The 7th Inning Stretch a.k.a. MLB 2k7 Season thread (Fantasy baseball included)

General Discussion
141

Jeter is actually rated as a pretty bad shortstop defensively in every objective statistical way there is for measuring defense.

Here’s a random chart which essentially has a bunch of baseball nerds measuring every tracked ball hit near a shortstop during the 2006 season and whether or not that ball could have been fielded by an “average” defensive shortstop, and then seeing where the differences were.
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/018636.php

Oddly enough, guys like Bill Hall and Khalil Greene are at the top…which seems really weird for me…but then you see guys like Everett and Counsell up there and it makes some sense again.

Still, Jeter fifth from the bottom…not a glowing endorsement of his defense.

But old school scouts and fans love him and his INTANGIBLES…so…I don’t know.

Ah, excellent question!

That would be a no, because Ivan Rodriguez’s 1999 season was fucking ridiculous. I didn’t know exactly how ridiculous until I actually checked the stats.

Did you know this already or are you honestly asking?

1999 Pudge - 32 homers, 113 RBI, .332/.356/.558 in 144 games.
2006 Mauer - 13 homers, 84 RBI, .347/.429/.507 in 140 games.

No stats for defense, but considering Pudge won the AL Gold Glove in 1999 (and 2006) let’s say that he was at least equal to Mauer, maybe better - but for the sake of discussion let’s say it was a wash.

So clearly Pudge won in the raw totals, and he absolutely raked the ball - that might have been one of the all time greatest seasons from a catcher not named Piazza. He killed Mauer in the flashy home run and RBI numbers, which the voters love.

…BUT…

Rate stats are a lot closer - Mauer actually did better with an OPS of 936 versus Pudge’s 914. Pudge’s 32 homers probably helped in the slugging percentage, but he didn’t walk much at all - only 24 all year. Mauer on the other had a very unsexy 79 walks, which explains the insane OBP.

And if we use the ghetto version of runs created…'06 Mauer had 114 versus '99 Pudge’s 120. Only 6 more runs over 140ish games…that’s pretty close. I don’t know how to calculate win shares and stuff like that, but that wouldn’t be a big difference either. And keep in mind Pudge put those numbers in the crazy Steroid Era - he had a 125 adjusted OPS+ to Mauer’s 144.

So actually…in terms of new school baseball statistics…pretty close.

Old school W-L, HR, RBI numbers…Pudge had much better flashier numbers. Voters don’t care about walks.

Another thing to consider would be the competition. In 1999, Pudge was up against…
Pedro (23-4, 2.07 ERA, 0.92 walks, 213 IP, and an insane 313 strike-outs)
Roberto Alomar (24 HR, 120 RBI, 138 runs, 37 SB, .955 OPS with Gold Glove defense at 2B)
ManRam (44 HR, 165 RBI, 1.105 OPS, 151 runs created)
Rafael Palmeiro (47 HR, 148 RBI, 1.050 OPS, 151 runs created).
…which are just absolutely crazy seasons from everybody.

I don’t have the average stats of what catchers hit in 1999, but Pudge won it over a bunch of guys who could have legitimately been the AL MVP’s with little debate. Pudge had 252 points in voting, Pedro had 239, Alomar 226, Manny 226, and Raffy had 193. All pretty close.

Now in 2006…
320 points - Justin Morneau (34 HR, 130 RBI, .934 OPS, 125 runs created)
306 points - Derek Jeter (14 HR, 97 RBI, 118 runs, .900 OPS with bad defense at SS)
193 points - David Ortiz (54 HR, 137 RBI, 1.049 OPS, 146 runs created)
174 points - Frank Thomas (39 HR, 114 RBI)
156 points - Jermaine Dye (44 HR, 120 RBI)
116 points - Joe Mauer

Much less excuse to not giving Mauer the MVP.

I think Pudge deserves his 1999 AL MVP, but Mauer actually put up a very similar season in a less offensive era, against much scrubbier competition…and only finished 6th. Somehow, impossibly, baseball voters got even stupider. I think they’re all old and senile now maybe. In 10 years time - or maybe even in like 3 years - NO ONE is going to remember that Justin Morneau was the 2006 AL MVP.

I mean, do you remember who won the 2005 Cy Young? Was it Johan Santana, the best pitcher in the world for the last three years? No, it was fatty Bartolo Colon and his 3.48 ERA.

In conclusion…I have no life.

142

By the way, who are the guys in Morphiend’s league?

Specifically, who is mvp? Let’s get a trade going, I want to swing a three way (no homo).

I’m Player Haters, by the way.

143

Mark Prior is injured again…who’d a thunk it?

144

And this is the part that I point out that saying somebody being overrated is not the same thing as saying they’re not good. I’d put Jeter at the top until Reyes repeats–his on base percentage was awful until last season, and before I put him at the top of the class, I want to make sure he can repeat. Jeter’s performance is consistent.

Overrated is when people said he was the best SS in the majors when prime Nomar, prime Tejada, and ARod were still at it. Jokes.

145

mvp is a coworker of mine who’s not on srk. he’s always on yahoo though so hit him up.

146

Haha, FJM has been on fire lately.

Joe Morgan’s last ESPN chat.

147

Wow…why am I not surprised?

The Cubs need to get some fresher arms to help Carlos Zambrano. It’s obvious both Prior and Wood are burned out.

148

You’re about a year late with that opinion, D-Force. Prior is in the minors trying to work his velocity back up, and Wood is getting over some shoulder soreness and coming out of the bullpen.

149

dammit i had carlos lee on the bench today. 3 homers and 6 rbis. oh well, if my pitching can stay consistent and my hitting heats up the league is in trouble. :wgrin:

150

^LOL that really sucks did he hit 3 or 2 homers?

it sucks u don’t get points for players on the bench… I always have to check schedules to see if their team plays the next day… it’s really tedious.

Fucking angels get pounded by the redsox… hope the angels don’t go on a long offensive slump like they usually do.

151

White Sox Bullpen = Scary.
White Sox Rotation = Solid.

I know it’s early, but I am more optimistic this year than last year. The bullpen looks to be really reliable, and Ozzie no longer employs the “Trust your Starting Pitcher” philosophy. Once they’re in a jam, he pulls them out, immediately. He wasn’t kidding about pitchers being on a leash. And with our ridiculous bullpen, all of a sudden, I don’t mind if someone like Buehrle or Vazquez gets into a jam. MacDougal, Thornton, and Jenks have already proven themselves, and Masset/Sisco/Aardsma have all shown solid outings so far, Masset and Aardsma especially. Even our young 5th Starter, Danks, I was very pleased with.

And once our offense picks up, then watch out! Podsednik red hot in the first month of the season (unlike last year), Erstad doing SMALL BALL stuff (moving the runner along, hitting line drives, stealing bases when necessary, AND most importantly, he plays decent center field)… then our usual Thome/Konerko/Dye/Crede/Pierzynski… IGUCHI batting late in the lineup, and Uribe swinging the bat extremely well?

White Sox World Series champs for 2007?! Gonna be tough though, because Tigers are still good, Twins still hanging in there, and the Indians seem to be improved this year.

:crosses fingers:

152

Go White Sox!!!

The pitching staff has really picked up, other than Jenks, everyone seems to be pitching with a lot of confidence. I’m especially very happy with our rotation, they are pitching the way that I knew they could. Another good outing by Vasquez last night. I think that’s 5 good/quality starts in a row by our pitchers.

Our lineup needs to pick it up though…

I really don’t like that Ozzie has Thome, Konerko, then Dye, imo it should be Dye, Konerko, then Thome. Dye in the 3rd spot is much better. It breaks up the 3 lefty sitiuation, he has better speed, and he is a better avg hitter in this point of their careers, the only thing Thome has on Dye is that he walks more. Anyways, I think our lineup will heat up in the upcoming weeks.

I’m really liking our chances at this point.

Edit: I understand that Jenks only has 1 blown save and that they do happen, but it still seems to me that he isn’t as confident as he usually is. He’s still doing good though so it works for me.

153

Jenks had one real blown save so far (vs. the A’s). It happens. As a closer, he should be THE guy to keep a one run lead. Hawk made a great point earlier about Jenks needing to be more aggressive with his fastball. He seems to be relying on his other pitches at the moment (curve, cutter, sinker, occasional changeup) which doesn’t always work, because those other pitches need to be established by the fastball FIRST. His velocity isn’t quite up yet, either… I’m hoping he just needs to get his arm strength back, rather than him actually being injured.

Yesterday, it’s not entirely his fault, though. Uribe messed up on TWO double plays, which gave Jenks extra outs. If it wasn’t for Uribe’s offense today, I bet you Uribe’s gonna get his ass chewed by Ozzie.

154

sox had a bad game today… And erstad sucks.

155

damn looks like the angels are in one of their hitting slumps… i swear if vladimir doesnt hit none of the angels hit. this better end soon

and LOL at jeter’s defense 2 errors in 1 game tonight. Lucky arod helped the team win.

156

Is Halladay/Holliday a fair trade? I have Halladay. My OF’s right now are Markakis/Bonds/Drew/Ibanez so I can use the upgrade. My pitching is completely stacked and I can afford to give up Halladay, I have…Oswalt/Webb/Dan Cabrera/Rich Hill/Ian Snell/Felix Hernandez/Ervin Santana/Frasor/Fuentes/Izzy/Papelbon.

Oh and “surprise” DL placement of the day is NOT BJ ryan, but Carl Pavano. Really.

157

Hmmm, I don’t see those players that you mentioned on your roster…

Anyways, I need a big time short stop, i’m willing to give up a big name for a good offer.

Edit: oh lol you’re prolly talking about a different league :slight_smile:

158

Holliday is pretty good but not worth Halladay. If you’re giving up staff aces, aim higher.

159

Go tribe. Great win by C.C.

160

damn my fantasy league sucks… im in last place… and whenever someone on my team does good… just my luck that they are on the bench and i don’t get their points.

Angels are not starting out good, which is really making me sad. Please change your name back to Anaheim Angels instead of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim… cuz we are about 1 hour away from Los Angeles.