So, the Rangers are going to the World Series, but after that, then what for Jeff Francoeur? He’s going to be non-tendered. Sure, there will be the inevitable contract offer from the Royals, but he’ll want to keep his options open. What are the career options for a guy with a high school education and a slider-speed bat in this challenging economic climate?
Jeffy has his strengths: He’s tall, he has good hair, and people seem to like him. There are some traditional fields for people fitting this profile, but there are risks. He could be a television anchorman, but that may require too much reading. And he could always go into management, but that opens the deadly possibility that someone might accidentally ask him to manage something. No, I think an older, more traditional job is best for Jeff Francoeur:
Royalty.
Yes, since time immemorial, there has been a role for the big dumb good-looking guy in the field of pretending to boss people around while other people do the real work. And Jeff, as a right fielder, already knows how to stand around looking blank for any given length of time while other people perform obscure rituals in front of him. He certainly is used to all sorts of people praising him and acting like he’s something special while not doing anything. He was born to be a constitutional monarch.
Certainly, there aren’t a lot of thrones standing vacant, but maybe that’s because people aren’t trying hard enough! Any number of former Soviet republics and satellites are sitting around, with nothing much going for them. Why can’t Bulgaria, or Estonia, get a splash of glamour by bringing in the universally loved Francoeur as King Jeffrey I? Tourism could skyrocket! Sure, he won’t be able to speak the language, but that’s never been a bar, and presumably after a few decades he’d pick up a few simple phrases, like “Where’s the bathroom?” and “That‘s the bathroom?”
I wouldn’t rest on this idea, though. Rick Ankiel could be on it like a shot, and you’d definitely want to keep an eye out for Rocco Baldelli.
Watching the Yankees lose is always enjoyable, but it lacks that special something from knowing the boss was blowing a gasket while preparing to fire everyone.
HAR! Rocco Baldelli and Jeff Francouer in the same post. Wow talk about over hyped outfielders.
YAY for Texas. Glad to see the Yankees lose.
Greetings again from Amsterdam…
Thanks, Mac.
After an evening of clubbing (it’s 6 am over here), you had me lol-ing.
But really, good for the Rangers. I’m mildly fascinated that Francoeur will be playing in the WS. Hell, he could be the next Tito Landrum.
Dank u veel.
I was hoping Craig Sager would come rolling around and ask Ron Washington, “So, how does it feel to be the manager of the 2011 American League All-Star team?”
Valid question: Who gets elected U.S. Senator first? Jeff Francoeur or Lane Kiffin? Show your work.
JS deserves a full share from the Rangers.
JS deserves a full share from the Rangers.
Yeah we did all we could do, it’s not our fault they broke Salty.
I’m going to Dallas next week, I’m curious to see if any Rangers talk breaks through the usually impenetrable Cowboys talk.
Oh, and there’s really no doubt Francouer will be in broadcasting someday. Media types love him, he could probably get a job tomorrow.
Completely off topic, but here’s a little video featuring my favourite player.
“Is your son a pitcher”?
“He THINKS he is.”
“The Situation” from Jersey Shore is getting paid $5M this year.
Jeff Francoeur was paid $5M to “play baseball” this year.
Discuss.
Here’s an article on how the Giants have succeeded with “a bunch of creaky, mediocre veterans” in the sabermetric era.
The Old Ballgame
The answer: they’ve got great young, farm-grown pitching. Duh.
Yeah. The Marchman argument — that overpriced old veterans are no longer as overpriced as they used to be, because we all know they’re overpriced, and hence the market moved away from them — might have slight validity, and certainly they scored massively with Aubrey Huff, who was clearly undervalued going into the season.
But basically, they got ridiculously offensively lucky with Huff and Andres Torres, they got a major step forward from Jonathan Sanchez, and any pitching staff fronted Cain and Lincecum will win about half its games anyway.
So yeah, what Matt said. I like Marchman’s attempt to write a provocative piece. But the answer’s a whole lot simpler.
The comparison with Billy Beane and saying how the Giants are going further would probably work better if they didn’t have a $96m payroll.
See, that’s why you guys are commenting on a blog and aren’t sports writers. You and your dumb facts, and logic.
Oh, don’t get me wrong: Marchman is smarter than I am, and a better writer. His blog is great. (Nota bene: he’s liberal, and writes a lot about politics on there, with some sports and stuff thrown in.)
Excellent post. I enjoyed it… my wife gave me strange looks when I explained why I was laughing. Women.
I’ll root for the Rangers, even though Frenchy is there. Their shortstop and closer are the products of the Braves system.
Maybe John Rocker can give Frenchy a job in real estate.
God I want Eric Hinske back next year.
Despite the fact that Melky is a black hole where talent and hot dogs disappear forever, it seems like the Braves got the better end of the Vazquez-Logan for Dunn-Vizcaino-Melky trade (not to mention the extra cash they saved to pick up Hinske and Glaus).
After the way this blog erupted earlier in the year, declaring it the worst trade ever (myself included), that’s kind of a nice surprise.
I wouldn’t go that far, Rob. It’s been a very even trade so far, in that both sides lost. The Braves will win the trade if Vizcaino becomes someone useful, but we won’t know that for a few years.
It allowed us to add Glaus and Hinske, which, maybe more than Vizcaino, was the point. Yanks just went home for a lack of pitching. Braves = winners.
Do you have Prince Jeffy in a can?
The Yankees sent Cabrera, Dunn, and Vizcaino, along with 0.5 million in cash for Vazquez and Logan. This move free up 9.49 million in payroll, as Cabrera cost us 3.1 million in 2010, Vazquez earned 11.5 million this year, and Logan earned 0.59 Million for his pitching. Dunn earned a negligible amount (and I couldn’t find his earnings on Cots). So what we have is :
Yankees get:
Vazquez, 1 year
Logan, 3 years
Braves get:
Cabrera, 3 years
Dunn, 6 years
Vizcaino, 6 years
9.49 Million
If we look at the FA the Braves signed for 2010:
Billy Wagner, 1 year, 6.75 Million + 0.25 Million Buyout
Takashi Saito, 1 year, 3.25 Million
Troy Glaus, 1 year, 1.75 Million
Eric Hinske, 1 year, 1.0 Million
If we look at this trade in terms of not only the people whom we received in the trade, but also which players we were allowed to sign as a result of the additional cash, I think that its fair to say that the Braves ‘won’ (whatever that means) the trade even if Vizcaino amounts to nothing.
Does Auburn ever play on the road?
Actually, I expect Jeff to appear on Survivor–and he would not make the jury….
Not if they can avoid it, like every other team. They have 4 road games this year, same as LSU.
Oh, and go Mizzou!
@20 & 23,
Good points. And the way I see it is the Yankees don’t have Vazquez anymore (not that they’d want him after this year) and we still have two pitchers who could be anywhere from moderately useful to excellent (Vizcaino more so than Dunn). To me, that’s one of the perks of getting young players under team control for several years in exchange for elite players with less than 2 years left on their contract. It worked out pretty well for the Rangers. 🙂
Francoeur’s life expectancy, says our proverb, maybe be longer because he got blamed for what he did by mac and some on bravesjournal. hahahaha. funny post. mac , you made me laugh.
I am listening to music “you’ll see” sung by madonna. The lyric perfectly matches the both of us, francoeur and myself.
Anyway, I really envy the rangers fans.
@23 – There is no way I could ever conclude that we won a trade which involved us getting Melky.
I do envy what they have this year, and the fact that they have Lee, Feliz, Hamilton, and Andrus to go along with one of the best farm systems in baseball; but, I’m glad I’m not a Texas Rangers fan. They have been long-suffering: 4 playoff appearances in their 60 year history (3 of which occurred between 1996 and 1999 and all ended in a division series loss with a combined record of 1-9); a .471 Win Percentage through their history (27th out of 30 among active franchises); and, on a personal note, I still get a little scared every time I see Ron Washington smile.
29,
Yeah, I’m with you.
Anyway, I’ve been doing some reading in between BioChem test prep, and I really think that we are going to regret trading this Tim Collins guy.
nah, 5’7 reliever, probably not
Auburn’s defense is awful. I am too distraught to come up with something clever to say about how bad it is.
csg,
I kinda liked the last 5’something’ reliever that we had. There’s a point that you have to stop looking at his height and start looking at the fact that he’s not failed at any level he’s ever been put at.
@33, At least they are a second half team. I think they are going to win today, but as I’ve said all year, we ain’t all that.
Come on Bethany – you gotta admit that was pretty heisman-errific.
Incredible. So maybe Cam is the best player in the nation.
I’m not an Auburn expert but it seems like they’re on every weekend and so I’ve seen them play a lot, and from what I can tell it’s not that their defense is awful so much as their secondary is appalling. Why LSU isn’t trying to go downfield is beyond me.
That said, I agree with 35- no way Auburn loses this game.
desert, its more the fact that he’s just a reliever. I dont see him as a closer so he doesnt have much value IMO
I’ll ask again. Why is Fannin on the field?
Fannin strikes again
i thought you were going to say Jeffy should do porn
@ #9 – it means that it’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
I don’t know what was said at halftime, but for the moment, Auburn is playing some pretty good D.
Is there some kind of new rule where LSU gets to start every drive from the 50? Sheesh.
I blame you, Spike.
THAT’s the Auburn secondary I was talking about. Nobody back there ever turns around to find the ball.
starting field position for these two teams is unreal
@46, Many do.
Terrible officiating today.
That’s just a terrible penalty call. Newton was already all but tackled when the hold started.
Les’s voodoo is in full effect. Cam choked on that throw, but it shouldn’t have mattered.
Tip of the cap to Chizik for taking a knee instead of trying to score. Hope it doesn’t cost them in the BCS.
Whew.
Today in direct Ozzie G Twitter quotes: “Cooking some stuff from spain and watching game. my wife cook i just help”
Werth has an almost Bondsian head, doesn’t he?
So Cam Newton just set the SEC single season rushing record for a QB. Is it crazy that he did it in just 8 games?
whats crazy is that LSU gave up 440 RUSHING yards
I know its UT but Im glad to see UA throwing some passes down field. Seems like all of our throws are 10 yards or less lately
Is it crazy that he did it in just 8 games?
Isn’t it crazy that at least one person around here thinks he isn’t all that good?
Well, a quarterback who constantly runs for lots of yards isn’t necessarily good if he can’t actually throw (cough*Vick*cough). On the other hand, Auburn does keep winning against good opponents.
That’s one small swing for a man, one Giant leap toward the Series.
6 more outs. It’s almost comical how much I want the Phillies to lose this game.
Wow, Bruce Bochy.
has he thrown anything other than a change up?
Lol Victorino, you douche.
Gotta love them line drive double plays. Unless you’re Victorino, of course… which makes them that much better for the rest of us!
HA HA HA , Victorino was going on contact, HA HA HA
That was the best non-Braves moment for me this season.
Oklahoma is one of the worst teams on the road
so, once Oklahoma losses, this is your top 10 IMO
1. Oregon
2. Auburn
3. Boise St
4. TCU
5. Missouri
6. Alabama
7. MSU
8. Utah
9. LSU
10. Oklahoma
do you PH for Wilson with the bases loaded 2 outs bottom 8?
No.
Auburn only has 4 road games this year?
really?
I really want to see a lot of upset Philly fans and Utley striking out to end their season
nice Wilson, way to make it hard on yourself
Howard’s first RBI… coming right up.
bye bye Phils
that was a late call, but an exuberant one
Giants win! More importantly, Phillies suck!
does that remind anyone of Carlos Beltran ending the Mets hopes with his bat on his shoulder?
wow. Giants vs. Rangers. Just how they drew it up.
And the Braves had so many chances against them…
That was fantastic.
Great. Take that, Phillies!
for the record, I would have taken Francoeur over any of the stiffs we ran out into LF this year…
Phillies suck!
@74 You mean, just like Alabama last year? Ok, they did have the game in Atlanta.
Florida also only had 4 road games last year.
The Phillies are going through the exact same path as we did after we won our World Series in 95. The Phillies have peaked.
@84 No, I would rather we don’t have a leftfielder than to throw Frenchy out there.
everyone knows how UA and AU set their schedules. Its good one year and brutal the next. Alabama probably has the toughest schedule this year of any team that I can remember. Six straight SEC teams after their BYE week.
Commando Cody, your NLCS MVP. Welcome to our pain.
Brian Wilson is a weird guy
Reporter – Hey Brian, CJ Wilson just tweeted, “See your beard real soon.”
Brian – Sounds delicious
Alabama moves back into Top 5 imo. Wish they could switch schedules with BSU. I’m all for giving everybody credit for being undefeated, but when your signature win is against an ACC team that lost to an FCS team, you don’t deserve to be ahead of a 1-loss team with Alabama’s schedule. Especially not when counting for bye weeks. If TPTB could figure out a way to have all 12 of Alabama’s opponents coming off of bye weeks, I think they would.
But then again I’m biased.
Insert playoff rant here.
@92 Don’t worry, Alabama will win out and I’m sure they’ll get to play in the NC game. Which they will win.
Dutch drunk chow (Belgian fries, actually) and deflated Phillies fans make for a great bedtime present. Giants-Rangers, how weird…
Go Dogs.
Not sure if there are any MMA fans here, but Brock Lesnar just got his ass kicked.
How far did Uribe’s HR travel? I couldn’t believe it went out when he hit it.
@86-
Florida had 4 road games, but only if you don’t count the Georgia game, which isn’t exactly a home game, either.
Welcome to Fox’s worst nightmare, the worst possible World Series matchup for ratings since the St. Louis Cardinals played the Detroit Tigers. Really, I couldn’t be happier.
Dallas and SF are the 5th and 6th largest TV media markets in the country.
@99 If Dallas and SF are combined, is the combined market still smaller than NYC?
I’m pretty sure that Minnesota-Cincinnati would have been Fox’s worst nightmare. Dallas and SF are pretty big markets–not much smaller than Philadelphia, right?–and there are many baseball fans that will tune in to watch two cities that have never won a WS. If FOX advertises it right, and they probably will, they can garner a better than expected viewership.
My three thoughts about the world series:
I love that Arod and Howard each struck out looking to end their games, and their seasons.
(There’s an article to be written where Neftali Feliz serves as the symbol of the Rangers shift in organization philosophy, and Arod serves as the symbol of their failed philosophy. Mark Texeira’s in there somewhere.)
I love that the final blow against the Phillies was a wall-scraper that would be probably be an out in 27 of 30 ball parks.
Finally, hopefully this means the Giants will keep Brian Sabean around.
It IS funny that the guys with the two worst contracts in baseball struck out looking to lose their respective pennants.
I dunno that ARod’s is so bad. At least he’s the best player in the league at his position by a huge margin.
Dancing on the Phillies’ grave is big fun.
Can we now say they have peaked and are descending down the age and talent curve to their historic level of suckitude?
At least he’s the best player in the league at his position by a huge margin.
I dunno about huge. Longoria is pretty much right there with him.
While the Bay Area and Dallas might be decent tv markets, neither team has a national profile. Don’t get me wrong, when the Braves bid adios, this was the match-up I was hoping for, I just can’t imagine that they’ll be many viewers. Not only do the Yankees insure huge ratings on the East Coast, they have a number of fans throughout the country, and a whole lot of people that would tune in to root against them. Fox has to be pissed off with this match-up, although I would agree Minnesota or Tampa against Cincy would have been their most dreaded combination.
#105, not least because they don’t actually have a decent right handed bat now.
@105
Dancing on the Phillies’ grave is even bigger fun when you live in the Philly area. I’m going to enjoy pointing out that having pitching studs does not guarantee success in the postseason–something we Braves fans know all too well. I’m also going to love suggesting that the baseball gods are rebuking Philly nation for rivaling Red Sox and Yankees fans in douchiness.
Does anyone know where I can find an ASCII code for a backwards K?
All Arod did was turn in the of the all-time greatest seasons by a shortstop in Texas. I can certainly see why he’s a symbol of failure.
Remy,
You could ask Melky Cabrera, I’m sure he knows.
There is no ASCII for a backwards K.
#113
Thanks.
@112 LOL!!
To Mac’s point, I wouldn’t leave out England. With their new austerity measures they’ve got to cut payroll. Their current Royalty are getting old and have a burdensome deal from the country. Also, have they done anything since the Hundred Year’s War? And they didn’t even win that series.
I think they trade the Royalty to an up and comer like India. Obviously there’s bad blood there, but if the English royalty is willing to accept a reduced role I think that gets resolved and they can offer some veteran leadership for a could-be superpower.
Then Jeffy, out of options, takes a one year, one million dollar deal, tries not to burn down Buckingham, mention the food, and works to play down “The Frenchy” issue by head-butting Zidane during a photo-op, and talking about how much he’d rather bang Posh Spice instead of Carla Bruni. Also, no matter how much people want a good laugh he CANNOT play cricket. If he keeps his head down I think they sign him to a three-year deal where he only has to pay utilities in exchange for walking the corgis.
Also, no matter how much people want a good laugh he CANNOT been seen playing cricket.
That’s how much he shouldn’t play cricket. I had to mention it twice and give it its own post.
If on-wicket percentage was so important, they would put it on the scoreboard.
The last thing you wanna do in cricket is hit the wickets, since it kills every rally.
Actually Frenchy might be ok at cricket. You can’t strike out, there’s no penalty for swinging and missing balls outside the strike zone, and ground balls rarely result in an out.
(nevermind)
Huh? They have $38 million committed to those three. $15 million for Lowe, $14 million for Chipper, and $9 million for Hudson.
It’s a lot — but it’s not nearly that much.
My mistake. I knew something didn’t sound right after I posted that.
“I dunno that ARod’s is so bad. At least he’s the best player in the league at his position by a huge margin.”
In 2007, sure. Not in 2010.
A-Rod: .363 wOBA
Longoria: .376 wOBA
Zimmerman: .389 wOBA
And the other two are much better defensively right now. This year, too, Beltre had a much better season. A-Rod was about on part with Wright and Rolen.
Then, think about this: Alex Rodriguez has 7 years, $174 Million left on his deal.
@107
If that’s the case, then there’s only like five teams that would make the networks happy, in which case, why is this a constant topic of discussion every year?
Also, Philadelphia is not a traditional marketable baseball team. It is right now because they’re one of the powers of the day,
Anyway, Texas-San Francisco is a good matchup I don’t know why any baseball fan wouldn’t be intrigued by it.
Fair enough, Adam. But just looking at this year is a bit deceiving. I don’t think Rodriguez has an .850 OPS for the next few years. More likely he bounces back to .900-.950, which puts him in the upper teir. It was an exageration to say he’s better “by a huge margin”, but he’s in the same class as the other two, and Zimmerman and Longoria aren’t going to be available as free agents for a good long while. Anyhow, ARod’s the type of player who will probably still be useful when he’s 41, so if you’re going to give a player the kind of contract that ARod’s got, he’s the kind of player you want to give it to.
On Rodriquez,
There’s a clause in his contract that says that he must be the highest payed player in baseball (no joke) by at least 1 million (or so I have read somewhere). Which raises an interesting question: Where is Pujols going to be Opening Day 2012? Boston’s got Papelbon (9.350 Million this year, entering Arb 3), Drew (14.000 Million), and Mike Cameron (7.750 Million) coming off the books after 2011, and a “dire need for offense” (compared to New York, anyway) after the results this year. They also have an opening at 1B, I think.
Pujols, a Red Sox?
Also, I don’t understand why in the world the Yankees gave him an even bigger contract. The guy opts out of what was considered at the time one of the most high-risk contracts in baseball (at the time, even more so now), and your response is to welcome him back with an even bigger contract? I could understand this if you were any other team, as the risk of the Yankees poaching him away with an even larger contract is always there, but you are the Yankees. The Yankees can’t overpay and steal your own players.
In retrospect, they did just that.
A-Rod’s still terrific, but he’s slowing down. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him start falling off. Perhaps not at Chipper pace, but little by little. I don’t see him improving.
The Yanks signed him to that deal at a time when they wanted to celebrate (and further monetize) his next few HR marks. The Yanks can do these things, crazy as it seems to the rest of the civilized world.
Of course, a funny little SI story happened on the way to the bank…
Six straight SEC teams after their BYE week
Only an SEC fan would think it’s something to play six conference games in a row. Hilarious.
Also amusing that some are just figuring out the SEC teams never go on the road. The next revelation: The out of conference schedules are often times less than challenging. Except for Tennessee who gets spanked every year and I can only assume is being fined by the league for hurting their talking points.
If we look at the FA the Braves signed for 2010:
Billy Wagner, 1 year, 6.75 Million + 0.25 Million Buyout
Takashi Saito, 1 year, 3.25 Million
Troy Glaus, 1 year, 1.75 Million
Eric Hinske, 1 year, 1.0 Million
If we look at this trade in terms of not only the people whom we received in the trade, but also which players we were allowed to sign as a result of the additional cash, I think that its fair to say that the Braves ‘won’ (whatever that means) the trade even if Vizcaino amounts to nothing.
Wait, I thought the Wagner signing allowed us to win the Soriano trade in which we received nothing in return? It also allows us to win the Vasquez trade in which we received nothing in return? Wow, Wren really is a great GM. Despite never trading for anything of value he still wins every trade. Amazing!
@131 And the best representative from the Pac-10 has beaten all of one top-25 opponent. Super tough scheduling out west.
131—I believe the point is that they face 6 straight opponents who are coming off bye weeks prior to having to play Bama.
Still, the idea that the league is out to get Bama is, of course, laughable on its face.
It’s pretty cool to be Bangie Molina now. Didn’t know he would get a ring either way.
131,
Or could you look look at it as the Soriano signing allowed us to sign Wagner, and the trade of Vazquez allowed us to get Saito, Glaus, and Hinske, or sign Tim Hudson (who was technically a FA and given a 3/28 deal). But that would require an open attitude about our finances and ability to sign players, not to mention certain amount of respect for our GM, who probably knows a little more about the ins and outs baseball than anybody on this blog. But it’s painfully clear that you apparently lack both.
131 – SEC plays 8 conference games – 4 on the road and 4 at home. This alternates each year. Most SEC teams are playing at least 1 big name opponent out of conference and 3 cupcakes – the “big name” is usually home and away. UT-Oregon, Auburn-Clemson, Ala-Penn State, Florida-Miami & FSU, … Ala plays 5 road games – Duke, Ark, S. Carolina, UT, LSU. Considering the toughness of the SEC, I think the above arrangement is reasonable.
Other than Oregon, UT plays UT-Martin, UAB and Memphis, with Memphis being on the road. I’ll give UT credit for playing Oregon, but when the schedule was made, I don’t think anyone knew Oregon would be this good. All in all, UT’s schedule is not much more difficult than most other SEC teams, but Oregon does bump up their strength of schedule. Playing Oregon, Florida, Alabama, Ole Miss and Kentucky at home is a nice benefit for UT, but that will change next year.
#131 – Robert, read the post again. You missed the point. Playing any 6 teams that are coming off their bye is a tough schedule.
And nowhere did I say that the SEC is out to get Bama
137—See 92. That’s what I was referring to.
@5
If it is in Tennessee, Jeff Francoeur. I don’t think Kiffin would live past his second campaign stop.
td,
Tennessee usually plays a pretty decent schedule. This was the first year we played a 1-AA scholl in a long time. We dropped Carolina next year, and that was kind of weak I thought, but I am referring to this as the ‘Dark Ages’for Tennessee athletics.
The basketball team should be really good, but Bruce might be gone after the season. So they better win big this year, because then it will be back to suckatude.
Mac,
Wait til next year, we are going to win the first half!
(UT football, home of moral victories)
And then, if you must attempt to evaluate Div. 1 college football teams via polls & computers (a fools’ errand, IMO), there’s the matter of the SEC title game, which comes one week after the season ends. It’s no small matter.
I like the idea of Boise State as much as anyone and they might be as good as anyone—who the hell really knows?—but you can’t point to their schedule and feel genuine confidence about it.
Again, we need a playoff to really know anything. Our current system remains idiotic.
On a real homer note: Although I hope UGA knocks the Plainsmen from the ranks of the undefeated, I gotta say that Auburn has been the funnest league team to watch this year.
This is interesting:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-molina102410
question – lets say for arguments sake that Oregon loses to USC, Mich St loses to Iowa, Missouri loses to Nebraska, and Bama wins out. You’ll have these 1 loss teams….Oregon, Oklahoma, Auburn, Alabama, Missouri, Mich St, Ohio St and then you’ll have two unbeatens in BSU and TCU.
What happens?
Bama plays Boise under that scenario.
It’s what I predict will happen, btw.
Washaun Ealey for Heisman! FIVE touchdowns against our defense. They don’t call them “The Starmakers” for nothing.
The schools should not have any say in making any part of their schedule. Every school should have six home games and six road games every single year. There are 120 FBS schools and they should ALL be playing each other and not FCS schools.
The NCAA should randomly select everybody’s non conference schedule. You just cannot trust the schools to do it.
Uh…no.
@116,
Frankly, I think you are undervaluing the English Royalty. They did manage to win burn down the White House, defeat Napoleon, and end the slave trade. I think they have a pretty good OBP, even though, as they age, they can’t hit a fastball.
True, they had problems with marrying a commoner and sympathizing with the Nazis, but Jeff would probably do the same thing. If someone talked about the Nazis, Jeff would probably think they were talking about a Nasty pitcher.
I saw “Inside Job”, a documentary about the financial meltdown and one of the economists that figured prominently was named Glenn Hubbard, who had been Bush’s chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Now, if he was doing that in addition to coaching the Braves infielders, no wonder they had trouble. I suspect our Glenn Hubbard would have done a better job with the economy.
Why not Stu? All I hear is look at their schedules. You have to look at their body of work. Schools like Boise State, TCU, and Utah have no control of how shitty their conference schedule is. They try as hard as they can to make their non confernce schedule more attractive. Utah shouldn’t have to worry because they will be in the PAC 10 next year.
There are way too many intentional cupcake non conference schedules out there. If anything lets just get rid of playing the FCS schools. There is no reason for it.
@149, first of all, money. Schools scheduling, both where they play and who, is of enormous value. Somebody like LA Tech, for example, or McNeese State, funds a heck of a lot of their annual budget by being a sacrificial lamb a couple of times a year. Second of all, most schools have the vast majority of their schedule derived from their conference, which they do not control. There are only 4 chances a year to have these big non-conf games you want. Third, why the heck should Auburn or LSU give Boise a game in the first place? They have tough enough conference schedules without letting Boise get to go all in for one game without facing tough competition for the rest of the season. Let them get their own conference up to speed first.
To be sure, British royalty had a few good seasons there. But they were always an Old Player Skills country, and now diminished returns have decidedly set in. In a close game, you have to take them out for a defensive replacement, and they really don’t have the bat speed to catch up to a good high fastball. They’re mostly getting by on their superb batting eye and the umpires giving them all the close calls.
I just don’t see how it’s a good thing for any sport to have some teams have 8 home games, some 7, and some 6. It seems like that’s one step you could easily take to make comparing ANY school’s schedule Power conference or Non AQ easier. I mean I’m sorry if I’m in the minority here, but it just makes no sense to me. Michigan State is a perfect example. No leaving the state of Michigan for their first 7 games. That’s pathetic.
I know ububba says it all the time. Until we have a playoff the idea of polls and the BCS means nothing. It’s true. All we have is the eye test. What we see each week on the field. Has anybody watched Boise State, TCU, or Utah play? Any three of those schools look every bit as good as Auburn, Oregon, Michigan State, Missouri, or Alabama. Boise State went to Eugene in 2008 and beat Oregon and beat them again in Boise last year. Chris Peterson is 55-4 since he took over at Boise. If this isn’t the year that a non AQ gets to play in the championship game, then when is it going to be?
That TCU vs Utah game on Nov 6 is huge. Anybody think Gameday will choose to visit Salt Lake City for it?
what Boise did in 2008 has no bearing on their 2010 outcome. What I am noticing is that Wyoming, Toledo, San Jose St, La Tech, Idaho, Hawaii, and Utah st makes up a very crappy schedule. There is a reason why we dont get to see them. Why would a TV network want to show Boise St play Wyoming? Im not saying its their fault and they do have two decent wins against VA Tech and Oregon St, but cmon, its weak. They are a good team and Im not trying to take anything away from what theyve done in the past. Its hard to take any team serious that plays cupcake matchups and gets to rest their starters after halftime each week. Good for them though, they are taking advantage of it
Alright, one of my friends had the following idea for College Football.
There are 120 teams in the FBS, correct? Invite 8 more teams from Div II to the FBS. Take the average records of each team over the last 20 years and give them a ranking based on that. Then, create 16 conferences of 8 teams based on the ranking (1 and 128 in same conference, 2 and 127, continued). Create a 9 game schedule, with 7 conference games (each team playing one another every year), and 2 non-conference games to preserve rivalries (not because it makes sense, but because college football is not going to get rid of the idea of rivalry games). End of season conference rankings are determined solely by conference record, followed by head to head season record, followed by inter-conference point differential.
Each winner of the 16 conferences is then placed into a playoff picture with random match-ups (determined by some lottery-style system- 16 balls into the machine, first two that pop out are first matchup, etc.). Bowl games are kept as playoff matches, with each bowl site far enough away from the two schools so to insure that there is no concern of home-field advantage.
Teams that don’t win their conferences are still bowl eligible as 6 game winners.
To be the national champions, you have to be the best team in your conference, and you have to beat the conference winners. True National Champions.
Thoughts?
csg,
You have to consider that nobody wants to play Boise State, either. I think that after 2008, they issued a challenge to any team in the nation to play them. If you’re an SEC team, why would you take the risk of adding a dangerous team to your schedule when you already have a killer conference schedule.
Nobody is going to play Boise. If you, as an extremely large Division-I school, plays and beats Boise, nobody is going to give you credit because you were supposed to beat them. If you lose, people start thinking that you are overrated because you lost to a “bad” team. Its a no-win situation, nobody agrees to play Boise or TCU or Utah, and they get stuck with the reputation that they can’t beat large schools. They can, they just needed to be given the chance.
I hate to say it, but until/unless these teams join a big-time conference, or get their own regarded as one, to where they are lining up against a high standard of opposition week in and out, it is very difficult to give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s not there fault, but it’s there nonetheless. The schools in tough conferences aren’t interested in making their season any tougher.
Game Day has gone to Boise, by the way.
I am all for a playoff, but Cory, why shouldn’t a school be able to play a 1-AA school? I went to UTC and thanks to Auburn (who we will up set next week)we get to have a football program because they are going to pay us to be home comming bait. Everyonce in a while these small schools jump up and beat the Ole Miss’s and Miss St’s of the world.
If Boise wants to be taken serious, they have to do what schools like Florida State did, go on the road and beat some ass. They did that with Va Tech, props to them, but it is going to take even more. Eventually, they will get their shot, it might be this year, it might be in five years. As long as they keep winning, eventually it will come.
However, I think they would be a mediocore Big Ten team.
I’d also like to remind you of Appy State.
spike, you are right.
#160 – these small schools play these big games to get publicity and big paychecks. Appy St got their name on the map, tv coverage, a huge win, and $400K. Pretty good day…
162,
Just like my Mighty Mocs will next weekend.
JC on Bloomberg radio right now! http://www.bloomberg.com/radio
From a Philly writer’s column about potential off-season decisions for the NLCS losers, specifically who will be signed to take Werth’s spot:
“Also keep an eye on Texas’ Jeff Francoeur and Atlanta’s Matt Diaz, both of whom could become free agents if they are not tendered contracts.”
In response to the first suggestion, I shout, “YYYYYEEEEESSSSSSSS!” and in response to the second I gasp, shudder, stutter, and faint . . .
Didn’t UGA beat the tar out of Boise St. a few years ago?
EDIT- after performing a simple Google search, I see that UGA did beat them 48-13 in 2005. Perhaps this could be viewed as outside of the “modern” state of parity in college football and has no bearing on this discussion. Proceed.
I think England has got to move the Royalty. They stopped contributing long ago and are just being kept around to bring in nostalgic fans. 1812 was a wash at best. I’ll give them Waterloo, but that’s Napoleon AFTER exile, with diminished skills, no fastball and a shot arm. He was NY Mets Glavine at that point. Belgium Royalty would have hit him.
They can’t upgrade in a trade with just the Royalty to offer. It’s salary relief and then use the Glaus/Garret strategy of hoping to catch lightening in a bottle. Also, major cuts in health care, pension programs, education. This is a shell-shocked team on a losing streak. What do they need now??
CLUBHOUSE CHEMISTRY. Jeffy’s going to keep the country loose, go on the telly and exude misplaced confidence and an unrealistic sense of his own capabilities. In short he’s going to get all American on the sceptred isle. It’s just stupid not to do this deal. Hopefully the prime minister is made of tough stuff and can take the uproar about moving a beloved old-timer past its primer. Jeffy’s in purple ropes by Christmas and Duke Melky is right behind him. They are really out of options over there.
“The Situation” from Jersey Shore is getting paid $5M this year.
Jeff Francoeur was paid $5M to “play baseball” this year.
Discuss.
Sorry, I’m too depressed after thinking of my own salary. I can’t imagine I’ll earn $5MM during my whole career. And I’m actually GOOD at my job.
In all fairness to “The Situation”, I don’t know if he is good at his job or not, as I have never watched one second of Jersey Shore. But I have a strong feeling about it…
Michael,
Yeah. September 3rd, 2005.
@168 His job is to act out the worst of human nature so we can gawk and feel superior. You can argue that it shouldn’t be a job in the first place, but as illiterate bozos with no self-respect go he’s money. He’s Cliff Lee.
well the worst player in baseball made $3.1mil last season and he was a Brave…key word…”was”
Jason C… yeah I’ve never watched any of the show, but just seeing adverts and outtakes is enough to tell me more than all I need to know about it. And yes… those are very depressing figures.
What I wonder about re: Frenchy (and other guys who may not have a long MLB career) is not that he’ll “be out of baseball” in 2 years… but how long he’ll hang on in the minors if he doesn’t stick with a big league team. In theory, an AAA player can still make a living playing ball, and if he gets a September call-up every couple seasons as a 5th outfielder he could still be playing pro-ball when he’s in his mid-30s… Granted, if he’s been smart with his money (he has made about $10M so far hasn’t he?… and half of that not with the Braves) I could see not playing AAA for $60K a year… then again, what else is he going to do?
To Mark’s comment… would Frenchy do semi-OK in the Phil’s park? A lot of long fly-balls turn into HRs there don’t they? He’d have to make actual contact, but a bandbox home park could buy him some more MLB service time.
You’re not making me feel any better about my profession of choice…
Frenchy is still useful against LHP. Its up to teams to figure that out and use him as a bench/platoon player.
Frenchy’s future rests on two things: either someone being dumb enough to pay him 5m to be the short side of a platoon, or frenchy’s willingness to accept a good bit less.
@173. Staying consistently mockable with an utter lack of self-awareness is harder than it looks. The kids got natural talent.
@173 In that way there’s not much difference between Francoeur and The Situation. Apparently the going rate for Consistently Mockable/No Self-Awareness is $5 million. The market knows best I guess.
It seems to me that teams thought Frenchy is young and he just needs ABs and he would get better. However, he isn’t 22 anymore and has shown he is only a platoon/ 4th OF at best.
http://ithaca.craigslist.org/clt/2022520213.html
My brother posted this on my facebook page as “What a waste of a perfectly good baseball.”
Cashman drops a bomb- New York Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland fired after disappointing loss in American League championship series
Watch him hit a walk off homer with 2 outs in the 9th to win the series.
Maybe being lucky is better than being good.
Just-for-Fun Dept.:
Jeff Francoeur in 2010 vs SF Giants NLCS pitching staff: 1 for 21, 0 BB, 9 K
His one hit was a single off Lincecum, accounting for a tidy 048/048/048 line.
Jeff Francoeur career vs SF Giants NLCS pitching staff: 7 for 62, 2 BB, 16 K
That’s 6 singles & a HR off Lincecum, so… 113/141/161.
And before anyone thinks Frenchy owns The Freak, here’s his line vs Lincecum: 3 for 16, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 HR (188/235/375)
BTW, he’s 0 for 8 vs Brian Wilson with 2 K, 0 BB
So, yeah, ol’ Blackbeard will probably groove him a first-pitch heater & we’ll never hear the end of it.
@180, Yeah – Burnette and Hughes’ ALCS performance are totally his fault.
Eiland missed a chunk of this season with an undisclosed “personal issue.”
I’d guess that could have something to do with it.
I’m listening to a radio interview with Girardi right now. Maybe he’ll say something about it.
EDIT: Girardi’s deferring to “a Cashman decision” because “right now I don’t have a contract.” A little dart & dash, but whatever.
The Yankees certainly have the resources to address it, but they are really getting old.
They’re going to have to resign Jeter. A-Rod seems to be missing his youth juice and Posada, Pettite and Mariano are nearly as old as the youngest women at Johnny’s Hideaway.
Their pitching staff was shockingly thin for a team with a $200 million payroll. (They’ll probably fix that with Cliff Lee but if Pettite retires, have they upgraded enough?)
And Joba is just a bust. It’s ok with me if they want to live in Joba-denial, but it’s plain for everyone to see.
And the RedSox aren’t just going to sit there.
Should be an interesting off-season …
My complaint with FBS football is what it has always been: How can you have a Division of Sports where literally half of the 120 participants have zero chance of even playing for a title at the start of each year? Temple could win every game on the schedule 60-0 and not even play for the title. Why are divisions like the MAC even in FBS anyway? Even if they add an 8-team playoff, it still isn’t credible to me until those smaller conferences get a least a shot at a bid. I prefer a 16 team playoff with autobids for each conferences but maybe you’d have to have the winners of two of the minor conferences play for a bid (don’t know how many conferences there are).
from mlbtr…regarding available CFers:
“Should the Yankees or Red Sox win the bidding for Crawford, a center fielder could become available. The Sox have Mike Cameron ($7.25MM for ’11) and Jacoby Ellsbury (team control through ’13), while the Yankees have Curtis Granderson ($20.25MM through ’12) and Brett Gardner (team control through ’14).”
yes, please. any of the above, wren!
Has anyone else noticed that Freeman seems to have a pretty pronounced adjustment period? Not sure if the stats back me up but going from memory, he seems to be dreadfully cold at the start of each level and then catches fire after a couple of months. I expected him to struggle in the majors just because it seemed to be his pattern, but if the pattern holds, we could be in for a treat around when May rolls around (assuming the Braves exercise parience).
Apparently Dooley just compared the Vols to the Germans at Normandy. This really is the golden age of UT athletics. But at least we get this amusing tweet:
jdubs88 John Walters
by jppalm
What Dooley failed to mention is that Germans actually had 13 divisions of men on Omaha Beach even tho they were only supposed to have 11.
http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=atl
matt young loves fall ball…
and the braves have signed an independent leaguer. anyone know anything about this kid? seems fairly interesting..
he had a pretty incredible line this year for the independent league: 388 abs 80bb 15hr 99rbi .381 avg .994ops
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=garcia002chr
Is that their second indie league signing this offseason? I feel like I heard about one a few weeks ago, but I don’t recall his name.
#191 – same one, I posted that about a week or so ago. Its too bad he plays 1B, but I could see them placing him at AA ball next season
Dusty, that’s certainly true to some extent. After killing high-A ball in 2009, he had a rough time of it after a late-season promotion to AA — that’s why the AAA promotion at the beginning of 2010 seemed so aggressive. And he started a bit cold before catching fire.
I wish I could consult minor league gamelogs. It sucks so hard that minorleaguesplits.com is down.
@190, something is weird about this – how did that guy ever get kicked out of the minors twice after hitting the crap out of the ball each time?
Best I can find is his wOBA by month for AAA
Apr .332
May .310
June .386
July .405
Aug .442
AAR – this is the most I could find also
on April 22, 2010
F. Freeman 2-4, HR (1), 2 RBI, .200
Freddie Freeman hit his first AAA home run and man it was a bomb shot. He also added a single, raising his average up to the Mendoza line.
Question: Is anyone doing a Fantasy NBA league? I’d love to do one but no one I know is in one.
more…
After struggling through the first few months of this season at Triple-A Gwinnett, hitting a mediocre .258 in April and May, Freeman has improved his average every month:
Month June July August
Batting Average .318 .333 .458
All together, Freeman currently sits at .306/.368/.508 with 15 HR and 71 RBI on the year.
#Tim Hudson was named MLB Players Choice award winner for Comeback Player of the Year in NL 48 min ago…
congrats Tim, well deserved
YankeeTalk on the Radio:
Yank GM Brian Cashman on dumping pitching coach Dave Eiland: “It’s my decision and the reason is private, but this is in no way a situation of trying to find a scapegoat for the ALCS. It’s a private reason.”
The Yanks believe they have to address the left side of their infield. The talk is that they could move Jeter to LF or 3B, and A-Rod could become the semi-permanent DH. Playing in the field, it’s thought, will wear down A-Rod much further & much quicker.
Posada will continue to be an issue, in terms of how many games he’ll really catch, especially if A-Rod becomes the new Edgar Martinez.
Cashman on WFAN today: “The shortstop we’ll have to have a discussion with, catcher, too.”
On making changes, like possibly moving Jeter & A-Rod: “We perhaps won’t make our fanbase happy, but we’ll be better for it. We replaced Damon in CF, a very popular player, with guys who were younger and more athletic. We were better for it. We’re not afraid to do it again.”
FWIW, Cashman said he wouldn’t pick up the option on Kerry Wood.
Also, he said that if the ALDS had gone to Game 5, he didn’t think Pettitte could’ve taken his turn. He pitched well in his 2 post-season outings, but he had 11 days between post-season starts.
DOB…
♣ Hitting coach update: The Braves are being particularly tight-lipped about their search, not providing so much as a rough number of finalists for the position or when it might be filled.
Don Baylor is/was a name that’s popped up in a several discussions I had with a people since the Braves’ job opened when Terry Pendleton was reassigned to first-base coach and infield instructor (Glenn Hubbard was let go by the Braves, along with bench coach Chino Cadahia). However, it looks like Baylor is taking the Arizona hitting coach job.
DOB goes on to talk about a package that could land Rasmus. His guess – Kimbrel, Vizcaino, and Prado (I’d much rather include Omar)
he also states that 2-5 Japanese teams have called about trading/receiving KK in a deal
Dusty, I actually joined a random league with people I don’t know a few days ago because I was bored. I’ve never played before, and I’ve heard it’s pretty lame, but I’m going to give it a whirl anyhow. I wish that I had joined a head to head league instead of roto. The level of variation in terms of per game stats will become so minute when spread out over 13 players and an entire season. It seems like a weekly head to head league with ROTO scoring may be the way to go.
197 & 203—I’m in one with Peter, and this will be my first time since the early 2000s. It will surely end in embarrassing fashion.
Kimbrel, Vizcaino, and Prado
Pass, too high.
I guess I may just look for a head-to-head league on yahoo that drafts tonight. Have only done one before and it’s been a while.
Yeah, anything that includes a starting position player is, in my opinion, too high.
Randall Delgado, Venters, and McLouth?
#205
Agree.
Kinda crazy, if you ask me.
Joined one called NBA Union on Yahoo drafts at 7:00 ESt tonight id 75570 if anyone is interested I think there’s still a couple of spots.
I agree. We need to trade from our pitcing depth to get more offense. Prado is our best RH in the lineup. Trading your best hitter to try and improve the offense, may not be a good strategy.
“We perhaps won’t make our fanbase happy, but we’ll be better for it. We replaced Damon in CF, a very popular player, with guys who were younger and more athletic. We were better for it. We’re not afraid to do it again.”
Well Arod is pretty close to untradeable, unless they are willing to eat a huge chunk of change. If I were Jeter, I don’t think I’d like the sound of that.
Neither Jeter nor A-Rod are going anywhere, but for different reasons.
@202, I am no fan, but I think you might have misread DOB a hair –
“What would it take for the Braves to get him? Start with a package that might include future closer Craig Kimbrel, and perhaps pitching prospect Arodys Vizcaino as well. OR the Cardinals could look to upgrade their infield by asking the Braves for a package that includes Martin Prado (they’d still probably want a top young pitcher in an expanded type of deal like that).”
(emphasis mine)
Sounds like Vizcaino/Kimbrel OR a package centered around Prado
spike, thanks for pointing that out. I guess I did
still I dont see how trading our best RH hitter to upgrade in CF is going to help this team. Its a highly unlikely deal, but the braves have to deal pitching to improve their offense. Trading Prado doesnt solve anything
We can’t deal Prado as we’d be too lefty heavy.
I’d go with Kimbrel, Vizcaino/Delgado, Infante.
95 world series on classic
Eephus Cigar boxes, just because. This project has been so much fun.
http://eephusleague.com/cigar1.jpg
http://eephusleague.com/cigar2.jpg
http://eephusleague.com/cigar3.jpg
Freeman done with AFL play.
Would it be wrong if the Giants got together and sent Josh Hamilton a few cases of Vodka? If I was a Giant I would definitely suggest this.
The zippo is happenin’ Bethany.
Would it be wrong if the Rangers got together and sent Tim Lincecum a few ounces of medicinal marijuana?
@221 That might make him better.
Thanks Spike!
Supposedly, Doc Ellis pitched a no-hitter while on cocaine.
I think UT is more like the Germans at Stalingrad.
It wasn’t cocaine. I don’t think this can be posted enough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14
Atlanta Braves
Signed: RHP Wes Alsup (Joliet (Northern)), LHP Nick Lobanov
from baseball america (regarding 2 more guys we signed from the independent leagues):
“A Tennessee-Martin product, Wes Alsup signed on with Joliet of the independent Northern League after finishing school. He struck out 21 and walked 19 over 26 1/3 innings for the JackHammers, finishing with a 2.05 ERA in 22 relief appearances.
The Twins released Nikolay Alekseyevich Lobanov, a 21-year-old Moscow native, in spring training ’09 and he hasn’t pitched in affiliated ball in the past two years.”
WE SIGNED A RUSSIAN…YAY!
Francoeur sucks.
other than the pitchers that probably wont amount to anything, the braves players represented in winter ball are playing pretty well. i’m glad to see harrilchak, young, and pastornicky raking, and gearrin is apparently lights out right now.
http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=atl
@223, it was LSD and the Vols are more like the Iraqi Army, at least the Germans won some battles.
@225 Can they bat with hockey stick?
#228
The Germans had better uniforms, though. 😉
whats the story on Timmons? The guy posted .400OBP’s in Gwinnett the last two years. He’s a RH bat with a little bit of speed. He’s also 30, but anyone that walks twice as much as he K’s and seems like he fits the Braves philosophy. Was he invited to ST last season?
@230,
While I love the UT unis, there is no doubt the German Army in WWII was the best dress outfit to ever grace the earth. The officer uniforms were sharp.
The Iraqis lost to the Americans, pretty benign conquerors. The Germans at Stalingrad lost to the Soviets, not a bunch of happy campers. Tennessee has to play the rest of the SEC; that’s more like fighting the Soviets–not much mercy.
@225,
I can see him if McDowell goes to talk to him on the mound,
“If he strikes out, he strikes out.”
#232
I’m a little partial to their WWI “Kaiser” helmets. They work well with comedy. Thank you, Mel Brooks.
I think the Vols should stage a batlle of the buldge against Carolina.
There’s an outfielder who can help in the short term, will cost next to nothing, and who put up this line:
599 AB, 90 R, 185 H, 42 2B, 3 3B, 26 HR, 97 RBI, .309/.339/.519
Anybody interested?
@232,
Yeah, Colonel Klink and Major Hochsteder always looked good.
#237
In what year? In what league?
#238
Don’t forget Gen. Burkhalter.
Delusion Dept.:
OK, Dawg People, here’s how UGA can win the SEC East—even if they lose to Auburn.
In one not-so-crazy scenario, a three-way tie (at 4-4) with UF & USC can have them headed down the Atlanta Highway.
http://tinyurl.com/23nyq86
Well see, that’s the catch. I’d rather not name names, so let’s just say that’s what he’s done whenever he’s gotten a shiny new locker and a pat on the head….
@240,
Is it someone who puts up those numbers for a short period of time until teams find out he has a slidder speed bat, swings at anything, and can only hit lefties?
would an Andruw/McLouth platoon in CF work? get him and Swisher from the Yanks when they sign Crawford or Werth
Uhh…he’s a guy who benefits from frequent changes in scenery. And if you need someone to set parameters for team shaving rituals, he’s very good at that. Comes from a good home. Housebroken.
@243 Is his name also a board game company?
sansho, there’s no outfielder in the past 5 years that has put up that line in the majors. the closest is matt kemp but he’ll cost a ton.
At first I thought you were talking about frequent free agent and occasional outfielder Aubrey Huff, but I see that Huff’s stats are slightly better than what you posted:
569 AB, 100 R, 165 H, 35 2B, 3 3B, 26 HR, 86 RBI, .290/.385/.506
Also, no one has hit exactly 26 homers with exactly 97 RBI since Bernie Williams in 1998, so I’m guessing you’re adding a couple of seasons on top of one another.
Sansho, your outfielder stats line is the partial seasons from 2005 Atlanta, 2009 Mets and 2010 Rangers of our former franchise player.
I find this interesting
Heyward, $400K, .277/.393/.456/.849
Arod, $32m, .270/.341/.506/.847
237—What is that, Stenchy’s career line against lefties?
You’d find it far less interesting if heyward tried to play third, but it’s a fair point
It’s the combined line of his first seasons with new teams. (Hey, I said he was a short term solution….)
So, no?
You said he was housebroken! No fair. I would’ve guessed.
I know it may be a moot point, but as a recent alum of Appalachian, the school is not called “Appy State.” It is referred to as Appalachian (pronounced App-uh-latch-un), or App State, App, or ASU. I know the post I am responding to was a while back, and was only one post, but I felt obligated to mention it.
Also, App is gonna beat Florida the last game of the year. Mark it on your calender. We are 6-0, and playing really well. They are still Florida, but I think we have as good of a shot as any. If we catch them on a day like they had against Ohio the first game of the year, anything is possible.
Curse you, Sam.
Cliff Lee negotiation salvo #1?
http://tinyurl.com/2akmy4a
@253 This is a good strategy. Either sign with us or get out of the AL. If you don’t we do bad things to your heart.
What’s Paulie Gualtierii doing? Bring him to the table. They are a few well placed euphemisms away from driving the point home.
@253, what made that even more rich was that blockhead Mike Silva just yesterday posted a similar experience from a Giants fan at a Phillies game as evidence of why Philadelphia “will always be a second rate sports town.”
Silva: Stay Classy, Philadelphia
I hope Lee signs with someone else and states specifically that it was because of the idiot Yankee fans. Of course, you could easily find examples of similar fan idiocy among Red Sox and Phillie fans.
I hope Lee signs somewhere that isn’t in the National League.
DOB just tweeted that Posey won the players choice ROY.
She’ll suck it up and forget the harassment when a team is offering her husband $150MM to throw a baseball.
@262 How dare you? The Lee family’s honor was besmirched. It’s 175 now.
An interesting point to the offseason Cliff Lee Sweepstakes: Unlike New York, Texas doesn’t have a state income tax.
DOB –
Rumor that has some legs: Jim Presley is among several being considered for Braves hitting coach. Presley was Fredi Gonzalez’s hitting coach at Florida when both were fired along with bench coach Carlos Tosca on June 23.
more –
David O’Brien
October 26th, 2010
5:31 pm
Actually, Braves have already interviewed Presley and are going to interview one or two more guys. So I’m not really expecting an annnouncement till after World Series.
#Braves have interviewed Jim Presley for hitting coach position, still expected to interview one or two more candidates
From AJC.
The horror. The horror.
Anyone else want us to go back and sign Javier Vazquez to pitch for the Braves again? He cant cost us very much after his 2010 performance and is just 1 year removed from being our ace. Combine signing him with a trade of Jair or Minor to help get a real bat and this could be a really good team.
No. No. No. No. No.
OK. So that’s Apocalypse Now and Lear after Cordelia dies.
First person who can do The Sorrow and the Pity wins the inevitable Presley bobble head doll for the shooting of automatic weapons at.
Presley’s not my favourite either, but he couldn’t possibly do any worse than TP.
On a lighter note. Johnny Cash is dead so you can buy an old to-do list he wrote at auction.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/johnny-cashs-to-do-list
1. Not Smoke
2. Kiss June
3. Don’t Kiss Anyone Else
4. Cough
5. Pee
6. Eat
7. Don’t Eat Too Much
8. Worry
9. Go See Mama
10. Practice Piano
@270 Ohhhh Tom. They said the same thing when Hitler took over the chancellor. I don’t think they actually said that, but this is bad. Real bad.
Presley=Hitler? You might wanna think that one over.
Fair. Something more inept/less evil.
But, won’t be any worse than TP is not the only bar I’d want to clear on this decision.
Maybe Presley realizes he sucked as a hitter and won’t try to make his players hit like him.
God bless the Man in Black. I’m going to spend the next 15 minutes thinking about Johnny Cash and not thinking at all about Jim Presley.
Not only did Presley suck, but he hated playing here. I distinctly remember that.
DOB –
Presley’s Marlins hitters were a pretty impressive lot, and a bunch of them made big strides under him. The guy was there 4-1/2 seasons, he’s not new to this.
By the way, Presley was an All-Star one year with Seattle. The guy averaged about 26 homers and 90 RBI over a three-year span early in his career, back when those were pretty substantial offensive numbers in the mid-80s.
Presley’s career OBP was .290, and that’s not impressive in any era.
If the Braves hired me as their hitting coach DOB would say,”Smitty has the insight and a perceptive that no Braves hitting coach has ever had. In fact, just by hiring him it made Tim Hudson win the come back player of the year. It’s just a fact.”
Jim Presley sucks. Let’s just keep it as simple as that.
@268 If we trade JJ, I don’t mind signing Vazquez cheap as a fifth starter. Otherwise, we don’t need him.
For those of you who are indifference toward Presley, I am sure you didn’t watch the 1990 team.
Does it mean we will have to hear “Aint nothing but a hound dog” everytime he is announced? ( For all of those of you too young to remember, that what they played when he came to bat as a Brave”
@284
I’m sure that never gets old.
Btw, weren’t the Miami Heat supposed to be good this season? These guys suck…
If there is a God, apparently he tuned in for The Decision.
The Heat have decided that the high pick and roll with LeBron will win them a lot of games. It won’t.
Pat Riely will be coaching this team by January
you know I really like Bosh and Wade….its a shame that Lebron had to join them. Now Im just not a fan
Mac,
DOB called you out on Twitter. What an ass.
I’m aware. He also sends private messages, which I have to respond to publicly, because he doesn’t follow me.
He only follows the front office, BURN!
I think we should have some fun with him
FWIW, Robert Joseph Cox’s career OBP was .309. He had the same career OPS+ as Jim Presley. Gotta go with DOB on this one.
Since Presley’s not hitting means he’s a good hitting coach, I think we should hire Bob Horner as our new fielding instructor.
I believe Bobby Cox is what would be called an outlier, being one of the best five or ten managers of all time. His being a terrible player certainly wasn’t a qualification for being a good manager.
I get DOB’s point — a coach can succeed at coaching despite not having succeeded as a player — but if Presley was both a bad player and a bad citizen, it’s hard to imagine how many good qualities he could bring to the job to outweigh that.
@288, 289 – WTF?
#292–Horner will have to beat out Jeff Burroughs….
From AJC via Rowland’s Office
Presley, who has attracted interest from the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins and another, unnamed American League club, continues to work out while waiting for a team to step forward with a three-year offer for about $5 million. By paying Pendleton twice that amount for four years, the Braves bypassed Presley, who was willing to accept less money to play near his Pensacola, Fla., home.
“How many errors did the other guy make?” Presley said. “I think he had a few, too. We’ll see. A year will tell. If he hits 25 home runs, with 90 RBI and 15 errors, it’s worth it.”
Presley had 25 errors in 1990.
To be fair Pendleton had 24 errors in 1991. So Presley laid down a major burn there.
JERK.
I am officially declaring e-war on DOB.
DOB never followed Jim Presley when he was in town. He has no clue why we don’t like him. I watch one season of him and it’s enough for me to not wanting to see him in Braves uniform ever again.
DOB sucks like Chris Bosh.
Note how the Braves had won three straight and the Reds had lost three straight… getting the Braves to only 16 back. Good times!
Forget it, Mac. It’s Pensacola.
@304 HEY!! I was born in Pensacola. I was raised in Pensacola. I graduated from the same high school as Jim Presley. And I can tell you straight—a lot of our mothers are pleading for a beating. Seriously. They are really awful there. Presley was doing God’s work.
JD, he wasn’t beating your mother. He was beating his own.
No truth to the rumor that he tried to get those added to his hit total to raise his batting average.
During my time in high school there was this little sports wall near the weight room and they had three framed photos of Jim Presley. All throughout 90 some friends, braver than me, use to scrawl mean things on the glass in marker. Last time I went back it had become an Emmitt Smith shrine and Presley is nowhere to be found.
Sorry jd, I was just being flip. I have family in Crestview and Fort Walton.
I will say, seriously, that I don’t think dredging up a 20-year-old family squabble in the service of protesting Fredi’s possible choice of batting coach is helpful. In fact, given our previous manager’s domestic history, it’s downright unwise. Let DOB go his haughty way.
May it become an Emmitt Smith/Trent Richardson shrine in the future.
@306 We don’t jump to conclusions when there’s a mother beating. We wait till the was-she-asking-for-it info comes out. For instance, she might have mouthed off about his strike-out to walk ratio.
@310 I wouldn’t be surprised. Though Emmitt’s up to about eight feet long and five feet tall in that hallway. Richardson has a lot of chipping away to do. There’s also a Kevin Saucier 8 x 10 which has stubbornly refused to be budged.
@309 Not offended at all. I was taking fake umbrage. Though the only time Pensacola makes the news is when an abortion doctor has been shot or there’s been some kind of triple homicide with a kinky twist. That’s just the fate of all small towns. Until someone goes nuts in a mall there’s no reason to mention it.
Just had a long exchange with DOB. I dunno. He has to maintain access to do his job, and fan interaction these days makes that a more tenuous task. Dismissiveness is a tool to do so, but it’s probably not the best one.
The Mets hired Sandy Alderson. That’s not good.
@315 Let’s hope NYC will mess up his mind.
The Mets will still suck.
Re. Presley. I think a coach should be judged by the job he does as a coach as opposed to how he played. Interestingly, Billy Bean had a MLB lifetime OBP of .246 and .317 in the minors. Did not affect -or maybe even did in a positive way- the way he puts his teams together nowadays. Too lazy to check: How was the Marlins OBP during the Presley years?
@318 I hate Jim Presley. I don’t want to see him in the Braves uniform. It’s like hiring Andres Thomas to be a fielding instructor.
@318
Here are the 2009 numbers:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/FLA/2009.shtml
I still don’t care. Nick Esasky is gong to be the team trainer.
OK, I have to admit, I really don’t remember Presley that much. I had gap years of following the team closely between 88-ish and 91 (probably had something to do with puberty focusing me elsewhere)… but I get the feeling he’s not going to be a popular choice around here (it’s subtle, but I pick up on these non-verbal clues you guys are giving off in your tone).
After the whole Griffey thing, DOB has become really terrible. He became synical and a lap dog all at once.
Zack Greinke
That’s the guy I want to see in a Braves uniform next year.
There was a moment a few years back when the notion of Tim Hudson as a Brave came into public knowledge. I think it was Rosenthal.
I think a similar moment has arrived for Zack.
@323
I think we need to focus on getting an outfielder that doesn’t suck
Braves Journal Glossary –
DOB: AJC beat writer David O’Brien. Pretty self-explanatory. I pronounce it with a long O, rhyming with “GOB“. We like him. (Added July 25, 2007.)
Mac, I think its time to update this again
I think we need to focus on getting an outfielder that doesn’t suck
But wouldn’t we somehow lose part of our essential character?
No?
Okay, then I agree with you.
have we had a 30hr season from anyone since Andruw hit 41?
Been playing catchup this morning on these threads. So, this was posted a while back and I am wondering about it.
How can a clause in A-Rod’s contract that says he must be paid more than any other player in MLB be enforceable? Seems like it would be hard to reconcile if Pujols put the same thing in his new contract.
The stipulation is then dependent on other contracts to which A-Rod (and possibly his employer) is not a party.
318 & 320,
so the Marlins had a .268 BA and a .340 OBP as a group in 2009. Given the talent they had, those are very respectable numbers. The Braves were worse, actually (.263, .339 in 2009 and .258, .339 in 2010).
I’m not sure if the Marlins would have been better or worse with another hitting coach, but I’m 100% convinced the Braves would have been better without TP. He messed up Escobar, McLouth and half a dozen others, and couldn’t help Chipper or McCann for the life of him. Man, I loved him as a player (his first time around), but I hated him as a coach. Even more than Snitker, for what it’s worth.
Presley
Hitting coaches are overrated, IMO. You don’t have to be a great player to be a winning coach or manager. You need good players and it sure helps if they’re willing to try to improve themselves. Like Fredi, I’ll give him a chance if he gets the gig.
DOB
I almost never read the forum part of any AJC blog, including DOB’s. (Overall, it’s too depressing to realize I share a common interest with most of these people. On the plus side, it does confirm my career decision to veer from sports writing & move toward music.) So I miss almost all of the mid-forum updates, but also the stupidity, the smackdowns & the snark.
Writers need access, yes. Also, when you’re a beat reporter, you must face the people you cover, over & over. If you’ve never had to do it, chances are you’ll never really get it. If they don’t talk to you or give you some info on a regular basis, it’s a problem for everyone—the writer, the readers, the newspaper.
There’s the team, there’s your editor, there’s your job. There can be more politics involved than any city council meeting. It can be ridiculous, especially in a one-newspaper town.
Does it mean you have to take out your frustations on others? Of course, not. It can be done, apparently, with more grace. Still, I’ll go with Chris Rock’s O.J. Simpson quote: “…but I understand…”
Ububba, do you think it’s more difficult to be a sports beat writer than, say, a city beat writer? The struggle between objectivity and access is obviously a problem for any beat reporter, particularly here in Washington, where people form working relationships over the course of decades. But it does seem that, in sports, access is more rigidly controlled than in virtually any other walk of life — maybe because it’s a monopoly company rather than a competitive firm or a public government entity. What do you think?
@328 – the actual clause from COTs –
Rodriguez may void after 2008 or 2009 unless club increases 2009-10 salary by $5M/year or $1M more than highest-paid MLB position player
emphasis mine
He didn’t have to be the highest paid player.
http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/new-york-yankees_111398168678860040.html
Let’s see, to recap so far:
Hiring Jim Presley to be a hitting coach is like…
Hiring Andres Thomas to be a fielding instructor
Hiring Bob Horner as our new fielding instructor
Hiring Jeff Francouer as our hitting coach
Hiring Dan Kolb to be a conditioning coach
Hiring Nate McLouth to teach how to throw outfield assists
Hiring Brooks Conrad to be a fielding instructor
Hiring Zack Grienke as a team psychologist
Hiring Yunel Escobar as a public relations agent
Hiring Omar Minaya as the GM
Hiring Rick Ankiel as our pitching coach
Releasing Jason Heyward
Any more?
The Greinke thing’s a low blow, IMO. Otherwise, funny.
I think that would be like…
Hiring Mike Hampton as the team doctor
Hiring Brent Lillibridge as the strength coach
Hiring Chris Resop as bullpen coach
Hiring Keith Lockhart
New post.