Boston fired GM Dave Dombrowski last night. Dombrowski brought them a championship last year, so it’s natural that there are people questioning this move and thinking that Dombrowski deserved better. Thing is, he just isn’t a great GM. Back in Detroit, he built a team that won 2 pennants, but failed to win the World Series because he traded off
Read moreI used WAR to determine these players, using both for single season and career. AL AL EAST NEW YORK YANKEES SP Whitey Ford CP Mariano Rivera C Yogi Berra 1B Lou Gehrig 2B Robinson Cano SS Derek Jeter 3B Alex Rodriguez LF Charlie Keller CF Mickey Mantle RF Babe Ruth DH Jason Giambi BOSTON RED SOX SP Pedro Martinez CP
Read moreI decided to look at all LDS, LCS and World Series and see which won more. I used team ERA and team runs per game in my analysis. I’m not including the thrown 1919 World Series. TOTAL SERIES: 312 BETTER TEAM IN BOTH PITCHING & HITTING WON: 63 TEAM WITH THE WORSE PITCHING & HITTING WON: 46 TEAM WITH THE
Read moreI’m looking at the WildCard era. YEAR: 1995 TEAM: Atlanta Braves fWAR: 21.0 RANK: 1 ERA: 3.25 RANK: 1 YEAR: 1996 TEAM: New York Yankees fWAR: 14.3 RANK: 10 ERA: 4.96 RANK: 19 YEAR: 1997 TEAM: Florida Marlins fWAR: 13.9 RANK: 8 ERA: 3.76 RANK: 4 YEAR: 1998 TEAM: New York Yankees fWAR: 18.4 RANK: 2 ERA: 3.85 RANK: 6
Read moreHow do they do compare to the rest of the Majors? I started the list in 2094. YEAR: 2004 TEAM: Boston Red Sox fWAR: 2.4 RANK: 16 ERA: 3.92 RANK: 20 YEAR: 2005 TEAM: Chicago White Sox fWAR: 4.6 RANK: 2 ERA: 3.23 RANK: 3 YEAR: 2006 TEAM: St. Louis Cardinals fWAR: 1.2 RANK: 22 ERA: 4.06 RANK: 14 YEAR:
Read moreThe Boston Red Sox didn’t expect to be in this position in August and neither did the New York Mets. Boston won the World Series last season, so the expectations were that they would at least be in contention for it again this season. The Mets weren’t necessarily expected to contend, but after their offseason moves were supposed to be
Read moreLet’s look at the closer situations around the Majors. I’m going to be using a color system, “red” means that there is a likely closer change or a very unstable situation; “orange” means that there are warning signs; “green” means that there isn’t likely to be any change at closer. AL AL EAST TEAM: New York Yankees CLOSER: Aroldis Chapman
Read moreA lot has been said about how teams were unusually quiet in the pursuit of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. I wasn’t too surprised however, Harper had been maddeningly inconsistent throughout his career and Machado was a very good but not great player, that was expecting to be paid as if he was the former. We’re now at the All-Star
Read moreEntering the season, the expectations were that the Cleveland Indians would rather easily win the division for the fourth straight year. The Kansas City Royals, the Chicago White Sox, and the Detroit Tigers were rebuilding teams not expected to be competitive, and the Minnesota Twins were expected to at best be Wild Card contenders and at worst a .500 team.
Read moreAL EAST NEW YORK YANKEES The Bronx Bombers need health and that’s the most important thing. The returns of James Paxton, Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius should be enough to give them the best chance possible at winning the World Series. TAMPA BAY RAYS Tampa could use another top of the rotation starter, especially with inning
Read moreCody Bellinger had become the buzz of the game. It seems that many fans and fantasy players are under the impression that Bellinger has ascended to an elite status and is the favorite for the NL MVP. It’s a shock, considering how before this season he looked like a strikeout heavy slugger who may or may not have peaked during
Read moreHow important is defense to winning a World Series? I decided to look at teams from the wildcard era (1995 until now) and see how important defense was to their success. I looked at fielding percentages and ranks as compared to the rest of the Majors. TEAMFLD% RANK 1995 ATL .982 5 1996 NYY .985 2 1997 FLA .981 12
Read moreThe Atlanta Braves pilled off another steal of an extension. First they extended Ronald Acuna Jr. and now they extended Ozzie Albies. Barring injuries or steep declines, these were steals that imply that these players either love the city and/or team, didn’t think it through or need new agents.
Read moreFirst, let’s get the extensions out of the way. Mike Trout has all but signed an extension with the LA Angels. I don’t understand it at all. He could’ve made MILLIONS more on the open market, received lucrative endorsement deals for signing with a popular team and put himself in a better spot to win a World Series. This was
Read moreThe Atlanta Braves just won the spree of extensions around the Majors. They locked up one of the best young players in the game at what looks to be a bargain deal.
Read moreIt’s that time of year again, who will win each division? Who will win the pennants? Who will win the World Series? I usually get most of my predictions right, but I’m making some surprising picks so who knows this year. AL EAST 1. NEW YORK YANKEES There are some question marks with the health of the rotation, but the
Read moreFirst, let’s get the extensions out of the way. Mike Trout has all but signed an extension with the LA Angels. I don’t understand it at all. He could’ve made MILLIONS more on the open market, received lucrative endorsement deals for signing with a popular team and put himself in a better spot to win a World Series. This was
Read moreLet’s look at Exit Velocity and Hard Hit% ratings from Baseball Savant along with XBA and XSLG from 2018 to see which hitters could break out, and which will likely be busts. 1. 3B ALEX BREGMAN, 3B HOU EXIT VELOCITY RATING: Above Average HARD HIT% RATING: Above Average XBA: .268 XSLG: .463 VERDICT: Last season was an outlier and not
Read morePhoto courtesy of Google Images. Let me preface this by saying that I hold no ill will for the city of Philadelphia or the Philadelphia Phillies. They built a good team over the last few years, and should be in contention this season. I don’t think that it’s “bad” for anyone to sign with them, and this article is not
Read morePhoto courtesy of Google images. A short while back there was a major controversy involving MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s comments about Mike Trout. At the time someone on Twitter joked about Trout being someone who “wouldn’t be recognized in a supermarket”. For some reason that comment stayed with me and I’ve since realized why. Major League Baseball’s major issue is
Read moreHow much WAR did teams get from free agent acquisitions? For this research, I’m only using players that were acquired by the team via free agency. I’m not including players that signed as international or amateur free agents. NEW YORK YANKEES Pitching WAR: 6.9 Batting WAR: -0.2 Total WAR: 6.7 ATLANTA BRAVES Pitching WAR: 2.3 Batting WAR: 4.1 Total WAR:
Read moreThe 2016 World Series was one of the best World Series that I ever saw. Despite the fact that I’m not a fan of either the Chicago Cubs or the Cleveland Indians, watching Chicago win their first championship since 1908, was one of the most memorable moments in my time following this great game. That said, it’s disappointing to see
Read moreMinimum 100 innings pitched. 1. GB% HIGHER THAN FB% # TOTAL WAR 107 227.9 AVERAGE WAR PER PITCHER: 2.1 2. FB % HIGHER THAN FB% # TOTAL WAR 33 64.2 AVERAGE WAR PER PITCHER: 1.9 3. THREW FASTBALL 50%+ # TOTAL WAR 15 62 AVERAGE WAR PER PITCHER: 4.1 AVERAGE FASTBALL SPEED: 94.9 MPH 4. THREW CHANGEUP 20%+ # TOTAL
Read moreWhat are some bad contract swaps that teams could do? I’m sure that the contract swaps that I’m going to list are not unknown to the teams themselves, but I think that it’s interesting to look at them and consider whether they would make sense. I should add that some of these contracts include no-trade clauses and so trades could
Read morePhoto courtesy of MLBTradeRumors.com. On March 28, 2014, Mike Trout gave up three free agent years in a contract extension with the Los Angeles Angels. It was a deal that turned to be a steal for the team and a surely regrettable one for Trout. Not only did he miss out on more money, but he could’ve been playing for
Read moreWhich players will break out in 2019? I decided to take a look at who might do that next season. 1. FRANMIL REYES Reyes has already showed some potential in 2018 by batting .280/.340/.498 with 16 HR in 261 AB. He also had a 129 WRC+ and a 92.6 Average Exit Velocity. Reyes has power and that is despite him
Read moreWhich free agent pitchers are bargains and which are likely to be busts? I decided to analyze the list. BARGAINS 1. LANCE LYNN Lynn’s fastball velocity improved from 92.6 in 2017 to 94.0 in 2018. His Swing% improves from 44.4% in 2017 to 46.3% in 2018. His K/9 rate improved from 7.4 in 2017 to 9.2 in 2018. He also
Read moreThe New York Yankees acquired SP James Paxton from Seattle for a weak (in my opinion return). Despite his health and 2 years of control, James Paxton is an ace and is worth more than Justus Sheffield, who has bust written all over him and 2 non-top prospects. Atlanta signed C Brian McCann to return to the team. This all
Read moreThe Los Angeles Dodgers have been on the greatest run in team history, at least as far as winning the division and making the playoffs annually goes. YEAR RECORD RESULT 2013 92-70 won division, lost in NLCS 2014 94-68 won division, lost in NLDS 2015 92-70 won division, lost in NLDS 2016 91-71 won division, lost in NLCS 2017 104-58
Read morePhoto courtesy of wadetours.com. Baseball has many memorable rivalries, but none more famous or legendary than the one between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The roots of this rivalry are the 1904 AL pennant race won by Boston and Boston selling Babe Ruth to New York. The latter changed both club’s fortunes. Prior to the trade,
Read moreThe New York Yankees just got eliminated in a humiliating fashion by the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS. There will be a lot of talk about “whose fault it was”, but one thing that most will certainly agree on is that Giancarlo Stanton did not live up to expectations. Coming off of an MVP 2017 season, Stanton was traded
Read moreI decided to analyze what stats teams that won pennants and championships have in common, in order to better understand what specific attributes make championship teams… well championship teams. I’m listing all World Series and pennant winners (when there was no World Series). R/G = Runs per game. I’m not putting the team’s actual number but rather their rank when
Read moreIt’s time for the New York Mets to commit to a fire sale. There is simply no reason for them not to. Does anyone really think that next year they can compete with the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies? How about with the Washington Nationals? Jacob DeGrom is wasting an 8.3 (!) rWAR when he could’ve been pitching on
Read moreLet’s take a look at some hitters who will likely improve on their poor performances and those whose good performances are likely to decline. I’m going to specifically look at BABIP to make my selections (the players are not in any particular order). IMPROVEMENT CANDIDATES 1. Ian Kinsler, 2B Los Angeles Angels (.207 BABIP) 2. Khris Davis, DH Oakland Athletics
Read moreMike Trout is the best player in the game today. I’ve been thinking about the following however: what is his current place in history? How does he compare to some of the all-time greats? What is going to be his legacy? With this in mind, I decided to compare him to some greats through his current age and last season
Read morePythagorean W-L records are W-L records based on runs scored and runs allowed. In other words how things “should’ve” happened. I decided to compile a list of pennants and divisions that “should’ve been won” by a different team based on the Pythagorean W-L records. 1. 1885 NL PENNANT WHO WON: CHICAGO CUBS WHO “SHOULD’VE WON”: NEW YORK GIANTS 2. 1889
Read moreThere is a wide belief that since “the wildcard era” has started, the best team doesn’t always win the World Series, and that the playoffs have become a “crapshoot”. In other words that the team that wins the World Series is the hottest during the playoffs, and not the best that season. Ironically this actually supports the idea that the
Read morePhoto courtesy of MLB.com. Ozzie Albies is this season’s breakout star. The Atlanta Braves second baseman is tied for the home run lead in the Majors with 13, and is a contender for the NL MVP award. This is pretty impressive considering this is his first full season and he was never projected to be a power hitter in the
Read moreThe Los Angeles Dodgers finished the 2017 season one win away from a championship. After a relatively quiet offseason they entered 2018 as the favorites to get back to the World Series. Now they are more likely to miss the playoffs than make it to the World Series. What can they do? What should they do? LA’s lineup is nowhere
Read moreIt’s early in the season, but I was curious to see if any players reversed their ground ball and fly ball percentages. Players who begin hitting more fly balls are likely headed for a home run increase, while the opposite is a sign of a decline. While any changes this early in the season have to be taken with a
Read moreThe season is still young, so many unexpected results are due to small sample sizes. That said, there are always breakouts and declines. So whose results are sustainable and whose are not? 1. DIDI GREGORIUS, SS NEW YORK YANKEES Didi Gregorius is having a great start to the season, slashing .389/.522/.861. Let’s dig deeper… He has a .472 ISO (!)
Read moreCharlie Blackmon just signed an extension with Colorado. This is huge as he was going to be one of the key free agents this upcoming offseason. His wOBA over the last 4 seasons (2014-2017): .339, .345, .394, .414. His current wOBA for this season is .582. Look at his ISO over the last 4 seasons: .152, .163, .228, .270. This
Read moreTomorrow is opening day and it’s time for me to make my predictions. Will I be right or fail miserably? AL EAST 1. NEW YORK YANKEES 2. BOSTON RED SOX 3. BALTIMORE ORIOLES 4. TORONTO BLUE JAYS 5. TAMPA BAY RAYS ————————————— AL CENTRAL 1. CLEVELAND INDIANS 2. MINNESOTA TWINS 3. KANSAS CITY ROYALS 4. CHICAGO WHITE SOX 5. DETROIT
Read moreWhat’s going to happen this season? Every season there are surprises: unexpected breakouts, sudden declines, contenders having terrible seasons, supposedly bad teams making the playoffs…. If I can brag a little, I made some good predictions in the past: I predicted the Chicago White Sox winning their division in 2005 when they were overlooked by the experts; Didi Gregorius’s power
Read moreThe 2017-2018 offseason is over and Spring Training is officially on the way. So, who are this offseason’s winners and losers? Of course we won’t really know until the season ends, but we can still make some reasonable judgements. I should also add that the order of teams isn’t done on purpose. WINNERS 1. NEW YORK YANKEES Anytime you add
Read moreAs usual some players took major steps forward last season. The natural question is whether they can sustain or improve upon this in 2018. I limited this list to players who have already played for a few seasons and who showed significant improvement in 2017. 1. ANTHONY RENDON Photo courtesy of MLB.com. Washington Nationals 3B Anthony Rendon broke out in
Read moreFor a team playing in the biggest market in the country, the New York Mets are strangely acting as if they’re a small market team. As the teams around them are making moves, they’re sitting still. What should they do? 1. Part ways with David Wright. David Wright is a New York Mets legend, but also someone who has become
Read moreThe Baltimore Orioles are trying to trade 3B Manny Machado for two controllable starting pitchers. Great. Just one problem… Machado is a free agent after next season and they don’t want to give an acquiring team a 72 hour window to work out an extension. It’s not news that the Baltimore Orioles are one of the worst run franchises in
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MLB & FANTASY BASEBALL ANALYZED 