Last week I proposed a change to MLB rules on blown-save wins — i.e., those wins accorded to the relief pitcher who blows a save, but is the pitcher of record when his team re-takes the lead. My proposed rule change was narrow, intending to capture only those blown-save wins credited to the relief pitcher who pitches immediately after the starting pitcher leaves the game with the lead, after having pitched at least seven innings. Under this scenario, the win would revert to the starting pitcher and the relief pitcher would be credited only with the blown save.

Many of you asked to see the list of all blown-save wins that would have reverted to the starting pitcher under my proposed rule change. The below chart lists the 85 games played from 1992-2011 that would have resulted in a different winning pitcher under my proposed rule.

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It sounds as if Roy Oswalt should sign sometime this very Thursday. Since you are reading this in the future — which, to you, will feel like the present, but trust me: it’s the future — you may already know of Oswalt’s new team. Don’t gloat.

Instead, let us turn our languid eyes to Oswalt’s future, more specifically, his 2012 projections.

Maybe it is because he has pitched 150 innings in every season since the beginning of the Bush administration — or maybe it is because he played such a prominent role in a successful Houston Astros that seems now so distant from reality — but Roy Oswalt somehow feels ancient. Despite that, he is only a year and change older than Mark Buehrle and a year and one day older than Cliff Lee.

So Oswalt, first of all, is really not old — especially for a pitcher. At the same time, though, he is not necessarily healthy. He hit the DL twice last year and his back problems and his full history of injuries leaves great cause for concern.

Still, the Wizard of Os also ranks among some the best active pitchers. Regard:

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On Monday, we recapped some highlights from top college pitching prospects who are going to be in the 2012 MLB draft (and potentially, on your favorite baseball-ling team!). A reminder to give @KendallRogersPG and @aaronfitt a follow on Twitter for live updates of top college prospects.

Today, we’ll take a look at the notable batting performances from the past week, ranked approximately by 2012 batting prospect you most need to know about. Each performance is accompanied by a quick scouting report of the batter’s profile, courtesy of FanGraphs’ own Mark Anderson (you can read more of his work at Baseball Prospect Nation as well as his post from yesterday):

C Mike Zunino, Florida (6-2, 215 lbs)
.474/.565/.895 in 23 PAs with 2 HRs
Zunino had a great first week to the season and could be the second college hitter picked in the draft. He has a good catcher’s build and is a plus defender as well. Zunino also credited a shortened stride in his swing that helped him hit two home runs against Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday. And after hitting .371/.442/.674 with 19 home runs last season, he is expecting that teams will pitch him outside of the strike zone more. “I know I’m going to get pitched there most of the year,” Zunino said. “I just got too antsy this weekend and was able to sit back in my stance [Tuesday] and get a couple pitches I can drive.”

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This morning, David Appelman added the 2012 ZIPS projections to the site. While it’s certainly true that most projection systems spit out pretty similar results, ZIPS remains my projection system of choice. Dan Szymborski has done a great job of maintaining the model without huge year to year fluctuations, and the in-season ZIPS tool is a great way to get a feel for how important updated data during the season is in various categories.

So, let’s take a quick stroll through the 2012 ZIPS projections and look at some of the results that stand out. We’ll go position by position, starting behind the plate, and remind you that this is sorted by offense only:

Catcher

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Thing You Might Like: Hall of Very Good
2. Projecting: General ZiPS Projection, v. 1
3. Improving Video: Juan Francisco Homers

Thing You Might Like: Hall of Very Good
Noted baseballing analysts and gentle, gentle lovers Sky Kalkman and Marc Normandin have launched a Kickstarter page for to support an e-book project called The Hall of Very Good. The Hall of Very Good, in their words:

[I]s meant to celebrate the careers of those who are not celebrated. It’s not a book meant to reopen arguments about who does and does not deserve Hall of Fame enshrinement; rather, it’s meant to remember those who, failing entrance into Cooperstown, will unfairly be lost to history.

–snip–

This is not a numbers-driven project (although our contributors lean analytical in their views). Our plan isn’t to be overbearing with numbers and spreadsheets to convince you that these players are worth remembering. What we want to do, instead, is accomplish that same task through stories.

Among the writers who have agreed to contribute, one finds Rob Neyer and Joe Posnanski and me. And Old Hoss Radbourn and Will Leitch and me. And Craig Calcaterra and Josh Wilker and me.

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The 2012 ZiPS Projections courtesy of Baseball Think Factory and Dan Szymborski are now available in the sortable projections pages and on the player pages!

The Seattle Mariners are looking for any way to get some value out of Chone Figgins. Since joining the team, the 34-year-old has been one of the worst regulars in the game. So to salvage what’s left of his contract, the Mariners are making Figgins a leadoff hitter — again. It’s a last ditch effort to improve his value, though it’s unclear whether Figgins’ contract can be saved.

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Episode 143
Managing editor Dave Cameron returns to the podcast, live on tape from Baltimore, MD, after spending a luxurious week in the mountainous West. Among the topics discussed: Boston’s compensation package for Theo Epstein and the likelihood of future trades for front office-types; recently signed DH-types Raul Ibanez and Manny Ramirez; Cincinnati shortstop prospect Billy Hamilton’s likely future value; and the A.J. Burnett deal.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 33 min. play time.)

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According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, 36-year-old shortstop Edgar Renteria is leaning towards retiring this season. After hitting just .251/.306/.348 in 96 games with Cincinnati and receiving nothing but minor league offers this offseason, perhaps it isn’t surprising. If he indeed chooses to retire, it will be the end of a 16-year career spanning seven teams, two World Series championships and five all-star game appearances.

Renteria’s time as an effective regular has been over for a few years now, but from 2002 to 2007 the Colombian native carved out a fine peak between the Cardinals and Braves (with one disappointing year with the Red Sox thrown in). Over these six seasons Renteria posted a solid .303/.361/.434 line (good for a 107 wRC+ even in the tail end of the steroid era) while fielding a solid shortstop — consistently above average according to the dreaded metrics, Gold Glove worthy according to much-maligned voters. In all, Renteria put up a total of 23.7 WAR in those four years including his best season.

Following his time with the Braves, Renteria struggled to make an impact in Detroit and again in San Francisco. By his second season as a Giant, he was relegated to a bench role, playing in just 72 games despite hitting a respectable .276/.332/.374. The Giants would go on to win the NL West in 2010, and Renteria would initially serve a bench role on the postseason roster. First he went 2-for-2 in pinch-hitting roles in the NLDS victory over the Braves — his only two at-bats of the series. Then he earned four starts in the six-game NLCS against the Phillies, limping to a 1-for-17 series line.

But somehow, the greatest games and greatest moments of Renteria’s career were still to come. Then 35 years old, Renteria would earn the start in all five games of the Giants’ World Series victory over the Rangers, going 7-for-17 with two home runs — a three-run home run in the clinching Game Five represented the Giants’ only runs of the game — and earning the World Series MVP award.

Last season with Cincinnati, however, Renteria looked like a hitter struggling to deal with the effects of aging. In 333 plate appearances, he managed just a .291 wOBA despite the righty-friendly confines of Great American Ballpark. Particularly after his crowning World Series achievements in 2010, Renteria has little left to prove or accomplish in Major League Baseball. Renteria won’t be earning induction into the Hall-of-Fame five years nor twenty years down the road, but he leaves behind a fine legacy and some great moments nonetheless.

Athletes that I would call both “fast” and “huge” are relatively common in football. I will try not to embarrass myself by talking about football at length, but take a guy like the 49ers’ Vernon Davis — a very fast tight end who weighs around 250 pounds. Some baseball players are that heavy and heavier, but they are not known as “fast” players. That is obviously connected to the different skills required for “game speed” in the respective sports.

Like many fans, I find “big-boned” baseball players quite entertaining. For example, Adrian Gonzalez and Pablo Sandoval are both wonderful players. Overall, Adrian Gonzalez is probably superior, objectively speaking. However, subjectively, I would much rather watch Pablo Sandoval, and I would be lying if I said that his “body type” had nothing to do with it.

While special events sometimes happen, the big guys in baseball rarely pull off “speed moves,” especially the main move — the stolen base. Leaving the (obvious and no-so-obvious) reasons for this aside, I thought it would be fun to look at the the top stolen base seasons by “big-boned” players in baseball history.

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