Dave Saltzer

His story is why I love going to see the Minor League affiliates play, and inviting some of those guys to our Spring Training Fanfest. They work so hard just to get a chance to give us some fun at the ballpark. I'm very happy for Shoemaker.

I think a 3 year deal with a mutual 4th year would be best for him. The market rate will in all likelihood go up over the next 3 years, so he can always try to take advantage of that. At age 36 he could still seek a multi-year deal. At age 37,he will in all likelihood get a 1 year deal and for much less money. I believe adding him would give us depth in case Richards takes longer to recover and in case Wilson struggles. Of he's willing to take a realistic rate for his services for a chance to play on a playoff caliber team close to his home, he should sign with us.

I was thinking the same thing this morning, except I'd make the 4th year a mutual option year. If, after 3 years, he thinks the market is better, he can go find out (at a year younger he might get a better or longer deal). I'd at least serious consider floating the idea.

Understanding the Kendrick Trade--Harold Reynolds

Causes and Effects of Inflation and Deflation--The New England Patriots

Dressing for Success--Jason Grilli

A-Rod could improve his image by paying his lawyers what he owes them.

How low is your image if doing something good for lawyers would improve it? The only thing lower would be improving your image by donating to a politician's campaign. Disgusting.

I love Bonds. ARod can blow a goat

Leave it to Adam to always bring a goat to batting practice.

I have no problem with Barry charging for his services, just like I would have no problem paying you to tutor me Dave after you retire. I don't know if this makes either of them look worse, people already hate them both and at least when it comes to Bonds, there will be people that defend him to the end. I personally look at the two completely differently. To me A-Rod is a sad figure that really has never been comfortable in his own shoes. Barry on the other hand has always been somewhat arrogant. He was an amazing player to watch in Pittsburgh, a player that could do it all and played with an incredible amount of energy. When he went to SF and he got bigger and bigger at the same time becoming more and more arrogant and shitty with the fans and media, it turned me off. I still went to see him try and hit his 753rd home run at Dodger Stadium because of the history behind that and the fact that he could have hit two that night to tie the record. Should Barry be in the hall, yes, would I vote for him, yes. Do I understand why they don't vote for him, absoultely, do I hold it against the writers for not voting him in, not in the slightest. They decide to vote on a different level of morality than I do, and I am fine with that.

Stradling, thanks for a well written reply.

Let me be clear, I have no problem with Barry charging for his services. Everyone should get paid for work. That's what work is--unlike volunteering. People volunteer to do things that are often as hard (if not more difficult) than work, but they are doing so because they derive a greater purpose from it than just the pay. Generally, I praise people for their volunteer activities, not their work activities (there are some jobs that I will always praise because the people who do them aren't paid commensurate to their risks or the benefits that they provide--so that it becomes a hybrid mixture of work and volunteerism--such as police, fire fighters, teachers, soldiers, etc.). So, I have no problem with Barry charging for his work, but will give him no praise for it.

Additionally, as I have pointed out with Pete Rose and others, if you go to the Hall of Fame and look up the record for the most hits or the most homeruns in the game, and it will tell you that Pete Rose has the most hits and Barroid Bonds has the most homeruns. They even have items from both players (or at least they did a few years ago). So, the records are recognized. What isn't recognized is Pete Rose the man or Barroid Bonds the man. Now I know all the arguments about how some players in the past were not great men (Ty Cobb being the worst), but I can't change who has already been placed in there. I can, however (although I do not have a vote for the real Hall of Fame) make it better for the future and not put known cheats into the Hall of Fame.I think it would be very bad for the sport overall to do so.

Sorry Dave.  Must be a little early in the morning for sarcasm. 

 

ARod is a complete moron and I agree this article makes him look worse.  

Got it! He is a complete moron. Baseball should have given him a lifetime ban and gotten past him. The unnecessary and pathetic drama that he will bring to Spring Training will be a major distraction for the entire sport. No one person should be greater than the sport. And yet, A-Fraud will be. They should have banned him for life and moved on.

"The Challenge of Living within a Budget" George Steinbrenner with an intro by the Guggenheim Group.

I don't see how you can see this as a good move by A-Fraud. Let's see, the current villain from baseball's cheating getting lessons from the previous villain of the game? Not a good move. A good move would be to say that he only really cares about winning with the Yankees and wants to show the world that he can still perform while clean, so he is donating his entire salary this year to anti-drug/steroid programs for youth athletes.

This is also not a good move for Barry Bonds, as again it comes across as low and petty of him. After the amount of money he made in the game, and the villain status he had for cheating, why would he be charging anyone to help them with their swing? The fact that he has to charge them (the article referred to them as "clients") shows that he is still greedy because he has no other interest than self-interest. 

I think that this article makes both of them come across as worse, not better.

If I had a list of people with whom I could talk baseball for an hour, Jerry Dipoto would be on that list near the top. Everything Chuck said is true. If you are even on the fence, Jerry Dipoto is worth the price of admission alone.

He is truly awesome. If you ever had the chance to hear him speak, you know that he doesn't shy away from the tough questions. He tells great stories and can talk baseball for hours.

I am all in favor of speeding up the game by doing the following:

1) requiring all batters to keep a foot in the batters box (with a penalty strike being called if the batter wanders off--and an exception allowed if the batter has to jump out of the way of a ball);

2) instituting a 20 second pitch clock starting the moment the pitcher gets the ball (with the penalty being a ball is called);

3) reducing the pitcher's pitch clock by 2 seconds for every throw or fake throw to a base made (again with the penalty being a ball is called).

What I think really drags the game down is all the relievers who come in, take about a minute to get the signs, shakes off 5 signs (even though they only have 2 pitches), makes 5 throws over to first base, etc. Get the sign and pitch. Get the out out at the plate. If you throw over to first, you know what you want to throw so throw it. You don't need to go through 5 signs again.

I would love to see a breakdown of the amount of time spent by inning. My guess is that innings 6-8 are the slowest, and that's when the pitching changes generally occur and the relievers start slowing the game down.

Diamondbacks just signed Yoan Lopez for 8.25 mil.

Too bad, but between the two, I would much prefer Moncada. We need more quality bats in the system.

Calhoun and Shoemaker are high quality major leaguers, and Brandon Wood and Jeff Mathis are basically washouts. The logical conclusion would be that success cannot be predicted and is random, except that's incorrect.

The right eye at the right place at the right time can paint a picture better than a thousand wrongs. How many times did we read about Trumbo being a AAAA player, Richards being too erratic to find success or Calhoun being a 4th OF from BA, BP and other publications? Did you even hear them mention Randal Grichuk in a positive capacity before he was dealt? How about Mike Morin?

But your more localized sites saw more, and made sure you knew about these guys. And what's the difference between reading a scouting report from AW or MWAH versus BP or BA?

Easy, an unaffiliated talent scout that's paid very little watches a player once and makes a prediction on his future, versus an unaffiliated talent scout that's paid nothing watches a player several times in one year and makes a prediction.

I trust Dave, and I trust myself more than I trust the other sites. Just about the only big ones I've found to not be garbage is John Sickels and Frankie Pilliere.

Agreed. We took the time to look PAST the stats. For example, with Shoemaker, a lot of his ERA in the minors was inflated due to poor defending and bad calls. By getting to know him, I learned what was and what was not working. The major publications only saw that he was an undrafted player (the ultimate curse) and never looked at what he did, how he did it, or with whom he played.

With Calhoun, his work ethic was so much higher than most of his peers. His attitude and mental makeup was immediately noticeable. His tools may not have shown to be as high, but getting to know him, I knew that he'd get everything out of all that he had and would be a success.

With Trumbo, his drive and intelligence stood out. Had he stayed here, I expected him to become the go-to guy for all the reporters. There's a reason why he's so well liked, even if all the major publications didn't consider him a real prospect for so long.

Absolutely, Moncada might be a SS right now, but but he very well could slot in at 3B, 2B or in the OF. More importantly his bat looks like it could slot into the middle of a lineup.

He could also play pretty much any OF position. He's that good, and I think his bat could be special.

It's only a rebuild if it makes the team better for the future. I have serious questions about how they are truly better for the future with all the trades they made. I get their money issues, but, still, don't get what they've done to their team.

I remember well that All-Star infield of the future:

 

1B Kotchman - West coast Todd Helton

2B Kendrick - future batting champ

SS Brandon Wood - 40 HR power

3B Dallas McPherson - Heir to Glaus

C Jeff Mathis - The Prophecied One

 

Interesting how Erick Aybar turned out to be the best of the lot, or at least along with Howie.

 

Anyhow, Scotty I have a lot of respect for you and Dave and recognize that you know a lot more about prospects and the Angels farm system than I do. That said, I do think that you and Dave are prone to homerism like any other fan of any club. It is just impossible to be impartial about your favorite ball-club. I think I'm relatively impartial but still have overrated many an Angels prospect (e.g. I thought Kotchman would be a .300+, 20+ HR hitter). Nothing wrong with that, but if you admit that as a fan you are prone to bias then you have the opportunity to be less so.

AJ,

I don't mind admitting to having some homerism in my evaluations and reports. I've said many times that hope is the currency of baseball, and, I choose to be optimistic. I'd rather be the type of fan who foresees good things for players than negative things (I really loathe those who appear to relish in the failures of players). Most of the time, I'm pretty right and accurate. And I love it when players like Calhoun and Shoemaker succeed when so many other penned negative reports on them. They become my guys, and they have told me on many occasions that they appreciated the positive press they got when so many others doubted them. That's also why I work so hard to try and get them to come to our Fanfests--so that everyone can see them long before they become Major Leaguers, and we can see them for the people they are.

If you are going to evaluate players, here's a secret you have to know: Almost every organization has about 170 guys in the Minors (or more), all of whom are dreaming of making a 25-man roster. Most will NEVER make it. Even all the guys on a Top-10 Prospect list for a team won't make it. So, just like in baseball where failing 7/10 times at the plate is a very good average, scouting and predicting also has a very low success rate. So, you have to ask yourself if you want to be the kind of guy who focuses on the 7/10 failures, or the .300 BA instead. 

I personally think that my evaluations are honestly told, putting a player's best foot forward. My rankings are usually pretty spot on with the organization's and work well with the criteria that I have outlined for how I evaluate the players (I've discussed those for the last 2 years).

I have heard some good reports on Lopez, and would like to see us sign him. Basically a little rough, but has a high-end live arm. That's what Sanchez had, only younger. So, with Lopez, we could get someone who'd slot in at High-A, and could be ready faster than Sanchez.

And yes, I'm well on record for wanting Moncada. If Kubitza pans out at 3B, there are still plenty of other positions where he'd fit nicely into our lineup.

Here's an interesting idea. The Cuban, Lopez, age 21,who can hit 100 was just cleared to sign. We've already gone over our limit this year, and will have a $300k limit for the next 2 years. So, might as well sign him and essentially replace Sanchez, giving us a 3B for the future and another quality pitcher.

One interesting g question I have about the next two years and international signing money. We can't sign anyone for more than the $300k max, but, could we trade more of that to another team so they can use it for their signing bonuses?

Thanks. A lot of people deserve a lot of kudos for the work so far, but I am not one. Chuck, Geoff, Eric, Bruce, Brian, and Nick all deserve way more praise for their work so far. Those guys do one hell of a job.

By the way, it goes without saying that if you haven't read any of the Rob Goldsman baseball books, such as Once They Were Angels and Nolan Ryan, they are an absolute must read.

gotta say the AW.com gurus have out done themselves with the reservation sign up link/ site -

it's very user friendly and you get to print out the dinner tickets -- I mean, it's very Stub Hub like.......

good work guys!

Sheets! Don't say that. With a 10th anniversary interview and kudos like that, someone's going to demand a pay raise!