In a guest piece on the blog of ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Insider link), Athletics closer Sean Doolittle offers a look inside some of the less conventional advanced metrics employed by Oakland’s front office. In particular, a unique twist on BABIP (batting average relative to Bip Roberts) seems to have played an important role in the organization’s oft-noted ability to outperform its payroll. (Obviously, the piece is in jest, but it’s a fun read from a player who has had quite an interesting career path.)
Here’s more from the game’s western divisions:
- The Rockies will soon learn more about the injury situations of their two stars, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, as Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports, as both men are set to visit specialists today. Tulowitzki, battling a strained left hip flexor, may have a hip labrum his issue. If that is the case, there are non-surgical options that might allow him to return to action this year. Meanwhile, Gonzalez is struggling with chronic tendinitis in his left knee. He, too, could conceivably play again in 2014, though some treatments would keep him out until the spring. Needless to say, the lingering (and, potentially, expanding) injury concerns with both players not only create yet more questions about Colorado’s ability to put together a contending roster next year, but could further dampen the possibility of either player being dealt over the offseason.
- When the Padres hired A.J. Preller to take over as GM, they agreed with the Rangers not to hire away any Texas front office staffers over the next two year, Scott Miller of Bleacher Report tweets. Presumably, the Rangers were able to extract this promise in exchange for allowing San Diego to interview and hire away Preller himself before his own contract was up.
- More on Preller: Miller applauds the Friars for taking a chance on a bold candidate. And on his blog, Jamey Newberg provides some interesting thoughts on Preller, who he calls a “scout’s scout who prefers doing his work behind the scenes.”
- Though Alex Rios of the Rangers appears to have avoided a significant injury, his continued absence from the lineup means that he is increasingly unlikely to be dealt, writes ESPNDallas.com’s Calvin Watkins. Not only do the Royals now appear to be an unlikely suitor, says Watkins, but other possible landing spots could disappear as the month goes on and playoff races clarify.
BABIP is still better than their first idea, BABIT (Batting average relative to Shooty Babbitt).
Doolittle’s piece is one of the most useful articles I’ve ever read on ESPN.
Considering a Bip Roberts rookie trading card is possibly worth $1000-2000 dollars today, I like the way the Athletics are running things.
Why would the Rockies consider bringing either of them back when they are 22 GB in the NL West and 16.5 back in the Wild Card? One would think they would want to make sure that they are 100% come next spring training.
So that they have trade value.
Still confused by the strategy in Colorado. For some reason, both Cargo and Tulo are viewed as major assets despite their injury concerns. They could flip both, free up $40M/annually for the next 6 or so years AND create a world class farm system. This would have minimal impact on their probability for success in the short term as the team isn’t competitive with them on the roster today.
Tulo and Cargo are both very talented players but history doesn’t show a lot of great examples of guys who were oft injured in their 20’s that suddenly become pillars of health in their 30’s.
Aside from that Cargo has just absurd splits. He’s a career 329/387/601 (418 wOBA / 140 wRC+) at home and a 258/314/437 (324 wOBA / 101 wRC+) away from Coors. I wouldn’t expect regression to his career away numbers, but Cargo will definitely not be the stud he is today if he were traded away.
Stubborn ownership has to be the reason for why them and I guess you could throw in the Phillies, haven’t pulled the plug and started a massive rebuild.
Trade value for either Tulo or CarGo is probably at its low point right now. Money is not an issue for Rockies ownership. Plus, where would they spend that money they might save?
Like others have said, it’s not strictly a baseball decision. They still need to sell tickets. If they could put a pitching staff on the field they could
compete. For all of Tulo’s gaudy stats, any team that acquires him will need a caddy that can cover the 60 games he’s out from chronic injury.