Comments on: 2008 Free Agent Landmines

By: R M

R M — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:29:22 +0000

Franklin, have you ever heard of a hot streak?

I could list plenty of people who have had long stretches where they have batted far above their career averages. Sometimes even whole seasons.

By: Fugazzi Malone

Fugazzi Malone — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:21:14 +0000

What a joke. Manny is worth about the same as Mark Ellis? Mark Ellis is hardly better than replacement level; Manny had an MVP caliber season last year.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:57:25 +0000

Ray – I think it is actually option C.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:19:54 +0000

As a Yankee fan I would like to sign Manny for one year at a time to DH a bit, LF a bit (although the new stadium might not have a tough a left-field as the old) and give him a try at first. This would be for two reasons, firstly, he is a bronx native and secondly, stick it up the red sox ass. But first of all let us get into the rumors dealing with some starters. Ian Kennedy and Melky for Peavey, and let them pick their next stopper, say Brian Bruney. Sounds fair to me.

By: Marcel

Marcel — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:05:11 +0000

Just one thing to add in the defense of Manny’s hot streak, he went from the AL to the NL. In other words, he went from seeing real pitchers to getting to tee off on such immortals as Jeff Suppan, Shawn Estes, and Joel Pineiro. That is a built in boost to his numbers.

By: Table

Table — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:34:00 +0000

Age smage, Bonds was still doing his thing well into his forties, plenty of pitchers do it. Manny showed everyone this year that he clearly is no where near being done. At age forty couldn’t you see Manny going 285 350 500 with ease? I could.

By: Table

Table — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:29:35 +0000

Your statistical view on Manny is baloney. You can compare his projected statistical impact compared to the “average left fielder” or dh all you want, you cant measure Manny’s hitting ability and presence in a lineup. Manny can hit good pitching, a rarity, and as a Dodger fan that watched Manny play left field for 50 games I found his defense to be fine. He won’t make a ton of diving catches, but he reads bounces very well and has a decent arm, one only hopes he wont cut off to many throws.

By: Isaac

Isaac — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:34:30 +0000

Franklin, what enabled him to hit for that high average in LA was an immense hot streak built off of an unsustainable BABIP. If steroids were the reason for his .400 average, wouldn’t it follow that more players would be hitting for high averages when you consider the number off steroid users out there? Not necessarily .400, but there would be much more .330-.340 hitters who happened to also be muscle machines.
Also, baseball player’s wardrobes aren’t limited to their on-field attire. Manny does wear real clothes which are not nearly as baggy as his uniform. And no, he doesn’t appear to be all that muscular while wearing his normal clothing.
You must be new to statistical evaluation. Players go on prolonged hot all of the time, and while not many hit .400 for two month periods, it does happen occasionally. Actually, Chipper Jones hovered around .400 for quite a while himself. It would be something if he hit .400 all year long, but he “only” hit .332 on the season.
I could go on, but I don’t need to. You can go look at Manny’s player page yourself and come to these same conclusions.

By: Ray

Ray — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:23:32 +0000

I’d have to believe that Franklin is either being facetious or just really, really new to statistics because I can’t imagine anyone actually being that dumb.

By: Taye

Taye — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:09:26 +0000

.305/.419/.548 + 527 PA = 15 runs above average? I’d love to know how you arrived at that figure because you’re only off by about 20 runs.