Fun Stats To Get You Excited For The Season!
by Sam Page on Mar 31, 2010 6:07 PM EDT
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PrintSo, I was looking at my hypothetical lineup from a few hours ago, and I thought to myself: "Gee whiz. Several players on my shortlist for the worst in baseball are in that lineup!" To see exactly how awful this lineup was, I looked up WAR leader-boards on fangraphs, in reverse. Most of you are probably familiar with Wins Above Replacement (WAR)--it's a cumulative stat, measuring hitting and fielding, that uses your typical AAA scrub as a baseline. For instance, last season, Anderson Hernandez , a player who can neither hit nor field very well, was exactly 0 WAR, replacement level.
So taking all major league batters with at least 300 PA last season, I found that:
- With Gary Matthews in the lineup, the Mets are the only team in baseball to have 3 sub-replacement players in their opening day lineup.
- Just counting Jacobs and Cora, they would tie the Royals, and White Sox for 2 sub-replacement players in their opening day lineup. In the Chicago's defense, theirs are Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin, two very fine outfielders, who were hurt.
- Speaking of the Royals, they had 3 sub-replacement players in their lineup last year. Then they cut Mike Jacobs for not being good enough. They won 65 games!
- The Royals also will have 3 sub-replacement players on their roster this year, but have the decency to keep the third on the bench most of the time.
- With three sub-replacement players, the Mets are starting 1/9th of all the sub-replacement players in the league. Francoeur narrowly missed, due to his improved performance with the Mets.
- There were 257 qualified players who were better than sub-replacement last season. In theory, there are 254 starting jobs open for hitters in baseball.
- The Mariners had 4 sub-replacement players in their lineup the year they lost 101 games and fired Bill Bavasi. You guys remember Jeremy Reed, right? I'm calling shenanigans, though, since they got the DH spot to stash Jose Vidro!
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Thats been the case with alot of posts lately.
Who cares how bad the Bay deal will look in 2013, the world is going to end in 2012 anyway
by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 31, 2010 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah I was gonna say
We would definitely have four if we had the DH spot. Mike Hessman, anyone?
"F***ing shocker." -Billy Wagner
The Royals, and the late-Bavasi-era-Mariners.
Yup, we’re in good company.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 31, 2010 6:17 PM EDT reply actions
Damn it Sam,
stop depressing me! It’s amazing that the Mets management think Mike Jacobs is an adequate Major League first baseman.
same here
this post makes me want to cry.
by Steve Schreiber on Mar 31, 2010 6:28 PM EDT up reply actions
I just want to apologize for all this
and say that if it’s any consolation, I’ve been working on a cartoon in MS Paint on the very subject for the past few days.
It had better be good
What kind of MS Paint cartoon takes a few days to create?
Gas prices today are a lot like a pitcher's ERA. Anything under 3 is amazing, under 4 is pretty good and anything 5 and up is something you want to avoid.
by Bobby Baseball on Mar 31, 2010 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions
I read this
and cried…just a little, but there were tears.
"Wait till Biggus Dickus hears about this!"
by scott from peekskill on Mar 31, 2010 6:27 PM EDT reply actions
Am I the only one who's a little entertained at how badly they've screwed up this team?
not to say i wouldn’t prefer a good team, but I can’t help getting a good laugh out of this madness.
by KeithsMoustache on Mar 31, 2010 6:50 PM EDT reply actions
They're so bad it's entertaining
In a depressing sort of way…
by wrightttxgirlllx3 on Mar 31, 2010 6:56 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I have a buddy who is a Tigers fan
but he has Reyes in our fantasy league, plus we go to school in NYC so he is aware of Minaya’s machinations. He is always texting me things like: “Wtf is going on? Why are they doing ____.” I finally told him to stop trying to understand what this organization is trying to do; you’ll drive yourself insane.
"Seriously, Lana, call Kenny Loggins ‘cause you’re in the danger zone."
no i am too
it’s kind of amazing
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
well looks like im drinking
im leaving early from work opening day to watch opening day…it appears to be a mistake
"The Mets are my favorite squadron." Apu
Let's all take a step back here
As a safe estimate, Reyes will be back within a week or so of opening day – so bye bye Cora.
GMJ will not be starting – or I may in fact cry, and Beltran will be back within the next month or so (of opening day), regardless.
And honestly I can’t see how carter doesn’t make the team with murph on the dl. When jacobs shit’s the bed, carter will be there to clean up the mess.
unless they Nick Evans/Ryan Church Carter
in which case he’ll never be seen again.
by KeithsMoustache on Mar 31, 2010 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions
your first point is right
but I think your last two are questionable. We really don’t know who will be starting, and are we even sure they’re capable of telling what’s shitting the bed? If Jacobs is hitting homers, and nothing else, do you think they’ll realize he’s just shitting the bed and occasionally hitting a longball?
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
that depends on how often he's hitting homers...
everyone knows jacobs was awful last year. The royals cut him for god’s sake. The mets right now are hoping that was an anomaly. It’s very very likely that it wasn’t. Let’s just hope the realize that sooner rather than later.
Eh who am I kidding. They probably won’t.
by Mike Clemente on Mar 31, 2010 8:09 PM EDT up reply actions
His Major League career is an anomaly: He's never been a DH, and he's the quintissential DH (only worse).
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 31, 2010 10:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Nevermind. I was thinking of Adam Dunn. He was a DH, but he sucked at that, too.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 31, 2010 10:10 PM EDT up reply actions
he's only been a negative hitter last year...
positive every year prior to that.
by Mike Clemente on Apr 1, 2010 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions
if you mean jacobs
i think he’s in that area where you can be in the positives and still suck.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
agreed
we’ve known about the temporary losses of Reyes and beltran for the last 3 weeks. are we really gonna freak out cause Murphy is gone too? he’s no great shakes, folks.
by englishgrey on Mar 31, 2010 8:31 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
well since it means jacobs is going to be our 1b for a while
its a pretty significant downgrade. If it were carter i’d be less inclined to care.
by KeithsMoustache on Mar 31, 2010 8:36 PM EDT up reply actions
yeah and it's the fact
that they went straight to jacobs, skipping over Carter.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
Also the fact
that they may be seriously considering giving GMjr the job over Pagan.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
I refuse to believe that until I actually see it
at which point i’ll drink until I no longer believe it.
by KeithsMoustache on Mar 31, 2010 8:40 PM EDT up reply actions
It's not about freaking out
I’m just marveling that a franchise could be so inept that this lineup could even be possible, regardless of how extraneous the situation (not very, actually).
by Sam Page on Mar 31, 2010 8:51 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yeah it's not like this line up was unavoidable
they’re literally this bad by design. They chose GMjr over Byrnes/Ankiel (and possibly Pagan), Cora over Lopez, Jacobs over Branyan (and Carter).
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
true
these injuries certainly highlight the team’s reliance on washed-up veterans for backups, but we all knew that was a crappy plan.
maybe I’m just too excited for actual baseball to be pissed at Omar & Co.
by englishgrey on Mar 31, 2010 10:08 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
yeah but it's not just that they highlight the crappy plan
it’s that it’s the third year in a row it’s happened and they haven’t learned. and that they 1. think there’s nothing wrong with the plan 2. think these veterans aren’t actually crappy. 3. Actually have better options now but are refusing to use them.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
yep. they suck.
I’m not arguing that they don’t suck. I’m only saying the degree of suckitude was quite apparent before today. I don’t know why any one is surprised or all of a sudden dejected about this team.
by englishgrey on Mar 31, 2010 11:10 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
You guys should recognize that this is a good thing
We are starting a terrible opening day line-up that will likely get both Omar and Jerry fired. Also, with one week and one month we should get two 5-7 WAR players back in the line-up. Also Omar didn’t ruin our future with any bad trades YET. 2011 is looking very very bright.
Sometimes I wonder if Omar getting fired is really what we want
I’m not convinced he’s not the only sane person, semi skilled at making baseball decisions person in the front office. Are we sure it won’t get worse when he’s fired. I’m semi convinced he’ll get fired and the next day Reyes will be traded Frenchy will be signed to 5 years and Meija will be in the bullpen, and an assortment of other crazy things.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
He's a very very good evaluator of talent...
they need a statistician to compliment him, and a manager that understands player development
by Mike Clemente on Mar 31, 2010 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions
they apparently have a stats guy
they just ignore him. I’d have to find the article but I remember reading that Fred was adamant about keeping things “old school” when they were looking to replace Duquette, and specifically wanted to avoid the new stat heavy models of thinking.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
But yeah worst possible case scenario
is Omar gets fired and Jerry doesn’t. That’s my number 1 nightmare at this point.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
does anyone know anything about him other than that?
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
He's not much better than Omar at giving press conferences?
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 31, 2010 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
I dug out some info about him when the Francoeur trade was made.
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2009/8/11/985325/minaya-credited-ricco-with#19546926
He doesn’t have a scouting background, but he closely works with Ben Baumer and Adam Fisher and is much more inclined to trust stats.
In lobby campaign for Chris Carter.
They call him a "numbers guy"
But apparently that’s more to do with contracts and negotiations then player analysis. Ken Davidoff from Newsday said Ricco doesn’t know anything about sabermetrics.
by James Kannengieser on Apr 1, 2010 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Then they should promote Ben Baumer straight up to GM.
Do you have that text from Davidoff? Link won’t work, I can’t read anything from Newsday.
In lobby campaign for Chris Carter.
Actually, I got it first hand
Spoke with him in person one time. A non-anonymous source!
by James Kannengieser on Apr 1, 2010 10:14 AM EDT up reply actions
It doesn't mean he's saber-averse necessarily
Which is fine, as long as he’d listen to guys like Baumer.
by James Kannengieser on Apr 1, 2010 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions
Sometimes I wonder if Baumer is the
equivalent of Nick Evans in the front office.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
maybe if he changed his name to Bomber, he'd get attention
John Olerud, Hall of Famer. Got a nice ring to it.
Right
Because wasn’t something linked here, a presentation of his explaining why OBP is a more useful indicator than batting average – which would be no extraordinary thing, except that this was like LAST YEAR?
That made me very very nervous about what’s going on in the front office.
That was at a stats conference though
unrelated to baseball/mlb operations. I wouldn’t read that much into it.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
If they are going to promote from within, he has more upside than the other candidates.
Besides, he made that presentation about defense metrics. It gives hope he knows something about player valuation.
In lobby campaign for Chris Carter.
Because it's the only bit of hope to cling too?
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
I mean would you rather assume that Omar is our
best case scenario and if he gets let go things will actually get worse?
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
Well yeah
I’d rather them hire the next epstein/jack z etc, but I’m talking about within the confines of reality.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
an article i read compared him to cashman
and if he’s our gm of the future I really hope he hasn’t had much input on most of our recent contract negotiations. Or Omar’s bene ignoring him.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
We're all
masochists
"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"
its cool guys, we can still get these t-shirts
HELLO HELLO MR WILPON... BUY THAT MANSION. WE DONT NEED A CONDO.
by kendynamo on Mar 31, 2010 8:44 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs
it's really hard to believe
2006 was only 4 years ago.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
I hear that.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 31, 2010 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions
what is the answer?
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
Your signature makes me happy
Revis for 2nd base
by James Kannengieser on Mar 31, 2010 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Here comes 90 losses this year.
At least we might have a good draft choice next year. But wait, this team is run by morons so there is no hope for the future. I am almost to the point where I feel sorry for David Wright and Jose Reyes to be cursed with this lousy team.
by aparkermarshall on Mar 31, 2010 11:21 PM EDT reply actions
Two things I wonder
1. Do you guys think other gms ever get together and lol @ us?
and 2. I wonder how Johan and Bay feel about things like this. They must wonder who they pissed off to end up with us.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
Mr. Met is tired of the shenanigans
Beyond the Box Score / Capitol Avenue Club / shwitter: @CapitolAvenue
by PWHjort on Apr 1, 2010 1:59 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
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