PI: Hickey on Felix, me on Bucky
One, Hickey on King Felix, talks to the phenom:
Already he’s been dubbed “The Franchise” and “King Felix,” among other nicknames. So what’s it like to have such things said about you?
“It’s strange to hear all that,” Hernandez said. “I’m just Felix.”
Ah, such humility. You don’t see that often enough in royalty. Remember folks, if you were a USSM reader, you were a Felix Hernandez fan way before it was cool.
Second, my latest PI column went up yesterday. It’s a careful, fairly detailed look at the Winn-Ibanez-Bucky tradeoff the team faces, and bizarrely was linked on the Foxsports.com Rumors page.
As always, I’d like to mention that if you want these columns to keep going, or if you’d like to see this stuff in print, a totally random passer-by offered places you can write to express your opinions.
Comments
35 Responses to “PI: Hickey on Felix, me on Bucky”
Derek, I don’t know if you can modify your PI article — or have it modified — once it’s online, but there’s a sentence that got mangled somewhere along the line :
Still, another good read. Thanks.
… his career ending arm injury. 🙁
And from today’s notebook, Hickey has this scary note about Felix:
Garcia and Hernandez have struck up a friendship, and Hernandez said he’s gotten advice on living the baseball life from Garcia.
If there’s one guy you don’t want to learn how to live the baseball life from, it’s probably Freddy Garcia. Or maybe Steve Howe. But Howe isn’t that far ahead of Freddy.
Someone seperate those two, pronto, before King Felix has 142 illegitimate heirs to his throne.
I thought Jose Canseco was ahead of Garcia on that list these days? *rimshot*
Are you saying Freddy has a bunch of illegitimate children? (I’m new around here, and didn’t know anything about his personal life.)
Counting his Campillo article and the “King Felix” reference, Hickey has either reacted to or referred to USSM content 3 times in the past week.
The readership base is growing. And I think it’s helping Hickey’s inspiration.
I really hope Grover, who professed to like a set lineup, reads DMZ. The nagging issue, as Derek points out, is the health of Bucky’s knee. Let’s hope Bucky is able to display his talents this spring instead of being exiled to Tacoma for health reasons, as Bavasi has hinted.
The problem with Grover is that he is the Anti-Stat manager. He isn’t going to give a darn whether Bucky is all-around better. Ibanez is the veteran lefty, so he’ll get the nod.
Also, I have a proposal. If we don’t mention Felix’s arm injury, it should be less likely to happen…. ?
The problem with Grover is that he is the Anti-Stat manager. He isn’t going to give a darn whether Bucky is all-around better. Ibanez is the veteran lefty, so he’ll get the nod.
Feel free to provide evidence of this, or, better yet, evidence that Hargrove, given two players, one veteran and one a younger upgrade on that veteran, prefers the veteran in all cases.
OK, off the top of my head, he consistently left Melvin Mora out of the lineup, squeezing at bats for him, but not giving him a position.
Obivously not ALL cases, he let Ramirez and Sexson into the lineup.
OK, you’re right. I need to do a bit more research before making such assertions.
“and it seems almost certain that Jeremy Reed will claim the starting center field spot.”
How is it certain? Who says it is certain?
I don’t think the M’s are willing to replace Reed with Winn just yet based on investment (contract amount) alone. And this is the same reason that Lopez isn’t starting ahead of Boone. The M’s still don’t understand the notion of sunk costs.
Those are strong accusations about Freddy! Hmmm.
#13. I’m not saying I disagree with Derek’s analysis of the outfield. Rather, where is the evidence that Bavasi and Hargrove are “certainly” going to move Winn from center? Have there been quotes I missed? Do people feel Reed’s performance in spring training is a lock to move Winn from center?
Great article, by the way. As mainstream readers see PECOTA, OBP,and SLG written in newspapers, they will become educated. I like that.
#13:
Grover has made very bullish comments about Reed to the media, most notably around FanFest time.
Nice peice, Derek. However I wonder if you might be giving the PI’s general audience too much credit with this comment:
“While Ibanez is a better contact hitter, Bucky’s projected to be better in every other hitting metric if given the chance.”
I suspect that large number of PI readers will look at the statistics presented, and gasp at your foolishness for suggesting that a .250 hitter is “better” than a .270 hitter.
“Heck,” they’ll say, “he probably thought it was OK for Mike Cameron to strike out as much as he did!”
Does anyone besides me think that this discussion is likely to change based upon the wild card known as Mike Cameron? The Ms defense would improve dramatically if they reacquired Cammy, and I would think the Mets would have interest not only in Winn or Ibanez, but possibly Bucky as well.
Mets aren’t interested in pondering navels or back page players, chico.
Bucky shouldn’t be traded at all. The return you can get for a 29 year old AAA masher is PTBNL/Cash Consideration type stuff. We’d be better off keeping him and letting him live up to his hype than trading him for PTBNLs.
#17,
Thanks Bill. I’m glad Grover feels that way. Now I want Reed to have a great spring so the decision becomes easier for Bavasi too.
End the Cammy rumors! While Gillick is still consultant, a trade for a player he rejected would be an admission of mistake.
# 18
I concur. Perhaps AVG should never be mentioned in general readership articles since the utility of that stat is low on the scale in comparison to others.
I hope that soon Derek can find a way to mention EQA in the PI. That would be a victory. He can explain it concisely and clearly enough so that the PI reader might accept its validity.
We really have to get this stuff in print before general readership will get to it. I imagine that over half the readers of the online Mariners section of the P-I also hit USSM anyway.
And this is the same reason that Lopez isn’t starting ahead of Boone. The M’s still don’t understand the notion of sunk costs.
Or, maybe, its because Boone’s still a good major league player, and Jose Lopez, right now, is not.
Think of the future, Dave.
At Fanfest Bavasi said he was pulling for Jeremy to win the Center Field job. I dont know how much impact Bavasi’s comments will effect Hargrove but it still is interesting to point out.
The future isn’t helped by having Lopez struggle at the major league level while flushing his service time down the drain. Nor is the future helped by having one of the better second baseman in the American League make $8 million to sit on the bench and watch an inferior player take his job.
That’s a fair argument. Struggling is something to be avoided. Learning, on the other hand, is the goal and I hope the coaches are good teachers. To complicate it, struggling and learning are intertwined and often necessary.
Boone is a good 2b. The odds of being competitive are low and I would rather flip him for a prospect NOW. I guess a draft choice would be fine if we lost him. But it’s not my preference.
And then. AHA! 8 million is sunk.
Derek, can you start thread here whenever your Thursday article gets posted on the pi site? I almost missed that Monday one a while back. Plus, it would give us a good place to say how great the column was.
btw – great column in the pi.
-r
#3-“Garcia and Hernandez have struck up a friendship, and Hernandez said he’s gotten advice on living the baseball life from Garcia.”–Comment by Dave
I thought it was interesting that the M’s have appointed Joel as Felix’ new big brother.
#11-“OK, off the top of my head, he consistently left Melvin Mora out of the lineup, squeezing at bats for him, but not giving him a position”–Comment by David J Corcoran
from the AP last year–“Former Orioles manager Mike Hargrove often described Mora’s versatility as “a blessing and a curse.” Hargrove knew Mora was good enough to play one position on a regular basis, but believed his real value to the team was his flexibility.”
#13-“this is the same reason that Lopez isn’t starting ahead of Boone.”–Comment by paul mocker
I thought it was because Boone has about 1692 more games at 2nd than Lopez…. 🙂 Do you really want him learning the position at the major league level?
#15-“I’m not saying I disagree with Derek’s analysis of the outfield. Rather, where is the evidence that Bavasi and Hargrove are “certainly†going to move Winn from center? Have there been quotes I missed? –Comment by paul mocker
News Tribune, Jan 28th– “Jeremy is a good center fielder,” general manager Bill Bavasi said. “If you start with Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Cameron as 10s, Reed is a 7 or 8 now, but he has the potential to be like Jim Edmonds.His first step is almost always perfect, and he’s good at going back on a ball so he can play more shallow. After what he did last year, he’s due a shot at the job – and he’ll get it. It’ll be Mike’s decision, but on paper the best outfield we have, both offensively and defensively, is Ichiro, Reed and Winn.”
Thanks msb.
I’m glad Bavasi doesn’t seem to care about sunk costs.
As for Lopez, I want him to learn 2B in the minors until July. At that point, see where we are. If 10 games or more behind, put him in and trade or bench Boone. If 5 games or fewer behind, keep Boone at 2b until he can be traded for a 19-year old A prospect catcher or a 23 year AA pitcher.
Jose – steroids = Ozzie
C’mon, you don’t think Jose turned his brother onto the steroids? He most likely did but Ozzie still had no talent…
Jose – steroids = Ozzie
Comment by AK1984 — 2/18/2005 @ 3:00 pm
Ozzie never got as big as Jose.