Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

[rsox]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

What the hell is a Snookie and why would he be dating it?

[vernond]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

What the hell is a Snookie and why would he be dating it?

She's some moron from a reality show on mtv.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

Dodger announcer on whether or not McGwire is a HOFer, even ignoring PED concerns: "I'm not sure."

[SPTO]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

Dodger announcer on whether or not McGwire is a HOF, even ignoring PED concerns: "I'm not sure."

Yeah, if you ignore the PED stuff he's a definite HOFer.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

I was stumbling across ESPN.com when I encountered a piece from Buster Olney comparing Adrian Gonzalez to Tony Gywnn.

Huh? No doubt they're both very good left-handed San Diego Padre hitters, but it seems to me they're good in different ways. For argument's sake, I'm not taking defense into account since there's no plausible way to measure how good of a defender Gwynn was, although popular acclaim suggests he was a good glove since he was a multiple-time GG winner.

Tony Gwynn: .338/.388/.459, 132 OPS+, .120 ISO
Adrian Gonzalez: .283/.367 /.510, 137 OPS+, .227 ISO

Looking at the offensive data, you can clearly see that Gwynn was a historically great contact hitter (8-time batting champion) and a terrific base-stealer in his prime to boot, while Gonzalez is primarily a slugger (and a significantly greater home-run threat than Gwynn).

The comparison isn't exactly analogous.

[Ewing]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

Dodger announcer on whether or not McGwire is a HOFer, even ignoring PED concerns: "I'm not sure."

Using one of my gifs? I'm flattered.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

The following conversation made me very upset:

Mac (Philly)

Since when is Dan Haren not a premium player?

Jayson Stark (1:29 PM)

Dan Haren could pitch for my team. But he's not Cliff Lee. Seen his numbers this year?

Yeah, I've seen his numbers. He was tied for 2nd in K/BB ratio and was 4th in xFIP before he was traded to the AL.

You just have to look past the suck stats of ERA and W/L.

[Sportsforever]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

The following conversation made me very upset:

Yeah, I've seen his numbers. He was tied for 2nd in K/BB ratio and was 4th in xFIP before he was traded to the AL.

You just have to look past the suck stats of ERA and W/L.

I dunno...he didn't say Haren sucks, he just said he isn't Cliff Lee, which he's not.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

I dunno...he didn't say Haren sucks, he just said he isn't Cliff Lee, which he's not.

He didn't say he sucks, but he implied Haren wasn't a premium starter with the "Seen his numbers?" retort.

Haren's numbers are pretty good as long as you know what numbers to look at and which ones to completely avoid.

[Sportsforever]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

He didn't say he sucks, but he implied Haren wasn't a premium starter with the "Seen his numbers?" retort.

Haren's numbers are pretty good as long as you know what numbers to look at and which ones to completely avoid.

No doubt...Haren's almost been as good this year as he was last. It is obvious that Stark was referring to his wins/ERA, and for that he is a moron. Now that I think about it, I think I'd probably take Haren over Lee in the long run in that I Haren is younger (I think he is anyway) and has more upside while Lee is probably at his peak and will begin to decline in the next year or so.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

No doubt...Haren's almost been as good this year as he was last. It is obvious that Stark was referring to his wins/ERA, and for that he is a moron. Now that I think about it, I think I'd probably take Haren over Lee in the long run in that I Haren is younger (I think he is anyway) and has more upside while Lee is probably at his peak and will begin to decline in the next year or so.

And Stark is very wrong to suggest that Haren isn't a premium starting pitcher.

Haren does have 2 years on Lee, so you are correct on that point. I'd probably take Haren over Lee as well long-term.

[Ewing]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

You know what's classic? At the press conference where the interim GM announced the trade of Haren, he said the D-Backs would maintain quality within in the organization because Saunders made the All-Star game in 2008 and has won a bunch of games over the last few seasons. Not kidding. I wish I could find video of it.

Found it! Skip to the 0:56 mark for full hilarity.

http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=10279573&c_id=ana

[areobee401]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

Haren is above average imo.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

Haren is above average imo.

Haren was one of the best pitchers in the NL last year and he's been slightly worse than that this year.

Above-average isn't usually thrown around to describe top-of-the-line starters.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Dusty Baker (and other assorted morons)

Time to put on my FJM hat for today's JoeChat! I lack both the satirical ability and the wit of the legendary FJM bloggers, but I'll do my best.

Nathan (Missouri)

Hey Joe, Braves to the World Series or do they need more help?

Joe Morgan (11:22 AM)

Every team that's in first place can reach the World Series. If you get into the playoffs, you can make it. But there's a long way to go. Every team has a weakness. The Braves are the same. They need a little more consistent offense and their pitching could use a little help.

ORLY, Joe? Teams that win their divisions (and make the playoffs) can reach the World Series? Let's take a look back to see if you're right.

2009 NY Yankees: 1st in the AL East, made the playoffs, won the World Series.
2008 Phillies: 1st in the NL East, made the playoffs, won the World Series.
2007 Boston Red Sox: 1st in the AL East, made the playoffs, won the World Series. (did not have a weakness BTW).
2007 Cleveland Indians: 1st in the AL Central, made the playoffs, did not make the World Series, but could have had they not lost in the ALCS. Had too many weaknesses.
2006 SF Giants: 3rd in the NL West, did not make the playoffs, did not make the World Series.
2005 Washington Nationals: 5th in the NL East, did not make the playoffs, did not make the World Series.

Nevermind the fact that you didn't even answer the 2nd part of his question (and answered the 1st part of his question by restating the question), I did learn today that the Braves can make the World Series if they make the playoffs.

BTW, consistency count: 1.

Paul (Boston)

Do you think that the Red Soxs can overcome all their injuries and make a run at the wild card over the next couple months? Who needs to step up to make that happen?

Paul asks an interesting question, aside for some redundancy (Red Soxs?)

Joe Morgan (11:23 AM)

Boston is going to have to get all of their players healthy and play to their full potential.

Which is something unique and unique only to the 2010 Boston Red Sox.

Tampa Bay and the Yankees are not going to go away. Therefore, Boston is going to have to move forward, those teams won't fall back to them.

???????? Boston is going to have to "move forward", but they also need the teams ahead of them to lose games. It's a zero-sum game.

The only way a team can gain ground in the standings is if:

A. They win.
B. The other team loses.

It will be a difficult road for them, but they're capable. If they can get their starting pitching on line and healthy, they can they be led by their pitching. I don't think their offense is consistent enough to lead them.

The same problems facing the Atlanta Braves also face the Boston Red Sox. Amazing.

Consistency count: 2.

Tito (Brooklyn)

Hi Joe. Do you think the Mets should give more playing time to Jeff Francoeur? They've been struggling to score runs since he's been benched for Beltran's return.

Tito asks quite the whopper later in the JoeChat, but back to Joe.

Joe Morgan (11:26 AM)

He's been hot and cold all year. He got off to a great start, then he struggled after that long game in St. Louis. Then he got hot again and cold again. He's been very inconsistent. I believe Pagan needs to play and Beltran is your star, so he needs to play. I'm just not sure how much they can get out of Francoeur. I've been a fan of his for a long time, but he's been very up and down this year.

Inconsistency, something only applicable to Jeff Francoeur. It's not as if the fact that baseball seasons are 162 games long has anything to do with it.

Does inconsistency count in the "consistency" category? Why the **** not: 3.

Nathan (Kentucky)

Joe, how big was Matt Garza's no-hitter last night for Tampa as a city and as a franchise?

Joe Morgan (11:27 AM)

No-hitters are great, but as Garza said last night, a win is what it's about. They needed to win the game. Winning the game comes first, anything else is icing on the cake. There are not many guys that would be happy to pitch a no-hitter and lose. The win was important and it was great for the franchise.

Yeah, just like that one gu.....no, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Jordan (missouri)

i know that there i still a lot of baseball to be played but how do you see the NL central shaking out come playoff time?

Joe Morgan (11:29 AM)

I think that's a tough call. Obviously, I'm a Reds fan and I think the Reds have a lot of really good young players. They have good defense and pitching. I'm not sure about the experience factor. They lost last night on a home run by Jim Edmonds. I definitely think they have the talent to win their division or wild card.

One of these sentences is not like the other and has absolutely no relevance to the question.

It's like one of those SAT questions where you have to point out the irrelevant sentence/replace it with something that isn't as ridiculous. (Hint: It has to do with Jim Edmonds).

Jon (Newark)

Joe,What do you think about the fact that Arod continues to fail to hit number 600. Do you think this failure is because he is trying too hard?

I don't know, because it's only been 4 games since A-Rod hit #599?

Surely, Joe will hit cleanup on this one.

Joe Morgan (11:30 AM)

Any time you get to a number like that, I would think that you would press. He's getting ready to become part of history. That's a big deal. Anybody presses at that number. I'm sure it's on his mind. You have to be thinking about it. I was thinking about it when I was trying to get my first one. He's gone through this before and he'll adjust.

You know what the problem is? A-Rod just hasn't been CONSISTENT!!!!1111

If you took a cursory glance at A-Rod's game logs, you'll find that he had a 7 game gap between HRs number 597 and 598.

Why did I pick those two numbers? No idea. It's the same reason why arbitrary emphasis is put on milestone stats.

Tito (Brooklyn)

How much of a catalyst has Juan Pierre been this year?

Joe Morgan (11:34 AM)

I thought he would be better. I'm a big Juan Pierre fan. I actually thought he would have a great season there, because he had such a good season last year with the Dodgers. He has not hit for the average that I thought he would and his OBP is not that good. But he has added that element of speed and I think that's helped in close ball games.

Tito decides to ask a trick question and asks how much of a catalyst Juan Pierre and his 64 OPS+ has been for opposing pitching staffs this year.

Joe is too stupid to realize this and points out that he is a fan of player who in many ways is the antithesis of Joe Morgan the player (.392 career OBP vs. .344 career OBP and 132 OPS+ vs. 84 OPS+ for Morgan and Pierre respectively).

Joe B (Aiter, NY)

Why is the Angels bullpen so inconsistent this year?

Joe Morgan (11:35 AM)

I don't think it's just the Angels. A lot of the bullpens have been inconsistent. Guys who are great one year, it doesn't mean that he will be great the next year. A lot of the closers have struggled.

4.

dave w. (omaha)

You mentioned that things go in cycles (hitting, pitching, etc.). How about umpiring? Is this just a really bad year for umpires, or does MLB need to do something to address this problem?

Joe Morgan (11:37 AM)

This may be the best question I've had in a long time. Everyone talks about replays. I don't believe in replay, I think we have to hold the umpires more accountable. I think MLB needs to step in and force that to happen. They made a change and Frank Robinson is now in charge of the umpires. He said that there will be some changes. I think we will see some changes.

No, both of you just need to learn the concept of representative heuristics.

Dave (Columbus)

Any thoughts on why the Reds can lead the league in offensive categories but have everyone go so cold on the ssame night?

Law of large numbers.

Over the course of a 162 game season, there are bound to be some troughs.

Joe Morgan (11:39 AM)

The problem is, when you talk about leading the league in runs scored and all of those things, it's realy a lot of averages. THey have scored a lot of runs in certain situations, but then look at the series against the Phillies right before the all-star break. They have a good offense, but it has not been consistent, especially lately. I can't give you an exact reason, but hitting, like everything else, is contagious.

Joe actually understands some of that concept, but you can't forget about consistency!!!!

That puts us at 5.

Joe Morgan (11:44 AM)

Looking forward to the trade deadline. We'll know which teams are set after that the rest of the way. I don't think there are many big difference makers out there. We'll see if the GMs agree with me.

And this is where I hand the baton back to the FJM bloggers (who come back for a day on September, I think).

*takes off FJM hat*

It was fun while it lasted. I hope you guys find this a good read.