Let's check out the latest rumblings from the Bronx….
- The Yankees have stepped up their pursuit of Andruw Jones, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. Heyman previously reported that the two sides were apart on money, despite the team's strong interest in the outfielder. While the Rays and other clubs are still involved, the Yankees appear to be making a push to get something done with the 33-year-old.
- In the same tweet, Heyman adds that Johnny Damon remains a possibility for both the Yankees and Rays.
- Bill Madden of the New York Daily News writes that Rafael Soriano's $35MM price tag isn't the only reason to be concerned about the signing. Madden questions the right-hander's make-up, but says the Yankees are confident that Mariano Rivera will be a "calming, guiding force" for Soriano.
- Speaking to Roger Rubin of the New York Daily News, Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey said that while Soriano didn't make a great first impression in Tampa Bay, he turned out to be a "consummate pro." "I wish we were the ones signed up for three more years with him," Hickey added.
AndruwJones..facepalm
The Yankees are interestested in Jones but the “sides are far apart on money”. Hmmmm…. Boras vs. the Yankees who want a player he represents. Congrats Andruw!!!! You are todays big WINNER!!!!
I was hoping he would go to the other NY team but the Wilpons all of a sudden are being penny pinchers.
Lol yeah i wouldve loved andruw in my uniform!
Me too.
notice the difference between the mets and yankees.
mets: if we have 60 mil coming off the books…we’re not exactly gonna spend it all..
yankees: if we were gonna spend 25 mil on lee…and we dont sign him, we’ll use that 25 mil on 3 different All-Stars…
They’re not penny pinchers. They’re trying to relieve themselves of some bad contracts before they start shelling out big money again. Beltran, Castillo and Perez all off the books this offseason. I think the Mets will be right back to spending but under Alderson they will be much better off. Be happy that even though Riccardi is in that front office, he’s not the one writing the checks! They’d almost be as bad as Miniyas.
problem is…there isnt going to be anyone worth big money again that will want to play in Beir…I mean Queens.
problem is…there isnt going to be anyone worth big money again that will want to play in Beir…I mean Queens.
SO the Yankees are trying to sign a player who is mediocre in the field, on the downside of their career and is a suspected steroid abuser?
Is it 1996 again?
Wow, one bad season in the field, and now he’s mediocre. A lot of people consider him one of the greatest CFers of all-time. You obviously know crap about baseball.
One bad season in the field ?
Jones hasnt had a good season in the field since 2006.
Did u just wake up out of a coma?
So, fangraphs are liars now? Are my eyes lying to me now? I could have sworn that the only bad year in the field I seen for Jones was in 2010, which he posted a -0.5 UZR and -4.7 UZR/150 in LF. And, -1.7 UZR and -22.8 UZR/150 in CF. From what I have seen, ONE bad year in the field. I advise you to do research before you start typing crap also.
define a GOOD YEAR in the field…and tell me when was the last time
Jones had one of those…
and UZR is not the end all of measurements…there is total fielding
above average…in which jones was a -20 in 2008…there are about 100
articles with everyone talking about andruw jones defensive
dropoff….u can also look at Dewans +/- numbers..
Jones was a Fielding Bible Award winner in 2007…that was the LAST
YEAR he was good on defense.
I advise you to use more than just 1 flawed measurement before u look
like a complete tool here.
Sometimes I question how accurate these fielding stats are, I mean who charts all the plays that are made and what kind of experience do they have. I watch alot of games ( I watch all the teams ) and I would rate alot of players differently than their UZR or War. I also would rate offensive stats more than defensive stats. Look at the HOF, players like AJones was great on defense and not so great on offense. He might not make it. One the other hand, Jeff Kent was great on offense and not so great on defense and he might not make it to the hall. When you just look at their WAR they are as good as alot of HOFers.
Jeff Kent has the same career WAR as Jackie Robinson and Ryne Sanberg. Andrew Jones has a career War the same as Billy Williams, Dave Winfield , Tony Gwynn, and Willie Stargel. All HOFers. I don’t think we look at all these players the same.
An article that I really enjoyed reading might be helpful in understanding an answer to your statement. You could find it at the baseball-reference blog. Just search 20 greatest position players of all-time.
Thanks, I’ll read it.
Jeff Kent has the same career WAR as Jackie Robinson and Ryne Sanberg. Andrew Jones has a career War the same as Billy Williams, Dave Winfield , Tony Gwynn, and Willie Stargel. All HOFers. I don’t think we look at all these players the same.
Jeff Kent has the same career WAR as Jackie Robinson and Ryne Sanberg. Andrew Jones has a career War the same as Billy Williams, Dave Winfield , Tony Gwynn, and Willie Stargel. All HOFers. I don’t think we look at all these players the same.
The Yanks had the best fielding % as a team last year .988, and their considered a mediocore fielding team. Meanwhile the Yanks have made the playoffs almost every year with these poor UZRs. So what this means is that either UZRs are not real accurate or fielding is not that important to being a successful team. Take a look at Fangraphs career WARs for each position. You will be surprised how many HOFers are mixed in with players you wouldn’t put in the hall.
I am one of those that does not buy 100% into UZR and it’s effect on WAR. I feel that it’s more accurate when it pertains to OF’ers a lot more than IF’ers. It’s a long drawn out discussion but basically, the criteria used relys too heavily IMO on RRuns which to a large extent is based off of guys watching videos and determining what balls should’ve been gotten to and which ones were out of range. They then imput that observation into a formula and you get what you get.
Robinson Cano is a perfect example. He ranked #1 or close to, in total chances, put outs, assists, DP and fewest errors among all 2nd in the majors in 2010 and ranked as a poor defender last year according to UZR. Contrary, Bill James and other experts saw what most of us did, which was one of the best defensive 2b last year. Same things can be said for Tex. Arod and Jeter were as bad as their UZR’s say they are. The notion isn’t that if I feel they are wrong then they must, but some things just don’t make any sense and UZR’s results just seem to be too inconsistent with counting statistics and the variances from year to year can be dramatic.
The Yankee pitchers are not known for being groundball machines (16th among all mlb teams @ 43.9 %). Quite the opposite actually. That being the case Cano would have to be the luckiest fielder alive to always be in perfect position to record the most total chances which to me, reflects his above average range and ability to get to ballshit in his area of play.
Now as for the Yankees team defense. Their fielding % is great because everything thing they tend to get to gets turned into outs. Arod and Jeter, the two weekest links, both have below average range, but they have “sure” hands and can convert the “easy” play and occasional spectacular play very well. However, Ozzie Smith is a great example of a player who commited a lot of errors but was also considered to be the best defensive SS of his time simply because his range allowed him to get to balls that most others wouldn’t.
Oddly enough, and I’m trying to figure out how best to interpret this, the Yanks had the 2nd lowest defensive BaBIP @ .287 which ranked them right behind the Oakland A’s and just ahead of Rays, M’s, Rangers, Giants and Padres. How do you guys determine that to mean?
The Yanks had the best fielding % as a team last year .988, and their considered a mediocore fielding team. Meanwhile the Yanks have made the playoffs almost every year with these poor UZRs. So what this means is that either UZRs are not real accurate or fielding is not that important to being a successful team. Take a look at Fangraphs career WARs for each position. You will be surprised how many HOFers are mixed in with players you wouldn’t put in the hall.
The Yanks had the best fielding % as a team last year .988, and their considered a mediocore fielding team. Meanwhile the Yanks have made the playoffs almost every year with these poor UZRs. So what this means is that either UZRs are not real accurate or fielding is not that important to being a successful team. Take a look at Fangraphs career WARs for each position. You will be surprised how many HOFers are mixed in with players you wouldn’t put in the hall.
Sometimes I question how accurate these fielding stats are, I mean who charts all the plays that are made and what kind of experience do they have. I watch alot of games ( I watch all the teams ) and I would rate alot of players differently than their UZR or War. I also would rate offensive stats more than defensive stats. Look at the HOF, players like AJones was great on defense and not so great on offense. He might not make it. One the other hand, Jeff Kent was great on offense and not so great on defense and he might not make it to the hall. When you just look at their WAR they are as good as alot of HOFers.
Sometimes I question how accurate these fielding stats are, I mean who charts all the plays that are made and what kind of experience do they have. I watch alot of games ( I watch all the teams ) and I would rate alot of players differently than their UZR or War. I also would rate offensive stats more than defensive stats. Look at the HOF, players like AJones was great on defense and not so great on offense. He might not make it. One the other hand, Jeff Kent was great on offense and not so great on defense and he might not make it to the hall. When you just look at their WAR they are as good as alot of HOFers.
Not 1996 again, Jones will a right handed bat off the bench,part-time DH and share time with Granderson and Gardner. This will be a good move.
I think the only reason he’s not a Yankee right now is, he’s waiting for an offer from the Braves.
He shouldn’t hold his breath.
Although we could use a solid 4th outfielder who can play all 3 positions and has pop.
Was Mariano Rivera a calming, guiding force for Joba Chamberlain?
i’ll bet he WAS! imagine Joba WITHOUT it!
Am I the only one who sees Soriano being to the Yankees what JJ Putz was to the Mets?
Nope.
Yep.
You’re the only person in the entire world.
lmao
ok i wont make fun of u.
i’ll just ask u…
in what way do u mean this?
Jones would fit well with NY. Wonder if there will be a platoon type thing with Granderson. Granderson crushes righties and Jones crushes lefties.
Makes sense to me!
Makes sense to me!
I think Jones might see some play against a tough lefty to give Grandy or Gardner some rest,but…..
a) Granderson improved dramaticaly vs lefties once Long worked with him in mid-August. I can’t figure out where to get lefty/righty splits just for August-end of season but it was well talked about and refered to.
b) Granderson became a beast in the last 2 months of the season. The bat avg/obp don’t jump off the paper, but..
.244/.335/.517 w/14 hrs and a .853 OPS.
I would give him every chance to play everyday as possible, especially if he can pull his average up vs lefties. He’s much more valuable to the Yanks as an everyday player.
I would like to see the Yanks get both Jones and Damon. They both have their limitations but they still can play. This would be similar to when the Yanks picked up Rock Raines, and Staw man. These players can get big hits in big situations, something that doesn’t always show up in statistics. Nobody would have thought that Matsui would have hit 600 in the 2009 series, or Renteria doing well last year. Sometimes you need a few veterans on a team who are past their prime.
“Sometimes you need a few veterans on a team who are past their prime”.
LMAO. That’s almost the entire team, my man!
Case in point, what were the UZRs and WARs for the Giants last year. Sometimes these stats help for fantasy baseball but not for real baseball. Thats why GM’s use a combination of sabermatrics and scouting.
Case in point, what were the UZRs and WARs for the Giants last year. Sometimes these stats help for fantasy baseball but not for real baseball. Thats why GM’s use a combination of sabermatrics and scouting.
Case in point, what were the UZRs and WARs for the Giants last year. Sometimes these stats help for fantasy baseball but not for real baseball. Thats why GM’s use a combination of sabermatrics and scouting.
For me, and this is just my personal opinion, i mean you could get killed around here for saying something like this, UZR is a good place to start when you want to see how well a player fields. I’m happy that they do have UZR to look at now. Ten years ago I didn’t know what UZR was. It’s not a hard stat like home runs or strikeouts. I consider it a soft stat, more subjective. I’m sure a lot of people would disagree with me. I can tell you UZR doesn’t take into consideration a player’s arm strength which definitely is important. I mean I’m not even going to touch the subject on Jeter’s defense here. I will say this though- Cano had a -0.9 UZR/150 last year with a overall UZR of -0.6 and after watching him play all year I would have voted for him for a gold glove
I agree, Cano and Texiera have low URZ for their ability.
Besides how many balls is he going to get in the outfield as a sub.
Besides how many balls is he going to get in the outfield as a sub.
Maybe the geek that is looking at the tape of the game and deciding whether the ball should be caught isn’t qualified. UZR is just another tool to use its not that accurate in my mind.