Consider this your required reading for the week.
Consider this your required viewing for the week. And consider this a close second place.
Courtesy of 500 Level Fan:
I no longer think it is a terrible idea to sign Manny Ramirez.
In two words, here’s why:
Motivation. Legacy.
In this writer’s opinion, Manny Ramirez has truly been motivated five times in his career:
1. 1994: His rookie year in Cleveland, to prove he belonged in the majors – .269 average, 17 HR, 60 RBI, .878 OPS, 2nd in ROY voting
2. 2000: His final season in Cleveland, a contract
year – .351 average, 38 HR, 122 RBI, league-leading 1.154 OPS, All-Star,
Silver Slugger
3. 2001: His first year in Boston, to prove he was
worth his contract – .306 average, 41 HR, 125 RBI, 1.014 OPS, All-Star,
Silver Slugger
4. 2004 World Series: To prove he could perform in the World Series – .412 average, 1 HR, 4 RBI in 4 games, 1.088 OPS, World Series Champion
5. Second half of 2008: First arrival in LA, to
prove Boston wrong for trading him – .396 average, 17 HR, 53 RBI in 53
games, 1.232 OPS, 4th in NL MVP voting
There’s no way a beat up Manny Ramirez was motivated upon arriving in
Chicago last year, to a team that doubted him and was already out of
the pennant race.
So why will he be motivated in 2011? Because of that second word: legacy.
Jeremy has got some great points right there. I'm still torn. Gonna have to wait and see if the White Sox offer arbitration.....cuz if they do, than forget about Man Ram in Toronto.
Courtesy of Chris Zelkovich:
The Toronto Blue Jays payroll will increase for the 2011 season and
could rise even more if the team is in contention next summer.
Rogers Media president Keith Pelley
said in an interview Wednesday that the team’s payroll will increase
over the winter, mainly because of the number of Blue Jays eligible for
arbitration. Those eligible include American League home run champion
Jose Bautista and pitchers Brandon Morrow and Shaun Marcum.
“Obviously, the payroll will need to
be increased to be able to sustain the team we had this year and then
compete for a championship,” Pelley said. “This team is poised to be a
competitive, exciting ball club for the next 10 years.”
A new talking head in charge. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Courtesy of You Don`t Know Dick:
How about from the player’s side, Bautista’s feelings of loyalty to
the Jays for giving him the opportunity to play every day after four
years of journeyman status? Or what would be best for him moving forward
— a multi-year deal after just one superb season, with lingering doubts
playing on the bottom-line offer, or a second fabulous season that
would erase any doubts and set him up for life?
“It depends on how you look at it,”
Bautista said. “From my point of view as a player, I’m not worried by
any concern that the team might have whether I can repeat it or not. I
have no problems with an arbitration deal and going back out there and
hopefully doing as well as I did this year. Maybe I won’t hit 54 home
runs. I want to be a productive player. That being said, I can also hit
60.”
Congats on the Hank Aaron Award! So where does he finish in the MVP vote?
Courtesy of John Lott:
Because as bad as last year looked, there was a progression in his numbers that might give his owners some hope.
Here are his isolated slugging percentages, starting with his rookie
year, and not including last year: .125, .113, .136. And his flyball
percentages: 22.9%, 24.7%, 30.0%. And his groundball percentages: 56%,
58.2%, 50%. And his HR/FB: 7.9%, 9.1%, 10.1%. If only last year’s .062
ISO, 28.4% flyballs, 53.6% groundballs and 3.3% HR/FB didn’t spoil the
fun, you could say that his batted ball profile was trending towards
more power.
A decent article written from a fantasy perspective on Esco. Does anyone really care if he hits bombs? Don't get me wrong, it's always nice to have but I would much prefer to see him work the count and get on base for the big boys.
Courtesy of John Lott:
But we lured the manager in waiting away from our bitter rival. And he turned down other interviews because he wanted this specifc job. How awesome is that?
ReplyDelete@Mattt,
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty awesome for sure. And I guess I should be looking at it from that angle. But I'm like a bull and that symbol is like a big red flag.
At the end of the day, we did make them weaker by taking away their pitching coach.
That too. Maybe there's a thing or two he can share when we next play that team from that place that I don't care to mention.
ReplyDeleteYeah man.
ReplyDeleteIn this day and age with all the video and scouting, I'm not sure how much more insight he could provide.
My hope is that he can help us win more games. It's as simple as that.