Each week, we publish north of 100 posts on our various blogs. With this post, we hope to highlight 10 to 15 of them. You can read more on it here. The links below are color coded — green for FanGraphs, brown for RotoGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community Research.
Read the rest of this entry »
One of the main complaints about the World Baseball Classic is that it’s played in March. That creates at least two hurdles for the event in terms of mass appeal. One, fans aren’t conditioned to watch competitive baseball in March. Second, a lot of the players back out due to the upcoming grind of their regular seasons. While it’s possible that younger generations could eventually learn to expect competitive March baseball and that future players might regard the tournament with more gravity, neither outcome is certain.
The alternative that is often discussed is holding the tournament in July. Dave has written about this twice, both in 2009 and in 2013. His “March Madness” style idea is very appealing, because it wouldn’t be necessary to alter the schedule other than to cancel the All-Star Game. It also creates less of a time commitment and ratchets up the excitement. It’s a great solution in my opinion, and I heartily endorse it. But what if we wanted to play the entire tournament in July, with more or less its current structure? Impossible, you say? I don’t think so.
Let’s start with this year’s schedule.
As you can see if you count it out, this makes for a 17-day tournament. The start times for Pools A, B and E are staggered to start earlier, primarily to give the Pool E winner time to fly from Tokyo to Los Angeles for the finals. Keep that in your back pocket for a minute.
What we need to do now is figure out how to squeeze 17 days of non-MLB games into July. Let’s walk through it, shall we?
The All-Star break is four days long. You would still have to cancel the All-Star Game in order to play the WBC in the middle of the season, so right there, we’re down to 13 days. I should note, however, that I’m advocating only for the cancellation of the All-Star Game itself. The league could still hold the vote, and still have the same process of naming starters and reserves. Why? Because there’s still money to be made here.
| 4:01 |
:
What is the best Netflix original show (Take 2)?
Bojack Horseman (14.0% | 31 votes)
Daredevil (6.3% | 14 votes)
House of Cards (26.2% | 58 votes)
Master of None (6.7% | 15 votes)
Narcos (4.9% | 11 votes)
Orange is the New Black (2.7% | 6 votes)
Stranger Things (26.6% | 59 votes)
The Crown (2.7% | 6 votes)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (5.4% | 12 votes)
Other (NOTE: Black Mirror was disqualified because it was originally on British TV Channel 4) (4.0% | 9 votes)
Total Votes: 221
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| 4:04 |
:
Are you surprised by Korea’s poor showing in their first two WBC games?
Yes, I expected better (23.8% | 53 votes)
I honestly don’t know (36.9% | 82 votes)
No, I am not surprised they were upset. (9.0% | 20 votes)
I am not following the WBC (30.1% | 67 votes)
Total Votes: 222
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| 9:00 |
: Hi everybody!
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| 9:00 |
: I wonder what show everyone is gonna complain about you forgetting this week…
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| 9:00 |
: I can’t wait to find out.
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| 9:00 |
: Your lack of Jessica Jones disturbs me
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Each week, we publish north of 100 posts on our various blogs. With this post, we hope to highlight 10 to 15 of them. You can read more on it here. The links below are color coded — green for FanGraphs, brown for RotoGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community Research.
Read the rest of this entry »
| 5:00 |
:
What is the best Netflix original show?
Master of None (11.7% | 18 votes)
Black Mirror (11.1% | 17 votes)
Bojack Horseman (15.6% | 24 votes)
Narcos (14.3% | 22 votes)
Luke Cage (3.2% | 5 votes)
Jessica Jones (4.5% | 7 votes)
The Get Down (0% | 0 votes)
Orange Is The New Black (9.1% | 14 votes)
The OA (1.9% | 3 votes)
Other (say in comments) (28.1% | 43 votes)
Total Votes: 153
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| 5:02 |
:
On what team did you most like Bartolo Colon?
Cleveland (15.9% | 34 votes)
Expos (13.6% | 29 votes)
White Sox (3.7% | 8 votes)
Angels (4.2% | 9 votes)
Red Sox (2.3% | 5 votes)
Yankees (2.8% | 6 votes)
A’s (5.1% | 11 votes)
Mets (40.8% | 87 votes)
Braves (3.7% | 8 votes)
I never liked him (7.5% | 16 votes)
Total Votes: 213
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| 9:00 |
: Hi everybody!
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| 9:01 |
: Best Netflix show is Daredevil
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| 9:01 |
: Netflix original: Ultimate Beastmaster
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| 9:01 |
: Daredevil or Stranger Things
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Each week, we publish north of 100 posts on our various blogs. With this post, we hope to highlight 10 to 15 of them. You can read more on it here. The links below are color coded — green for FanGraphs, brown for RotoGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community Research.
Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon made some headlines by claiming he was considering making Kyle Schwarber his leadoff hitter this season. Mostly, that this was a big headline reflects the fact that this is one of the slowest times in the baseball calendar — players have been at camp for awhile now, yet games are just beginning, and in many cases the best players haven’t suited up yet. It’s a slow time. Still, it’s an interesting idea. The first thought that came to my mind was, would Kyle Schwarber be the heaviest leadoff hitter of all-time?
Read the rest of this entry »
| 4:53 |
:
What’s your favorite Disney animation movie of this decade?
Tangled (8.2% | 16 votes)
Wreck-It-Ralph (23.5% | 46 votes)
Frozen (24.1% | 47 votes)
Big Hero 6 (16.4% | 32 votes)
Zootopia (21.5% | 42 votes)
Moana (6.1% | 12 votes)
Total Votes: 195
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| 4:58 |
:
What market do you think is the best for MLB to expand to?
Charlotte (14.6% | 42 votes)
Las Vegas (9.0% | 26 votes)
Brooklyn/NY/NJ (8.0% | 23 votes)
Montreal (46.1% | 132 votes)
San Antonio (5.9% | 17 votes)
Mexico City (5.9% | 17 votes)
San Juan (2.4% | 7 votes)
Santo Domingo (0.3% | 1 vote)
Other US market (7.3% | 21 votes)
Other foreign market (0% | 0 votes)
Total Votes: 286
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| 6:35 |
:
How many years would you sign Eric Hosmer for when he reaches free agency?
1-3 (39.9% | 103 votes)
4-6 (25.5% | 66 votes)
7-9 (1.5% | 4 votes)
10!!! (2.3% | 6 votes)
I wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot clown pole (30.6% | 79 votes)
Total Votes: 258
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| 9:00 |
: Hi everybody!
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| 9:00 |
: Hello
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| 9:00 |
: I have the second pick in a H2H with R, HR, RBI, SB, OBP along with ERA, SV, K/9, WHIP, and QS as categories. Trout is going first – as somewhat of a beginner to fantasy baseball, who you would recommend taking second overall? Kershaw, Bryant, Betts, etc..
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Each week, we publish north of 100 posts on our various blogs. With this post, we hope to highlight 10 to 15 of them. You can read more on it here. The links below are color coded — green for FanGraphs, brown for RotoGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community Research.
Read the rest of this entry »
The 2016 season was a great one, statistically, for Ian Kinsler. By WAR, wRC+ and wOBA, it was (at least) one of the best three seasons of his career — a career that should garner a modicum of Hall of Fame debate when he retires. But in looking at his Steamer projection for this season, I started to wonder — is this the season we should start to worry about Ian Kinsler?
What immediately stands out in Kinsler’s Steamer projection is a drop in wOBA and WAR. Steamer forecasts him for just a .320 wOBA. It would be the second-worst mark of Kinsler’s soon-to-be 12-year career, and only by one point (he posted a .319 wOBA in 2014, his first year in Detroit). Steamer calls for Kinsler to produce 2.8 WAR. While that would represent a good year for most second basemen, it would be the second-worst mark in 10 seasons for Kinsler (who posted 2.6 WAR in 2013). Simply put, Kinsler is generally a lot better than those numbers.