About four years ago, Baseball Prospectus offered this exchange during the Winter Meetings:
Scene: Cal Ripken, Steve Finley and Jim Leyritz are sitting on a couch in the Opryland hotel.
Observer: “All that’s missing is Brian Sabean and a pen.”
Draft pick compensation is a decent enough idea in theory. By rewarding teams who cannot retain their own high-quality players with extra selections each summer, low-budget franchises should get additional prospects to try and remain competitive with those who can spend liberally in free agency. The problem is that it just doesn’t work.
As seen here, yesterday, as written by yours truly, regarding the Juan Uribe acquisition:
If the move is simply to replace [Ryan] Theriot with Uribe, it is a mistake.
If I’m one to stick by my words, then I have to call this deal a mistake, seeing as the Dodgers just traded Ryan Theriot to the Cardinals in exchange for Blake Hawksworth. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the weekend, Ireland became the second Eurozone country to get a significant bailout from its neighbors in order to head off a large scale financial collapse. Yesterday, the President issued a two year wage freeze for all federal employees as a response to the continuing weakness in the economy. Unemployment has shown few signs of recovery, and the housing market continues to struggle. After some years of free spending, the world is now focused on deficits and debt reduction.
The Colorado Rockies, however, think everything is going to be just fine. Read the rest of this entry »
If you wonder why expanded playoffs won’t be coming until 2012, this explains a small part of it.
Yesterday, the league announced World Series shares for the 2010 postseason – an extra bonus for the players that make the postseason (for those wondering a full share for the Giants was $317,631.29 while the Rangers got $246,279.55 for winning the ALCS). But, it’s not just those that make the postseason that earn some extra green. Here’s how postseason shares are currently defined:
The players’ pool, formed from 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first three games of the Division Series and 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four games of the League Championship series and the World Series, was divided among 12 clubs: the World Series participants, the League Championship Series and Division Series runners-up, and the four regular season second-place clubs that were not Wild Card participants.
That’s right. Those that came close to making the postseason, but not quite, get postseason bonuses even when they don’t make the postseason. So, this year the White Sox, Padres, A’s, and Cardinals were the beneficiaries. Here’s the breakdown:
The Florida Marlins
2010 MLB Record: 80-82 (3rd in the NL East)
Minor League Power Ranking: 25th (out of 30)
Click for: Last Year’s Top 10 Prospect List
The Prospects
1. Matt Dominguez, 3B
Acquired: 2007 1st round (California HS)
Pro Experience: 4 seasons
2010 MiLB Level: AA
Opening Day Age: 21
Estimated Peak WAR: 4.5
Notes: Dominguez has long been known for being a defensive player first and an offensive player second. The former No. 1 draft pick did nothing to take away from that notion in 2010, as he posted a .337 wOBA in double-A at the age of 20. His ISO rate of .158, accumulated between 2009-2010, goes to show that he currently projects to have average-at-best power for the hot corner. With that said, his 34 doubles in 2010 suggest he could develop more over-the-fence power down the line. Dominguez is not gifted with plus bat speed. He takes only a slight stride when batting and he shows a minor upper cut in his swing at times. Dominguez has a good arm at third base and solid hands, but some have questioned his range. He could appear in the Majors in 2011, but look for him to be ready for full-time duty in 2012.
This edition of Offseason Notes contains:
1. Equal parts insult and injury.
and
2. An illustrative graph.
It’s no secret that success for an organization like the Florida Marlins must begin with a healthy scouting department. This has long been a team that has either used prospects (or homegrown regulars) to acquire greater talent, and filled their 25-man roster with Marlins draftees. Even with the team’s busy November — acquiring Omar Infante, John Buck, Javier Vazquez — this payroll will always be one that demands a foundation of youthful stars.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am included among the writers in this year’s book from the guys at The Hardball Times, but I do not receive additional income from sales of the book. The opinions that follow are simply how I feel about their product, and not some kind of scheme to make any extra money for myself.
Sitting about four feet away from me is a copy of The 2011 Hardball Times Annual. I would love to give you a full review of the book, but that would require me to read the whole thing, and given the depth of content in this year’s copy, that will take me a while. So, instead, here’s a few of my favorite tidbits that I’ve picked up from the book so far, which double as reasons why you should go buy this thing right now.
At this point last winter Juan Uribe was still more than a month away from signing. The year before he was two months away from signing a minor league deal. This year he has found a deal before the calendar flips to December. The Dodgers have signed him to a three-year, $21 million contract, stealing him away from the division-rival Giants. On the surface that represents a nice three-win swing between the two teams, but there is plenty more that goes into this deal.
