Comments on: Savior of LA

By: Marcus

Marcus — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:22:12 +0000

Dave values defense.

By: RedSoxRule

RedSoxRule — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:17:35 +0000

Dave – why do u hate Manny so much? This is your 4th post belittling him in some form or the other.

By: jlc

jlc — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:56:04 +0000

Ethier caught my eye last year in the few opportunities I had to see the Dodgers. I’m expecting big things for him in the future. The Dodgers have a legitimate shot at being contenders for a while.

By: JLP

JLP — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:41:14 +0000

This makes me really wish the M’s had made a push for the guy.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:16:19 +0000

I don’t turn on sports radio or Baseball Tonight anymore. I just read Dave’s stuff and stare at graphs when I’m not watching games. Less brain cell atrophy.

If Ethier keeps getting better, people are going to have to acknowledge his existence. He’s the Brad Hawpe of LA.

By: Roman

Roman — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:49:13 +0000

And imagine if we had traded for Randy Winn… :-)

By: Sky

Sky — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:40:30 +0000

All of Ethier’s additional PAs help him in a replacement-level analysis. You can’t assume the Dodgers to have had a league-average outfielder before Manny came along.

By: Zu Long

Zu Long — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:11:40 +0000

On the other hand, Manny has jumped to second in WPA for the Dodgers, barely behind Ethier, despite having played some 90 fewer games for that club this year. In August/September, Manny is winning with 2.46 to 2.10. It’s also worth noting that in overall WPA, Manny is only a few ticks back of Cliff Lee and Lance Berkman for the MLB lead- and Manny has played on a pair of playoff teams. Another note would be that Ethier wasn’t doing much until Manny got there, and it could be argued that he’s a big reason Ethier is picking it up.

So maybe it’s not so undeserved. Ethier may be putting up bigger numbers, but it seems to be Manny who has made the bigger difference.