Comments on: Organizational Rankings: #8

By: Wally

Wally — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:41:02 +0000

I agree, Rockies are an interesting one.

By: alvinmcmath

alvinmcmath — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:22:12 +0000

dave- thank you; insightfull analysis, and you admitted your bias’s (sp?)

By: sabs

sabs — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:28:04 +0000

Is this guy serious? You are posting on FanGraphs so I would hope you know that your boy Dice-K was among the luckiest pitchers in baseball last season. Beckett and Lester are very solid, but are you really going to put Wakefield, Masterson, Buchholz, and BRAD FREAKING PENNY up against Vazquez, Jurrjens, and Hanson (I’m not including Kawakami because he is an unknown quantity at this point, even though he projects to be a steady middle-of-the-rotation guy, which is more than I can say for any of the scrubs you listed at the end there)? Gimme a break.

By: Nacho

Nacho — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:54:17 +0000

Matt, its pretty easy to take each individual pitcher and say a simple phrase on their down side.

Beckett is fragile sure, but he’s also one of the best pitchers in the game when healthy. That ERA of 4 last year was really unlucky.
Lester has a pretty long track record of success at this point. He might not be as good as he was last year, but he’s certainly above average.
Matsuzaka was lucky last year, but he is still very good, expect an ERA around 3.5.
Smoltz might be old, but the man is good. If he can take the mound I don’t see why we can’t expect something similar to last year in terms of a quality.
Penny’s got some upside.
Masterson hasn’t done nothing, we have a reasonable idea of how good he is, and he’s pretty decent.

Beckett, Lester and Matsuzaka give you about as good as a top 3 of any rotation. Then for the last two the Sox have a pretty good mix of high up side (Smoltz, Penny, Buchholz) who just won’t pitch if they don’t hit that upside, and some pretty good replacements (Wakefield, Masterson) that could be roughly league average if needed. I’d take it.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:26:55 +0000

Beckett – Can be injured relatively easily
Lester- Seems legit, too early to tell really
Mastuzaka – Very good, but also very, very lucky.
Smoltz – 40+ years old coming off of a surgery? Good luck
Penny – No idea what you’re going to get out of him each time he’s out there
Wakefield – Very reliable, but doesn’t really blow you away
Masterson- Has done nothing
Buchholz – Has been awful, as said before
Bowden – Too young

It’s an O.K. rotation.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:53:22 +0000

While your point about the bullpen is true, his hands were mostly tied; the Atlanta starting rotation was atrocious in innings last year due to injuries and ineffectiveness. But Bobby might be on his last legs as a manager. I’m simply hoping that he pulls a JoePa and turns it around for another run or two before retiring.

By: James

James — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:32:26 +0000

“What grade should the Red Sox ownership get, when they can spend 50M more per season than the Braves? Or the Cubs? Even the Dodgers have spent at least on par if not higher than what the Braves have spent if not more the last several years and they got a whole letter grade lower.”

So you think what a team does spend is exactly what they are “able” to spend? Clearly, at least by this list’s criteria, those other ownerships you mention get credit for spenidng more.

By: James

James — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:28:06 +0000

That’s silly talk. Marte and Flores, while both eons away, have huge cielings. Not much in the way of pitching, admittedly, but still.

Anyway, we already know they’re in the top 6, is it really ridiculous that they’d be 4 as opposed to 6?

By: Wally

Wally — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:35:11 +0000

Dave has been frank with us that he is very busy right now, I don’t know, perhaps this mark is just too high? I’d like to reiterate that I am really enjoying Dave as a writer, I just am a little uncertain about the Braves being one of the “eight franchises [that] have separated themselves from the rest of the pack.” My perspective is that their two highest marks front office and scouting are on the low end of the A minus spectrum, but I’d be curious what other people think. I mean, certainly I only know so much about baseball and welcome new perspectives and ideas.

By: Wally

Wally — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:23:14 +0000

Actually, I think some of us would dispute the direction the front office is going and how well they have used their payroll. Clearly a good team but to me this ranking seems high.