Markakis ended up at negative WAR in both rWAR and fWAR this year

[Can_of_corn]

I think Brady could help Nick get back to where he once belonged.

He could, if Nick is willing to do the work.

I was just being speculative. If Nick were to cheat and get caught next year how is he that much worse off if 2013 is his new skill level? If on the other hand he were to get results and hit 35 doubles and 25 home runs next season how much would that be worth?

Even under the new agreement I can see there being times that the potential reward of cheating outweighs the risk.

[weams]

He could, if Nick is willing to do the work.

I was just being speculative. If Nick were to cheat and get caught next year how is he that much worse off if 2013 is his new skill level? If on the other hand he were to get results and hit 35 doubles and 25 home runs next season how much would that be worth?

Even under the new agreement I can see there being times that the potential reward of cheating outweighs the risk.

Get back Jo Jo / Go home

[BradyBunch]

I guess I don't hear it. It is amazing to me that all of a sudden Brady was VP of baseball operations or whatever his title is. This from being a workout guy. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he retire in like 1999? Did he even have a job in baseball before a couple years ago?

No, Brady didn't retire until 2002 (last game in MLB was May 20th, 2002) as he played with Cleveland and it's Triple A Portland. Then he became father in 2003 and he fought to get joint custody. He did the dad thing and still does but he picked his daughter over baseball for her early years. Then got back into baseball gradually during Spring Training, as Coach/Trainer (unofficial) and was hired with MASN, but with the Cal trip to Japan it became a formal thing due to O's focusing on international players.

[weams]

No, Brady didn't retire until 2002 (last game in MLB was May 20th, 2002) as he played with Cleveland and it's Triple A Portland. Then he became father in 2003 and he fought to get joint custody. He did the dad thing and still does but he picked his daughter over baseball for her early years. Then got back into baseball with the Cal trip to Japan and that was that.

Thanks. Good stuff.

[Yardball85]

Lol, better command? So now The Wizard Brady is a pitching coach?

It is reasonable to conclude that better conditioning would facilitate better command. No?

[Yardball85]

So Brady is the reason that Tillman has progressed, but not the reason Matusz appears to be ready to pass out after facing two batters? You would have to give me a lot more information then one player maturing to convince me that the reason is Brady. There certainly is not enough data to produce a credible report that suggests that working out with Brady over any good trainer is beneficial. Throw in what I consider a huge risk and personally I'd stay away.

So your argument relies on the assumption that because Y and Z had X, and only Y was affected, X did not affect Y.

In other words, seeing no marked improvement in Matusz does not mean Brady did not help Tillman.

[Yardball85]

I think Brady could help Nick get back to where he once belonged.

I agree with this and that's why Brady helping Tillman is relevant. Sure, it could be finding causation in simple correlation, but Markakis looked so poor on the field this year that the help of a workout guru can't hurt.

[JayThomas]

I'm having a hard time accepting many of the arguments on this thread, which take the form of: if only X, Nick could get back to Y.

Just how far back of Y are we talking about?

To my unprofessional eyes, Nick has been in an almost monotonic decline since 2008, with 2012 (fewer games and at-bats because of injuries) being an outlier.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/markani01.shtml

If we accept this steady decline since 2008 (and if you don't please counter with some meaningful statistics that have trended up since then), then just what Y above are you targetting?

Nick has been heading south for 5 years (excepting 2012). It's not like 2013 is the aberation. It fits perfectly into the 5-year pattern.

[El Gordo]

[MurphDogg]

I don't get the Ben Grieve thing at all. Grieve didn't have a single season WAR of over 2.4 in his career and was done as a regular by age 26.

[333WCamden]

I don't understand how Nick is a "fan favorite". I have had 3 interactions with him over the years and he has been standoffish, bordering on being rude all 3 times. It's a small sample, I know, but if you are the highest paid player on the team and are not performing well, maybe you could be a little more outgoing with the fans.

Meanwhile, Chris Davis, who just had a MONSTER year and made a fraction of what Nick made this year, may be one of the nicest athletes I have ever come in contact with.

[MurphDogg]

I don't understand how Nick is a "fan favorite". I have had 3 interactions with him over the years and he has been standoffish, bordering on being rude all 3 times. It's a small sample, I know, but if you are the highest paid player on the team and are not performing well, maybe you could be a little more outgoing with the fans.

Meanwhile, Chris Davis, who just had a MONSTER year and made a fraction of what Nick made this year, may be one of the nicest athletes I have ever come in contact with.

Yeah, Nick doesn't seem to have much of a personality. I don't hold that against him because I don't think he is rude, he is just aloof. He, like Roberts is a fan favorite due to the amount of time they have spent on the team and the fact that they were very good players for several years (well Nick was great one year and good for several others) on bad teams.

[Redskins Rick]

I don't understand how Nick is a "fan favorite". I have had 3 interactions with him over the years and he has been standoffish, bordering on being rude all 3 times. It's a small sample, I know, but if you are the highest paid player on the team and are not performing well, maybe you could be a little more outgoing with the fans.

Meanwhile, Chris Davis, who just had a MONSTER year and made a fraction of what Nick made this year, may be one of the nicest athletes I have ever come in contact with.

Maybe being in the limelight makes a person feel more guarded. I can't image trying to go out in public and get noticed where-ever you are.

Yes, some people handle it better than others.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't understand how Nick is a "fan favorite". I have had 3 interactions with him over the years and he has been standoffish, bordering on being rude all 3 times. It's a small sample, I know, but if you are the highest paid player on the team and are not performing well, maybe you could be a little more outgoing with the fans.

Meanwhile, Chris Davis, who just had a MONSTER year and made a fraction of what Nick made this year, may be one of the nicest athletes I have ever come in contact with.

I don't think he is near the fan favorite he was a few years ago. I think players such as Jones and Machado have passed him by.

[DrungoHazewood]

I don't get the Ben Grieve thing at all. Grieve didn't have a single season WAR of over 2.4 in his career and was done as a regular by age 26.

Now's the time where you're supposed to post a picture of, like, Carl Yastrzemski, and after much gnashing of teeth and veiled threats we all settle on the reality that Markakis has been somewhere in between tragically disappointing and HOF-quality.