tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post7909462200617881459..comments2024-02-23T20:49:09.057-08:00Comments on obsessivegiantscompulsive: To Rent, or To Renteria, That is the Questionobsessivegiantscompulsivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-10365005479913239522009-08-10T12:11:10.352-07:002009-08-10T12:11:10.352-07:00Jack, I'm not sure what your point is. I'...Jack, I'm not sure what your point is. I've already said in the article that Cabrera was a better acquisition with 20-20 hindsight. The contract only makes it that much more better.<br /><br />But it's not like Cabrera has been that great an acquisition either. Apparently you can lose value quickly: Fangraphs only has Cabrera earning $1.9M for his performance this season. He should have been paid $2.7M for the season thus far, so he is returning negative value for the A's and Twins. <br /><br />Apparently it was his offense that suddenly looked bad in comparison. Despite his hot hitting lately. <br /><br />And a .312 wOBA isn't that good, it's less than his career and it is only 140th out of 158 qualified hitters. You are just pointing out how bad offensively he has been this season. <br /><br />Furcal has been a good deal, thus far, but could be poised to look bad in future seasons if his poor health returns. People rarely get healthier in baseball, once the injuries come, they continue to come.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-83121484861440123792009-08-10T11:16:47.097-07:002009-08-10T11:16:47.097-07:00O-Cabrera: .312 wOBA (or .707 OPS)
Renteria: .275 ...O-Cabrera: .312 wOBA (or .707 OPS)<br />Renteria: .275 wOBA (or .616 OPS)<br /><br />and<br />O-Cabrera: 2009/$4M<br />Renteria: $9.25M per year<br /><br />That's all.Jacknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-63482759903318197012009-08-09T22:52:53.244-07:002009-08-09T22:52:53.244-07:00Cain had a nice stretch of games in which he was g...Cain had a nice stretch of games in which he was good to great. He's eventually going to have games where he's not so good, but he's been much better this year about avoiding games like this.<br /><br />The good news is that this is only the third series of the year the Giants have lost a series at home. Third. Given that there is less than two months left, that's pretty good. And they still have the second best home record in the majors (I think they had the best before losing this series). <br /><br />I'll worry if he is like this the whole month of August. <br /><br />Now it's time to take it to the D'gers, they need to step it up this series, with Sanchez, Martinez, and Lincecum pitching against Kuroda, Wolf, and Billingsley. We have a good chance of winning with Sanchez and Lincecum, and most probably will lose with Martinez, though Wolf has had two poorer starts in his last two starts. Still, Kuroda and Billingsley are no push-overs, it's going to be a tough series. <br /><br />It's nice to dream that if we sweep, we'd be only 2.5 games back, but it is going to take somebody (Sandoval? Garko?) going crazy on the D'gers and blasting a few out of the park against them for the Giants to pull off a sweep.<br /><br />I think a 2 out of 3 is more realistic, though still will be hard to achieve. Nobody on the team is really that hot, except for Velez, who I've covered already, and Freddy Sanchez, who has been delivering thus far. Perhaps he is finally healthy and doing what he can do, particularly without worrying about whether the team is going to trade him or not, and knowing the Giants already are counting on him for 2010. <br /><br />Rowand has perked up a little too since July 26th, hopefully he can get keep it, that will help our offense greatly.<br /><br />Molina has perked it up since then too, and hopefully he too can continue, since he's our clean-up hitter.<br /><br />Luckily, since his no-hitter, Sanchez has been pretty good, 3.80 ERA, .668 OPS against, 28K/11BB, great ratio, 23.2 IP, 16 hits, 4 HR, so he's actually been a little unlucky there. Plus, he has pitched better at home than on the road, and has 3 DOM starts in his last 4 (3 in the other one).<br /><br />And Lincecum has been Lincecum, almost every game is a well pitched game.<br /><br />And Martinez was pretty good after his rough early start, when he said that he was a bit amped up and nervous. Still, it's too early to say what he would do in his next start. He was great in Connecticut last season, but he's hardly pitched this season and just came off the line drive off his head early in the season. The good thing was that he threw a shutout in his last start in the minors before coming up.<br /><br />Go Giants!obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-6507108071381670692009-08-09T14:18:10.086-07:002009-08-09T14:18:10.086-07:00Cain sure fell apart. Must've lost his focus ...Cain sure fell apart. Must've lost his focus or something.Matt Mongiellonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-38066083526123355832009-08-09T10:40:19.302-07:002009-08-09T10:40:19.302-07:00Thanks about the salary guesses - see, that's ...Thanks about the salary guesses - see, that's kind of what I figured. So, absent any non-free agents, that's just the way it goes. So "Rowand" (the theoretical one) isn't overpaid, though Rowand (the real-life one) hasn't worked out so well. Though hasn't been as much of a disaster as some might say.<br /><br />I'm always a bit befuddled by the how old are they really question when it comes to Latin American players. Seems like it can't be that hard to verify, but yet it is. Would explain a lot re: Renteria, though. I certainly hope that it doesn't apply to Pujols, however - I want to watch him as he is for a long time.<br /><br />Thanks again for the answer - a much bigger topic, I know, but gives me food for thought.marcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-80163408999140841222009-08-08T22:18:19.806-07:002009-08-08T22:18:19.806-07:00Walter, thanks for joining the discussion. That&#...Walter, thanks for joining the discussion. That's an angle I haven't seen, his age, and would make a lot of sense as 35-36 is around where most players typically hit the wall. That's when Willie Mays started his decline.<br /><br />Like Winn, his K-rate has increased significantly this season, above the level you want to see from a good hitter. An elbow spur, however, would explain a lot of that. Still, it isn't horribly bad - just above the 15% contact rate you want to see in a hitter, only 2 extra strikeouts - and his walk rate is actually up to compensate.<br /><br />Marc, informally, it seems to be that the average type player has been getting around $9-10M per season on the free agent market. It is an overpay for the production you will probably receive, but the market price is heightened by the cost of trading to get a similar player and by the relative lack of available "merchandise" on the market.<br /><br />Rowand, if that is the right pricing range, is right in line with that as he was suppose to be above average defensively and offensively. He severely underperformed last season, possibly because of that injury he suffered early in the season.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-35959555418092444652009-08-08T18:10:49.599-07:002009-08-08T18:10:49.599-07:00I wrote somewhere before the season that I was ske...I wrote somewhere before the season that I was skepical of Renteria because he was a leading under-achiever on the leading under-achieving team (Tigers)last year. There is also a chance, he being from Columbia, that he is not 33. I think he started his pro career at 16. Suppose he was actually 19 or more? Wouldn'[t that explain a lot?Walter Guestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-75125060574848889222009-08-08T16:50:26.494-07:002009-08-08T16:50:26.494-07:00No, Boof, let's ignore that he has put togethe...No, Boof, let's ignore that he has put together one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, a very solid defensive team, a team that has the 3d best winning percentage in the NL, and that he has some solid young position talent and some very promising pitching and positional talent in the minors. Let's focus on the one weakness on the team, likely caused by injury, and fire the guy.allfrankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03603053163603458876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-91365061505483846802009-08-08T14:36:01.657-07:002009-08-08T14:36:01.657-07:00Let's give Sabean another 2 year extension for...Let's give Sabean another 2 year extension for making another fine decision to bring in yet another washed up veteran.Boofnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-83058152564608857252009-08-08T11:59:36.827-07:002009-08-08T11:59:36.827-07:00thanks for the column - been a while since I'v...thanks for the column - been a while since I've been to the site, and am really liking it.<br /><br />One thing I would really be interested in seeing, and I have to wonder if someone has done this, is to really analyze the salaries of non-RPs.<br /><br />What I mean by that, is take the VORP "pool", and remove the Lincecums, etc - players who are pre-abitration (or maybe even in their abitration years), Rule 5 guys, etc... and see what it really costs for a player in the open market. I know that one is reducing the sample size to difficult levels, but it seems obvious (I think) that your average free agent is technically overpaid, but perhaps not overpaid according to the market.<br /><br />I'm not speaking in terms of what value the player brings the team, just "what it really costs to sign a free agent first baseman". One can certainly argue the wisdom of Renteria vs Furcal vs Uribe (though Rowand may be a better example), but I would be really curious as I think it would bring some illumination by comparing apples to apples.<br /><br />So, not "is it more cost-effective to sign no free agents and just play your AAA players" (which to a less extreme extent seems to be somewhat true) but "okay, we want a generic veteran shortstop, it costs $xxx per VORP".marcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-19392360520653259342009-08-08T11:04:46.244-07:002009-08-08T11:04:46.244-07:00It's not B.S. Going with a youth movement doe...It's not B.S. Going with a youth movement does not mean that everyone will be young, only that decisions will be made that favor youth over experience, like starting Sandoval, Ishikawa, and Burriss. Prior to that, they went with Lewis over Roberts. And, of course, our beautiful pitching staff.<br /><br />Still, you are not going to fill every hole with young players, and, if you want some measure of success, you need the vets to provide more consistent production and to fill holes where you have no viable young players.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-24316290807574727102009-08-08T07:58:21.868-07:002009-08-08T07:58:21.868-07:00For all the BS about the youth movement we still e...For all the BS about the youth movement we still end up with Renteria and Aurilia handling important roles for this club.<br />It's a scary prospect knowing that we might have to rely on those two in a big situation with the postseason on the line.Matt Mongiellonoreply@blogger.com