Comments for umpbump.com

Comment on What They Need: Boston Red Sox - To Get Younger by KenJr

KenJr — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:39:15 +0000

1. Re-sign Tek @ 2 years no more than 20 million total(hopefully half that).
2. Sign RHP, Junichi Tazawa from Japan.
3. Trade M. Bowden to Texas for C, J. Saltalamacchia.
4. Keep J. Lugo as our utility infielder.
5. Let C. Carter be our backup 1B/OF
6. Sign R. Baldelli as our 4th OF’er

Line-up:

1. Ellsbury, LHH, CF
2. Pedroia, RHH, 2B
3. Ortiz, LHH, DH
4. Youkilis, RHH, 1B
5. Drew, LHH, RF
6. Bay, RHH, LF
7. Lowell, RHH, 3B
8. Lowrie, SH, SS
9. Varitek, SH, C

Bench:

Saltalamacchia, SH, C/1B
Baldelli, RHH, CF, LF, RF
Lugo, RHH, SS, 2B, 3B
Carter, LHH, 1B, LF
Cash, RHH, C

The fact that Saltalamacchia can play 1B allows us to keep Cash on the roster for Wakefield.

SP:

Beckett, RHP
Lester, LHP
Matsuzaka, RHP
Wakefield, RHP
Tazawa/Masterson/Buchholz, All RHP’s

Bullpen:

Papelbon, RHP, CL
Okajima, LHP
Delcarmen, RHP
Ramirez, RHP
Lopez, RHP
Masterson/Bard, Both RHP’s

If Masterson is given the 5th starters spot, then Bard could be the 6th member of the BP. If either Buchholz or Tazawa take the spot, Masterson goes to the pen.

I want no part of Teixiera. I believe during these bad economic times, those teams that build from within will have the most success. I plan on watching Lars Anderson become an All-Star within the next four years.

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on Pujols MVP Backlash Part II - Backlashing the Backlash by kensai

kensai — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:41:23 +0000

It has to be cognitive dissonance, because there’s no way that he looked up Howard’s “clutch” statistics and decided that Pujols was inferior in that department. :o

Pujols “Clutch” Statistics

High Leverage-.392/.492/.725/1.218
2 Outs & RISP-.326/.592/.791/1.382
Late & Close-.314/.444/.600/1.044
RISP-.339/.523/.678/1.201

Howard “Clutch” Statistics

High Leverage-.265/.342/.545/.888
2 Outs & RISP-.322/.468/.552/1.020
Late & Close-.158/.306/.337/.643
RISP-.320/.439/.589/1.028

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on What They Need: 2008-09 Off-Season by Sarah Green

Sarah Green — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:13:52 +0000

Okay, quick scheduling update. Obviously, I didn’t post the Nationals WTN yesterday. Nor am I going to post it today. But tomorrow is another day, right? Right! And I’ll tackle the Marlins as soon as possible after that.

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on Pujols MVP Backlash Part II - Backlashing the Backlash by Doug TIM

Doug TIM — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:14:37 +0000

The only people who voted for Howard are people who don’t understand baseball, people who didn’t watch the Phillies play, and homer Phillies fans who just want to see one of their guys win an MVP. The stats, in this case, confirm common sense, as anyone who followed the Phillies (like me) knows that Howard wasn’t even close to the best player on the team (far behind Utley, Hamels, and Lidge and behind Rollins and maybe Burrell). If this guy had bothered to watch the Phillie play this year he would know that.

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on Cubs Poised To Re-Sign Ryan Dempster by melissa

melissa — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:56:59 +0000

In 05-07 Dempster was not in good shape. He worked hard in the off-season coming into 08 because he wanted to start. His efforts paid off for his walk year. I can’t say he won’t continue to work like this hopefully he will since it did pay dividends.

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on Cubs Poised To Re-Sign Ryan Dempster by Paul Moro

Paul Moro — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:49:53 +0000

Well, Lowe is going to be more costly to the Cubs than Dempster. Word has it that Boras is asking for at least 5 if not 7 years for Lowe. So this comparison doesn’t take into account Dempster’s open market value and I didn’t mean to bring it into the conversation because like I said, it’s moot.

Regarding the conditioning, you obviously pay more attention to the Chicago teams than I do so I don’t want to doubt it. But Neyer (whose opinion mirrors yours more closely than mine on this issue) wrote:

“And Dempster has worked hard before. “The Scouting Notebook 2002″ refers to Dempster’s “second straight winter of intense workouts” leading to mid-90s fastballs in 2001.”

I have no idea how true this is. But it’s out there.

But you have every right to be skeptical of this deal. It’s not a no-brainer. But I do think it’s very sensible. And at least they didn’t have to give up any draft picks either by going this route. Even Randy Johnson, Braden Looper and Randy Wolf are Type Bs.

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on Cubs Poised To Re-Sign Ryan Dempster by melissa

melissa — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:44:04 +0000

I agree that Dempster’s open market value is a moot point, you were the one saying Lowe was going to be more costly. I think Lowe at 3 years at the same or more money than Dempster is a better investment. I also agree that Demp having been a reliever in 05-07 makes it hard to evaluate his performance as a starter. I would also add that Dempster was never one to stay in shape until this last year where he began a workout routine to handle the extra innings. I wonder if he will work as hard this coming off-season considering he now has a 4 year deal?

31 year old pitchers with injury histories that have career years in their walk year leave me skeptical. They are paying him like a 3 starter so the deal is not outrageous. I’m thinking he may end up performing like a 5 starter or end up injured and coming out of the bullpen again. I would rather they went with someone else for less years and taken the draft picks.

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on Cubs Poised To Re-Sign Ryan Dempster by Paul Moro

Paul Moro — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:12:36 +0000

I don’t think anyone thinks that a repeat year for Dempster is likely and that’s not at all what I’m saying. The only area of debate really is how big the dropoff will be. I don’t think it’ll be big enough to make this into a bad deal.

And how much Dempster would have gotten in the open market is a moot point, because from the look of it, the Cubs got a discount. I will be shocked if Lowe signs for less per year.

Plus, Demp’s a tough one to evaluate because he spent so much time as a reliever. But the peripherals weren’t real outliers this year. Better, but not unrepeatably so. He was just lucky (hence, me thinking his ERA will be closer to 4). The skills are there.

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on Cubs Poised To Re-Sign Ryan Dempster by melissa

melissa — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:41:09 +0000

I still think there is a good chance the Cubs will deal for Peavy and I think his upside is much greater than Dempster’s. His innings were down this past season but he’s younger than Dempster and his production has been more consistent. Dempster’s career numbers don’t come anywhere near what he did this past season and that is a red flag, to me anyway. I see unrepeatable career year. The fall off could be significant, I hope it won’t be.

I don’t know what Lowe will sign for but numerous source have claimed he was looking for a 3 year deal. Every source I have seen claimed that Dempster would get more money and more years on the open market than Lowe, I guess we will never know. I actually would rather have even seen the Cubs bring in Randy Johnson for one year and deal for Peavy than re-sign Demp.

REPORT COMMENT

Comment on Cubs Poised To Re-Sign Ryan Dempster by Paul Moro

Paul Moro — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:44:56 +0000

Anyway, I’m not sure how trading for Peavy would be a way of limiting payroll. Peavy’s contract is larger and covers more years. Yeah, he’s a better pitcher than Dempster, but Peavy’s also got some warning signs. His Ks were a bit down and his walks were a bit up. And for a guy who pitched in Petco, he gives up a good number of homeruns which is only going to get worse in Wrigley. Again, he’s still a very good pitcher. But take Petco away from him and his numbers aren’t going to be THAT much better than Dempster’s.

And Tommy John surgery doesn’t preclude more injuries and you can easily make the argument for or against its impact on a pitcher’s health.

Look, he probably won’t ever have an ERA below 3 again. But an ERA around 4 for a guy who can give you 200 innings per in Wrigley is very valuable. He’s no ace, but paying that much for a #2-3 is sensible.

And I also like Lowe more than Demp. But Lowe’s going to cost you more. If payroll is an issue, signing Demp was the cheapest way to ensure another playoff berth.

Plus, this should have no bearing on the Peavy discussions. There are plenty of teams out there who would love to trade for a Cubs starter.

REPORT COMMENT