3B for the Yankees

With A-Rod out indefinitely the Yankees need to find a replacement. They do not want to spend a lot of money and Jayson Nix / Eduardo Nunez / Eric Chavez will not fill void especially if Nix and Nunez need to fill in for Jeter.

Chavez does well versus right-handed pitchers. He his .299 with a .366 OBP and a .545 slugging. Against lefties he did not do as well .152 AVG, .231 OBP, and a .152 last year. For his career .275, .356 OBP, and a .501 SLG. He needs a platoon partner and my suggestion is Jeff Keppinger.

Keppinger is a free-agent, which is great for the Yankees since they don't have many trade chips. He also should come at a relatively cheap price, 2012 salary was 1.52 million, while posting a 2.8 WAR. His slash line last year was .376 / .402 / .521 vs left-handed pitchers. .302 / .352 / .403 vs righties. For his career he has a slash line of .333 / .376 / .487 against lefties.

Keppinger also provides some position flexibility with his ability to play short and second base.

NBA Notes 10/31

I was not ready for the NBA season to start. I wasn't missing out on any physical preparation, it was being mentally ready to see NBA basketball or any basketball. The World Series just ended and Football is mid-season. Can't the NBA start be pushed back? Last year it seemed as if your team was playing every other night , it was comparable to the circadian rhythm of baseball. This year, as well as most years in the NBA, there is no rhythm to the teams schedule.

I was able to watch some of the 0-1 Lakers take on the Blazers. Steve Nash was out with a sore leg, but it would not have made much of a difference since they seem to not use Steve Nash's set of skills. Pau Gasol did not impress me and hasn't since my brother played NBA 2K 9 and blocked me 12 times in a game with Gasol. I don't see a player that takes over games, I see an okay defender that the Blazers were going at most times down the floor. On offense he disappeared. Metta World Peace did look different with a clean shaven face, but was still old and scary when the basketball is in his hands.

The Lakers looked horrible on defense and I link it to Dwight Howard. I don't think it is Dwight's fault either. He looks injured. He hobbles as he runs the floor and does not seem to have the incredible athleticism that we expect from Dwight. Maybe this is the end of his athleticism, or maybe he will recover from his surgery. Seeing him in purple and gold made me think of Shaq, and not the athletic Shaq, but the out of shape Shaq. The Lakers are a team of flaws especially on the defensive end and Dwight was supposed to make up for those issues. That seems like to big of a task for him to take on at this point.

Talk to me

GO UCF

An Ode to Rusty Kuntz

Rusty Kuntz is not a made up baseball player, but rather an inspiration to compare current baseball players to all things sexual. Here is to you Rusty and Gaylord Perry.

Doug Fister and Madison Bumgarner are the starting pitchers for game 2 of the World Series. Fister will try to even up the series, while millions of young boys snicker every time his name is said. I am sure there will be a Tim McGarver "This a tight spot for Fister" or at least one can hope.

Tim Lincecum is on the border for a sexual name and there are no other players on the Tigers or Giants that elicit quick sexual jokes, which is why I have turned to sexual moves to compare teams.

Giants

The Sergio Romo- when you pull the switcheroo on a lady.
Romo the current Giants closer, seems to be trying to look like former Giants closer Brian Wilson. See

The Hunter Pence - when you hit on every girl, but only make awkward contact 10% of the time.
Free swinging Hunter Pence could obviously lead to comparisons to a swinger, but he doesn't score.

The Melky Cabrera - when you have your cousin relabel your Viagra.

The Marco Scutaro - when you go on Spring Break and your can't score, but then you return to whatever crappy location you come from you can all of a sudden score wildly.

Tigers 

The Justin Verlander - when you are amazing until you get in bed. 

The Prince Fielder - when you pick up a woman by telling her wild lies about yourself. 

The Miguel Cabrera - when you are not the most attractive, but you perform phenomenally in bed. Similar to this guy.  

The Delmon Young - when you can only score when you go to one bar. 

2012 World Series - Detroit Tigers vs. San Francisco Giants

I have always wondered how teams stack up from a SABRmetric viewpoint, and I think that graphics are the best way to see to understand the differences between the teams.  For this year's World Series, I wanted to take a look at how the Tigers and Giants compare.  Fangraphs does a great job compiling a ton of useful stats, and I isolated the stats I found most interesting.  The graphic above compares the Fangraphs WAR for each player on the World Series roster.  Upon first glance, you will notice the Giants have the best player in the series - Buster Posey.  Not to worry Tigers fans, Miguel Cabrera is awful good, and Verlander is by far the best pitcher in the series.  He was worth three more wins than the Giants top pitcher Matt Cain.

The graphic below shows the differences in distribution for batting (wOBA and wRC+), baserunning (BsR), fielding (Fld), and pitching (ERA and FIP).  There is not much of a difference between the two teams offensively or pitching-wise, but the Giants have advantages in baserunning and fielding.

The key to this series for me is Verlander.  If the Tigers win game one tonight, I think they will win the series.  The overall matchup is very close.  I think Verlander will overwhelm the Giants lineup and should win two games.  I'm betting on the Tigers pitching to limit the Giants offensively and neutralize any baserunning advantage.  I also feel that the Tigers pitching staff could strike out a ton of Giants hitters and thus hide their bad defense.  Enjoy game one.

Another Farewell to a Marlins Manager

This is absurd that the Marlins fired Ozzie Guillen. Absolutely pitiful. The front office of the Marlins has run the team terribly. This is the 4th manager in 6 years. No I'm not counting Jack McKeon. 2 of the managers fired went on to bring their team to the playoffs, Girardi and Fredi Gonzalez. At a certain point the Marlins front office need to take accountability and understand it may not be the manager it is them. Loria says he wants to run the marlins like Steinbrenner ran the Yankees. well. He is failing to replicate the Dark Lord Steinbrenner. 

In short. I am giving up on the team of my youth. Next year I will be taking a sabbatical from following the Marlins. Instead I am immersing myself in NBA basketball. Where things like this happen.

http://ralphslauren.tumblr.com/post/22244516607

NLCS Game 2

Of course the night I’m asked to write for the blog is one of the most anticlimactic games of this postseason. In case you missed it, the Giants won 7-1 in a game only their fans could enjoy. Ryan Vogelsong was dominant for San Francisco as he went seven innings and gave up one run on four hits. His counterpart, Chris Carpenter, opened the bottom of the first by giving up a lead off home run to Angel Pagan, but settled down until the fourth inning when he gave up four more runs. The Giants tacked on 2 more in the eighth off Shelby Miller before Brian Wilson’s younger, Hispanic brother Sergio Romo closed out the ninth.

This was a game I think the Giants really needed, yes they came back from down 0-2 against the Reds, but the Cardinals are defending champs and have been playing with a lot of confidence. Oh, and they’re not managed by Dusty Baker. The starters for game 3, Wednesday in St. Louis, are Matt Cain and Kyle Lohse, so that should be a great pitching duel. Just like this game, I think the Giants have the pressure on them since their game 4 and 5 starters will supposedly be Lincecum and Zito (if you believe Joe Buck and Tim McCarver).

Other Things:

1)   I think if a pitcher commits an error that leads to a run, it should count against his ERA. Only 2 of Carpenters runs were earned, yet he committed an error that led to scores by the Giants. Just seems weird you don’t fault him for causing his own mess.

2)   Another bad call in this game, which had no bearing on the outcome, but still it’s not good when everyone knows the right call except for the umpires. This isn’t a knock against the blues, by far they get the majority of the calls right, but fans love a scapegoat. Here’s my idea for replay: each team gets 2 replay requests for the game that can be used at any time (except balls and strikes, I like that variability in the game) and if they are successful in both replays they get one more. This adds strategy to the game because managers must determine when to use the replays; do you use one in the third with 2 outs when a guy reaches first on a close play or do you save it for later? The main argument against replay is games will take longer, but I think my plan will shorten most games. Think about it, instead of a manager arguing for 5 unwinnable minutes, he can instead just ask for replay. Think about it Bud.

3)   Is Angel Pagan an oxymoron?

4)   Thank you Sergio Romo, Hunter Pence, and Brandon Belt for being the only three players in the game to show off their socks. Every other player had the look with the pants going over their cleats. Maybe it’s because I’m a science guy, but I like diversity.