And Milton Is Gone Too
Dave · May 9, 2011 at 11:19 am · Filed Under Mariners
I told you that arrangement wouldn’t last long. Turns out Milton Bradley’s pardon only lasted a few hours, as he’s now been DFA’d with Carlos Peguero taking his spot on the roster. Peguero and Wilson will likely share time in LF (with Wilson also seeing time at DH against LHPs if Cust keeps struggling, I’d imagine), and the M’s are beginning the process of moving out the placeholders to make room for some younger players.
We’re probably a month or so away from seeing Jack Wilson or Adam Kennedy go away to make room for Dustin Ackley, so this won’t be the end of the transition. This is a team that is still building for the future, and the team won’t keep running useless veterans out there every day just because.
Joser-
Bucky is running a hitting academy somewhere up by North Bend… A bunch of Major Leaguers, and prospects, go there in the off season to work on their stroke, watch film of their swing, etc.
I heard an interview with him on one of the local sports radio shows where he talked about it.
Dave,
Good to see you jumping into the comments to correct misrepresentations every once in awhile.
msfanmike’s authoritative statements without any factual backing have been getting a little old as of late.
My .02 on Wilson and Peguero getting called up:
Good.
Not because I think either one have brilliant futures as major leaguers ahead, but rather I was just really getting tired of “Boardgame”‘s antics.
And Langerhans is a fourth outfielder on any team that dreams of being good. That’s it. To his credit, he’s a pro and worked hard- seemingly knew his role.
I’m all for giving players a shot, even if the scout in me says the guys in question are not long-term answers.
Guys like Ryan Franklin, J.J. Putz and more recently Doug Fister came through our system with ZERO fanfare and hype. And plenty of detractors saying ‘they’ll never be this, they’ll never be that’ (not that those saying so were necessarily wrong, it just didn’t stop all the above from having careers).
Franklin, Putz and Fister all got a shot and by and large, they’ve all made the most of it.
Maybe just maybe, Peguero and/or Wilson can do the same. Forge a career from nada expectations.
I do know I’d rather see them try to do so over a WAAAAAY overpaid veteran like Bradley, who I’m convinced has lost either eyesight or reflexes. Maybe both (along with the given losses of brain cells and better judgment).
Let ’em play, let’s see what happens.
Ooh, Mike better put in those earplugs, the crowd is getting hostile… 🙂
I haven’t been keeping up with Ackley but I read recently he’s been struggling. You still think he get the call soon?
I’ve been trying to think of a nickname for Cust. I feel like I’ve heard “Custard” in the past, referring to his heft and obvious affinity for desserts, but I like “Custurd” better because you get the triple pun. Cust + Custard + Turd = Custurd.
All of this is to say: HOW ‘BOUT SOME MORE DFAS???
@MrZDevotee on May 9th, 2011 5:16 pm
After finishing up his career playing for Tabasco in the Mex League – hitting .229/.289/.343/632 in 35 AB over 9 games.
Since I am not a big sabermetrics guy, I am just learning from reading stuff on this page, I have a question. Watching Saunders hitting is pretty frustrating, but is the problem because he let’s the 1st pitch go just about everytime? I saw a week or so ago they were talking about him leading the league in 0-2 counts, so I started watching, 1st pitch fastballs belt high, inner third of the plate. Pitchers are putting it there, he is taking it. Is there a place to look and see, and can’t Chambliss see it, and kick his butt until he stops? I love his fielding, and wish he could start hitting. Even if he is not a huge power guy, get some doubles and singles.
MrZDevotee North Bend and Snoqulmie are about 10 minutes apart from each other in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley.
Well, I saw Edgar’s last game, and Griffey’s last game (the last he was officially on the roster; he didn’t play and may not have been in the State of Washington by then), and now Bradley’s last game. I don’t think I’ll be telling the grandchildren about yesterday, though.
Cust has had a bad month. Milton has had a bad 2 years and is a cancer to the team. Easy decision
It isn’t helping, but it isn’t the “only” problem. I don’t have it handy, but there is some research out there that shows the average or OPS of a player after a 0-1 count, and it’s not good. So, getting down a strike initially can be troublesome to the at bat.
However, Saunders problems aren’t limited to just getting first pitch strikes. Arguments could be made that he’s getting first pitch strikes because pitchers aren’t scared of him, and / or the pitchers know he wont swing at it due to scouting reports. But even when he’s not getting first pitch strikes or 0-2 counts, he’s not hitting very well. The problem is much greater than just the count situation.
And, exactly how did he do that?
You must have missed my “authoritative” epistle from approx one week ago in regard to the reasons why I believed the metrics which comprise the stat are flawed (IMO). There were others that chimed in regarding the “background” noise value of the stat (BTW).
Yes, the “you don’t know what you are talking about” rebuttal from today was quite impressive, but perhaps lacking some of the usual insight ordinarily proferred. Interestingly enough however, it was apparently good enough to convince you.
Since Dave is a busy man, and you being left without an apple to shine for the next day or two … please enlighten me on why the Stat is a good Stat. I would like to know. Thank you.
It’s a good stat. In fact, it’s quite an genius idea, really. Nobody is arguing that UZR is perfect, and the above comments about how the UZR reports shouldn’t be taken seriously are evidence of that. However, you went beyond mere criticism of UZR and went straight to getting rid of it.
I don’t even know how you could call UZR a “background noise stat”. I don’t even know how we’d measure background noise in baseball statistics.
I’m afraid I’m not yet convinced that you have the statistical background to make a cogent critique.
Fair enough, but how valuable is the stat for a scout conducting evaluations of a players ability to play defense? Softness of hands, arm strength, jumps on the ball, path to the ball, etc. etc. etc.
They aren’t using UZR in those evaluations.
Maybe we are talking apples to oranges here, but I will defer to the fact that some people believe the stat has some value as an overall compilation of something, although the application of that value in terms of quantifying a players ability to play defense is suspect at best. And, horrible at worst.
Simply stated, I don’t know what that value of the stat is, but it sure gets mentioned a lot as some sort of measurement of something. I wouldn’t mind someone explaining what that perceived value is, but I just have not ever seen anybody be able to do it effectively, thus the “usefulness” reference (IMO).
Have you seen this?
it’s linked on the left side of this page, in the reference material block.
Thanks Paul, I have seen the link previoulsly and I understand it (at face value certainly).
I am conflicted with trying to draw a parallel between the stat itself and how scouts evaluate players/plays and how even the casual fan does the same.
UZR is certainly a rating of some sort, and it attempts to quantify things that have previously not been. On that premise, I can certainly give it credit.
However, it appears that it is becoming a frquently referenced stat on this Site as (perhaps) something meaninful, which was my original point of contention. Maybe it is simply mentioned for mentioning sake.
Other than that, I needed to get “over it” and have, but thank you for the link within the link. Onward!