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Unicorn: In the land of unicorns there’s no need for clothing!
Nerd: Whatever you say! (He begins to undress)
Unicorn: No, no, no, take it off slowly. Yes, that pleases me.
(He jumps on the unicorn)
Unicorn: Polish my magic horn!
Nerd: Okay!
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
And when you polish a unicorn's horn
You get magical unicorn mayonnaise!
"He's not coming back. That chick was like, the Pele of anal."
-- Sterling Archer
I used it to make these sandwiches
"My expectations today are that we're going to be extremely competitive and if we don't win our division, I'll be disappointed." Nolan Ryan
Never play leap frog with a unicorn
"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball." - Terence Mann
by R Derff on Apr 2, 2010 9:20 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
holy cow
do we just straight up platoon him with Davis then? or rotate him into DH some, maybe COF or 3B for Young on days off? or can he not play COF or 3B?
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Apr 1, 2010 3:04 PM CDT up reply actions
Meh
but atleast we don’t have to watch Matt “Kata” Brown.
"There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked." --Muhammad Ali
anybody who chooses
to make that comparison is flat ignorant. Brown has a far better minor league offensive track record than Kata, both slugging and getting on base, not to mention Brown is two years younger than Kata was when we got him
by blueballlefty on Apr 1, 2010 1:40 PM CDT up reply actions
No shit?
Brown plays 3b/1B, you better get more offense from him then someone like Kata who is a 2b, ss. I wasn’t even comparing them, merely stating that ST numbers don’t mean much as some are looking at Brown’s numbers from this ST and think he should make this team.
"There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked." --Muhammad Ali
the
hell you weren’t comparing them you called him Matt “Kata” Brown! what the hell is that? not a comparison? and out of 39 games played for us Kata played 8 at SS or 2B the rest were at 1B, 3B, or a COF, and Brown has spent his fair share of time at 2B and SS in the minors
by blueballlefty on Apr 1, 2010 2:35 PM CDT up reply actions
The hell you were!
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
Matt "Kata" Brown
When talking about the Rangers, “Kata” represents why you don’t judge a player by ST numbers. Kata is basically a nickname for Brown.
"There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked." --Muhammad Ali
how ignorant
so you can’t judge him by his ST numbers, but his ST defense is precisely the reason he didn’t make the team. There have been plenty of people try to compare him to Kata and all that is, is an ignorant un researched opinion
by blueballlefty on Apr 1, 2010 5:31 PM CDT up reply actions
I have not used the word "defense" in this exchange.
Try to understand this: I am NOT comparing him to Matt Kata. You were the one who assumed that I was comparing them.
"There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked." --Muhammad Ali
But you insulted the honor of Matt fucking Brown
BLUEBALLLEFTY DEMANDS SATISFACTION!
Ron Washington is: The Bad Manager - Port of Call New Orleans
by LSJ on Apr 1, 2010 6:42 PM CDT up reply actions
Best not be
Look at the comments under Jeff Wilson's blog post on dallasnews.com. What a bunch of rocket scientists.- Keith Law
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
not a bad move at all
he’s proven to be able to hit ML lefties. As a bench bat, I have more confidence in him than in any of our in-house options.
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
Baseball-Reference.com
Similar hitters through age 28:
10. Ben Broussard
Excuse me for not being excited about this. Would rather have MaxRam in that role.
"there's no money in triples" - CJ, 3.23.10
by Oddibee on Apr 1, 2010 1:29 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Oh, and the guy he is most similar to through age 28
(Dave Revering) was out of baseball after his age 29 season.
"there's no money in triples" - CJ, 3.23.10
Expressing an opinion
I don’t get paid for insightful analysis.
"there's no money in triples" - CJ, 3.23.10
Really?
What was I analyzing? I noted that the most similar players to Garko aren’t very good. And in some cases very bad. I have baseball-reference.com to back me up.
I stated that I would prefer to have Max fill that role. So, why do you feel differently?
And you know, you don’t have to be a jerk every day. Take a day off now and then, it might improve your mood.
"there's no money in triples" - CJ, 3.23.10
B-R's similiarity scores are bad analysis.
They, like Game Scores, are designed to be interesting, not a real tool (PECOTA, on the other hand, is supposed to be useful).
As it seemed like that’s what you based your opinion on, that would be basing your opinion on bad analysis.
I'm not trying to be a jerk
And I don’t think I was one. If you can’t take some mild sarcasm, it’s time to lighten up.
Francis
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
I try to be "light"
My “I don’t get paid comment” was tongue in cheek. You are very direct in your posts, which often comes across condescendingly, even when you don’t mean for that to happen.
We can happily move on, though.
"there's no money in triples" - CJ, 3.23.10
MaxRam who could barely hit AAA last year?
give Ramirez some time to actually prove himself again. If he does, then sure, but don’t put him on the MLB roster after struggling terribly last year and only play him once or twice a week.
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
especially when we are expected to compete this year
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
Could we please...
stop talking about how MaxRam hit last year. He was hurt.
Look at his #‘s before that. The guy was tearing it up. Now I understand he needs to prove it at a higher level, and this year is huge for him. However using last year as an example that he can’t hit is wrong.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
I don't think we stop talking about it util he proves he's back.
Yes, being hurt is a likely explanation, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Well
He didn’t hit in AAA or the majors before he was hurt, either.
by Adam J. Morris on Apr 1, 2010 3:35 PM CDT up reply actions
I understand that...
but I’m not judging him off of 41 PA’s in OKC and 55 PA’s in Texas before last year.
His numbers from ‘05 – ’08 were very encouraging and I’d like to see what he can do everyday at AAA when healthy. I’m not going to throw the towel in on the guy after one bad, injury filled season.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
+1
But I don’t think saying he shouldn’t really be the 25th man is throwing in the towel.
I’d rather he be in OKC where he can play every day and maybe show he can stick behind the plate so he have another option besides the Salty/Tea platoon.
Ron Washington is: The Bad Manager - Port of Call New Orleans
by LSJ on Apr 1, 2010 6:45 PM CDT up reply actions
yea, This is really what I am saying
it makes no sense from almost any angle you come from to put MaxRam on the roster now, unless you are absolutely sure he can help you more than your other options right now to win games. There is no way you can say that at this point, let him prove himself again at AAA and then we’ll go from there.
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
No, Max needs to play everyday in AAA, hopefully as a catcher.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
Every time Derek Jeter does a jump throw, a terrorist gets AIDS.
At his age,
I don’t see why. He is what he is, he isn’t going to get better by leaps and bounds.
At some point, prospects are what they are. Max is never gonna be Johnny Bench.
Hopefully Max hits this year and can be decent insurance if Vlad is aging.
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
Even if you think he's not gonna be capable of even Victor Martinez-type defense (which I do, fwiw), I still think he needs regular AB's to see if he can get the bat back.
He was always a plus hitter until last year and I think he deserve a dose of regular AB’s this year to see if it was the injuries that caused the suck last year, or if he just proved to be a guy who couldn’t handle the advanced pitchers in AAA/ML.
I also like the Cahillian hyperbole there with the Johnny Bench analogy, which is of course apt as fuck because that’s what I said.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
Every time Derek Jeter does a jump throw, a terrorist gets AIDS.
I got no problem with him getting ABs
its the “as a catcher” part that I think is getting pointless. He’s been a catcher since ’05, and he is not getting anywhere close to acceptable.
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
Fair enough.
I didn’t think he was that terrible when he was up in ’08, but maybe so.
I think a good hitting catcher is worth subpar defense unless he’s just absolutely killing you back there.
Maybe Max truly is that bad.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
Every time Derek Jeter does a jump throw, a terrorist gets AIDS.
by thedirkatron on Apr 1, 2010 10:50 PM CDT up reply actions
Adam had some pretty damning stats on Max when he was catching up here in his short stint
They weren’t pretty although who knows how much can actually be attributed to him personally
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
I think the not close to acceptable is well overblown
In the games he played in the ML he held his out there, made one of the best plays I’ve seen a C make back there. Yea, he’s not gonna ever be a ML avg defensive catcher, but heck, few catchers are actually major league average defensively.
I really think his defensive sucktitude is well overblown. No, you do not want him as your everyday starter, but can he be a solid backup who catches 40 games a year and plays some DH? Yes.
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
More likely
I think he can be your DH who is your emergency 3rd Catcher. If Vlad is the same player we saw every month last year except July and August, that might be worthwhile.
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
x
I really think his defensive sucktitude is well overblown.
Is that based on anything other than what you saw from him in 2008 when he was up in the majors?
by Adam J. Morris on Apr 2, 2010 9:13 AM CDT up reply actions
If not at catcher, then where?
You are going to have Smoak playing first base, and Moreland either DHing or playing the outfield (which really doesn’t do anyone any good) and then Chad Tracy. Its not like he’ll be blocking anyone at catcher. Chris Gradoville and Manual Pina haven’t shown they can hit AA pitching yet, so there’s no pressure there.
Oh my god! What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing?
-Wash
Pina is no longer in the org
Danny Gutierrez, remember?
Ron Washington is: The Bad Manager - Port of Call New Orleans
by LSJ on Apr 2, 2010 8:52 AM CDT up reply actions
We gave up pina for whom?
Man, what a raw deal!!! (ok, it had slipped my mind, but give me a break)
Oh my god! What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing?
-Wash
Good move if he's used correctly
Has a pretty large SS of mashing LHP. Perfect guy to have on the bench to pinch hit and to play against LHP.
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
It's not time
for any unproven rookies on the Rangers bench.
Vladimir Guererro - 2010 AL MVP
C.J. Wilson - 2010 AL Cy Young
yup, especially one like Ramirez who needs to get back on track from last year
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
and this had better put to rest
any Mike Lowell trade rumors.
Vladimir Guererro - 2010 AL MVP
C.J. Wilson - 2010 AL Cy Young
Even if you hate this waiver claim, that silver lining has got to please you
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
I'm pretty meh on the waiver claim
but this aspect of the deal makes me very, very happy.
meta-signature
Interesting and a bit surprising
given his lack of defensive value (even at 1B) but I guess that means they only want him at 1B and will put Blanco at 3B.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
his offensive value comes against LHP. He'll be a good piece for us if he's used fairly regularly against them.
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
Well, yeah
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
so is this
a done deal or are these revocable waivers and Seattle can now pull him back? I’ve heard that they were suppose to be revocable.
Dude, there's a gentleman's agreement
That means that useful players out on revocable waivers will never, ever be claimed.
Ever.
(I’m thinking JD called Z beforehand, but take that for the paper it’s not printed on)
Look at the comments under Jeff Wilson's blog post on dallasnews.com. What a bunch of rocket scientists.- Keith Law
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Garko
They were supposedly putting him on outright waivers, not revocable option waivers.
by Adam J. Morris on Apr 1, 2010 2:04 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah, they weren't trying to get him through to Triple-A, he lost the battle to Sweeney so they were done with him
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Interesting there from JD. He even catches a little bit?
That was a while ago right? Anyone know just how recently he caught?
"I don't really like pitchers." - Nelson Cruz
Garko at C
Hasn’t done it in the majors, but caught about 40-50 games a year while in the minors (2003-05) so I’d imagine he can still play the position if needed. He also played 12 games in the outfield last season.
"He's not coming back. That chick was like, the Pele of anal."
-- Sterling Archer
The first thing I thought of
Mike Lamb
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Apr 1, 2010 2:35 PM CDT up reply actions
Garko wasn't great
but he wasn’t a complete disaster like Lamb. He’s probably around MaxRam’s level with some practice.
by Brett Perryman on Apr 1, 2010 4:37 PM CDT up reply actions
I imagine that's just to get the minor league pitchers ready to play with Michael Young behind them
Work on not getting grounders to third.
Ron Washington is: The Bad Manager - Port of Call New Orleans
by LSJ on Apr 1, 2010 6:46 PM CDT up reply actions
But a great one!!
I remember when the blockbuster dude told us he would pay for the movie if we hated it. We should have told him it sucked anyway!! Still want to see the prequel that came out recently
Elvis has "shook up" Arlington!!
Josh Lewin's call for Garko's first homer
GONNIE GARKO!
Look at the comments under Jeff Wilson's blog post on dallasnews.com. What a bunch of rocket scientists.- Keith Law
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
ignore the prequel
Donnie Darko’s writer and director, Richard Kelly, has stated that he has no involvement with S. Darko. He stated “To set the record straight, here’s a few facts I’d like to share with you all — I haven’t read this script. I have absolutely no involvement with this production, nor will I ever be involved.”4 Chris Fisher, director of S. Darko, noted that he was an admirer of Kelly’s film, and that he hoped "to create a similar world of blurred fantasy and reality.
add in that its a 0% on rotten tomatoes, AV club gave it an F = no watch
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.
It's a sequel..revolving around Donnie's sister..
I didn’t care much for it. Though there were maybe 1 or 2 decent moments..heh.
Great minds think alike
Unfortunately, damaged minds do as well, so that could cut both ways
Look at the comments under Jeff Wilson's blog post on dallasnews.com. What a bunch of rocket scientists.- Keith Law
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
goodasgoldbangmymamma still loves you Keynes.
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
Well, I'm no Taylor Teagarden
But I deserve love too, right? At least doofus love?
Look at the comments under Jeff Wilson's blog post on dallasnews.com. What a bunch of rocket scientists.- Keith Law
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
I shall be calling him
Skittles Valentine
Hipsters, Flipsters, and Finger Poppin Daddies! Knock me your lobes.
I like the #2 anagram of his name, myself
Angry Okra.
Ron Washington is: The Bad Manager - Port of Call New Orleans
by LSJ on Apr 1, 2010 6:47 PM CDT up reply actions
Me likey...
"I've had a lot of experience with semantics, so don't try to lure me into some maze of circular logic."
by GhostofSteveFoucault on Apr 1, 2010 1:55 PM CDT reply actions
I guess he did, You dont dare joke about Martin Perez
You bastard
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
HAHA
you got your little posting wee wee slapped by Daddy
"calmer than you are dude" Walter (Big Lebowski)
"you know, raw doggin' some randoms. double baggin' it to avoid seepage"
by Arlington Stadium Legend on Apr 1, 2010 2:06 PM CDT up reply actions
He posted
a Martin Perez traded deal with a link that probably went to something funny. I didn’t click the link.
"calmer than you are dude" Walter (Big Lebowski)
"you know, raw doggin' some randoms. double baggin' it to avoid seepage"
by Arlington Stadium Legend on Apr 1, 2010 2:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Im not gonna lie, I still clicked on it
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
Was it two girls?
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
not that bad
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
he made an aprils fools that included several f-bombs regarding Marteen
He deserved to be slapped for his cursing of the name of Perez
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
Certainly worth a regular platoon till Davis shows he's back from his .546 OPS v. LHP from last year
Devils advocate here
How is Davis going to show hes back if he never gets a chance or it takes him all season to accumulate 50 ABs against LHP?
The way I see this is we are going to give the first 4-6 weeks to Davis against all pitchers (barring the occasional day off probably against the top notch LHP) to show whether hes closer to 2009 Davis or pre-2009 Davis. If hes bounced back then Garko is released and we bring someone up whos more versatile (endy Chavez should be getting back from injury about that time). If he has struggled we go to a straight platoon with either Garko or possibly Max if hes gotten off to a hot start in AAA
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Hes had success in the past against them
Last year was the only time hes really struggled against LHP over any prolonged period of time. Hes not going to be Albert Pujols against them but he shouldn’t put up a sub 600 OPS either.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Garko, by the way posted an .870 OPS v. LHP last year
.857 in 08
.914 in 07
.938 in 06
Do you expect those kind of number from Davis v. LHP? I don’t
Do I expect it....no
But it could happen. He has a career 914 OPS against LHP in the minors. 807 last year when he went down to AAA and 885 in 2008 before being called up. And he OPSed over 900 in 2008 in the majors against LHP.
What I am setting my expectations at is around a 750 OPS against LHP next year. Given his defense at 1B and to me that would be sufficient to play the majority of the games no matter who is pitching. If you want to rest him against tough lefties…fine. But if hes putting up a ~750 OPS against LHP, given his future with the club, then I don’t think thats enough to warrant a strict platoon with Garko
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
I second this
"there's no money in triples" - CJ, 3.23.10
Let's hope.
Because this only happens if MaxRam and Davis are playing at 2008+ levels. Garko will turn in serviceable stats, if that’s not good enough to keep him on the roster, things will be good.
Three S's
Look at the comments under Jeff Wilson's blog post on dallasnews.com. What a bunch of rocket scientists.- Keith Law
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Son of a Son of a Sailor
The only Buffet song I like.
'Waiting for a girl and she gets me into fights
Waiting for a girl we get drunk on Friday night'
You only like one Buffett song?
With all due respect, what in the world is wrong with you?
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
I like a lot of his songs, but tops for me is "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes"
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
'A Pirate Looks at 40' is good too.
'Waiting for a girl and she gets me into fights
Waiting for a girl we get drunk on Friday night'
The Roger Creager version is tasty as well.
The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love. ~Bryant Gumbel, 1981
JD sure does like
end ST moves.
4/1/10 Claims Garko
4/22/09 Claims O’Day (close enough)
3/28/08 trades for Nippert
4/1/06 trades for Tejeda and J. Blalock
3/31/06 trades for Koronka and Rheinecker
Vladimir Guererro - 2010 AL MVP
C.J. Wilson - 2010 AL Cy Young
Look at the money saved by switching to Garko
by Evil Monkey on Apr 1, 2010 2:30 PM CDT reply actions 10 recs
I always feel like
Somebody’s watching me.
And I get no privacy.
Oh my god! What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing?
-Wash
I have that on vinyl
It and Van Halen’s 1984. I bought them at K-Mart as a wee boy.
by Black Francis on Apr 1, 2010 6:06 PM CDT up reply actions
Van Halen is just a pop band
pretending to be a rock band, not quite so different as they sound.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
'Cept Diamond Dave is greatness.
'Waiting for a girl and she gets me into fights
Waiting for a girl we get drunk on Friday night'
my friend wore nothing but black and had that thing on his shoulder
for halloween. pretty awesome costume.
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Apr 1, 2010 3:11 PM CDT up reply actions
I would have grabbed the cash off his shoulder and ran
maybe left the eyes for him.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
he's very long and athletic
probably have you by the neck before you got 5 steps away; but that’s a brilliant idea
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Apr 1, 2010 3:38 PM CDT up reply actions
that's why sneak up and hit him with a blunt object
The art of violent crime is totally lost on today’s youth. None of them even know how to hold a gun properly.
by Black Francis on Apr 1, 2010 6:07 PM CDT up reply actions
Excellent!
"You'll meet them again on their long journey to the middle." -Lester Bangs
by BAC on Apr 1, 2010 3:32 PM CDT up reply actions
who gets dropped from the 40?
The official one on texasrangers.com has 42 players on it (and Hurley on the 60-day).
01/23/2010
A new era begins.
depends on when the exemptions for Beltre and Ogando expire
I didn't know what a mancrush was. Derek Holland showed me.
Just a guess but
Mendoza, Arias and Madrigal to the 60 day DL.
Vladimir Guererro - 2010 AL MVP
C.J. Wilson - 2010 AL Cy Young
Arais is going to be on the opening day roster...
I suspect Mendoza is gone. They can’t really put him on the dl when he just pitched a couple innings yesterday.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
I'm not so sure now.
Why dump a player only to have to dump Arias a week later. Just dump Arias now.
Vladimir Guererro - 2010 AL MVP
C.J. Wilson - 2010 AL Cy Young
Do you just go...
without a UIF ’til Kinsler is back then?
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Well
Someone has to be on the 25 man roster to start the season, then get dumped when Kinsler comes back.
by Adam J. Morris on Apr 1, 2010 3:35 PM CDT up reply actions
German?
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
Mendoza and Snyder?
I think Snyder either goes back to San Francisco, or can be dropped from the 40-man roster since he was waived through the league.
by Darrell McKown on Apr 1, 2010 4:51 PM CDT up reply actions
oh, hmm, that would be something to get checked out
although, I do believe the waivers Snyder went through were to place him on the 25 man roster as a rule 5 pick
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
Finally
What took JD so long to listen to me?
"He will not coddle them. Nolan Ryan doesn’t coddle." - Jeff Passan
GAH!
I actually do work and this happens!
"Drinks are on me if Lewis posts >168IP and an era lower than 3.86." by RangerMad on Jan 20, 2010 12:36 PM PST
So why did the Mariners drop him?
Obviously he “lost the job to Sweeney,” but why? Has he deteriorated?
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
Well, one of the worst offensive team of last year
decided he couldn’t help them. I’m thinking that is a bad sign.
"there's no money in triples" - CJ, 3.23.10
The Mets decided they couldn't use O'Day last year
Does that mean picking him up was a bad waiver claim?
meta-signature
Mike Sweeny's hot spring = Rangers gain
If Garko is used properly he helps alleviate some of the team’s struggles against LHP. He’s a proven commodity against them.
FWIW,
Jeff Sullivan over at Lookout Landing would have preferred the Mariners keeping Garko over Sweeney.
by Randy Richardson on Apr 1, 2010 5:31 PM CDT up reply actions
The word
from their FO is that he’s pretty awful with a glove.
"If the Saints can reach the Superbowl, the Rangers can reach the World Series." - PhilKid
The Animated Ballpark in Arlington
Seems to be.
I’d definitely be more comfortable with him as a DH. But, even if he starts every game against lefties, I can’t imagine he’s bad enough at first base to do sizable damage over that small a sample.
I agree.
But I don’t think he’ll be sitting in every game against lefties. CD has to see some LHP to develop him, I’d hope. I could see him playing DH when Vlad plays the field for Hamilton. But that would only be what, 5-10 games?
"I don't really like pitchers." - Nelson Cruz
Also, Ron wouldn't know a platoon split if one fell on top of him
No way Garko only plays against lefties.
Ron Washington is: The Bad Manager - Port of Call New Orleans
by LSJ on Apr 2, 2010 1:09 AM CDT up reply actions
cheer up fella.
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
"Baseball's all that's real" - JB
I like it...
he’s better than Brown, and it does allow the Rangers to give MaxRam the chance to play everyday at OKC, which I like. And of course this should kill anymore talk of getting Lowell for 3 mil and a prospect.
Hopefully MaxRam can tear it up down there and get some playing time at catcher and 1B and then be an option for a similar role by the AS break.
Of course, who knows how long it will take Smoak to force the issue as well.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
I've always...
been a fan of Gonnie Garko.
by ghostofErikThompson on Apr 1, 2010 3:21 PM CDT reply actions
Germane
he went to OKC.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
I was going to go with 'The got-danged Germans got nothin' to do with it!'
Look at the comments under Jeff Wilson's blog post on dallasnews.com. What a bunch of rocket scientists.- Keith Law
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Was it over
when Esteban bombed Pearl Harbor?
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
Devil Fingers had an excellent article at FanGraphs a while ago about platoon splits.
Essentially, it discusses how deceiving simply looking at platoon splits can be as an estimator and how to better project platoon hitting skill. Click here for the nitty gritty.
Anyway, a little bit of it was about Garko:
For a right-handed example, let’s use Ryan Garko, recently acquired by the Mariners as a platoon 1B/DH. Garko’s career wOBA is .347, .332 vs. RHP in 1229 PA, and .382 vs. LHP in 485 PA — a 14.4% difference. But he’s a righty, so we regress toward 2200 PA of the average (6.1%): (.144*485+.0611*2200)/(485+2200) for an estimated platoon skill of 7.6%. Using the CHONE projection of .345 wOBA, we’d estimate Garko to be a .338 hitter versus RHP, and .364 versus LHP. That’s a good hitter versus lefties, and while the .338 isn’t great for a 1B/DH, it isn’t as if he’s helpless against RHP.
We'll see.
I like the acquisition, though. He’s good insurance.
by Black Francis on Apr 1, 2010 6:09 PM CDT up reply actions
My natural reflex is to wince when I see Bayesian corrections like this
but then I realize that this is what Bayesian statistics are actually good for, whereas in neuroscience I think they’re bunk.
Go Rice Owls!
Let's see
Bayesian statistics are hard to explain. It’s basically what you just linked to. Bayesian statistics come into play when you have limited information about a specific instance (in this case a baseball player), but you have a lot of prior information (in this case, what you would expect an average player is) that is useful in understanding your subject.
In the case of baseball players, you can say “baseball players don’t normally have a spread for 14.4%. They normally have a spread of 6.1%.” When you have only a few observations, you assume the player is mostly league average, and only weight by the sample size a little bit. When you have a lot of observations, you assume the player is unique, and don’t use the league average very much. Samples low==> assume league average; samples high ==> ignore league average.
Anyway, this is all reasonable; it is the math that justifies us screaming SMALL SAMPLE SIZE!!!! when people point to Rich Harden’s numbers this spring. The catch with Bayesian statistics is that you have to know the prior; while we know the “average baseball player” prior, but we don’t really know the Ryan Garko prior. So we just have to use heuristics like “linear scale from the average baseball player for 2200 ABs, and afterwards we’ll assume we know enough.”
Anyway, a large number of people assume the brain does this for most information – you see something, so you compare it to everything it could have been, weighted by the probability of seeing each of those items, and then you decide “that was a cow.” But I think people go overboard with it; but that is neither here nor there.
Go Rice Owls!
Thanks, dude.
I will now read this four or five times until I’m comfortable with my understanding.
Heh.
that's good
it is pretty sophisticated statistics. While the basic premise is pretty simple, it is very hard to master. There are literally whole fields of people spending their careers and fighting with each other trying understand this stuff – a true Bayesian would probably scoff at my description, but I think I got the gist of it there for you.
My LSB nerd rating probably went up a notch or two tonight
Go Rice Owls!
Mine's like a negative 240, so you're good.
I hate having to research some posts and threads to understand them. But I can’t stand being in the dark. So I make myself do the homework. Thanks for wasting 20 more minutes of my day JB. : )
"I don't really like pitchers." - Nelson Cruz
Building on your last paragraph...
It’s funny because what you describe the brain doing is what we describe as “The Gut” around here. While most a large portion of the way our mind works is by making comparisons and connections between what is already known, it’s worth pointing out (again) that the reason we need (in this case Bayesian) statistics is because it’s been shown we’re pretty bad when it comes to data with such large n, even if the n isn’t that high in baseball terms.
What’s interesting to me is when new statistics come up that run counter-intuitive to my personal picture of baseball, even though it is already reasonably well-informed by statistics. The original topic is an example of this, I assumed it took a much smaller sample size to establish a R/L split. It seems like you can handwave your way around a small sample size in certain instances, but kind of the point of this exercise is to say that it’s generally unwise to do so.
Interestingly enough, the opposite of this can (and in my opinion, should) be used on Garko’s potential platoon-mate. While recent evidence suggests it would be wise to rest Davis in on days they’re facing lefties, let’s remember that there’s a pretty decent chance that Davis’s splits aren’t really big enough to warrant a true R/L platoon.
If Brad Pitt is playing Beane who do you want playing you?
JD: Eddie Guardado.
by GhettoBear04 on Apr 1, 2010 11:47 PM CDT up reply actions
fun point regarding the brain and gut
Like I said, I don’t think the brain is Bayesian. I think the brain is wired to overemphasize and extract meaning from single or few observations. A prof once told me, ‘Imagine you walk into your living room and see a tiger. A Bayesian brain would say "it is statistically highly improbable that there is actually a tiger there; it is more probable I’m just hallucinating," and promptly be eaten.’
So I think our gut does go haywire when we see a player hit a grand slam. Because we’re wired to pay more attention to the grand slam than the routine Ks and BBs. My intuition still thinks Doug Strange was good because he hit a game winning home run a dozen some odd years ago.
That is why statistics are so important. Unless we spend our careers observing literally thousands of players and hundreds of thousands of pitches and at bats, we just don’t develop our brains to the point to intuit the subtleties that separate the winners and losers.
Go Rice Owls!
by JBImaknee on Apr 1, 2010 11:58 PM CDT up reply actions 3 recs
Interesting.
I’m probably misinterpreting or taking your prof’s example too far, but I wonder if actual chemicals play a role instead of just neurotransmitters/random memory. While seeing a tiger in the room may cause a variety of responses from the higher brain depending on the experiences the individual had to draw from, many of the immediate reactions would be below cognitive control. I’m talking about reflexes and the other almost immediate reactions that often have to do with feedback circuits from sensory ‘organs’ to muscles.
If applied to baseball, maybe we remember those events because the emotions that were associated with them are making a different sort (chemically) of memory than the standard data-entry ones.
If Brad Pitt is playing Beane who do you want playing you?
JD: Eddie Guardado.
by GhettoBear04 on Apr 2, 2010 12:14 AM CDT up reply actions
So this is why I think Fernando Tatis is the greatest hitter ever.
I watched that game he hit two grand slams in the same inning. It’s all coming together…
"I don't really like pitchers." - Nelson Cruz
This is excellent.
It gets a rec.
And I now feel silly quibbling over the word “average” with you. Sorry about that.
This was a learning subthread
Most excellent.
"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has, you can be cool." RW on Perez
And the little bastard threw it for a swinging strike three in a 3-2 count. He’s blessed. And ballsy.
I agree most completely with this post
The brain going nuts over anecdotal small samples is exactly why sabre stat analysis is so important.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
As for the second part of your post
You’re probably right – we don’t probably know enough about Davis’s platoon splits. But I’ll resist commenting on Davis, since my gut starts screaming “danger, danger, danger” whenever his name is mentioned.
Go Rice Owls!
My natural reflex is to think
that Ryan Garko’s splits don’t really deserve that much scrutiny. He hits lefties well, ’nuff said in this case.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
Yeah, I think the article's more interesting because of what it has to say about split hitting skill.
Garko is pretty much a throwaway paragraph. But I was reading it right before Garko got picked up, so figured I’d link to it.
Right, and I agree with the article generally
and with the discussion that followed above totally. Splits can be tricky and I think they are easy to overemphasize. In Garko’s case, his entire history (one relatively small sample after another, year to year) is consistent with him doing well against lefties.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
well, to be fair
Mike Lowell would be better than Ryan Garko
The problem is Mike Lowell isn’t worth $2 million or whatever + MaxRam. Whereas Garko will cost $500K and no one.
Go Rice Owls!
I don't think that's necessarily true.
Everything we’ve heard lately indicates Lowell is pretty much done. Hell, the Sox are looking to give him away right now, and nobody really wants him. Not even the Mets.
Ron Washington is: The Bad Manager - Port of Call New Orleans
by LSJ on Apr 1, 2010 9:30 PM CDT up reply actions
The Royals
would probably consider it, though
"Jurick Profar is tired of practice!! I wanna play I wanna play….waiting for march 12 to go to spring training! to kill some pichers:D:D I am Jurickson Profar son of judeska and chesmond.. And I was born ready! ready to play baseball!!" - Jurickson Profar
I think
it’s probably true that Mike Lowell is >>> Garko. No one except us wanted Ryan Garko either, the dude got cut for Mike Sweeney.
"If the Saints can reach the Superbowl, the Rangers can reach the World Series." - PhilKid
The Animated Ballpark in Arlington
But Garko >>>>>>Matt Brown and Max
Max really didn’t do anything to prove he belonged. Hopefully Max can go to AAA and get his groove back.
"There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked." --Muhammad Ali
Mike Sweeney...
is Don Wakamatsu’s Marlon Byrd.
by ghostofErikThompson on Apr 1, 2010 10:18 PM CDT up reply actions
I would hope
he’s no where near as effective as Marlon Byrd. It’s not like the Ms have a Nelson Cruz.
"If the Saints can reach the Superbowl, the Rangers can reach the World Series." - PhilKid
The Animated Ballpark in Arlington
I would've said Eddie Guardado
Byrd was at least a useful player. Sweeny on the Seattle roster doesn’t make much sense because he can’t play the field, and they’ve already got Milton and Byrnes there to DH against lefties.
Ron Washington is: The Bad Manager - Port of Call New Orleans
He pretty much forced them to keep him.
What is he, 19-37(something like that). I know people reference the Kata effect in regards to ST, but Sweeney actually has skins on the wall.
They’ve said MB is gonna be in the field, I bet Sweeney is someone that’s gonna give us headaches.
'Waiting for a girl and she gets me into fights
Waiting for a girl we get drunk on Friday night'
Fuck Ryan Sweeney
'Waiting for a girl and she gets me into fights
Waiting for a girl we get drunk on Friday night'
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