As I said in a comment there, simply classic, and a badly needed laugh today.

I have seen the face of the future, and it is Bob..

Everyone is so desperate to look like they are in the know and “scoop” each other that even normally credible people sometimes write crazy things.

In particular, if it’s on mlbtraderumors.com, it is probably baseless speculation.

I have a question regarding how you compare a starter to a replacement level pitcher by combining replacement starters and relievers in your November article evaluating Sabathia.

I understand the point that a replacement starter would not get the same number of innings as a good starter, and agree with the need to combine a number of reliever innings with starter innings for the comparison. But why use replacement-level relief innings to fill the gap, rather than league-average relief innings.

A team is deciding between Starter A and Replacement Starter B, not Starter A and the combination of Replacement Starter B + Replacement Reliever C. If the team goes with Replacement Starter B, the missing innings will be filled in by the major league bullpen, not Replacement Reliever C, and over the course of the season, all the innings used to support replacement level starters across the league will by definition be league-average innings.

Is this right, or am I missing something?

I can see where there may be some trouble, since we can assume that long relievers will be relied upon more to fill in those extra innings, and they tend to be lower quality relievers than the late inning guys. But perhaps a point in the other direction could be made arguing that a team saving money on a replacement-level starter may spend a bit more for the bullpen. In any event, I’d think league-average is closer to the truth than replacement level for those extra relief innings.

How could you not trade Johnson for Hermida if given the opportunity?

Yeah, that would be a no-brainer. So I’m sure that was never an option. ErikG, where did you see that? Let’s not confuse rumors for actual news.

Here’s what Baker said…

The Mariners apparently approached the Marlins yesterday and made a proposal for Hermida that the Marlins didn’t like. Both teams apparently went back and forth for a bit — this wasn’t just one of those exploratory conversations — but could not reach a deal. Florida is looking for catching and apparently wants Mariners prospect Adam Moore.

FWIW, I prefer Hermida over Ankiel, mostly based on the fact that Hermida would be under club control longer.

Hermida:
2007) .296/.369/.501, 24.5 K% 0.45 BB/K .205 ISO .356 BABIP
2008) .249/.323/.406, 27.5 K% 0.35 BB/K .157 ISO .311 BABIP

Ankiel:
2007) .285/.328/.535, 23.8 K% 0.32 BB/K .250 ISO .317 BABIP
2008) .264/.332/.506, 24.2 K% 0.45 BB/K .242 ISO .292 BABIP

Ankiel also improved from 2007 to 2008, walking more to make up for his bad luck. He seems to have the potential for at least one .900 OPS season. I’m not so sure about Hermida.

His defensive reputation is really inflated by all those Web Gem throws from center field. He’s probably going to get a ton of money that he doesn’t deserve since he hits home runs, and has a reputation as a good fielder.

Ankiel is definitely a fine player but I think we’d be better served with a Matt Joyce kind of guy who has some upside and won’t cost us a thing for a long time.

I’ve got a question myself; what do people think about this Jeremy Hermida hearsay over at the Baker Blog? Does he have a chance to develop into the offensive star he was supposed to?