Odds and Ends: Burrell, Atkins, Ohmura

I read Gleeman's post and I tend to agree. It all depends on what the Twins have to give up. If it's a young arm like Slowey or Blackburn we'd be better suited keeping them or using them to acquire a SS like a Hardy or an Escobar. If it's a swap of two expensive right handed hitters (Cuddyer for Atkins) then I'm down.

"Joe Posnanski continues to find the Royals' Mike Jacobs acquisition baffling. Jacobs seems to be aiming for a .320 OBP."

As do I. Glad to see him OBP goal is to be just below average, rather than so bad you belong in AAA. God damn, it's not like those home runs are going to help when nobody is ever on base.

"# Aaron Gleeman suggests the Twins would be better off platooning Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris at third base than acquiring Garrett Atkins."

I agree, but only if the Twins can find a better offensive option at SS/2B, assuming that Casilla holds down one of those two positions. Outside of Morneau, Kubel and maybe Cuddyer, there really are no power threats on that team. You can hope that Delmon Young and Joe Mauer show more power next season, but really this is a team that was so good on offense because of some luck.

If they can land Atkins at a fairly cheap price, which would surprise me a little, then it would be a good deal, they could use his bat. But they don't need it enough to take a slight hit on defense as well as the cost in terms of prospects.

Affeldt would be a nice setup guy for Brian Wilson..

Beimel would be a solid addition altough he has a high BB count.

Gagne is DONE!

"Hey I mean if Jacobs bumps his obp to 320 and continues to slug over 500, he's more than passable."

Solid point..

"Why is there so much talk of the Twins trading a starter? Do they have another youngster in the minors that's major league ready? Slowey, Liriano, Baker, Perkins and Blackburn would be one of the top rotaions in baseball next season. Why would they want to mess with that?"

They have Phil Humber and Kevin Mulvey in the high minors who are practically MLB ready, and they also have guys like Tyler Robertson, Anthony Swarzak and Deolis Guerra (I know he struggled last year, but you can't deny the talent) coming up through the system as well. Pitching is plentiful in their system, and if they could use that pitching to land a big bat, it's hard to blame them.

"Hey I mean if Jacobs bumps his obp to 320 and continues to slug over 500, he's more than passable."

I disagree. OBP is the more important part of the OPS equation. It is better to have a guy with a .775 OPS who has a .400 OBP than a guy with a .825 OPS with a .320 OBP.

Now, what I will say is that if a player can consistently drive their OBP with a higher BA, say they have a .325 OBP from a .285-.290 AVG, as opposed to the same OBP with a .260 AVG, they are then more valuable because they move runners along better. Also, if Jacobs has people on base ahead of him, the OBP is not as important.

After reading through Jeff's list, I'd love to see the Dodgers sign both Ray Durham and Russell Branyan. While both Blake Dewitt and Branyan bat left handed, splitting 2nd and 3rd between a combination of Branyan, Dewitt and Durham would be ideal in my mind. Those two signings would be fairly cheap and give up money to throw at Manny, Sheets and Randy Johnson. Plus, it'd keep us away from Boras' demands with Joe Crede, and keep Casey Blake off the team.

AA,

But if Jacobs increased his OBP, wouldn't his slugging go up, theoretically?

His OBP issues were deeply rooted in his very low BA. If his OBP were to rise, that would likely mean his BA increased, which would likely lead to a slugging increase if he maintained his power. If he has to sacrifice power to raise his OBP though, then he ends up being a pretty unimpressive player.

"Not disagreeing about the OBP > SLG part, but wouldn't Jacobs be better served with a .220 AVG and .500 SLG than a .290 AVG and .500 SLG if we know his OBP is going to be .325 regardless? Same amount of outs and while you lose on the moving runners over, you more than make up the difference in extra base hits vs. singles."

If his .220 AVG results in a .380 OBP because of a ton of walks, you have an argument. If he is hitting .220 and has the same OBP as when hitting .290, the latter is definitely preferable, even if every walk is replaced with a single and his XBH stay the same.

"AA,

But if Jacobs increased his OBP, wouldn't his slugging go up, theoretically?"

Well, that depends. SLG ties in with AVG because you get a minimum of 1.000 SLG with each hit. Increasing his OBP wouldn't necessarily increase his SLG unless he had a corresponding jump in AVG and/or XBH.

"His OBP issues were deeply rooted in his very low BA. If his OBP were to rise, that would likely mean his BA increased, which would likely lead to a slugging increase if he maintained his power."

That has been the case his whole career, even in the minors (other than 2 years). The problem is that he is not so likely to increase his walks because of how often he K's. He has to cut down on that rate, increase his AVG, or both.

"I think that's the takeaway here: Mike Jacobs is a pretty unimpressive player."

Agreed, though he is only 28 and can probably improve. I think he makes sense as a 5-6 hole hitter on an AL team where he doesn't have to play defense.

"I'd love to see the Dodgers sign both Ray Durham and Russell Branyan. While both Blake Dewitt and Branyan bat left handed, splitting 2nd and 3rd between a combination of Branyan, Dewitt and Durham would be ideal in my mind."

I kind of like Durham as a bench player, but I am not sold completely on Branyan. DeWitt was better against lefties than righties anyway, so no big deal with having him in the lineup everyday. That said, I would rather the Dodgers take the combined salary they would pay Branyan and Durham, add a little and sign Orlando Hudson so the Dodgers (with a resigned Furcal) can have the best defensive infield in baseball.

I predict a Rockies fire sale...Helton, Atkins, Torrealba, Hawpe, Cook...all gone

"I predict a Rockies fire sale...Helton, Atkins, Torrealba, Hawpe, Cook...all gone"

Not sure that wouldn't as much a fire sale as it would be just them getting better.

Outside of Hawpe and Cook, those are all guys the rockies would love to deal and get some salary relief from to better manuever their team.

I agree... trading Helton and Torrealba would be a godsend for the Rockies, not a firesale.

If they could find someone to take those contracts, they'd do it in a heartbeat.

Russell Branyan does not get nearly the amount of walks Jack Cust does.

"Russell Branyan does not get nearly the amount of walks Jack Cust does."

Um, Cust doesn't play 3B

Selling high on Perkins and Blackburn would be fine. But none of the guys in AAA look like they will make good MLB starters. At best if they are lucky they can achieve the same amount of success as Perkins and Blackburn.

And does anybody really think that this team can go an entire year without an injury to a starter. Starting pitching depth is very good to have.

also keep in mind, the rockies could trade holliday, atkins, hawpe, helton, torrealba, cook, taveras and STILL have a shot to win the NL west next year!