What to do at SS?

[Number5]

6 hours ago, LookinUp said:

 Reminds me of the time I was listening to sports talk in south Jersey and they were going on and on about the 3rd string full back. That's what you do in the offseason.

What team carries 3 fullbacks?  

[Moose Milligan]

3 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Here's one example.

Hmmm.  I have to register to see it.  

I might consider joining.  I need another time suck/distraction.

[eddie83]

Trade Chris Davis for Elvis Andrus. 
 

Pay Texas the difference in contracts. 
 

I can dream.  

[HowAboutThat]

11 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Thanks, SG!  Love your warmth and compassion.

 

11 hours ago, eddie83 said:

If Valaika was as good as Iglesias and making $3.5M he would have been the one dealt.  
 

Why didn’t the Angels deal for Valaika? 

Maybe they tried and we said no?

[Sports Guy]

9 hours ago, Philip said:

 

Maybe they tried and we said no?

Yes, the Orioles have traded everyone they can who makes more than $3 but they stopped short on trading the guy they just have the split contract to.  

[owknows]

10 hours ago, Philip said:

 

Maybe they tried and we said no?

Valaika is a pretty good bat with a good arm and decent defense at second and third.

He wasn't an every day player in Colorado

Some might suggest that this is because he wasn't a good enough player, and that if he was a better player, he'd have played every day.

Others might suggest that it was because he was behind Arenado, Story, and Murphy in his time there.

All big contract .300 hitting 25-40 HR guys.

Is Valaika a tier 1 infielder? I dunno... he never really got a shot in Colorado (for the reasons stated above).

He's been quite productive with the bat in his time here, and seems to be more productive when he plays more often (a quality you'd kinda like to see in a guy that plays every day, needless to say).

Pretending that there's some kind of omniscient indicator of who is or is not an every day player runs the risk of dismissing players who were skilled, but stuck behind monster talent. Many unfounded baseball decisions are made on perpetuated popular lore that in the end turns out to be wrong. And if there was ever a team that could afford the option to test untested players with a potential high payoff... it's the O's

 

 

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, owknows said:

Valaika is a pretty good bat with a good arm and decent defense at second and third.

He wasn't an every day player in Colorado

Some might suggest that this is because he wasn't a good enough player, and that if he was a better player, he'd have played every day.

Others might suggest that it was because he was behind Arenado, Story, and Murphy in his time there.

All big contract .300 hitting 25-40 HR guys.

Is Valaika a tier 1 infielder? I dunno... he never really got a shot in Colorado (for the reasons stated above).

He's been quite productive with the bat in his time here, and seems to be more productive when he plays more often (a quality you'd kinda like to see in a guy that plays every day, needless to say).

Pretending that there's some kind of omniscient indicator of who is or is not an every day player runs the risk of dismissing players who were skilled, but stuck behind monster talent. Many unfounded baseball decisions are made on perpetuated popular lore that in the end turns out to be wrong. And if there was ever a team that could afford the option to test untested players with a potential high payoff... it's the O's

 

 

Well I was actually joking when I made me comment, but your response is completely on point.

But defense is a good thing for me, and Valaika doesn’t offer outstanding defense. I’m happy to keep him at this low price but I hope the Os are still looking 

[DrungoHazewood]

13 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Hmmm.  I have to register to see it.  

I might consider joining.  I need another time suck/distraction.

It's $3 a month.  I think it's worth it for access to Bill's writing, although a lot of his analytical stuff is... weird.  Like a 14-part essay on establishing a zero-level for MLBers instead of a replacement level.  Okay, whatever, he's still a very good writer and he's not always on perplexing tangents.  His Hey Bill column where he just answers random questions is sometimes enlightening, sometimes just rude and dismissive.  The messageboard is all over the place like a lot of messageboards.  This week is peak BJOL messageboard with tons of awesome stuff from Tango and Guy and others.  There used to be 3-4 jerks who'd constantly post insulting and demeaning political stuff (no ban on politics), but most of them have gone away.

You might think James' site would be a hotbed of analytical discussion, but a surprising number of the regulars are somewhere between ambivalent and antagonistic towards modern analysis.  At least a handful of Win Shares disciples who openly disparage and mock other systems, IMO because they grew up reading the Baseball Abstract 35 years ago and don't care to or don't have the aptitude to keep up.  There's one old crank who posts in every analytical thread that the world went to hell when we stopped believing in pitcher wins and batting average.  You'd probably be the youngest regular poster.

[jamalshw]

We've heard the name Adeiny Hechavarria the last several years. I would much prefer a Freddy Galvis, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Hech be the option with some Valaika, Martin, etc thrown in.