Last week, I reviewed some players that had poor seasons for various reasons, attributing most of them to poor luck. Sometimes baseball isn’t kind to its players, but the inverse can also be true. If… Read more »
COMMENTARY
Hall of Fame results day arrived on January 18. After months of waiting, the ballots (which made it through snail mail) were counted and the results officially became public. Ryan Thibodeaux did an excellent job… Read more »
Starting rotations are not evenly balanced. A quick look at a team’s depth chart will show that most rotations petter off near the back end, and some have massive gaps between ace and #5. Fans… Read more »
On January 17, Blaine Boyer, baseball’s leader in lowest strikeout percentage, was signed to a one-year deal with an invitation to Spring Training by the Atlanta Braves. A 35-year-old free agent pitcher should not be… Read more »
The 1924 New York Giants amassed the strongest lineup in the National League that year. They were first in the league in runs, home runs and BA/OBP/SLG. As a team, they had just 12 more… Read more »
Last week, the Rays made the type of deal that many thought they would make at some point this offseason: they traded one of their many MLB level starters–Drew Smyly. What is more surprising is… Read more »
Baseball is hard. Even for the players who play at the highest levels, the most talented men in the world, the challenge sometimes can be too much to handle. See, baseball is not simply a… Read more »
Nolan Arenado is no slouch and writers have taken to his new ability to walk at close to a 10-percent clip. The rise to prominence started in his first season when he won a Gold… Read more »
For about 20 years now, sabermetrics has ruled baseball intellectualism. Moneyball started a divide, at least in the mainstream, between sabermetrics and scouting that has slowly faded over time. The mainstream baseball media and fanbase… Read more »
On a recent listener e-mail episode of Effectively Wild (number 983 to be exact), Ben and Sam responded to a question from a listener named Jeff on the rights to Clayton Kershaw’s newborn son, Charley:… Read more »
Two years ago I devised a plan to better evaluate front offices besides the typical wins and losses used by many casual fans. I perform this evaluation by creating specific metrics using preseason projected statistics and… Read more »
On July 31, 2014, the Red Sox were 48-60 and had just finished the process of unloading 80% of their rotation through trades. The Red Sox were looking for valuable major league assets in return,… Read more »
This week, members of the Electoral College cast the votes that actually and ultimately determined the next American president. As a result of deep dissatisfaction with the putative president-elect, Donald Trump, and allegations of foreign… Read more »
One of the themes I hope I’m conveying through my work is that I am a fan of professional baseball, period. I recognize that Major League Baseball is the crème de la crème of professional baseball…. Read more »
Affectionately known as “Sugar” by his teammates and friends, Mariners reliever Edwin Diaz is a man worthy of a different nickname. It’s not that “Sugar” is bad, it’s just that there really isn’t anything sweet… Read more »
The Chicago Cubs’ decision to decline Jason Hammel’s 2017 club option is about many things. It’s about what the Cubs want to do with the starting rotation moving forward. By declining Hammel’s option the Cubs… Read more »
Voting for MVP, Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year will be the big story in baseball once the postseason’s over. However, a lot of fans don’t know that the… Read more »
Byron Buxton is probably one of the most hyped prospects to come down the pike in quite a while. It was certainly a struggle for Buxton when he was (quite possibly prematurely) promoted to the… Read more »
The Red Sox, enjoying their first winning season since 2013, are in the thick of the wide-open AL pennant race. With Dave Dombrowski (known to be active on the trade market) running the front office,… Read more »
An issue that always pops up during deadline season is team payroll space, or how much budget room a team has to add major league talent at the deadline to bolster a run to the… Read more »
During the All-Star break, we asked fans to answer two simple questions: “With regard to their favorite MLB team, how locked in are you and what’s your mood?” One hundred and twenty three baseball fans responded… Read more »
Of all the accolades and accomplishments in Ken Griffey Jr.’s career, the most impressive might be this: In an era that may very well have contained both the best hitter and best pitcher in baseball… Read more »
Baseball has had many events occur that were close to unpredictable. As they say, “That is why you play the games on the field and not paper.” Brady Anderson can have a career year that… Read more »
Dear Future Twins General Manager, Congratulations on your new job. It’s been a long half decade in the Twin Cities, where the former world champions amassed a 355-477 record, including four consecutive 90+ loss seasons… Read more »
One of the more surprising All Star selections was the one of Cincinnati Reds left fielder Adam Duvall. Duvall was acquired from the Giants along with minor league pitcher Keury Mella (who was arguably considered… Read more »
Read about the results here. Welcome to the worst or best day of the Major League Baseball season. If you find yourself cheering for a team that can’t seem to buy a win, you might… Read more »
The 2016 MLB trade deadline is just 40 days away. Rather than target individual trade candidates or destinations for players, Banished to the Pen is going to let you, the reader, find your own targets…. Read more »
Please click here for the full introduction/primer to this series. The Semien Report is an experimental effort to provide advanced fielding splits. Every week, I’m going to pull UZR, DRS, and DEF from Fangraphs for each… Read more »
You are Billy Beane. It is November, 2014. Your team has just completed one of the more epic collapses in baseball history. You had the best team by run differential by a wide margin in… Read more »
Fans lately have gotten used to the idea that players come up to the big leagues fully baked, and ready to rake. This didn’t used to be the case, but after seeing player after player… Read more »
