The Best of FanGraphs: February 8-12, 2016

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, orange for TechGraphs and blue for Community Research.

MONDAY
The End of the Terrible Number-Two Hitter, by Neil Weinberg
The graph says it all:

Cooperstown Confidential: The 65th Anniversary of Topps Cards, by Bruce Markusen
The first time Topps released baseball cards, they included toffee with them instead of chewing gum!

TUESDAY
The Uncertain Timetable for Cord-Cutting in Baseball’s Future, by Craig Edwards
Cord cutters to cable companies:

The Marcus Semien/Ron Washington Lesson, by Owen Watson
When you’re learning a new defensive position, sometimes your offense will suffer.

The Change: Eno’s Pitching Ranks, by Eno Sarris
Eno is bearish on Felix Hernandez, Dallas Keuchel and Tyson Ross, compared to his RotoGraphs’ charges.

WEDNESDAY
The Crack of the Bat, by David Kagan
Great original research here from David (and his friends).

THURSDAY
How You Defined an Ace, by Jeff Sullivan
According to our community, Stephen Strasburg is an ace and Noah Syndergaard is not.

Player Values Across ottoneu Formats, by Chad Young
League format is an important factor in determining player values. Here, Chad gives you some important Ottoneu context.

Developing The baseballr Package For R, by Bill Petti
Help Bill build the best package possible!

FRIDAY
Baseball’s Most Improved Defender, by the Numbers and Eyes, by August Fagerstrom
August uses a number of ways to show how a particular shortstop on the Boston Red Sox improved last year. Two, in fact.

$500 Million For Bryce Harper Might Still Be a Bargain, by Dave Cameron
Don’t sell Dave short here.

Selecting Baseball Teams for the Presidential Candidates, by Matthew Kory
It’s rare that someone other than Nathaniel Rakich finds a good way to incorporate baseball and politics around here, but Matthew did it. The Ben Carson-Rockies passage is so choice.

MLB Draft Data: Part One, by Paul Kastava
Paul breaks down draft data in six exciting Tableau graphs.

Why You Should Aim for Third Place, by Tanner Bell
This is a very in-depth piece on a well worn piece of fantasy baseball advice.

The Complex Problem of Tampa Bay Baseball Distances and Demographics, by Michael Lortz
This incredibly in-depth post from Michael doesn’t exactly paint a flattering picture of the Rays’ chances of being successful in the Tampa market long-term, and makes a great point about fighting territorial rights with spring training sites.