umpbump.com » News reel

What they need: Cardinals

Coley Ward — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:38:48 +0000

The Cardinals offense was just so-so in 2009, despite the presence of hitting god Albert Pujols. St. Louis was square in the middle of the pack in slugging, wOBA, and OBP. Where they excelled was pitching. The Cards’ pitchers issued the fewest walks in the league and had the third best FIP, allowing St. Louis to run away with the NL Central.

visit site to read more]

Tagged: Cardinals, What They Need

What they need: Marlins

Coley Ward — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:28:42 +0000

The Marlins finished in second place in 2009, but the reality is they only scored 6 more runs than they allowed and the third-place Braves had a much better run differential. So Florida will have to improve more than a little if they’re going to compete for a playoff spot in 2010.

Offense isn’t a big … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Marlins, What They Need

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: Red Sox

Sarah Green — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:00:13 +0000

The Red Sox finished 7 games behind the Yankees and were swept out of the first round of the playoffs. How can they avoid a similar fate in 2010?

Boston’s biggest problem in 2009 was defense. They had the third-best run differential in baseball, yet ranked dead last in deff eff for much of the year. Their lineup, while certainly not bad, was not good enough. And their starting pitching, while good, was not good enough in the postseason.

Defense, offense, and pitching sounds like a lot … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Red Sox, What They Need

Love your agent and you just gotta show it? Get a tattoo!

Coley Ward — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:52:41 +0000

Leave it to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick. While all the other baseball hacks are reporting on boring stuff that nobody cares about (trades, signings, the crappiness of the O’Hare Hilton), he’s bringing us the good stuff.

From Crasnick’s … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Dontrelle Willis, Sosnick-Cobbe, tattoo

What They Need: Yankees

Sarah Green — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:48:27 +0000

What could the world champion, richer-than-God New York Yankees possibly need? What do you get for the team that has (apparently) everything?

The question most Yankee-watchers have been asking is: Who’s in left? World Series MVP Hideki Matsui is a free agent, as is Johnny Damon. Neither player’s health inspires much confidence at this stage, though Damon’s legs have the edge over Matsui’s. Today, we learned that the Yankees visit site to read more]

Tagged: What They Need, Yankees

Brett Myers is a classy free-agent-to-be

Coley Ward — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:27:54 +0000

So the Phillies are letting Brett Myers walk, and you can feel pretty confident that the biggest reason he’s not sticking around is he was a giant pain in the ass during his Philly tenure.

But let’s give credit where credit is due. Myers’ parting words were classy:

“I was just like, `OK, thanks for putting up with my (stuff),’ ‘’ Myers said. “He thanked me and wished me … [visit site to read more]
Tagged: Brett Myers, Phillies

Yankees, Evil? I Wish.

Sarah Green — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:24:28 +0000

The Yankees are World Champions again, but it’s not the same this time. Evil Empire? I wish; at least “evil” is interesting.

Instead, what we have is the rise of the boring over the bad. Somehow, Yankeefication has become synonymous with boringification. Johnny Damon: went to the Yankees, became boring. Mark Teixeira: is boring, and thus is perfectly suited for the Yankees. Joba Chamberlain: has a mother who dealt meth. Yet somehow is boring anyway.

Even Alex Rodriguez is boring. … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: boring, World Series, Yankees

Why Everyone Should Root for Pedro

Sarah Green — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:36:26 +0000

Last week, I wrote this somewhat silly Metro column about why Red Sox fans should root for the Phillies. I was being glib and slightly facetious. But tonight, I really do think that everyone in their right mind should be rooting for the Phillies — specifically, for Pedro Martinez.

There’s nothing like a good sports redemption story, and Pedro’s tale has all the ingredients. He has crazy hair, says crazy … [visit site to read more]

Tagged: Pedro Martinez, Phillies, World Series

Andy Friedman is smart

Nick Kapur — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:48:56 +0000

For months now, everyone has been talking about how second baseman Akinori Iwamura’s $4.85 million 2010 option might be too expensive for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to pick up, especially with the explosive emergence of Ben Zobrist (your 2009 MLB leader in WAR). But all the speculation I’ve seen has focused on whether the Rays would pick up Iwamura’s option or let him walk.

visit site to read more]

Tagged: Akinori Iwamura, Andrew Friedman, Jesse Chavez, Pirates, Rays, trade