Surprise, surprise, the Oakland Athletics organization is loaded with young talent. Although the club has had modest results from its recent drafts, General Manager Billy Beane has done an amazing job of picking up talent from other organizations in exchange for more expensive veterans.

AAA/AA
Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez are two talented, young southpaws that have very good opportunities to spend significant time in the A’s rotation in 2009. Anderson was obtained from the Diamondbacks in the Dan Haren trade, while Gonzalez was acquired from the White Sox in the Nick Swisher deal. Last season, Anderson split his time between High-A and Double-A. At the senior level, he allowed 27 hits in 31 innings of work and posted rates of 2.61 BB/9 and 11.03 K/9. Gonzalez spent the year in Triple-A and and allowed 106 hits in 123 innings. He also posted rates of 4.46 BB/9 and 9.37 K/9. Gonzalez made his MLB debut in 2008, but struggled with 32 hits and 25 walks allowed in 34 innings.

Trevor Cahill was drafted by the A’s out of high school in 2006 in the second round. The right-hander has moved quickly through the system and played at both High-A and Double-A in 2008. Cahill, 21, allowed 52 hits in 87.1 High-A innings, before moving up and allowing 24 hits in 37 Double-A innings. He also posted rates of 4.62 BB/9 and 8.03 K/9 at the higher level. Obviously, Cahill needs to improve his control a bit, but he has a solid repertoire: an 88-93 mph fastball, good curve and change-up.

Another A’s draft pick, Vince Mazzaro, 22, does not get as much press as some of the other arms in the system but the former third-round pick out of high school has a chance to be a solid starting pitcher in the Majors. The right-hander split 2008 between Double-A and Triple-A. He posted a 1.90 ERA in Double-A with 115 hits allowed in 137.1 innings. Mazzaro, who allowed just three homers, also posted rates of 2.36 BB/9 and 6.82 K/9. At Triple-A, he allowed 49 hits in 33.2 innings and should return to that level to begin 2009. Mazzaro has an 89-94 mph fastball, change-up and slider.

James Simmons was a first-round draft pick out of college in 2007 who spent his first full season in pro ball in Double-A with OK results. His ERA was good at 3.51 (and a 3.26 FIP) but he allowed 150 hits in 136 innings of work. Simmons, 22, also posted rates of 2.12 BB/9 and 7.94 K/9 with 11 home runs allowed (0.73 HR/9). Right now, he looks like a reliever with a reliable two-pitch repertoire: an 88-92 mph fastball and solid change-up. If he can improve his slider, Simmons may develop into a No. 3 or 4 starter.

Outfielder Aaron Cunningham, 22, was another piece of the prospect pie that was obtained for Haren. Scouts are mixed on his future potential; some see him as a future regular, while others feel he lacks the range for center and the power for the corner, making him an ideal fourth outfielder. The A’s organization is content to take a wait-and-see approach with Cunningham, who had a solid 2008 season and made his Major League debut. At Double-A, he hit .317/.386/.507 in 347 at-bats. He then hit .382 in 76 Triple-A at-bats and .250 in 80 MLB at-bats.

Adrian Cardenas was the key player obtained in the Joe Blanton trade with Philadelphia last season. The second baseman is not the best defensive player but he has a bright future as a hitter. The 21-year-old is a former supplemental first round draft pick who hit well in High-A in 2008, and also during a brief stint in Double-A at the end of the season. In 261 at-bats in High-A for the Phillies, Cardenas hit .307/.371/.441 with 16 stolen bases and four homers. Cardenas projects to hit for more power, which will be important if he needs to move off of second base to third base.

A+/A
Fautino de los Santos had a breakout season in 2007 and was a key player in the deal with Chicago for Swisher. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery not long after the trade and missed most of the 2008 season. Now 23, de los Santos is expected to return in May or June. Before the injury, the right-hander could touch 97 mph and also featured a slider, curve and change-up.

A former supplemental first round pick out of the University of Virginia, Sean Doolittle has exceeded expectations so far in his career. A first baseman, the left-handed hitter was thought to have average power at best for his position. However, he slugged 40 doubles and 24 home runs between High-A and Double-A in 2008, although he was aided by some good-hitting leagues and stadiums. Doolittle also struck out 153 times in 535 at-bats. He hit .305 in 334 High-A at-bats but the average dipped to .254 in 201 Double-A at-bats.

Another first baseman, Chris Carter was also obtained from Arizona in the Haren deal. Power is the name of his game, after drilling 63 home runs in the past two seasons, including 39 last year in High-A ball. Carter hit .259/.361/.569 with rates of 13.2 BB% and 30.8 K% in 506 at-bats. The 22-year-old’s biggest issue is making contact, but few hitters can match his raw strength.

Jemile Weeks was the club’s No. 1 draft pick in 2008 and is the brother of Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks. The A’s can only hope that Jemile will have more luck reaching his potential. He appeared in just 19 games after signing but hit .297 and stole six bases. Speed is a key component to the second baseman’s game. Only 5’9”, Weeks has above-average power for his size and could hit 10-15 homers.

SS/R
Michael Inoa was the top prize in this past season’s international signing period. Only 17, Inoa is already 6’7” and features a fastball that can touch 94 mph, as well as a splitter, curveball and change-up. He has yet to make his pro debut and will likely spend the first half of the season in extended spring training before opening the year in rookie ball in June.

Up Next: The Los Angeles Dodgers

Today, we keep looking at some teams that have legitimate hope, so it gets harder from here on out. And, for those of you who haven’t seen the previous parts (which are linked below), keep in mind that this is a forward looking exercise – we are evaluating clubs on their overall ability to contend for a World Series title in the future. We are not evaluating how they have performed historically. This is about the health of each organization going forward.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays
#19: San Francisco Giants

#18: Minnesota Twins

Ownership: C-

During the Pohlad era, the Twins have consistently been under-capitalized, especially considering the strength of the rosters being put together by the front office. Despite a player development system that churned out all-star after all-star, the team has acted like a second class citizen, running low-end payrolls and dealing off practically every meaningful player once they started making market value salaries. The ownership even went so far as to volunteer to contract the team despite the fact that the team has a solid history and a good fan base to draw from. The posturing was enough to finally get them a new stadium that will open next year, but given how the Pohlad family has operated in the past, we can’t be certain that new stadium revenues will actually be poured back into the franchise.

Front Office: B-

Under Terry Ryan, the Twins were a player development machine. They scouted well, drafted well, developed well, and created home grown stars that helped push them into contention despite questionable major league acquisitions and an old school philosophy that actively discouraged their players from hitting home runs. Ryan’s exit left a hole in the organization that Bill Smith has tried his best to fill, but so far, the few moves he has made have been somewhat questionable. While the structure that Ryan left in place should continue to allow them to be among the league’s best in scouting, the team continues to ignore the new understandings that other franchises have gained in the past ten years, and at some point, the Twins are either going to have to adapt or get left behind. They have their strengths, but they also have too many analytical weaknesses.

Major League Talent: B-

This might be the toughest roster in MLB to gauge. Joe Mauer is an MVP candidate, Justin Morneau is a minor star, and the team should get good contributions from the likes of Alexi Casilla, Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, and Joe Nathan. If Francisco Liriano can stay healthy, he’ll give the team a quality frontline pitcher in front of a bunch of strike throwers, which can depend on a solid defense to keep runs off the board. But for a team with so many pieces in place, you have to wonder why some holes didn’t get fixed. Nick Punto is miscast as a starting shortstop for a team with championship aspirations, and the team should have done better than sticking with Young/Cuddyer/Kubel to split LF/DH between. In addition, Mauer’s back problems could sink the entire season, and Mike Redmond isn’t a suitable fill-in. The roster has talent, but also too many unresolved issues that could have been fixed. If Mauer can’t play 120+ games in ’09, they’re in a lot of trouble.

Minor League Talent: C+

With Ben Revere and Aaron Hicks, the Twins have two of the toolsiest outfield prospects in the game – both fit the Minnesota model of a ballplayer, as they offer copious amounts of athleticism and should be solid enough hitters. They fit the defense first mindset, and while neither is particularly close to the majors, they both offer significant long term potential. There’s a huge valley between those two and the rest of the system, though. Shooter Hunt has too many control problems for a college tested first round pick. Wilson Ramos is a nice enough catching prospect with no real future in Minnesota. Kevin Mulvey looks like a #5 starter. It’s a collection of moderately interesting guys giving the organization a bit of depth, but the system breaks down as Revere, Hicks, and a lot of question marks.

Overall: C+

With a young core and a window for contention, the Twins are blowing a fairly large opportunity by not investing more in their product. With a larger budget and a few front office members that were more open to new ideas, they could build something pretty special. They have a championship core in place, but unfortunately, haven’t done enough to build a high level team around that core, and right now, it appears Joe Mauer’s prime is going to be wasted playing on some teams that could have been special but ended up fairly mediocre. It’s too bad, because he’s a great player, and he deserves better.

Another day and another international starting pitcher PitchFx post. This time let’s focus on Korea’s Hyunjin Ryu. Appropriately, Ryu is wearing number 99 during the tournament to add an extra layer of mystique, Dennis Rodman/Ron Artest style.

Not to be confused with fellow countryman and San Diego Padres starter Jae Kuk Ryu, this Ryu is a 6’2” lefty with a birth date of March 25th, 1987. That means he’s nearly 22-years-old and looked considerably more impressive than Araldis Chapman. For one, Ryu featured a more consistent release point with his pitches and displayed a better sense of control, issuing a walk in two and two-thirds innings pitched. Ryu did allow five hits, all singles, and struck three hitters out.

Ryu’s arsenal featured a fastball that broke in to lefties while sitting 89-91 and topping out at 93 miles per hour. A change-up, slider, curveball, and splitter. Let’s look at his movement chart:

Ryu’s fastball varies in speed enough with his splitter and change-up to cause some recognition issues for batters. Ryu’s curveball and slider break away from lefties as you would expect, and his curve really dives off the table at a – by comparison – slow-moving 75 miles per hour.

Again, Ryu’s potential MLB status is hardly predictable. I suppose there’s a chance down the road, but that’s some time away so there’s no sense in penciling him in as someone’s ace in 2010.

Entering spring training, the Phillies were set in four of their five starting pitching slots, with Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton. The fifth spot would be up for grabs between Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ, newly acquired Chan Ho Park, and prospect Carlos Carrasco. Kendrick and Carrasco have both struggled in limited action thus far, while Happ and Park have done nothing but impress. In fact, their duel might be making more headlines in Philadelphia if it weren’t for the fact that Hamels recently took a plane ride back home to get a tight left elbow examined.

Hamels insists that the “injury” is nothing serious and that he should be okay for his opening day start on April 5th against the Braves. Apparently, he feels fine while pitching and does not experience any soreness, tightness, or tenderness following an outing, but has slight discomfort in between innings. Many will be quick to point out his elevated workload and its role in this situation, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

In 2006, Hamels logged 181.1, 73% of which occurred at the major league level. The following season, Cole pitched a total of 190 innings including his lone postseason start against the Rockies. This past year, however, he combined 227.1 regular season innings with 35 more in the playoffs to surpass his 2007 total by just over 72 frames. In the process, his name found its way into several columns discussing the Verducci Effect, which theorizes that young pitchers experiencing a significant increase in workload are more vulnerable to injuries.

Despite Hamels’ insistence that the issue might be overblown, he is not going to risk his entire season in order to toe the rubber on opening day. If, for whatever reason, his left elbow has more damage than meets the eye, both Park and Happ will end up in the rotation to start the season, rendering their current competition moot. Unfortunately, this would not be a consolation for anyone outside of either Park or Happ, as the Phillies will need a healthy Hamels to have any shot of making the playoffs, let alone repeating.

This is not the first time Hamels has had to battle with the injury bug and CHONE seems to recognize this, suggesting that the World Series MVP will make just 29 starts. Despite the dropoff in playing time, his forecast calls for a higher strikeout rate while sustaining the walk rate, FIP, and strand percentage. Hamels is a true ace in every sense of the term, and despite both his and Amaro’s subtle hints at annoyance that this story is making plenty of headlines, even the slightest talk of ailments to the lefty is going to set the Phanbase into a frenzy of speculation.

If everything that has been said is 100% accurate, then Hamels will not miss any time to start the season, will kick off the entire major league baseball schedule, and cause a logjam in that final rotation spot, causing either Park or Happ to start the season in the bullpen. More updates as they come.

FanGraphs is now presenting five different player projections systems: Bill James, ZiPS (Dan Szymborski), CHONE (Sean Smith), Marcel (Tom Tango) and Oliver (Brian Cartwright). The natural question from you the readers is “Just how good is this projection?”

First, we need to understand the importance of sample size. Season statistics are just a sample of a player’s true talent. You might catch a player during a hot or cold streak, and without enough data, be misled into forming an incorrect perception of the player. On one hand, the more data, the better. On the other, we’re trying to capture a moving target. By the time we get a sufficient sample, the player’s true ability might well have changed.

My first test for a sufficient sample size was to compare wOBAs in all consecutive single seasons of unadjusted major league batting stats in my projections database, weighted by the smaller of the two plate appearances. I could presumably get more accurate results by normalizing with park factors, but I did not want to bias these results by using any of my proprietary formulas.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today, we keep looking at some teams that have legitimate hope, so it gets harder from here on out. And, for those of you who haven’t seen the previous parts (which are linked below), keep in mind that this is a forward looking exercise – we are evaluating clubs on their overall ability to contend for a World Series title in the future. We are not evaluating how they have performed historically. This is about the health of each organization going forward.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals
#20: Toronto Blue Jays

#19: San Francisco Giants

Ownership: B

Other MLB owners might not be very happy with Peter Magowan, as he stands as the blueprint of how a privately financed stadium can work just fine. The Giants built a beautiful stadium without significant government subsidies, and the revenues generated by the park have allowed the team to sustain a championship level payroll over the last decade. Magowan stepped down as the managing partner in October, but the ownership group remains stable and the Giants should be well capitalized going forward.

Front Office: D

Brian Sabean’s history of transactions while running the Giants is a series of astounding moves. On one hand, he made one of the worst trades in recent history (Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser for A.J. Pierzynski), gave out the worst free agent contract ever (Barry Zito), has consistently overpaid for declining veterans (Matt Morris, Dave Roberts, and Aaron Rowand), and has overseen a roster that that hasn’t finished at .500 in four years. However, he’s also done a very good job of identifying veteran players who had some life left in the tank, and has gotten good value from signings that looked like mistakes (Bengie Molina, Randy Winn, Omar Vizquel) and has done a good job of developing and retaining some terrific young pitchers. Given his resources, though, he’s squandered too many good opportunities, and the Giants missed opportunities to win due his unwillingness to rebuild.

Major League Talent: C+

The Giants look to be gearing up to be this year’s Blue Jays, with a terrific pitching staff, a very good defense, and an extreme lack of major league hitters. Randy Winn and Fred Lewis are nice pieces, but when they are your best hitters, you better plan on winning a lot of 3-2 games. The Lincecum/Cain/Johnson/Sanchez/Zito rotation could easily be the best in baseball, however, and Sabean capitalized on the buyers market to rebuild a shaky bullpen and add a few stopgap veterans to make a run at a weak NL West. There are some good young talents here, but unfortunately, they’re almost all on the pitching staff, and building around young arms is a high risk strategy. If Lincecum, Cain, and Sanchez all stay healthy, they could have a good run in store the next few years, but the odds of all three staying healthy and effective are not very good.

Minor League Talent: B+

If every team could only retain four minor leaguers every year, the Giants might have the best in the game. Their system is remarkably top heavy, with three of the best prospects in the game in Madison Bumgarner, Angel Villalona, and Buster Posey, and a nifty sidekick in Tim Alderson. These are premium talents, and could easily make up the core of the Giants future. But after those four, there’s quite the valley, and the rest of the system is rather pedestrian. The major league team is in need of good young hitters, so Posey and Villalona can’t get there fast enough – if they can find out a way to develop a few more quality position players, than this system could compete with the very best in baseball.

Overall: C+

The Giants have strong ownership, a fantastic ballpark in a high earning market, a major league team with legitimate playoff hopes, and a farm system that has several premium talents on the way to the Bay Area. With a less manic front office, they’d probably be one of the premier organizations in the game. The unpredictability of Sabean’s moves, along with the organizational plan of acquiring only 30+ players in free agency, has left them as an underachiever. But things are looking up in San Francisco, and as long as they can keep Lincecum’s arm attached to his body, they’ll have some hope.

Today, we keep looking at some teams that have legitimate hope, so it gets harder from here on out. And, for those of you who haven’t seen the previous parts (which are linked below), keep in mind that this is a forward looking exercise – we are evaluating clubs on their overall ability to contend for a World Series title in the future. We are not evaluating how they have performed historically. This is about the health of each organization going forward.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros
#27: Kansas City Royals
#26: Pittsburgh Pirates
#25: San Diego Padres
#24: Cincinnati Reds
#23: Colorado Rockies
#22: Detroit Tigers
#21: St. Louis Cardinals

#20: Toronto Blue Jays

Ownership: C+

Being owned by a corporate conglomeration is generally not a great thing for a baseball team. While every team is run as a business, there is less incentive for the team to try to win at the expense of making money, and therefore, more emphasis is placed on profit and loss statements than on winning records. However, among corporate owners, Rogers is better than most – they’ve expanded team payroll significantly since taking over, and with a 2008 payroll of near $100 million, the Jays certainly had enough money to build a contender. Whether they will be allowed to sustain that level of payroll remains to be seen, however.

Front Office: C

J.P. Ricciardi does a lot of things well. He’s done a good job of identifying undervalued talent, has built up a terrific bullpen by acquiring players other teams didn’t want, has put an outstanding defensive team behind his pitching staff, and has built a team that is somewhat competitive in a ridiculously tough division. However, he also does a lot of things wrong; driving significant amounts of good talent out of his front office with his abrasive personality, being over-involved in draft day decisions, and publicly insulting random players for no particular reason. The team’s scouting department was dismantled when he took over, and it still hasn’t recovered. It doesn’t help that Tony LaCava is interviewing for every possible GM job that opens up, which will add to the brain drain in Toronto when his predictable departure comes to pass. At this point, it’s a legitimate question how much longer J.P. is going to be the guy calling the shots in Toronto.

Major League Talent: C+

For the last few years, the Jays have put a very good defense behind a very good pitching staff to make up for a weak offense, and it’s been somewhat successful. However, the Jays lost A.J. Burnett to free agency and both Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum are recovering from significant injuries, leaving their rotation as a land of question marks. Their deep, strong bullpen and still quality defense should allow them to cover for the loss of three good arms to a degree, but it’s going to be nearly impossible for them to have the lowest ERA in baseball again. To add to their 87 win total from last year, then, they’re going to have to score more often than they did last year, and it’s hard to see where that kind of boost is going to come from. In reality, this is a team that is going to have to fight the Orioles to stay out of last place, and that probably means they should be looking at getting young, but they have some onerous contracts on the books that won’t be easy to move and J.P. might not be willing to start a rebuilding project that would probably mean the end of his job.

Minor League Talent: B

The Jays have done a good job of drafting lately, snagging quality prospects such as Travis Snider, J.P. Arincibia, Brett Cecil, and David Cooper. Hitting on their first round picks with college players has given them a core of young players with some real upside who could be in Toronto sooner rather than later, and for a team that could use an infusion of talent, that’s a life saver. The dropoff after those four is fairly substantial, however, and while there’s some interesting players, the system isn’t deep enough to support a full scale rebuild, if that’s deemed necessary.

Overall: C+

From a micro perspective, there’s quite a bit of talent in the Toronto organization – high quality players such as Alex Rios and Roy Halladay, surrounded by good young role players such as Aaron Hill, and some useful veterans like Scott Rolen. However, from a macro perspective, the team has enough flaws to make them significant longshots to keep up with the New York/Boston/Tampa triumvirate in 2009, and another year of middling success might not save Ricciardi’s job. The Jays are in a tough division, but as the Rays have shown, a well run organization can overcome competition. The Jays don’t qualify as a well run organization right now.

Perhaps it was only fitting that Daisuke Matsuzaka opposed team Cuba on Sunday. The nearly mythical Aroldis Chapman took the hill for Cuba facing a similar situation to that of Matsuzaka in the inaugural World Baseball Classic; the glorious unknown with a hype machine all to his own. Cuba’s Loch Ness monster displayed his excellent velocity and lack of control through 44 pitches.

Chapman’s debut on American soil was shortened by a patient lineup, forcing three walks in only two and a third innings. The 21-year-old left-hander will be remembered for his velocity readings as much as anything since he threw more than 70% fastballs and recorded an average velocity of 93 miles per hour. On his 12th pitch of the afternoon Chapman hit triple digits with a staggering 100.2 miles per hour. As the game’s announcers noted – in between giving us updates on Chapman’s LiveJournal mood – Chapman has apparently hit 102 miles per hour in Cuban competition.

If you’re wondering why I’m not discussing Chapman’s off-speed stuff much, that’s because he didn’t throw much of it it. Chapman’s slider seems to have potential with excellent bend. It’s simply a matter of harnessing control and command of the pitch. Something that may or may not happen. Below you’ll see a movement chart with each of Gameday’s classified pitches listed. I’m sure you’ll notice his “cutter” looks a lot like his slider, same with his “curve”, meaning there’s likely an error in classification.

A 21-year-old left-hander with an efficient pickoff move, long limbs, and probably not the best of instruction, Chapman certainly has some room to grow. Whether we ever see him in the American major leagues or not is unknown, but he’s certainly someone to watch in international competition.

That might be the best part about the WBC.

According to Ken Rosenthal, former Washington Nationals closer Chad Cordero has inked a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners, turning down more lucrative offers elsewhere due to their vacant savers slot. Cordero has had quite the interesting career thus far, combining several elements that would lead to a player flying under the radar: playing for a bad team, posting good but not great numbers, and being bitten by the injury bug. However, with J.J. Putz donning a New York Mets uniform this season and Aaron Heilman leaving for the Cubs soonafter joining the Ms relief corps, Cordero will likely have as good a shot as any to fill the closers void.

I remember first seeing Cordero in 2003, when he managed to fan four Phillies hitters in 1.2 innings while throwing virtually all average fastballs. He pitched 12 games that season, with a 1.64 ERA/2.85 FIP. Of course it’s a small sample but he looked more than capable of succeeding as a reliever. Over the next four seasons, Cordero’s ERA vastly outdid his success rate via controllable skills, but he realistically put together three very effective seasons. Relievers generally do not contribute that much in the win values column but Cordero appeared to be more than serviceable.

He still throws an extreme amount of fastballs, which would be fine if they impressed the radar guns, but Chad tops out at around 91-92 mph and averages closer to 89 mph. His offspeed offerings are not all that impressive which goes a long way towards explaining the fastball frequency. While the normal recommendation would involve incorporating the offspeed portion of his repertoire more often, his injury will likely cause him to favor the fastball that much more.

Still, Cordero is only 26 yrs old, and has proven himself capable of missing a good amount of bats, stranding a well above average percentage of runners, and exhibiting signs of solid control. Removing the small samples of his rookie season and injury plagued 2008 and Cordero is much more of a flyball pitcher, which may bode well for him given the defensive prowess of the Mariners outfield alignment this season.

The deal is so solid for the Mariners and GM Jack Zduriencik that it really does not even merit discussion here. They signed a reliever who could be just as effective as the Beimel/Ohman/Reyes/Springer-types, for a non guaranteed minor league deal. If he has recovered from his ailments, something which Zduriencik feels has occurred, then Cordero should have no problem joining the ranks of the bullpen and potentially working his way into the closers role. The injury to Brandon Morrow may be a bit more severe than initially reported, perhaps pushing him into the role of reliever once more, which could have an effect on Cordero’s status, but that remains to be seen.

What we do know, however, is that the Mariners have made tremendous upgrades this season, putting themselves in a position to sneak up on opponents this season and win moving forward. Cordero is the most recent in a long line of impressive moves from Jack Zduriencik and would be my pre-season prediction for the best low-risk/high-reward pitching move of the offseason.

Some interesting observations from the career leaderboards

Larry Walker (with only ~400 more plate appearances) ranks higher than Mark McGwire. Throw in defense and positional considerations and there’s a legitimate case to make that Walker was the more valuable player despite lacking the accolades and popularity of McGwire. If you consider McGwire a Hall of Famer, I think you have to include Walker as one too.

Manny Ramirez could potentially break into the top 15 over the next two seasons and should pass Billy Hamilton for 20th all-time this season. Alex Rodriguez is likely to pass Carl Yastrzemski for 24th all-time as Rodriguez essentially tails Manny.

Brian Giles will never replace Tony Gwynn as Mr. Padre, but Giles one-upped Gwynn last season by accumulating 393 career wRAA, one more than Gwynn. Speaking of misters, Ernie Banks sits two runs above Sammy Sosa.

Jay Buhner and Ray Lankford rank back-to-back. I think that is appropriate.

Dusty Baker and John Kruk rank back-to-back. I think that is appropriate.

A former Yankees first baseman and a new Yankees first baseman take slots 329 and 330 as John Mayberry and Mark Teixeira sit just shy of 200 career runs.

Albert Pujols has the chance to pass Shoeless Joe Jackson, Wade Boggs, Duke Snider, George Brett, and Reggie Jackson within the next season. Pujols needs about 60 wRAA to crack the top 50 all-time. CHONE has Pujols projected at 63 wRAA, ZiPS is about the same, and Marcels says 47. In other words; there’s a real, real good chance it happens this year.

Bill Bergen, Alfredo Griffin, Ozzie Guillen, Tommy Corcoran, and Tommy Thevenow round out the list as the worst hitters. The lesson to be taken from this is to simply not name your son Tommy.

Oh, and how’s this for fun. If Evan Longoria wants to break Babe Ruth’s all-time wRAA record, he needs to get a move on. It would take Longoria about 70 consecutive seasons of Longoria’s 2008 to reach Ruth. Longoria figures to top Ruth and celebrate a 100th birthday within the same decade.