Slightly Better than Replacement Level
Not all foreign players who sign contracts with Nippon Professional Baseball find success. The myth is that NPB is a place where foreigners go to dominate. Those who follow NPB closely, or even those like me who only follow as they can, are able to easily dispell of this myth. Yet, the myth exists and […]
Coming into the season the Chicago Cubs believed they had a second base problem. The problem, you see, was that they simply had too many quality second baseman and not enough playing time to go around. Ben Zobrist, Ian Happ, David Bote, and Daniel Descalso were all big league second baseman who would be breaking […]
Too often we like to think of baseball as a linear game. This is especially true when it comes to prospects and younger players. They must progress at very specific rates and hit distinct checkpoints or something is amiss. We certainly don’t allow much wiggle room for prospects who struggle over a number of years […]
Baseball Prospectus – Craig Goldstein ($): Baseball executives love to talk about financial flexibility. They peddle that term as if it means they are positioning themselves to spend big money when it counts. As these past two offseasons have shown that isn’t the case. Financial flexibility simply means saving as much money as a team […]
Chicago Cubs fans have gotten used to extolling the virtues of Ednel Javier Báez. He’s an exciting player who succeeds both in traditional ways and in ways in which he shouldn’t. I’m not even talking about his magical slides or extra effort on the basepaths. The fact of the matter is that Javy should not […]