Comments on: Worst Defense Ever

By: RollingWave

RollingWave — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 08:02:20 +0000

the yankee pitching staff in 2005 were RJ / Moose (bad year) / Pavano (lol) / Wright (lol) / Brown (even worse) and a rookie Wang that pitched only a couple months , and the inexplicabile Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small plus a bunch of junk.

it was not a +10 win pitching staff. even with one of Mo’s more brilliant season thrown in.

Still, they’re doing a lot better this year. and perhaps most amazingly Derek Jeter is doing well again.

By: Joe R

Joe R — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:38:54 +0000

Or the big market teams will just do what they did in the middle of the decade; read Moneyball, start overspending on OBP monsters like Swisher, and suddenly players like Jason Bartlett are on the cheap.

I don’t think they’ll ever be a total equilibrium where contracts are pretty much mirror images of PECOTA projections. As long as that’s the case, they’ll be some aspect of the game that’s undervalued, like OBP in the beginning of the decade, and defense in the middle.

Maybe a movement towards ground ball pitchers? Pineiro and Marquis’ success in 2009 could spur teams to look in that direction.

By: Joe R

Joe R — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:16:25 +0000

To be fair:
Say the average MLB team is 730 runs scored, 730 runs allowed.
A +230 team can be, we’ll say, 845 RS, 615 RA.

(845^1.83)/(845^1.83 + 615^1.83) = .6414, or a 104 win team.

The Yankees scored 886 runs in 2005 and pythag’d out to a 90 win team. Check out Randy Johnson’s K/BB in 2005 vs. his ERA.

Maybe UZR exaggerates how bad these 2005 Yankees were with the glove, but make no mistake, Yankee defense in 2005 was bad. Real bad.

By: Brian Recca

Brian Recca — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:13:32 +0000

I think what they are saying is that because their defense counters their offensive production they are pretty much a league average team (81 wins). When you add their pitching runs they are then able to win an extra 14 or so wins.

If the Yankees were able to somehow obtain the same type of offensive production they had but at the same time have league average defense they would have been able to win well over 100 games.

By: DC

DC — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:04:35 +0000

There is something wrong with these numbers. You are saying the poor defense almost completely neutralized the offensive output. That means the Yankees pitching entirely on its own made this team a 95 win team? You are saying that with just league average defense this team would have had +230 run differential? I buy that the defense was bad but I have a hard time believing it was that bad.

By: PhDBrian

PhDBrian — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:28:40 +0000

for $200 million you can make a team full of bad defensive players and win the world series. You just have to get every pitcher that Ks 9+/9 and rarely walks anyone, and then get every player that can hit 40 home runs, steal 30 bases and on base .380. Score 1100 runs in a season and your gloves are meaningless, with strikeout pitchers you’ll win anyway.

For $50 million you can make a team that wins the world series with a great defender at every defensive spot, solid control pitchers who keep the ball down, and hitters who hit 20 home runs a season, steal 10, and on base .345.

Its all up to you.

frankly, I am bumbed the Yankees are starting to figure out the defensive thing. I root for the small market teams! Once they become competently managed the game will really need a salary cap, or another NY/NJ team because they will win every year.

By: PhDBrian

PhDBrian — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:05:27 +0000

Not true. There are plenty of bad fielding younger players. Lasting Millage is a great example. Dunn has never been able to field even when he was young. As for a Yankee, Cano is still young and is a bad defensive player. In fact, he has always been sub par even when he was a rookie.

it is true that all players range declines slowly with age after age 29 or so, but being young does not make someone a good or better fielder than an old player. Omar Vizquel was a top 5 defensive SS last season despite his age. He can’t hit anymore, but if he played everyday this season he would probably be top 5 again.

By: TMac

TMac — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:46:42 +0000

For the 2010 season … available free agents will include:

Bengie Molina … a great defensive C, with a solid stick, and
Matt Holliday, OF … solid in every aspect.

By: Bill

Bill — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:36:04 +0000

Boston doesn’t have a $200 million payroll. But, yeah 140 was a bit of hyperbole. Unfortuantly, the Yankees are starting to wise up. Maybe someday they will even move Jeter.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:53:13 +0000

You forgot about pitching, too.