Author Archive
The Sky Is Not Falling In Arlington
Public opinion of the Rangers’ offseason seems to have taken a negative tone — they lost Josh Hamilton to free agency, and were unable to lure Zack Greinke into their clutches. But despite these two misses the sky is most definitely not falling in Texas. Between its additions around the edges, its addition by subtraction and the trio of prospects that it will graduate to the majors, the team should be primed for a fourth consecutive pennant chase in 2013.
First, let’s tackle the additions. The braintrust in Arlington has added four players on major league deals this offseason, two catchers and two relievers. The catchers, if they play to their capabilities, should improve the team’s outlook at the position significantly. Signing Geovany Soto only sort of counts as a free-agent move, since they had him under control, non-tendered him and then re-signed him. But signing A.J. Pierzynski — who had spent the entirety of his 15-year career with the White Sox before joining the Rangers — was completely new.
Last Chance To Win a Free Copy of THT 2013!
In case you hadn’t heard, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2013 has hit internet bookshelves. You can read all about it here in Dave Studeman’s post, or you can listen to Carson Cistulli and myself discuss it here on a FanGraphs Audio podcast.
Because we’re giving folk, and since it’s the beginning of the holiday season and all, we want to give you a chance to win yourself a free copy of the book. So each day this week, we’ve been running a trivia contest based on one of the articles in the book. Today is our final contest — you can find the previous contests here, here, here and here if you’re into that sort of thing. The first person to post the correct answer in the comments today will win a free physical copy of the book (sorry, no free Kindle or Nook versions). It’s just that simple!
Today’s question comes from the article entitled “Bryce Harper and Mike Trout Make History.” Written by THT’s prospect wizard Jeff Moore, it takes a look back at the season that was for the two impactful rookies, and how the season compares to other seasons with awesome rookies. And that brings us, dear reader, to the trivia question before you today:
Win a Free Copy of THT 2013!
In case you hadn’t heard, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2013 has hit internet bookshelves. You can read all about it here in Dave Studeman’s post, or you can listen to Carson Cistulli and myself discuss it here on a FanGraphs Audio podcast.
Because we’re giving folk, and since it’s the beginning of the holiday season and all, we want to give you a chance to win yourself a free copy of the book. So each day this week, we’ll be running a trivia contest based on one of the articles in the book. You can find the previous contests here, here and here, if you’re into that sort of thing. The first person to post the correct answer in the comments will win a free physical copy of the book (sorry, no free Kindle or Nook versions). It’s just that simple!
Today’s question comes from the article entitled “Fishing For Expansion Supremacy.” Written by FanGraphs’ prospect wizard Marc Hulet, it takes a look back at the 1992 expansion draft for the Marlins and Rockies. In it, Hulet details the significant players selected in a family-tree style. Each player was his own branch, and the players that came to the respective teams as a result of trading that player away helped fill out those branches on each team’s expansion team tree, so to speak. And that brings us, dear reader, to the trivia question before you today:
Win a Free Copy of THT 2013!
In case you hadn’t heard, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2013 has hit internet bookshelves. You can read all about it here in Dave Studeman’s post, or you can listen to Carson Cistulli and myself discuss it here on a FanGraphs Audio podcast.
Because we’re giving folk, and since it’s the beginning of the holiday season and all, we want to give you a chance to win yourself a free copy of the book. So each day this week, we’ll be running a trivia contest based on one of the articles in the book. You can find Monday’s and Tuesday’s contest here and here, if you’re into that sort of thing. The first person to post the correct answer in the comments will win a free physical copy of the book (sorry, no free Kindle or Nook versions). It’s just that simple!
Today’s question comes from the article entitled “This Game Is Rigged: The Orioles’ Amazing Bullpen.” Written by THT’s venerable leader Dave Studeman, it takes a look back at the season that was through the lens of WPA. While Studes spends the bulk of the essay talking about just how good the Orioles’ bullpen was, he also details some other flights of WPA fancy from 2012. In that part of the essay you will find some very interesting nuggets. And that brings us, dear reader, to the trivia question before you today:
Win a Free Copy of THT 2013!
In case you hadn’t heard, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2013 has hit internet bookshelves. You can read all about it here in Dave Studeman’s post, or you can listen to Carson Cistulli and myself discuss it here on a FanGraphs Audio podcast.
Because we’re giving folk, and since it’s the beginning of the holiday season and all, we want to give you a chance to win yourself a free copy of the book. So each day this week, we’ll be running a trivia contest based on one of the articles in the book. You can find yesterday’s contest here, if you’re into that sort of thing. The first person to post the correct answer in the comments will win a free physical copy of the book (sorry, no free Kindle or Nook versions). It’s just that simple!
Today’s question comes from the article entitled “Examining Umpire Strike Zones.” Written by THT’s Chris Jaffe, it takes a historical look at umpires, through the lens of who has issued the most and fewest walks and strikeouts. In doing so, Jaffe utilizes a plus/minus stat to give the numbers some context. In this way, we can see which umps have issued the most or fewest walks or strikeouts on a rate basis as well, as some umps — like Hall of Famer Bill Klem, for instance — worked games for a really long time. So the trivia question before you today, dear reader, is this: