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Keith Law weighs in on Andrus

jsm (dallas): Looks like the Rangers have committed to Elvis Andrus in 2009. What can we expect from him? +15 runs in the field with a 650 OPS seems likely to me.

SportsNation Keith Law: (1:28 PM ET ) You might be a little light on the OPS - remember the park - but you've got the right idea. I do like him, but he's not ready offensively. His best shot for MLB offensive value right now is as a slap-hitter who gets a little BaBIP fluke and hits .300.

And Young:

Wes (Austin TX): Can you weigh in on the MYoung situation? I really don't see how the Rangers could have handled this differently. If they think Elvis is ready for a shot and optimizes the talent on the field, are they supposed to wait until MY gives them permission to move off SS? MY has to have seen the writing on the wall.. The Ranger's Brass was just giving him a heads up for what is inevitably going to happen.

SportsNation Keith Law: (1:45 PM ET ) I think Michael Young should shut his mouth and move to third base. Reminds me a little of John Valentin's snit-fit the year Nomar came up. To his credit, Valentin eventually acknowledged that he was wrong. That Gold Glove for Young was the worst thing that could have happened to Texas - now the guy really believes he's good at short.

And Smoak:

Kyle (Seattle): Logan Morrison or Justin Smoak?

SportsNation Keith Law: (1:49 PM ET ) Wow, good one. Ultimately, I think Smoak, although Morrison has the pro track record that Smoak doesn't.

Chet (LA): Pedro Alvarez or Justin Smoak?

SportsNation Keith Law: (1:52 PM ET ) Smoak. I've been saying that for a year and a half and I'm not reversing it until Alvarez demonstrates that I was wrong.

 

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Andrus

I think a fluke-y .300 would be great production from a guy who’s “not ready offensively.” Can’t wait to see what he does when he is ready…

by Jack Nicholson 1974 on Jan 15, 2009 1:39 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

lol

i enjoyed his MY answer thoroughly.

by Longhorn on Jan 15, 2009 1:39 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

Sig-worthy, IMO

That Gold Glove for Young was the worst thing that could have happened to Texas - now the guy really believes he's good at short. - Keith Law

by lonestarJon on Jan 15, 2009 4:36 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

awesome.
JM (Cincy): You make no sense. A guy who is able to concetrate in big spots will have more RBI’s consistently. Guys like Eckstein and Erstad come to mind. Not great stats but come up big in the clutch.

 Keith Law: (2:25 PM ET ) Darin Erstad: Career OPS .746; career OPS w/RISP .745; career OPS w/RISP and 2 outs .692. Yeah, he really concetrated. Or maybe he just wasn’t good in any situation.

Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.

by knockoutking on Jan 15, 2009 1:45 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

I very, very rarely use this word, but it seems appropriate here.

Pwned.

My 2009 New Years Resolution: Quit feeding the trolls.

by ghtd36 on Jan 15, 2009 2:05 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

jason (boston): i think JM is klawbaiting, but if eckstein and erstad concentrated all the time, they’d be superstars!

SportsNation Keith Law: Had that thought. Wasn’t concetrate an FJMism?
Greg (NYC): JM from Cincy KLaw… did he getcha, or did you just feel like answering it anyway?

SportsNation Keith Law: I’ll pay the $5. I genuinely wasn’t sure. Erstad was the key … Eckstein alone would have been obvious.
M (Cincy): It was FJMism. Erstad was a punter at Nebraska and therefore played the game “hard” and was a true baseball player.

SportsNation Keith Law: Well done, then.

by BHill on Jan 15, 2009 2:41 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

More FJM:
Ken (Tremendous): How can you say that Joba is better used as a starter. In the pen he can impact 70-80 games as a starter he can only impact 35. Its simple math KLAW.

SportsNation Keith Law: Had me for a second there.

by BHill on Jan 15, 2009 5:03 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Didn't Neyer

Blog on their shutting down?

by gr7070 on Jan 15, 2009 5:48 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

FWIW

Eckstein just signed with the Padres. Demonstrating once again that being a Ranger fan is better than being a Padre fan.

by JBImaknee on Jan 15, 2009 5:50 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

or two.

"No... JD has been exposed as a kid who trades his remote-controlled helicopters for paper airplanes, then fails to consider the feelings of the paper airplane when he refolded it into a hat." -Telegraph.

by Kinslerhomer on Jan 15, 2009 6:43 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Which means about as much as me winning the world series 5 times on my playstation.

That Gold Glove for Young was the worst thing that could have happened to Texas - now the guy really believes he's good at short. - Keith Law

by lonestarJon on Jan 15, 2009 7:48 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Which means about as much as me winning the world series 5 times on my playstation.

That Gold Glove for Young was the worst thing that could have happened to Texas - now the guy really believes he's good at short. - Keith Law

by lonestarJon on Jan 15, 2009 7:48 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

So is that 10 times?

By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw

by Gdawg on Jan 16, 2009 9:59 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

thought this was intersting
Michael (CT): Best pitching prospect not named David Price? Feliz? Hanson? Bumgarner?

SportsNation Keith Law: (2:49 PM ET ) Feliz.

by laxtonto on Jan 15, 2009 2:13 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

Liked that one…

Go Strangers.

by hightowersmith on Jan 15, 2009 2:17 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

It’s okay…

"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract

by tyd3311 on Jan 15, 2009 2:18 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Nice to see

But over Bumgarner? I don’t know about that.

"Come on man you have to admit the average guy in a baseball clubhouse...... is relatively a douchebag." BGL.

by sprite on Jan 15, 2009 2:21 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Sickels has him over Bumgarner too.

"No... JD has been exposed as a kid who trades his remote-controlled helicopters for paper airplanes, then fails to consider the feelings of the paper airplane when he refolded it into a hat." -Telegraph.

by Kinslerhomer on Jan 15, 2009 2:22 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Bumgarner

has the same knocks on him (needs to work on secondary stuff) and doesn’t have as good a fastball. Feliz has also been to AA.

by groundingout on Jan 15, 2009 11:44 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

I can see that for Andrus

Andrus has been getting better in the minors and last season was much better IIRC after he had that finger injury which showed that type of improvement. I think its reasonable to expect Andrus to get better again this year which puts him around that .650 OPS range which is around what James projects (and 50 points better than what CHONE projects). And maybe we get extra lucky with him and he’ll have a flukey high BABIP to make him hit around .300.

By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw

by Gdawg on Jan 15, 2009 2:36 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

I appreciate Keith Law

Intelligent, informed, expert baseball writing with a little bit (maybe a lot) of shove-it to the “clutch” crowd.

by John Fountain on Jan 15, 2009 2:40 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

Ranger floppy

seems to be putting up about 20 posts a day, probably have it done by Saturday.

G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....

by t ball on Jan 15, 2009 3:17 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

No joke.

"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract

by tyd3311 on Jan 15, 2009 3:21 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Heh

What happened to your “no reply, it’s time” diary?

I missed out on that wave of fanaticism and I hope it hasn’t passed me by.

From what I gather in other threads, it is a petition to ignore/marginalize Josey.

Give me Sheets or give me Offseason Blues Part III.

by Chase Irwin on Jan 15, 2009 5:35 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

He said he was gonna delete it

by the end of the day…’spose he did. Drat!

"...my balls are really like a veiny flesh color" blueballlefty on Jun 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008

by Rodney on Jan 15, 2009 5:37 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

It is going to be submitted

to BAD Radio for gay/not gay

"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."

by Josey Wales on Jan 15, 2009 6:28 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

...paging Jason Parks.

"Nobody knows how to feel right now. It’s like Jesus came down from heaven and shot Santa Claus." --ghtd36

by coolaid on Jan 15, 2009 3:18 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

That'd be sick.

Perhaps Julio as well? Time permitting…

Give me Sheets or give me Offseason Blues Part III.

by Chase Irwin on Jan 15, 2009 5:37 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

And don't forget Jose.

"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract

by tyd3311 on Jan 15, 2009 5:40 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

I'll try

I have a Wilmer Font interview ready, but I need to speak to him again before finishing it. I also recently interviewed Fabio Castillo and Johan Yan but I haven’t finished translating them yet. They didn’t have much to say. Yan’s voice is very low and he whispers, so it is quite difficult to understand him.

I’ll call the team today and try to get something with Vallejo. If not I will meet up with him at ST.

by jparks77 on Jan 16, 2009 7:06 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Good stuff

Thanks

"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract

by tyd3311 on Jan 16, 2009 8:11 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Sickels top 50 hitting prospects of 2004

Pretty interesting to look back on… Jeremy Reed ranked ahead of Grady Sizemore.. Kotchman ranked ahead of Morneau, Fielder, and AGone.

"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract

by tyd3311 on Jan 15, 2009 3:16 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

Yep...

it’s not really an exact science is it.

Gotta love baseball.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on Jan 15, 2009 3:27 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Fun

Though blaming Bobby Crosby’s debacle of a career on injuries rather than a bust is wrong. He just flared out – He’s a bust.

by JBImaknee on Jan 15, 2009 5:13 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

BBTIA

Still interviewing the guy?

Go Strangers.

by hightowersmith on Jan 15, 2009 3:56 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

Klaw?

Yes. Klaw already agreed to do a Rangers specific Q&A. Not sure when it will happen. Probably after his prospect list comes out.

by jparks77 on Jan 15, 2009 3:59 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

You have to find out if he answers to the name Klaw. Or "the Klaw".

Like, do his friends call him Klaw?

I need to know these things, Jason.

The 40 Trumps All!!!

I hate Michael Young.

"There are no weak opinions with the dirkatron, it’s all scream-across-the-parking-lot echelon." -hightowersmith

by thedirkatron on Jan 15, 2009 6:10 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Are you going to do the same thing you did with the Goldstein Q&A

Where you take questions from everyone?

By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw

by Gdawg on Jan 16, 2009 10:02 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Yes.

I’m also thinking about starting a regular feature where I will answer (or attempt to answer) prospect related questions. KLaw knows his stuff and his opinions definitely carry more weight, but I think I can be more specific in my answers. Talking about the scouting reports is one thing, but taking about the actual players is another.

It might come off as an exercise in ego and understandably so. I just think I might be able to offer more first-hand accounts than KG or KLaw. Who knows?

What do you guys think? Waste of time or something worth trying?

by jparks77 on Jan 16, 2009 10:23 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Definitely worth trying.

"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract

by tyd3311 on Jan 16, 2009 10:33 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Do it.

"...my balls are really like a veiny flesh color" blueballlefty on Jun 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008

by Rodney on Jan 16, 2009 12:05 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

I'd love to see something like that

I’d love to get more info on some of these guys.

By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw

by Gdawg on Jan 16, 2009 12:30 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Yes, do it

You have a good, detailed knowledge that someone like Law can’t have covering all of the teams.

G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....

by t ball on Jan 16, 2009 1:27 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

If we’re playing baseball in October, they’re going to be happy. If you set out to try to please your fans in November, December and January, you’re going to end up wondering what went wrong.
    — Red Sox GM Theo Epstein

by tubbsmoya on Jan 15, 2009 8:41 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

I think Keith Law is an idiot...

 Keith Law: " I think Michael Young should shut his mouth and move to third base."
I hope Young never talks with Daniels again and Nolan has it right—-Talk to Michael as the valued employee and man that he is known to be, unlike Daniels
  
“That Gold Glove for Young was the worst thing that could have happened to Texas – now the guy really believes he’s good at short.”

Michael is good enough to win the Gold Glove and humble enough not to let it go to his head. You show me more humble great players, teammate and men than Michael…there are not that many.

by islp55 on Jan 15, 2009 9:20 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

When I skimmed through your post, I thought you said

“…and humble enough not to go to his left”

I’ve always wondered what kept him from doing that, thought we might have an answer.

by Brett Perryman on Jan 15, 2009 9:36 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

I guess

Young was a McCain guy…….

"You’re the worst poster here I think."--- brettgardner

by red shoe ranger on Jan 16, 2009 12:52 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

x
Michael is good enough to win the Gold Glove and humble enough not to let it go to his head. You show me more humble great players, teammate and men than Michael…there are not that many.

So… I take it you’ve been on a long vacation and missed everything that happened this past week up till just last night?

That Gold Glove for Young was the worst thing that could have happened to Texas - now the guy really believes he's good at short. - Keith Law

by lonestarJon on Jan 16, 2009 8:23 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

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