The Best of FanGraphs: June 23-27, 2014

Each week, we publish north of 100 posts on our various blogs. With this post, we hope to highlight 10 to 15 of them. You can read more on it here. The links below are color coded — green for FanGraphs, brown for RotoGraphs, purple for NotGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community.

Monday

The Value of Alex Gordon Not Using His Arm, by Jeff Sullivan
Some people just take longer to learn than others.

Rule 7.13: Protecting Catchers, Hurting The Game, by Mike Petriello
Mike had had enough. Later in the week, the rules changed. Say thank you to Mike.

Stick A Fork In Ben Zobrist, by Scott Strandberg
The jack of all positions is supposed to have a lot of trade value this month, but perhaps he shouldn’t have as much as we think.

Tuesday

David Price, Future Cardinal?, by Dave Cameron
It’s trade season, and Dave starts with a juicy idea.

Moustakas Clawing Way Out of Irrelevancy, by Michael Barr
“The bad news is he still really can’t hit a fastball.”

Which Starters Have the Most Above-Average Pitches, by Eno Sarris
One name you might not expect to see on this list: Matt Shoemaker.

Using Statistics to Forecast the Death of Baseball, by Patrick Dubuque
It’s science.

A Physics Comparison of Great Throws From Years Past, by Eric Lang
Putting throws by Yoenis Cespedes, Rick Ankiel and others under the microscope.

Wednesday

NotGraphs: Only Congress Can Declare WAR, But What About FIP?, by Nathaniel Rakich
The Republicans are hackers.

The Mexican League Doesn’t Respect Contracts, by Nathaly Morga-Oregel
The Mexican League has a lot of tricks up its sleeve.

Thursday

Expected Run Differentials 2.0, by Dave Cameron
Incorporating BaseRuns!

What Else Would You Change, Fantasy Baseball Player?, by Nicholas Minnix
In the follow-up to his piece from last week, Nicholas puts you in the driver’s seat.

Mr. President? We Have Dave Cameron on the Line, by David G. Temple
“Something wrong with your eyes, Cameron?”

Friday

Jason McLeod on Scouting and Player Development, by David Laurila
The Cubs executive speaks to David about the mental game, evaluating a staff, on comps, his Cubs on the farm and much more in an expansive interview.

Athletics To Play In Oakland At Least 10 More Years — Or Not, by Wendy Thurm
At this point, the ballpark situation in Oakland is starting to resemble a storyline you’d see in Salem.