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Monday, November 13, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
Verlander, Ramirez Rookies of the Year
Justin Verlander in the AL and Hanley Ramirez in the NL won their leagues' respective Rookie of the Year awards. (Also via AP.) The AL vote wasn't even close, with Verlander picking up 26 first-place ballots, and only two other candidates getting one first-place vote (Francisco Liriano of the Twins and Nick Markakis of the Orioles). Jered Weaver picked up a total of four votes, two second-place and two third-place.In the National League contest, the Dodgers had three entrants, Andre Ethier, Takashi Saito, and Russell Martin, none of whom elicited more than two votes or any first place votes.
Thoughts On J.D. Drew
Jon has one monster of a post about J.D. Drew up that required more attention than I had at the time (it's been a busy weekend, as you can imagine). Jon enumerates these Frequently Observed Complaints about Drew:1) a history of wanting the most money he can get, aided by agent Scott BorasI don't especially care about (2)-(3); (5) is maybe more of an issue, but ultimately, it comes down to (1), (4), and (6), with an emphasis on (4). Now, Drew's lack of hustle, as a means to avoid downtime, does not bother me; but what does bother me — and shouldn't, really — is the idea that after two years and a season and a half of completed play, Drew was the sort of meretricious player that Boras has hawked to teams for years now. It's annoying to watch teams pay millions of dollars, possibly to the point of crippling their future, for players who can't even complete a season. It's especially annoying when the player in question is someone like Drew, whose injury history combined with his age make him a prime candidate for another Darren Dreifort-type collapse. That is to say, he makes the case all by himself that guaranteed contracts are a mistake, and that Scott Boras is something of a huckster, a carnie selling fake pearls to the desperate.
2) being a Paul DePodesta signee, right after DePodesta let Adrian Beltre go to Seattle
3) not showing emotion on the field (Update: this image notwithstanding)
4) getting hurt from time to time
5) not being perfect in clutch situations, though he did OPS at least .900 in clutch situations in 2006, with an on-base percentage of .397 and slugging percentage of .533 in the 7th inning or later with the Dodgers either ahead by one run, tied or with the potential tying run at least on deck.
6) telling the Dodgers verbally he would stay with the team through 2009, before reassessing the market after the season and deciding to opt out of his contract to pursue a raise, giving the team four days' warning.
GM Meetings Kick Off
And once more, we're hearing talk of using the instant replay on close home run calls. This is likely to be an infrequently raised objection; the real problem is, once they get instant replay for one thing, chances are others will call it in for new duties elsewhere. The game is slow enough as it is, thanks, but I wouldn't complain too much if they brought it in, just as I wouldn't complain if Questec took over ball and strike calling.
Comments:
Uh, Rob? In your list of concerns re: JDD, you list item (3) as both a concern and non-concern. I think you meant to say that you're troubled by (4) - his propensity for injury.
# posted by 
: 11/13/2006 02:48:00 PM
: 11/13/2006 02:48:00 PM
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