Today's Fun Fact

by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 10, 2009 9:14 PM PST in Miscellaneous

According to the CHONE, Marcel, and Bill James 2009 projections, the difference at the plate over a full season between Bobby Abreu and Reggie Willits is about 20 runs.

According to UZR, +/-, and Revised Zone Rating, the difference in an outfield corner over a full season between Bobby Abreu and Reggie Willits is about 15-20 runs in the other direction.

Should the Angels go on to sign Abreu as expected, they'll be improving their team for little commitment, but it's hard to feel like this whole OF/DH situation of theirs couldn't have been handled a little better. At this point, especially with that outfield, I think I'd rather have Willits than Juan Rivera.

Mike Scioscia is going to have a complicated season.

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Because why not

by JI on Feb 10, 2009 9:42 PM PST reply actions

But hey

That’s why they signed Scioscia to that 147-year extension, right?

by ThundaPC on Feb 10, 2009 10:19 PM PST reply actions

We are well overdue for some tasty Angels misery.

Fear the NPE

by thewyrm on Feb 10, 2009 10:40 PM PST reply actions

I still don't understand re-signing Rivera.

by Mariner John on Feb 10, 2009 10:58 PM PST reply actions

I am still holding out hope that the M's make an 11th hour move on Abreu.

by Fin on Feb 10, 2009 11:27 PM PST reply actions

Nah,

at this rate Dunn might be had on a short-and-sweet deal. I’d much rather have Dunn blasting 400’ shots at Safeco than Abreu doing his thing. Dunn’s got serious trade value if we decide to go that route, Abreu not as much, but he’s not an absolute dog in that department.

Basically, any contract given out to a guy like Dunn, in this market, is going to be pretty conducive to a mid-season trade to the right team. Add to that the Safeco effect, which if nothing else doesn’t diminish his value at all, and might actually improve it over other potential parks. I think Dunn on a one year deal makes a whole lot of sense, even if you have to pay him FA Wins value-rates.

There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.

by misterjonez on Feb 10, 2009 11:39 PM PST up reply actions

We don't have the money.

Or we would have signed Abreu…Dunn will have to come down from his previously declared asking price, but he will probably still go for more than Abreu.

by appleshampoo on Feb 11, 2009 12:03 AM PST up reply actions

Which is why we will probably end up with Griffey.

by Fin on Feb 11, 2009 12:05 AM PST up reply actions

Yayy!

Everyone will be happy then.

by Zwakamatsu on Feb 11, 2009 1:26 AM PST up reply actions

What would make me happy

would be if, after signing Griffey, he actually lasted 400 PA and managed an .850 OPS. Sadly, that seems unlikely.

by pygmalion on Feb 11, 2009 6:32 AM PST up reply actions

I dont have any problem with Junior being the guy we sign.

One year deal, hopefully he stays healthy and at least league average at the plate. He’s not blocking any prospects at the moment, and we have a hole to fill.

We could (and have) done worse.

"Fights begin, finger prints are took, days is lost, bail is made, court dates are ignored, cycle is repeated."

by Thingray on Feb 11, 2009 11:35 AM PST up reply actions

If Griffey

posts anything north of about a .700 OPS and a .330 wOBA, with maybe 20-25 HR is going to be worth a million bucks I think.

Are the Fangraphs numbers right that between 2002 and 2008 Griffey has been overpaid ~50M based on his value wins? That’s pretty incredible.

by Zwakamatsu on Feb 11, 2009 1:18 PM PST up reply actions

He took a well below market contract too.

by JI on Feb 11, 2009 1:35 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah I think if you are the Reds back then, you sign him to that deal everytime

by Edgar for Pres on Feb 11, 2009 6:47 PM PST up reply actions

You can't complain for a second about his contract,

given his career arc and historical durability. That was a ridiculously good contract, especially viewed in retrospect.

As for us not having the money to sign Dunn to similar money the Nats gave him, I don’t know about that. There are ways to free up $10m without hurting yourself, and Dunn would be a huge boost to the offense, and potentially a very good boost to the team overall if he plays 1B (like he’s rumored to do in Washington).

Still, Griffey as another piece of the puzzle, deployed intelligently is yet another smart move for this team.

There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.

by misterjonez on Feb 12, 2009 8:04 PM PST up reply actions