip hooray for Dan Fox), sans the stolen bases, which are already figured in a player’s WAR...
A Miles Pun
When the Cubs inked Aaron Miles to a two-year, $4.9M deal last off-season, I was one of the bigger critics. Miles was consistently a replacement level player with one solid season under his belt – which just so happened to be 2008 – and the Cubs had a potentially cheaper and better...
Hinske Hits the Market Again
For the third time in as many off-seasons, Eric Hinske will be able to select his next team on the free agent market. The 2002 Rookie of the Year is far removed from any shred of stardom and continues to etch out the career arch of a role player.
Hinske’s BABIP fluctuated heavily...
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