sveumrules

So you think our outfield was effective offensively? I think the outfield was about 11% below average at the plate last year, because they had an 89 wRC+. I think their overall performance was still above average (6.6 WAR, 11th) on account of plus base running (+8.3, 8th) and fielding (+31.5 UZR, 1st | +36 DRS, 2nd). I think Garcia (2.9 WAR | 10.75 million), Cain (1.8 WAR | 17 million) & Yelich (1.5 WAR | 14 million) all put up production in line with or exceeding their salary. That leaves JBJ as the only OF who money was wasted on in 2021 & I don't consider 3 million in actual salary a ton relative to MLB finances.

Yelich (101 wRC+) & Cain (97 wRC+) were neutral with the bat, JBJ was the only actual minus. The OF also gets paid to play defense & saved 36 runs by DRS (2nd most in MLB), so they were a contributing factor to the exceptional run prevention. Another wasted year of incredible starting pitching? The 2021 Brewers easily exceeded preseason expectations & greatly improved their outlook over the next 2-3 seasons in doing so. Hard for me to qualify that as a waste either.

Nobody got an extra hour of sleep last night. Everybody slept for however long they slept for.

According to Spotrac the Brewers outfield had the 4th highest salary in 2021, while FanGraphs had them 11th in WAR as a group. They might not have gotten what they paid for, but that doesn't necessarily mean the money was wasted. The season was an overall succes & the OF contributed to that success. Teams I would say wasted a ton of money on the OF last year would be... LAA (1st in salary, 29th in WAR, missed playoffs) SDP (6th in salary, 20th in WAR, missed playoffs) COL (7th in salary, 25th in WAR, missed playoffs) CHC (8th in salary, 19th in WAR, missed playoffs) NYM (10th in salary, 27th in WAR, missed playoffs)

Not sure how much of a difference it makes if any, but apparently only 2 million of King's contract counts on the 2021 salary cap... https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2021/3/25/22350426/kevin-kings-contract-packers-structure-void-years-2-million-cap-space-2021-2022

Did he own all those Rogan's Shoes? Probably went broke on that buy one pair get one pair half off deal they always offered.

The Reds have essentially had four eras since the Castellini ownership group came in... 2006-09: 304-344 (26th, down in the dumps) 2010-13: 357-291 (7th, glory years) 2014-18: 343-467 (30th, deeper in the dumps) 2019-21: 189-195 (16th, all in on mediocrity) Add it all up & they are 1,193-1,297 (22nd) under current ownership & 532-662 (27th) since their last full season playoff appearance in 2013.

In an effort to get somewhat of an idea what JBJ's odds of returning to a respectable offensive player might be, I looked back at the 20 full seasons from 2000 through 2019 which contained a total of 5,473 individual player seasons with at least 300 plate appearances. Of those 5,473 individual player seasons only 49 posted a wRC+ below 50 in a single season. Of those 49 players, 20 rebounded to what I would consider "respectable" levels in their subsequent season... 13 Escobar | 642 PAs | 49 wRC+ 14 Escobar | 620 PAs | 93 wRC+ 11 Inge | 303 PAs | 49 wRC+ 12 Inge | 331 PAs | 80 wRC+ 05 Guzman | 492 PAs | 48 wRC+ (Guzman Did Not Play in 2006) 07 Guzman | 192 PAs | 123 wRC+ 07 Kennedy | 306 PAs | 47 wRC+ 08 Kennedy | 365 PAs | 81 wRC+ 15 Zunino | 386 PAs | 47 wRC+ 16 Zunino | 192 PAs | 117 wRC+ 00 Lansing | 548 PAs | 47 wRC+ 01 Lansing | 382 PAs | 74 wRC+ 02 Uribe | 618 PAs | 46 wRC+ 03 Uribe | 343 PAs | 71 wRC+ 14 JBJ | 423 PAs | 46 wRC+ 15 JBJ | 255 PAs | 123 wRC+ 16 Revere | 375 PAs | 46 wRC+ 17 Revere | 308 PAs | 76 wRC+ 14 Drew | 300 PAs | 45 wRC+ 15 Drew | 428 PAs | 76 wRC+ 02 Belliard | 317 PAs | 42 wRC+ 03 Belliard | 505 PAs | 87 wRC+ 16 Ahmed | 308 PAs | 42 wRC+ 17 Ahmed | 178 PAs | 76 wRC+ 01 Wilson | 425 PAs | 39 wRC+ 02 Wilson | 586 PAs | 69 wRC+ 17 Engel | 336 PAs | 39 wRC+ 18 Engel | 463 PAs | 68 wRC+ 08 Vizquel | 300 PAs | 37 wRC+ 09 Vizquel | 195 PAs | 69 wRC+ 03 Womack | 364 PAs | 35 wRC+ 04 Womack | 606 PAs | 94 wRC+ 00 Gonzalez | 407 PAs | 35 wRC+ 01 Gonzalez | 561 PAs | 77 wRC+ 00 Castilla | 354 PAs | 35 wRC+ 01 Castilla | 581 PAs | 93 wRC+ 00 Bush | 325 PAs | 33 wRC+ 01 Bush | 291 PAs | 88 wRC+ 15 Rivera | 319 PAs | 32 wRC+ 16 Rivera | 207 PAs | 71 wRC+

Could have just been wearing down after a shortened 2020, but Miley was pretty bad down the stretch for the Reds posting 42 IP of 5.14 ERA / 5.12 FIP over his last eight starts compared to 121 IP of 2.75 ERA / 3.57 FIP over his first twenty starts. Either way it seems like at this early juncture the Brewers & Cardinals will be competing for the division in 2022, the Cubs & Reds will be competing for 3rd place and the Pirates will prolly still be dwelling in the cellar.

He's an extremely inconsistent player who has had great seasons and bad seasons. Last season was the worst of his career. To confidently declare that he will not be better in 2021 makes little sense given the lack of any major injury. There's reason to be optimistic. To confidently say there is reason to be optimistic makes little sense given the putrid year he had last season. There is reason to be optimistic (can't possibly be as bad as last year) or pessimistic (was historically awful last year). Maybe the pessimistic viewpoint is more likely to come to fruition in whatever version of the 2022 timeline we ultimately end up experiencing, but past performance only informs the likelihood of future performance, it doesn't guarantee anything. As an example, take JBJ himself. In 2014 he posted a 49 OPS+ over 423 PAs. In 2015 he posted a 119 OPS+ over 255 PAs.

I absolutely believe he'll make it although not a first ballot guy. However, how would Molina not make it in? I believe he will be an easy first ballot guy. Yeah, Yadier is pretty much a lock, but he doesn't really stack up to Buster from a statistical standpoint. Threw Mauer's numbers in there too since I think he is the other post-Piazza/Ivan catcher that should be an HOF lock... Posey | 5,607 PAs | 129 OPS+ | 44.9 career WAR | 36.6 peak WAR | 5.3 WAR/162 Mauer | 7,960 PAs | 124 OPS+ | 55.2 career WAR | 39.0 peak WAR | 4.8 WAR/162 Molina | 8,284 PAs | 97 OPS+ | 42.1 career WAR | 28.7 peak WAR | 3.2 WAR/162

Thanks for the memories, Gerald. Best catcher of the post-Piazza/Ivan era. If Posey doesn’t get in the HOF another catcher might never make it. Always wonder how things might have turned out differently if the Rays drafted him at #1 instead of Tim Beckham.

From Rob Demosky on ESPN... https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32542413/green-bay-packers-qb-aaron-rodgers-tests-positive-covid-19-source-says Rodgers petitioned the NFL to have an alternate treatment that he underwent before he returned to the Packers that would allow him to be considered the same as someone who received one of the approved vaccinations, sources told ESPN. After a lengthy back and forth, the league ruled that Rodgers would not get the same consideration and would be considered unvaccinated.

Thanks. I mostly put CLE/PHI back to back because I thought it was kind of hilarious that CLE spent like 50 million to win their 80 games & PHI spent over 190 million to win their 82 games. PHI's payroll to results ratio almost got them a D, but even with all that salary they were still pretty solidly viewed as the 3rd best team in their division entering the season, so they didn't disappoint quite enough. CLE's payroll to results ratio could have gotten them a B, but I felt like they had a winnable division in front of them & instead took a MIA (Miami or Missing In Action, reader's choice) approach to their offseason which kind of set them up for mediocrity from the jump.

As far as Olson goes, it sort of depends on what kind of rebuild the A's are going for. If they want to at least feign competitiveness in the near term, a package of Turang/Small who could both be ready for MLB at some in 2022, probably gets you most of the way there. If they want to tear it down & push things out a few years some of the lower level guys like Hedbert/Quero might be more appealing. Another ex-Athletic to keep an eye on is free agent outfielder Mark Canha. Should be relatively inexpensive since no one knows who he is & is on the older side heading into his age 33 season, but has pretty much been anonymous Castellanos since 2018... Mark: 1,776 PAs | 126 wRC+ | 10.4 fWAR | 9.9 bWAR Nick: 2,169 PAs | 126 wRC+ | 10.2 fWAR | 8.9 bWAR

I believe most teams have multiple hitting coaches at this point. The Giants were mentioned earlier in the thread. The Brewers listed Haines (hitting coach) & Jacob Cruz (assistant hitting coach) on their 2021 roster. Haines was also only the assistant hitting coach on the 2018 Cubs. He never held the lead position (that was Chili Davis) & their performance stayed about as same as possible from the year before to the year with to the year after Haines, so his stint as assistant hitting coach didn't really have any noticeable effect on the end results... Cubs 2017 wRC+: 101 (year before Haines) Cubs 2018 wRC+: 100 (year with Haines) Cubs 2019 wRC+: 100 (year after Haines)

Well Lucroy will also get a ring does that help? Don't forget Will Smith, Rick Kranitz, Eddie Perez, Kevin Seitzer & Eric Young.

Now that the 2021 season is officially a wrap final grades have been submitted to Principal Manfred. Hopefully the winter doesn't drag on too long. (A) ATL (from Acuña injury to winning WS as perceived weakest team in NL field) HOU (lost WS as perceived strongest team in AL field) SFG (greatly exceeded expectations, most wins in MLB) TBR (most wins in AL on minuscule budget) (B) MIL (exceeded expectations to win NLC convincingly, lost to WS winner again) BOS (exceeded expectations, lost ALCS) LAD (another season as the best team in baseball, lost NLCS) CHW (easily won weakest division in MLB) STL (crazy SEP winning streak saved them from C territory, Shildt canned) NYY (spent all that money to lose the ALWC & miss WS for 12th straight year) TOR (just missed playoffs with impressive group of young hitters) SEA (greatly exceeded expectations & run differential) © OAK (another competitive season on a shoestring budget but came up short) CIN (finished a 162 game season above .500 for first time since 2013!!) CLE (just under .500 with a barely even trying payroll) PHI (just over .500 with a trying really really hard payroll) LAA (years of wasting Trout transitioned smoothly to wasting Ohtani) DET (improved play in second half, might be coming out of rebuild land) KCR (4th, 4th, 4th, 5th place the last four years but flags fly forever?) COL (somewhat fascinating due to obstinate approach, but ultimately mediocre) (D) SDP (won offseason, fared considerably worse in actual season) NYM (offseason runner up, also fared considerably worse in actual season) MIN (supposed to compete with CHW for ALC, finished last) WSN (traded superstars, finished last, at least they still have Soto?) CHC (kinda kept the gang together for one last go, traded gang at deadline) (F) MIA (were supposed to suck, sucked) TEX (were supposed to suck, sucked) PIT (were supposed to suck, sucked) BAL (were supposed to suck, sucked) ARI (were supposed to suck, sucked)

Bills have scored the most & allowed the fewest points per game to this point. Their defense has forced the most turnovers while their offense have turned it over the second fewest times. They've also played thee weakest schedule so far according to ProFootRef with four of their five wins coming against the Dolphins, Texans & WFT, with KC the most impressive win on their resume. Weeks 12 through 16 - @NO vsNE @TB vsCAR @NE - is the "tough" portion of their schedule. They've definitely got the easiest path to the SB out of the AFC teams currently, but that stretch should give a little more insight into how they perform against more competitive teams.

Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers has declined the club's offer to return in favor of exploring opportunities with other teams per MLBTR. Boston scored the most runs & had the 4th highest wRC+ in baseball during Hyers four year tenure... 2021: 829 runs (5th) 107 wRC+ (6th) 2020: 292 runs (11th) 106 wRC+ (11th) 2019: 901 runs (4th) 106 wRC+ (6th) 2018: 876 runs (1st) 111 wRC+ (4th) Total: 2,898 runs (1st) 108 wRC+ (4th) MLBTR also saying that Donnie Ecker (one of the Giants three hitting coaches) will be the Rangers bench coach for 2022.

Trading for four OF who were carrying OPS+ marks of 100 (Duvall), 91 (Joc), 86 (Rosario) and 76 (Soler) is pretty much the definition of getting some warm bodies and hoping for the best. The aggressive move would have been filling those sports with the likes of Schwarber (145 OPS+), Gallo (139 OPS+) &/or Bryant (130 OPS+) who were all performing much better and required more aggressive prospect packages to seal their respective deals.

Playing full strength Utah with no Khris, Jrue or Brook in the 2nd game of a back to back is about as much of a schedule loss as there is. If Khris is well enough to play Tuesday against bottom feeder Detroit they should hopefully be a little better.

The Braves were pretty much considered the worst team in the postseason field, if they win the World Series it was a blown opportunity for everybody. But not all blown opportunities are created equally, I'd say it was a bigger blown opportunity for the Astros (advanced to WS) or Dodgers ("best" team in baseball didn't win WS yet again) or Red Sox (advanced to ALCS) or Giants (won most games in MLB) or Rays (won most games in AL) than it was for the Brewers.

Mike Trout postseason career: 1 for 12. Zack Greinke postseason career: 7 for 26.

I don’t want to see a division rival get first crack at a franchise QB. Doesn't matter what QB the Lions get, they are missing the franchise half of the equation.