MacPhail: Miggy won't play any SS

[RShack]

Izzy hasn't played more than 150 games since 2004..I would say it is extremely reasonable to question his durability.

That's a silly standard. The last 4 WS teams we had included a combined total of 9 guys who played 150 games.

The '70, '71, and '79 teams had 2 each. The '83 team had 3.

Brooks twice, Boog and Belanger once, Singleton and Eddie twice, and Cal once. 4 WS teams and 6 names, that's it.

[El Gordo]

Is this right? (I really don't know)

When people say that he is "injury prone" during the last 3-of-4 years, are they referring to 1 injury and 1 illness... over 4 years?

Yes, that is essentially correct. I expect he also has missed time because of his offense.

[El Gordo]

Stretches of games Izzy has missed:

Jun 30 - Jul 15 2005

Aug 22 2005 - Jun 20 2006 (TJ surgery)

Aug 22 2006 - Sep 10 2006

Sep 16 2006 - Oct 1 2006Jun 21 2008 - Jul 5 2008

Jun 4 2009 - Jul 10 2009

2007 was the only year he avoided a DL trip in the last 5 years, and he still only played 110 games that year so he probably had a couple of those 5-7 day stretches where he couldn't play.

He's not the least durable guy in the world, but my entire point is just that he's also not a guy you can rely on to be there every game, he'll probably make a DL trip at least once a season and miss a few other spurts here and there.

And, more to my main point, is that being able to avoid these types of DL trips and missed games isn't just blind luck. There are obviously guys that can do it much better than other guys. You can't say that two guys with basically the same numbers are equally as valuable to a team when one guy plays 155 games most years and the other plays 125.

Its the same as with pitchers. Some guys can eat innings and make 32+ starts a year. Others can't do it as consistently or consistently at all.

All of these dates are related to his arm injury, surgery, and subsequent recovery. It took time for him to regain full strength and he played through some of that. So basically you are talking about 2 weeks in 2008 and a case of appendicitis in 2009.

[Mackus]

All of these dates are related to his arm injury, surgery, and subsequent recovery. It took time for him to regain full strength and he played through some of that. So basically you are talking about 2 weeks in 2008 and a case of appendicitis in 2009.

I'm making two points:

1) Izturis isn't going to be confused by anyone as being a super durable guy

2) Being able to play everyday is a skill, just like being able to be a workhorse pitcher is a skill, its heavily based on getting good breaks, but some guys can do it while others can't, and guys that can are more valuable than guys that can't if all else is close to equal.

The second argument is the point I was originally trying to make, the only reason Izturis is involved is because someone tried to say he was as valuable or perhaps even more valuable than Tejada because he had 1.6 WAR in 115 games while Tejada had 2.0 WAR in 160 games or whatever the exact numbers are, and I said you can't extrapolate like that. The guy that will play more most years is more valuable than a guy that has trouble being in the lineup from time to time.