ewen21

This. The notion that you can steal strikes from umpires for a living is ridiculous. This stuff is getting a lot of attention (surely umpires talk about this) and guys who have reputations as great "pitch framers" will eventually have umpire bias work against them because basically they are messing with the umpire's zone integrity. "Stealing strikes" to an umpire has a negative connotation for the umpire. When these rags put out lists of the league's best pitch framers eventually they won't be. Umps can take that away with subtle bias A lot of the other stuff about flexibility and knowing how to catch a low strike makes sense. In other words, don't make a strike look like a ball.

That is just the thing. I don't feel he is underpaid in first few years as of right now. His lifetime average is .236 and he never had more than 400 at bats in any season until last year. Just how do you figure he is "underpaid" when the Yankees are giving him $10,785,714 each year GUARANTEED from for the next four years after next season? We don't actually have a crystal ball and it isn't like he's the model of consistency. You can tell me he is underpaid AFTER he has a strong season in 2019. Right now? I am sorry, no way do I accept that premise.

You are precisely correct, but I did actually think about it after I posted and considered it. I came to the conclusion there were other guys, but they were not making any impact and that was really my point. What is the chance Hicks is worth anything (or even playing) the last couple of years of that contract. Sorry if I came off bad

The average salary for a baseball player in 1998 was 1,398,831 per year. In 2018 it was 4,250,000. That is nearly a 300% increase in salary for the average player over the last 20 years and yet there is talk of a strike looming? Please.....OK.....please

YOu got me. I failed to mention Jose Bautista, Rajai Davis, Curtis Granderson, Hunter Pence, Ichiro Suzuki, Matt Holliday and Curtis Granderson. None of them had a WAR over 1.0 and 3 of them had negative WARs I figured they were not worth mentioning, but there you go

Right, but Kepler gets 35 in guaranteed money and Hicks gets 70. Twice as much unless I am missing something. I also noted the difference between how the NY Yankees do business and how almost everyone else does. There is no assurance Hicks is going to be great or even healthy. He has had his share of injury issues and he will turn 30 when the Yankees are in the playoffs. I have doubts he makes it past year five of this contract. Not many players get to 35 playing the outfield. Especially not an oft injured guy like Hicks

Two outfielders playing baseball last year 35 and above Chin Soo Choo and Ben Zobrist.

Kepler gets 35 million (half of what Hicks gets)He's 3.5 years older than Kepler.He is locked up until he is 36. There are a grand total of 5 outfielders 34 years and above in baseballHe's had more than 370 PAs once. He has a career batting average of .236. Um.....yeah

We are going to start this "eat crow" stuff in February? Anyone who has criticized his offensive game to this point had every right to. No need for anyone here to feel foolish about saying his bat was terrible last year. No need for anyone to feel foolish about having concerns about his offense, his propensity for injuries and slamming into walls needlessly. We all want the same thing for him: success And that's about all I want to say about that

I like Lewis and believe in him. As far as being touted for "his smile" all I can say is.....when did that become the ingredient for success?? Ben Revere smiled a whole lot and in one case he flashed a great big smile in the outfield after he committed a ridiculous error that cost the team runs. That rubbed me the wrong way and I liked Revere's heart coming back from a vicious beaning and being an undersized guy., etc... After awhile he started to annoy me. It's nice to smile, but be a pro at the same time. To me, as long as a player doesn't constantly sulk I could care less about a smile. Totally unimportant and in some cases inappropriate, in my opinion. Nice article, though

This move nicely illustrates just how different teams at the top are from all the rest. TInstead of signing a few free agents over ten years to be paid higher they bet on Hicks. he Yankees can afford this deal since they see Hicks as Brett Gardner's replacment. Whether they hit or miss we will find out in time. However, this is a move teams like the Yankees can easily afford. If the Twins make deal like this it is a major risk. I do not understand the 7 year thing, but that isn't our problem.

Why should you feel exposed about that opinion? Granted, I don't feel the same way as you do, but that's OK. I went from liking Gardy to developing a strong dislike for his managerial style. I did not see him last year so maybe he was a little "revitalized" and if you enjoyed watching the Tigers that's OK with me. ...However, I must say, there was not much I enjoyed about him the last 5 or 6 seasons of his tenure here. It all started when at the trade deadline in 2007 he lashed back at Hunter and Johan's criticism of the FO for Trading Castillo for nothing. I did not think that Gardy needed to clap back on Torii and Johan the way he did and when he did that I knew both were gone (was almost a foregone conclusion anyway, but I did not like it). At that stage of the game those were my two favorite Twins and it seemed like Gardy was counting the days to when he'd have them off his hands. Maybe that is just me, but I think Gardy was looking forward to have a young team that couldn't challenge his authority and just went with his way. Johan and Torii were not easy, but you knew one thing about them. THEY BROUGHT IT EVERY GAME I didn't like that Gardy had a love affair with Nick Punto that bordered on the bizarre and irrational. Although Punto had a historically (and hysterically) poor season in 2007 you knew that newcomer Brendan Harris (from Queensbury, NY--home of the SIlo: best breakfast place I have yet to experience) had no chance of playing. Things just got worse from there with me, quite frankly I thought he was way too soft on Mauer to the point where Joe pretty much ran his own program. I thought he was unnecessarily hard on young players and what he did to Aaron Hicks in Boston that night was absolutely insane. For him to pitch a fit like that in the dugout for what Hicks did was nuts. I would not have minded if he did something similar to Joe when he inexplicably bunted in that game against Cleveland. That game was a one run game, against a division rival in a pennant race. He was livid about it and yet all he could say was something like: "Ask Joe. I don't tell my players what to do". Oh really?? When Hicks flipped that ball in Boston I think we were about 8 runs up late in the game about 50 games out of first place. He went totally bonkers. Why? Because it was easy to smash a guy like Hicks. I can go on and on about Gardy, but the main thing is at some point he became an ineffective manager. He was pretty good the first 4 or 5 seasons. After that he was a big part of the problem, in my opinion. No scorn directed your way. I am just not a Gardy guy anymore. I was long ago, never again

I had a Meister Brau in my hand when that went down

IN regards to the topic, seems to me like pitch framing isn't something that should be relied upon year after year. If you get known as a good pitch framer I can't see how umpires don't "correct" that, fair or not. I also see it as something the pitcher is responsible for as well. A dubious metric to me

Until Goodrum can sustain the kind of offensive numbers Gonzalez has at the ML level he isnt compatable to him. Maybe he can be in time, but he isn't now. The fact that Gardy loves him cements my skepticism for his game, specifically offensively

Sconnie, you're a good dude and I am not looking to convert anyone into my way of thinking. I have not researched kids interest in baseball but I have taught elementary school for 25 years in upstate NY and that what I'm drawing from when I make my statement. A friend of mine is a high school coach and is actually running an indoor clinic (for ages 3rd grade and up) today as I type this. I had this discussion last night with him and a few other guys. Truthfully it isn't something that is a do or die issue with me. I have rolled with the changes my whole live and will continue to do so. That's for the information, but I still think that umpires in the traditional sense are just fine. Before I get told "this is the wrong thread blah blah blah" I will bow out respectfully. I'll read those links you posted more carefully later

Goodrum had what could be his career year last year. He was a .career 250 hitter in the minors and his versatility in the field doesn't mean a hill of beans if he can't be at least be a halfway decent hitter and fielder. Not so sure he is. Gonzalez proven, Goodrum most certainly is not. Give me Gonzalez for the 10.5 million 100 times out of 100

Automated strike zone reflects this "just download the app" mentality that has swept this nation like a disease. Some things advancements are great in how they simplify our lives. I don't see this as simplifying anything or eliminating problems with ball/strike calls. Like anything that is computerized there will be problems and sometimes it just won't work properly so I don't see it as being the perfect tool to eliminate bias. The "taking the human element out of the game" argument isn't even necessary. I gain nothing from botched calls or controversy. I have no interest in it. I just think sports should be governed by people and not machines. Automation is advancement in a lot of cases, but it isn't in sports. I don't care for the replay, I don't think there should be a pitch clock and I am not "old fashioned" either. Sports should be governed by people. This isn't life and death. If it were something that saved lives or tons of money then I am all for it. We are talking about a game here. And I have to say...baseball better get itself in order FAST. I love it and always have, but it is not appealing to many young people anymore. Kids don't play it and most don't watch it anymore. Baseball is too corporate and too analytical, in my opinion. It is becoming more and more detached. This automated strike zone crap is just another thing that keeps swinging the pendulum toward complete sterility. This isn't like the elimination of cash tolls to EZPASS. This is more like developing an app to wipe our asses for us and I know there are some people reading this who think that is a good idea (and that disturbs me quite frankly)

Maybe the deficiencies would not have been discussed so much if they didn't rear their ugly head so much.

I try to amuse

Rock oh ball deli.

The usual players (perennial contenders) wanted nothing to do with him. It's not, "Why didn't Manny go with the Red Sox/Yankees/Dodgers?" Manny didn't have the luxury to choose. Now he's on a team throwing stupid money at him because they are desperate to make a splash. San Diego is EXACTLY where he belongs. He's going to make a lot of money playing in a lot of meaningless games. The best thing about this is we hardly ever need to see him.

FanGraphs money, fantasy leagues, automated strike zones.... There exists a certain coterie of sophists who want to over-intellectualize baseball. Make it perfect. It's like musical groups using all sorts of aids to perform live. As far as pitch framing goes I say LA-Dee-freakin-DAH! Whatever. Word gets out a guy is a good pitch framer and he will get squeezed eventually. It's a silly metric

We signed free agent relievers last winter. We could have easily done the same thing and had the same lousy results. Relievers are generally a crapshoot. Very few of them are consistent year to year so I can't pretend to know who we need to get in the pen. I suppose we could have thrown money and Juerys Familia at guys like Andrew Miller and that would have made everyone happy, but how they perform is in 2019 is anyone's guess and some of the best relievers in the game in 2019 can be guys no one here would ever know to name. This is why I will leave the complaining about the pen to others. My focus is on our young position players and the rotation right now.

Well "b**** move" or not it has been a precedent in baseball since forever. It won't be changed either. Years of warnings and fines have not changed it. It is what it is in major league baseball and he should be wary if he decides to style it to the degree he does. Willians can make this silliness into headlines or he can simply tone it the heck down and play baseball. I like the kid because he has heart and enthusiasm, but there is a fine line between that and showing up your peers and I don't find any of this stuff endearing. If he gets plunked because of this stuff I won't be one complaining about the pitcher who did it. A long standing culture has existed in this game forever and that kind of stuff gets dealt with whether you like or not. He is starting to earn a rep and that is something he can deal with (or not). Because the other team will deal with it sure as the tides go in and out