Dave Cameron points to a study on value of draft picks which is pretty straightforward – i.e. here are the values you should price into a FA signing. But what I found more interesting was this tweet For those who didn't see it last year.The Must Trade suggestion post.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.ph…Perfect for those who don't want to be QO'd. — David Cameron …
Muskat: Work in progress, but Cubs aim to be competitive
I saw the title of this article a couple days ago, but didn't bother reading it. I don't believe the Cubs have attempted to be competitive in the short term in any way whatsoever so the title made me laugh. I thought I'd answer the questions just for fun. 1. Are Matt Garza, Scott Baker and Arodys Vizcaino healthy? Yes. …
Hall of Fame ballot updates on BTF
Repoz has a running total for Hall of Fame ballots. So far, nobody would get in. Biggio and Bagwell are close. Only about 13% of the total ballots from last year so a long way to go yet.
Copying what other sucky team’s bloggers do
Having difficulty thinking of something to write about, I decided to look to other bloggers for teams that suck for ideas. The first idea came from a Royals blog that was comparing all the starters at each position in the division. Previous positions: Catcher We'll go around the diamond so 1st base is next. The starters for the NL Central …
Matt Garza says he's ready
Matt Garza says he's ready to pitch and guarantees he'll be ready on opening day. Garza said he has had no problems since he started throwing earlier this month. "If spring training started tomorrow, I would be ready to go," he said. "I'm not ready to pitch six innings today, but I will be ready to go when the season …
Tommy John Surgery, The Hardball Times Annual and Scott Baker
I got the Kindle version of The Hardball Times annual for my birthday and the first thing I wanted to read was the article about Tommy John surgery. It looked at whether pitchers get back to the level they were at pre-surgery and when that is. They also looked at what the shelf life is for a pitcher who had …
Copying what other sucky team's bloggers do
I was trying to think of something to write about. I had an idea, looked into it, lost interest and left a brief comment summarizing what I found. I've done this many times over the past 6 to 8 months. Then I had an idea last night that couldn't fail. It's so simple I'm surprised my dumbass hadn't thought about …
Walking someone when it doesn't matter (as much)
For each pitcher from 1993-2011 with at least 5,000 Batters Faced, I've added up the average growth in run expectancy per NIBB. The average increase in RE for an NIBB over that period was .323 runs, which jives with Tango's findings here. There were 175 pitchers in the sample, with a standard deviation of .013. The pitcher who gave up …
Cubs pitchers kwERA since 2000 and Happy Christmas
The other day GW wrote an article after Edwin Jackson signed with the Cubs. I was curious why he thought 2012 was a down season and I should have known. GW only looks at strikeouts and walks (and groundball rate). The reason for this is simple: Strikeouts and walks have proven to be very accurate predictors of future ERA. FIP …
An updated look at the 2013 rotation
The Cubs finalized contracts with Edwin Jackson and Carlos Villanueva today, which gives the Cubs something like 18 starters. I lost count. The good news is that Edwin Jackson is actually good unlike the other 22 starters they signed this offseason. Jackson has been underrated for some time and that's in part to how miserably he performed when he reached …