Fair to critique Cashman, but stop clamoring for Matsui
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 9:30 am by SJK
.245/.328/.404, 97 OPS+
That's Hideki Matsui's line for the season.
.179/.218/.348, 64 OPS+
That's Hideki Matsui's line versus LHP this season.
Seriously, stop it. You're dumb if you do it.
Nick johnson to em was the only real mistake and we made a move for Berkman so i see that as a wash now.
The granderson trade doesnt bother me much yet. Jackson has A LOT more to prove before i cry foul. Coke is just your avg rp, good year, bad, yr, good yr, bad yr, a dime a dozen basically. Ian Kennedy? who cares, who liked that guy anyway. I still need more time on this trade. Maybe Long can turn Granderson around like he did Swisher? Is Jackson really a 300 hitter? only time will tell.
Thanks for finally writing this. Can you also try to put a stop to the endless whining about not re-signing Damon? Gardner is having a much better season (2 more WAR than Damon) at about 5% of Damon’s salary.
I stopped clamoring for Matsui & Damon a while back, but to act like Matsui wouldn’t be hitting better in this lineup is just stupid. At some point the genius’ that run nomaas need to stop licking Cashman’s ass. Stats be dammed Matsui killed the Red Sox and always seem to come up with the tide turning hit. Same with Damon. Gardner has been fine, I just wish he would bunt a little more. We all need to move on, but the Granderson trade was Cashman trying to be cute and it may blow up in his face.
Seriously, we dumped huge amounts of salary and, through smoke and mirrors, have the best record in baseball. While there are plenty of spots the team can improve, throwing money at the crappy 2010 market was going to do very little.
Oh and Jorge sucks.
Nick Johnson was the biggest mistake since Randy Johnson. How could he not see him getting injured a mile away?
And it wasn’t some little mistake, it cost $6M.
Let’s face it, Cashman did not improve the offense in a single way.
The Granderson trade is a disaster. They gave up a top notch CF who has yrs of control at min salary levels. They gave up a competent back end starter who would look good right now for depth or trades. And they gave up a decent lefty in the pen. For what? A guy who cant hit or get on base. And costs 8 mil a year. But hes a great guy
Memo to Cash: Stop trading for Dave D
Austin Jackson, 23 years old and playing for the league minimum: 103 OPS+
Platoon Granderson: 97 OPS+ (declined every year since 07)
Ajax War 2.2
Grandy War 1.6 while playing 26 less games
Austin Jackson is horrible you idiots
Jackson: .103 ISO, .419 BABIP, leads league in K’s
Granderson: .177 ISO, .284 BABIP
Idiots
Austin Jackson is a complete fluke, he is a very good defender but is also a whiff machine. He also has a .419 BABIP which will never happen again. Granderson was obviously not an everyday player and may need to be traded in offseason but yanks do have best record in baseball so it hasnt hurt them.
Let me do the math for some of the dumber nomaas readers.
They are both producing .02 WAR per game played.
AJax is having a crazy awesome lucky year and Granderson is having one of his worst, yet they are producing the same WAR per game played.
And it wasn’t some little mistake, it cost $6M.
And it wasn’t some big mistake, it cost $6M.
Yes…NJ and Granderson (and probably Berkman) were colossal failures by Cashman, but Matsui and Damon stink, too.
“NJ and Granderson (and probably Berkman) were colossal failures by Cashman”
colossal? wow, your definition and my definition of “colossal” are way, way , way off.
Berkman? huh, guys been on the team a week and they gave up nothing for him.
Hey Yummy,
We’ll just have to agree to diagree.
Do you remember that Bucky Dent guy? He had a knack for getting the big hit. Same with that Aaron Boone guy. Just like Matsui and Damon.
Austin Jackson has been playing completely, insanely, absurdly out of his mind and he still has an OPS of .757. Of course, baseball teams love when 28% K rates combine with .104 ISO power. Maybe AJ is going to be a pioneer; a high strikeout, low walk, no power guy who manages to become a HOF.
And, In The Bummy, how is Berkman a colossal failure? You preferred Juan Miranda? Or was it Colin Curtis you had the hots for? Or maybe you thought Melancon was about to replace Mariano for the stretch run?
Hey Brandon, Granderson’s BABIP is more of a product of his atrocious contact rates. BABIP doesn’t always just show “luck”. Ease up on calling people idiots when you only have an elementary grasp of advanced statistics.
Hey Brandon, Granderson’s BABIP is more of a product of his atrocious contact rates.
huh?
JTT, trying to educate these people is useless.
The point is that, lucky or not, Ajax at the minimum and at age 23 is outhitting Platoon Granderson, and probably will do so for years to come considering Granderson’s four-year trend.
BTW, Granderson has led the league in strikeouts before and is always near the top, so “Jackson strikes out a lot” isn’t a great argument when comparing the two.
“Hey Brandon, Granderson’s BABIP is more of a product of his atrocious contact rates. BABIP doesn’t always just show “luck”. Ease up on calling people idiots when you only have an elementary grasp of advanced statistics.”
BABIP = Batting average on BALLS IN PLAY.
Dumbfuck
Hey Brandon,
I know what BABIP is you “dumbfuck”. I love it when people use profanity and caps to make it seem as if their argument is any less retarded.
Let me explain to you what I mean, in more detail. The less contact you make, the more extreme your BABIP is. It’s very difficult for BABIP (or any percentage based stat) to stabilize with small sample sizes.
This piece in July by Fangraphs does a good job at explaining why Granderson’s low BABIP isn’t exactly an anomaly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5bl7S7TI1w&feature=player_embedded&has_verified=1
When you make SHITTY contact (fly balls, soft grounders) your BABIP is going to be low. It doesn’t mean you’re unlucky, it just means you suck.
Lol. That video is hilarious, but it isn’t the Fangraphs link. Here’s the fangraphs link: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/curtis-grandersons-babip/
“When you make SHITTY contact (fly balls, soft grounders) your BABIP is going to be low. It doesn’t mean you’re unlucky, it just means you suck.”
Curtis Granderson: career-high LD% this season, IFFB% below career average. Some shitty contact, eh? Granderson’s xBABIP for 2010 is .308, 24 points above his actual .284 BABIP.
I believe that misaligned bicuspids can cause people to be aggressive when quoting baseball stats noone even heard of a year ago. I recommend adult braces.
People are dense. Wow. Let’s try this again:
Out of the 1,367 pitches Granderson has seen, he has put 242 of them in play. That’s good for 17.7%. Curtis Granderson has only put 17.7% of the pitches he has seen in play. That’s atrocious. Horrendous. He swings 42% of the time. He has swung at 575 of those pitches. Meaning, his contact rate when he swings is 42%.
So when you say his LD% is the highest of his career, you are embellishing a small sample size. He has only hit 52 Line Drives this year. He has hit 104 Flyballs. Flyballs are not unlucky, they have the lowest hit percentage of any type of hit. So basically, Granderson is sucking on his own.
Look at the raw score as opposed to the percentage in Granderson’s case because he has made so little contact this year.
Holy statfail, Batman!
Curtis Granderson’s contact rate this season is 80%. I’m not sure where you pulled that fuzzy math from, but I’m guessing it doesn’t smell so great.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4747&position=OF#platediscipline
Back to Leyritz’s friend: Yes, as I have mentioned before, a no-catch catcher who cannot throw and does not hit is not an asset. Although he is good friends with Jeter.
To History Professor:
I said Berkman is ‘probably’ a colossal failure (please read carefully from now on). Looks like I’m correct so far. I hope I’m not in the end, though.
Jose Guillen !
“I said Berkman is ‘probably’ a colossal failure (please read carefully from now on). Looks like I’m correct so far. I hope I’m not in the end, though.”
even if Berkman bats .000 for the rest of the year he’s nto a “colossal failure”. We basically got him for free. If he stinks, oh well it didnt work. Colossal failure? i think not.
A “colossal failure” would be if we traded Montero for someone that ended up playing horrible and has say 3 yrs at a high rate left on the deal. Not Berkamn who we got for free and can walk after the year.
Matsui is a monster programmed to come through in the clutch. His swing was tailor made for the right field porch. You can throw all the stats in the world at me, but given a late inning choice between Granderson, Kearns, Thames, Johnson, Berkman, and Matsui, I’d take Godzilla every time. Yes, I realize these others all address defensive/specific needs (except Thames), but to call us dumb for pining for an old reliable hero is a bit harsh.
How can anyone not criticize Cashman when the defending world champions only started 3 of the starting 9 from last years WS Gm 1 lineup? If it aint broke, dont fix it.
People like the ‘Sayonara Kid’ make Yankee fans look like idiots. What part of .245/.328/.404 do you not understand?
Yes, skills can deteriorate with age, but dagnabbut, he’d still come through in the clutch if he needed a walker to get to the plate!
Matsui sucks now. Good job by Cashman getting out while the getting was good. If Matsui had come back this year and been sucktacular, there are people who would have been whining about the inevitable and necessary benching that would have taken place. Just look at what Boston’s gone through these past two seasons with Big Sloppy. You really want that? Have your last memories of Godzilla be the WS MVP and getting mobbed by his teammates on Opening Day.
@RichMahogony – I know its blasphemous around these areas to talk bad about Brett Gardner, but are you trying to say Brett Gardner is good? Or would rather have him on this team than Johnny Damon?
Yes, Brett Gardner is good. He’s awesome at not making outs, is fast as fuck on the basepaths, and plays plus defense. Somehow, I don’t think his lack of power is killing the Yanks. Are you trying to say you’d rather have a .278/.365/.422 hitter who can’t run or play defense over a .279/.375/.376 hitter who can run and play defense?
How can anyone not criticize Cashman when the defending world champions only started 3 of the starting 9 from last years WS Gm 1 lineup? If it aint broke, dont fix it.
what does this mean? do you mean last night, when Teixeira was having a baby and Cano/Posada were sick??
you are cherry picking an extreme case. There are normally 6 regulars from last year’s team starting. Granderson instead of Melky (OH NOES!!! NOT MELKY!!!), Gardner instead of Damon (a wash this year) and Berkman instead of Matsui (whatever, probably a wash).
His “not making outs” ability must have eluded him the last couple months because he’s now .180 since June and his speedy legs have only gotten him 7 stolen bases in the same time frame.
Yes, I would rather have a proven commodity who has shown he’s clutch than a career .269 hitter who you have to rave about his defense to justify him being in the lineup.
@Steve, no I was just simply pointing out how much roster turnover there was from a team one year removed from a championship.
Again, I forgot that “clutch ability” somehow trumps age. And defining a hitter by his batting average? What is this, 1987?
Damon is old, and has been, at best, an equivalent offensive player to Gardner this season. He’s a worse defensive player. But hey, I guess some people just don’t like winning baseball games.
Also, since you like playing the in-season splits game, Johnny Damon has only had two months this season where he’s been an above-average offensive player. Gardner’s blown chunks in August, but he’s been above-average every other month of the season.
Holy shit, the stupidity levels in here are incredible. CTYank and Co. would run this team like it was in the late 80s/early 90s.
1. If a player doesn’t perform immediately, get rid of him.
2. Always trade a prospect for a “proven commodity.”
Even if Berkman hits .000 for the rest of the season, he’ll still be a success. Makes sense.
@Steve, no I was just simply pointing out how much roster turnover there was from a team one year removed from a championship.
OK, but you haven’t proven whether this in itself is good or bad. In some cases it’s probably good (it seems pretty obvious to me that they made the right decision on Matsui) and in others it’s less clear (I wouldn’t mind having Damon back).
But bringing back the entire team just because the won the WS is a very good way to wind up with an old team. Even if every move hasn’t worked out, I have to support Cashman’s effort to make the team younger and more athletic.
Wait, there was significant roster turnover? The entire infield is the same as last year, as is the right fielder. The left fielder was a two-win player in half a season’s worth of PA last year. There was roughly two and a half positions that were turned over, plus the back end of the rotation, the bench, and the bullpen – hardly positions that are bastions of stability.
bring up Montero for DH ! lets see what he can do
@Steve…i wasnt making a point, just an observation that i thought was interesting.
@KevinS…I would rather have Johnny Damon than Brett Gardner, just a difference of opinion I guess. Let’s not forget Cashman wanted Damon back too – so he probably thinks Damon is better than Gardner, just not at that price Damon was asking. And again with the defense, bragging about a LF’s defensive skills sounds a bit like “Run Prevention” and we all know how well “Run Prevention” has worked in boston this year.
Uh, what? Stopping runs isn’t irrelevant, you know. If two players are equivalent offensively, and one is vastly superior to the other defensively, the better defensive player is the better player overall. This isn’t fucking rocket science.
And for the record, Cashman wanted Damon back to be his primary DH. The Yanks pursuit of Damon more or less ended when they got Nick Johnson. It had nothing to do with his opinion of Gardner.