Comments on: Russell Branyan Sheds the AAAA Tag

By: JoeR43

JoeR43 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:23:58 +0000

So Branyan tears it up for a few months, gets a hernia, plays anyway, sucks because of it, and due to this people still don’t think he’s a useful MLB regular?

Looks like some team is getting a decent 1B on the cheap in 2010.

By: wobatus

wobatus — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:38:06 +0000

I bet Roberto Petagine could still put up a 2-3 WAR.

By: BrettJMiller

BrettJMiller — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:41 +0000

Actually he was injured all year, it just got progressively got worse, and he just played through it until August.

By: JoeyO

JoeyO — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:21:44 +0000

Branyan provided 2.5 months of production for the Mariners this year. His problems actually came in mid-June though, well before the injury.

And even if people want to somehow blame the injury for his falling off the face of the earth; what is the excuse for last season? He hit .276/.366/.713/1.079 prior to July last season too, only to hit .205/.286/.341/.627 before losing his job in early August.

Branyan just does this. Every season he has 1-2 months of fantastic play that gets people jumping onto his bandwagon in whatever city he is playing, then he hits his wall. This season it was April to Mid June. Last season it was mid May till July. The season prior it was April to mid May. In 2006 it was June and July with a surprise resurgence in September after the move to SD. 2005 say it in April and then again in July to Mid-Aug.

When he was able to play 3B and signed his constant minor league deals as an emergency fill-in, this was a huge benefit – maybe you would get lucky and he would catch fire in the time you needed him. Now he is just a hit or miss 1B/DH type that isnt worth taking a shot on if you are trying to win games. If you play him all year, he will destroy your team more often then he will carry it. He will likely hit sub-200/sub-300/sub-450 when not on that 1-2 month mega-streak he always provides, history shows this – and teams just cant rely on a guy who hits like Pujols for a month or two and Izturis otherwise. He has changed franchises like 11 times in 6 or 7 years for a reason – and that was when he was useful because of the ability to play 3B.

By: Sky

Sky — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:24:54 +0000

Can you tell us how many PAs are in each “half”. Don’t think it’s near equal.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:30:51 +0000

I most certainly do not want validation for Ryan Howard, I’m just trying to figure out why the .321 for Branyan is considered acceptable, while the .310 for another prominent lefty first baseman makes him a black hole against same-handed pitchers.

And I strongly disagree that position doesn’t matter. If Brett Gardner OBPs .321 or .310 against lefties (I don’t know what it actually is), it’s not as big of a deal, because the standard for a centerfielder is lower to begin with. I’m not trying to knock Branyan, I’m just seeing a bit of a disconnect between Jack’s statement and other things we’ve heard repeatedly.

By: Typical Idiot Fan

Typical Idiot Fan — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:39:16 +0000

The .321 OBP is right in the graphing area between “poor” and “good” on the splits graphs. I would say that it means that his OBP against lefties, by itself, is acceptable. Also, positional adjustment isn’t necessary. Nobody cares if Branyan’s a first baseman, a right fielder, a DH, or a catcher. His numbers against lefties are fine because he is a lefty. He’s demonstrating that he can marginalize a same handed pitching weakness.

It sounds like you want validation for Ryan Howard. I don’t think you’re going to get it. Howard’s issues against lefties clearly show that he can’t marginalize a lefty platoon split.

By: Nats Fan

Nats Fan — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:11:24 +0000

I was not surprised by branyan this season. I had him on evryone of my fantasy teams and finished first in my leagues in all but one. In hat one I finished second, but in my defense I had David Wright and is inability to hit a longball, so I finished second to last in homers. branyan was a much better deal!!!

I hope he fixes his back and signs the multimillion dollar deal he has always deserved. I would easy trade him straight up for Dunn.

By: Bookbook

Bookbook — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:27:10 +0000

In honor of the great Edgar, the Mariners are not allowed to field a DH.

By: Alireza

Alireza — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:26:29 +0000

I think looking at league average position by position isn’t as good at looking at league median. The average is thrown off by guys like Pujols, Teixiera and Gonzalez.