Comments on: …and the Jason Kendall Era Begins in KC

By: David Roland

David Roland — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:00:02 +0000

/Well, you were WRONG. Jason Kendall actually hit .257/.318/.297 w/37 rbi and 111 hits, plus he ended his season on Aug 30th, so his season totals would no doubt be higher. And he played some of the season w/a mangled arm. I know he’s not Barry Bonds, but I think that you unnecessarily underrated and bashed on him unfairly before the season had started.

By: Ivdown

Ivdown — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:32:44 +0000

I honestly can’t take the $ value seriously on this site. If everyone really made that amount (assuming they were all 1 year free agents), it would be completely ridiculous. I would imagine a player is worth, in most cases, maybe 75% of what this site says they are actually worth.

By: JoeR43

JoeR43 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:27:17 +0000

Beaten to the punch.

By: JoeR43

JoeR43 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:20:33 +0000

I don’t think you’re a believer in cERA and “game-calling” judging by the post, but either way, here’s an interesting read from Keith Woolner in 2002:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1489

By: Matt Klaassen

Matt Klaassen — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:18:00 +0000

Yeah, I’m sure that’s what they think. I suppose I should have linked with Keith Woolner’s classic study.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=432

From Woolner’s conclusion:

Though we would colloquially say that game-calling doesn’t exist, it’s more accurate to say that if there is a true game-calling ability, it lies below the threshold of detection. There is no statistical evidence for a large game-calling ability, but that doesn’t preclude that a small ability. For example, a genuine game-calling ability that reduces a pitcher’s ERA by 0.01, resulting in a savings of about 1.6 runs per year for the entire team and could be masked by the statistical variance in the sample size we have to work with. Players would need to play thousands more games than they actually do to have enough data to successfully detect such a skill statistically.

By: gorillagogo

gorillagogo — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:13:36 +0000

Just out of curiosity, do any of the defensive stats for catcher take into account his game-calling ability? I’m wondering if the Royals are willing to pay more for Kendall because they believe he handles pitchers well. I’m not sure how you could capture that data point accurately, since it seems to be more art than science. Here in Pittsburgh Kendall always had a good “reputation” for handling pitchers when he was with the Pirates, so it wouldn’t surprise me if some industry types still have the same impression.

By: JoeR43

JoeR43 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:01:05 +0000

I love the Royals. Two better options on their roster already, and they bring in Jason Kendall.

Obviously players with slugging percentages that wouldn’t rank in the top 10 of batting averages are valuable commodities in KC.

By: Joe R

Joe R — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:15:11 +0000

Yes, the Sonics didn’t leave because of lack of fan support, they left for political reasons.

Sad, really, fans in Seattle didn’t deserve that.

By: CircleChange11

CircleChange11 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:16:22 +0000

By stating that MIN may lose Morneau if they don’t resign Mauer, I was not inherently meaning within the same off-season.

Really, by saying that they “lose” Morneau I meant “lose the realistic chance of resigning him”. But, by 2013, they may not care so much.

It is also possible that Morneau, following the loss of Mauer, demands a trade. I don;t know Morneau or whether this is even a realistic scenario worth dissecting.

I was merely point out one more possible reason (as if MIN needed any more) to sign Mauer for a premium contract.

I would not list “increase chances of resigning Morneau” (or even “may lose Morneau”) as even a top 5 reason for giving Mauer a sweet deal.

By: KowboyKoop

KowboyKoop — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:53:50 +0000

John Buck just signed for 1 year/2 million.

Brilliant.