Archive for Gabe Kapler

The Tampa Bay Rays continued their extremely solid offseason today by signing Gabe Kapler to a 1-yr deal worth $1 mil. Andrew Friedman and company previously traded Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for outfielder Matt Joyce, signed reliever Joe Nelson to a nice deal, and inked Pat Burrell to a 2-yr/$16 mil contract. These moves might not carry the same flash value as Sabathia/Burnett/Teixeira, but improve the club at positions meriting an uprade.

Kapler is coming off of pretty much the best season of his career. Oddly enough, the career year came on the heels of nothing, as he was, for all intents and purposes, retired from major league baseball. Kapler’s last season came in 2006, when he produced a .311 wOBA in just 147 PA. Last year, as a member of the Brewers, Kapler starred in centerfield while Mike Cameron served his suspension and began the season as one of baseball’s best.

And, he was the subject of Dave Cameron’s first post here at Fangraphs. One other interesting Rays-related note: my first post here involved Pat Burrell, Kapler’s new teammate. Coincidence? I think not! Okay, yeah, definitely a coincidence.

Kapler played 96 games last year, amassing 245 PA and posting a .362 wOBA. Adjusting for park effects, Kapler was worth +8 runs offensively last year. He played +5 run defense in centerfield though fell below the average mark in the corner outfield spots. All told, he produced a 1.7 win season in 2008, enough to command a fair market value of $7.7 mil.

His projection calls for a wOBA around .333, good for +1 run offensively. On the defensive side, it seems safe to expect around +1 or +2 runs again. In terms of playing time, it is not likely that Kapler will log more than 300 PA in 100 games. These plate appearances could come as a result of B.J. Upton not being ready for opening day. Kapler could also platoon in RF with Joyce or Gabe Gross. Or, he could just end up as the fourth outfielder.

Taking his projected playing time into account, Kapler appears to be a +0.75 to +0.80 win player next season. At $4.5-$4.8 mil/win, his fair market value would fall somewhere between $3.3 and $3.8 mil. The Rays signed him for approximately 1/3 of that value.

A low risk move in every sense of the phrase, the Rays are able to cover themselves should Kapler get hurt or prove to be ineffective. Either way, this move works out for them. If he produces like Michael Bourn or 2008-Andruw Jones, the team can cut him loose without wasting much money. Or, should he prove to be every bit as valuable as last season, they have him as a steal.

In his inaugural post here Dave Cameron wrote about Gabe Kapler’s return to the major leagues and how his production had more than made up for slow starts from Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. Last night, Kapler again came through as his 12th inning heroics propelled the Brewers to a walk-off victory against the Cardinals. With one out and the score tied at eight, Gabe Gross walked and promptly stole second off of Jason Isringhausen. Kapler lined a single to centerfield allowing Gross to race home with the winning run. Thrilled with Gross’s efforts to get into scoring position the Brewers quickly traded him to the Rays following the game. “Some day,” Gross remarked.

In a game where both managers utilize the pitcher batting eighth strategy, convention goes by the wayside before the first pitch is even thrown; however, this game had a number of odd occurrences. For starters, Albert Pujols made his first-ever major league appearance at second base when Cesar Izturis left the game. Apparently, Pujols lobbied Tony LaRussa to let him play shortstop but had to settle for second base. He made two plays in the field: a forceout at second as well as catching the throw on Gross’s stolen base in the 12th.

As mentioned in the opening, two guys named Gabe won the game for the Brewers. This brought Gabe White to his feet.

A few days ago I wrote about Brian Shouse and his success in stranding runners. Well, Shouse entered the seventh inning last night with the bases loaded and allowed all three inherited runners to score as well as a run of his own. Thanks, Brian. Combine that with Corey Patterson’s results following Dave’s article and we might be in the midst of a Fangraphs Jinx.

Eric Gagne blew his fourth save in ten chances. This might not seem too odd to many people, though. This particular blown save could have been avoided if Rickie Weeks makes a better throw or Prince Fielder scoops up a ball in the dirt to complete a tailor-made double play.

Three starting pitchers pinch hit in this game: Adam Wainwright hit a sac fly, Braden Looper laid down a nice sac bunt, and Jeff Suppan popped up a bunt attempt. Additionally, reliever David Riske batted for himself, fouling out to the catcher with a runner on second in the sixth inning.

Seth McClung recorded the win after pitching in the 12th inning. The win is his first since September 20, 2006, when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. To see how topsy-turvy this game was check out the game graph:

The sixth and seventh innings are fun to look at in the graph; after the Brewers scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth the Cardinals responded with four of their own in the top of the seventh. In terms of WPA, Guillermo Mota and Kapler led the Brewers while Skip Schumaker and Ryan Franklin contributed the most to the Cardinals. Rick Ankiel and Isringhausen each finished at -.358.

From here, the Cardinals head to Pittsburgh to face Ian Snell while the Brewers host Cole Hamels and the Phillies. Based on the last two games for the Phillies and last night’s Brewers affair this has the makings for one wild series.

Hey all. My name is David Cameron, and I’m thrilled to have been invited by David Appelman to join in the great work he’s been doing here at FanGraphs. You may have read some things I’ve written elsewhere, either at USSMariner, The Hardball Times, or Baseball Prospectus. I’m excited to be here, not only because the data that David has made available has been a huge asset to fans and researchers alike, but also because I look forward to seeing how we can explore the information available here, create some unique commentary, and build a community that rivals the quality of the knowledge found on this site. I’ll be hanging out in the comment threads regularly, so feel free to ask any questions or make comments there, and we’ll get the discussion started.

For my first post here, I wanted to take a look at what has to be the most exceptional story 2008 has brought us so far – the unbelievable return of Gabe Kapler. A year ago, Kapler was the manager of the Greenville Drive, a Red Sox affiliate in the Class A South Atlantic League. At 31-years-old, he had retired from his playing career and was beginning a coaching career in the lowest rung of full season minor league baseball. He’d spent the previous few years bouncing between reserve roles and playing in Japan, and after a torn Achilles in 2006, it looked like he would never get a chance to fulfill the promise he showed as a prospect with the Tigers in the 90s.

However, unwilling to let his on field career end prematurely, he declared himself a free agent this winter and landed a contract from the Milwaukee Brewers. With a hole in center field while Mike Cameron serves out his suspension, Kapler has… well, to say he’s made the most of his opportunity would be the understatement of the year. After going 3 for 4 with a couple of doubles and a home run last night, he is now 11 for 26 with two doubles, four home runs, two walks, and a stolen base just for good measure. He leads the majors in batting average and slugging percentage (at .423 and .962 respectively), and his 0.71 WPA/LI ties him with Casey Kotchman, and just behind Albert Pujols, as the fourth best hitter per plate appearance in baseball. Kapler has been the Brewers savior as Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder struggle to start the season, and one of the main reasons the Brewers are 8-4 in their first dozen games.

In all likelyhood, this will go down as the best two week stretch of Kapler’s playing career, but it’s two weeks he wouldn’t have experienced had he stayed retired.