Is it too early to plan for 2014?

[Redskins Rick]

Why Pence? Choo has a career OBP of .389 compared to Pence's .338. Pence has a slight advantage in SLG that does not come close to compensating for the difference in OBP, and thus Choo's career OPS is greater by some 40 points.

So why Pence?

He can hit lefties, but I wouldnt pay him 4/60

[Yardball85]

And Choo plays in a hitters park, Pence plays in a pitchers park, one of the most pitcher friendly park in all of baseball.

Well we're talking about career OBP and OPS, not just last year. Pence played in hitter's paradise Houston for the majority of his career, while Choo played at Progressive Field, certainly not the hitter's park that Cinci is.

[Yardball85]

He can hit lefties, but I wouldnt pay him 4/60

I'd rather not - just that OBP is such a glaring problem for this team. And I consider him to be a little better than Swisher, and in this market, whether right or wrong, Swisher got 4 years 56M.

I do agree with you I would rather find stats similar to Choo's for cheaper.

[SurhoffRules]

He can hit lefties, but I wouldnt pay him 4/60

I'll also concede that if the price difference between the two were large enough, Pence could be an appealing option as we have a need for some of the has skills he has. I personally think that the team needs a big old OBP bump generally before consider who mashes lefties. I've not looked at the free agent list but I think I'll have a peek.

[Redskins Rick]

I'll also concede that if the price difference between the two were large enough, Pence could be an appealing option as we have a need for some of the has skills he has. I personally think that the team needs a big old OBP bump generally before consider who mashes lefties. I've not looked at the free agent list but I think I'll have a peek.

Pretty weak this year, some top $$$ guys on there, but moving on past them, since they are not in the budget.

[CA-ORIOLE]

You may not have read this one before you responded.

I'm not worried about a guy like Choo having to face situational lefty late in a game. That's small potatoes in the overall scheme of things and Choo actually gets on base at about the same rate as Pence does against LHP. I'll take the better overall player.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I know, I even stated that in my comment. Against LH starters in his career.

Gotta read the fine print on the platoon splits.

Starter batting splits are for the entire game when the starter was LH or RH. These splits include any subsequent plate appearances against a reliever regardless of their throwing hand. These splits are a proxy for platoon splits for seasons we lack play-by-play data. from GL team pitching splits indicate how batters did against the team and use the batter's overall batting handedness for this split.

[mark_beckens]

I'm not worried about a guy like Choo having to face situational lefty late in a game. That's small potatoes and Choo actually gets on base at about the same rate as Pence does against LHP. I'll take the better overall player.

Sorry I figured you would take this part out of that quote. I should have edited it

I'm not saying he's a bad player or that Pence is better.

[Redskins Rick]

I'm not worried about a guy like Choo having to face situational lefty late in a game. That's small potatoes and Choo actually gets on base at about the same rate as Pence does against LHP. I'll take the better overall player.

Choo splits are .200 for LH starter and .217 for LHP.

Pence is .303 and .308.

Huge difference.

[Il BuonO]

Pretty weak this year, some top $$$ guys on there, but moving on past them, since they are not in the budget.

That's right. You guys can speculate all you want about this, but did you forget who the owner is? Not happening. I'm sure a statement is coming soon thanking all the fans for their support and promising to give Buck and Dan anything they need to get us back to the PS. Until the OS comes and we stand around making minor moves again and everyone around here talks about all the FA that are on our list and all the writers who think we are in on whatever players of the moment. Good luck with that.

I come not to expect that we will make moves like that anymore. Whether It's Choo, Pence, Garza, whomever. Our moves will be McLouth, Saunders, etc., of that variety.

Of course I'd love to be proven wrong.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Choo splits are .200 for LH starter and .217 for LHP.

Pence is .303 and .308.

Huge difference.

I said "on base". Choo has a career 339 OBP versus LHP. Pence has a career 345 OPB against LHP. The power is where the difference is.

Again you need to be careful with the starter platoon splits from bREF as they include both LHP and RHP.

[Redskins Rick]

I said "on base". Choo has a career 339 OBP versus LHP. Pence has a career 345 OPB against LHP. The power is where the difference is.

Again you need to be careful with the starter platoon splits as they include both LHP and RHP.

Ok, so spilts are not completely accurate, got it.

[SurhoffRules]

Gotta read the fine print on the platoon splits.

Thank you for that. Apparently I've been misinterpreting that for a long time.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Ok, so spilts are not completely accurate, got it.

The splits on bREF are accurate. You just need to know what you're looking at with respect to the starter batting splits. I don't believe they provide true splits for relievers and starters. I think ESPN may.

Starter batting splits are for the entire game when the starter was LH or RH. These splits include any subsequent plate appearances against a reliever regardless of their throwing hand. These splits are a proxy for platoon splits for seasons we lack play-by-play data. from GL team pitching splits indicate how batters did against the team and use the batter's overall batting handedness for this split.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Thank you for that. Apparently I've been misinterpreting that for a long time.

I misread them for quite awhile myself. They are definitely tricky.