umpbump.com » Diamond cuts

What They Need: Minnesota Twins

Alejandro A. Leal — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:54:10 +0000

If you take a quick glance at the Minnesota Twins 2009 campaign, you might deem it a success since they reached the postseason. But taking a closer look at the numbers and you’ll realize that the Twins were … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Twins, What They Need

What They Need: Dodgers

Nick Kapur — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:20:24 +0000

Look, we could talk about how the Dodgers need a second baseman now that Joe Torre completely alienated Orlando Hudson by benching him in favor of an inferior player down the stretch and in the playoffs, or how the Dodgers need another starting pitcher or two, but why beat around the bush when what the Dodgers clearly need, way more than anything else, is new ownership.

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Tagged: Dodgers, Frank-McCourt, Jamie McCourt, Ned Colletti, What They Need

What They Need: Mariners

Paul Moro — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:10:21 +0000

The 2009 Mariners became a bit of a darling in the sabermetric world. The proponents of the non-traditional fielding stats such as Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Plus/Minus were actually able to see their beliefs translate to on-field success. You see, the Mariners brought in a group … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Mariners, What They Need

What They Need – San Francisco Giants: Some sort of vague semblance of an offense

Nick Kapur — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:22:38 +0000

The Giants are basically set for the next two years at least in the starting rotation, with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez all under team control til at least 2011 at cost-controlled prices. And with the vaguely serviceable Barry Zito signed til forever and closer Brian Wilson still with 4 years left of arbitration, on the pitching side of things GM Brian Sabian’s job consists of little more than plugging in a 5th starter and filling in a few gaps in the back end of the bullpen … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Brian Sabean, Bruce-Bochy, Fred Lewis, Giants, Nate Schierholtz, Pablo Sandoval, What They Need

What’s The Value Of: Chone Figgins?

Paul Moro — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:31:53 +0000

One of the things that always piques my interest is a conversation in regards to “value”. It can be discussed in the abstract sense (leadership, personality, energy, grittitude) or more specifically (WAR, Runs Created, Runs Prevented, Ass Slaps Dished Out To Teammates).

But in my mind, … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Chone Figgins, value, versatility

Is Pat Burrell Done?

Paul Moro — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:01:38 +0000

When the Tampa Bay Rays signed LF/DH Pat Burrell to a 2-year $16 million contract this past off-season, I thought that the defending AL champs had gotten a steal – especially in comparison to the 3-year $31.5 million deal that his replacement in Philadelphia, Raul Ibanez, would garner … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Pat Burrell, Phillies, Raul Ibanez, Rays

Gary Matthews thinks Cliff Lee is a certain, maybe Hall of Famer

Coley Ward — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:05:46 +0000

So I’m watching Gary “Sarge” Matthews talk about today’s Phils-Braves pitching matchup, Cliff Lee vs. Tommy Hanson, and Sarge refers to Lee as “a certain, maybe, Hall-of-Famer.”

And I don’t know what certain-maybe means, but Lee is not a certain Hall of Famer, and he’s not maybe a Hall of Famer. Lee is a very good pitcher who seems to have finally figured it all out after a couple down years and a demotion to the minors in 2007. But Lee, who is 30, has had exactly one season with an ERA … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Cliff Lee, Gary "Sarge" Matthews

Who will play first base for the Braves in 2010?

Coley Ward — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:23:51 +0000

A while back, we questioned the notion that the Braves’ trade for Adam LaRoche was about 2010. Today we’ll take a look at who might play 1B for Atlanta next season.

The contenders:

1. Adam LaRoche, the team’s current 1B, will be a free agent at … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Adam LaRoche, Braves, Chipper Jones, Freddie Freeman, Martin Prado

Perhaps the ultimate example of why the “win” is a useless stat

Nick Kapur — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:15:08 +0000

In tonight’s game between the Reds and the Cubs, Cubs starter Rich Harden had already run up a pitch count of 103 through 4 innings of work, despite only allowing 1 run, so Cubs manager Lou Pinella opted to remove him from the game (wisely, I would say, given Harden’s legendary fragility). Harden left with a 4-1 lead, but obviously could not get the win, since he had not pitched the requisite 5 innings.

Rookie reliever Jeff Stevens thereupon entered the game to start the 5th frame, pitching … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Cubs, Jeff Stevens, Reds, win vulturing, wins

On WPA; Or, why Johnny Damon is your 2009 AL MVP

Nick Kapur — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:34:20 +0000

WPA is the stat that old baseball men have always wanted.

If you believe in Wins and RBIs, if you believe that certain pitchers can “pitch to the score” and certain batters are simply “clutch” and can suddenly step up their game when it’s all on the line while somehow sucking the rest of the time, than WPA … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Johnny Damon, WAR, WPA, Zack Greinke