More Stupid Comments

EDIT: Baseball Analysts FJMed this Jon Heyman article a few days back.
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We really should start a new section on this blog called "Jon Heyman Says The Darndest Things." Even though he's often on top of MLB trades, he often utters the "stupidest" fucking comments. Comments like this one:

Among active players, Manny Ramirez would have made a nice addition to the Giants. He could have replicated the years of Barry Bonds, with comparable productivity, less controversy and more good cheer.

What cheer? What about Manny's turbulent relationship with the Red Sox or his turbulent, greedy and drawn out negotiations with the Dodgers? Less controversy, perhaps, but less cheer? I think not.

Furthermore, according to Baseball Prospectus, Barry Bonds' cumulative Batting Runs Above the Replacement level (BRAR) since 2000 has been 730 runs (this includes a season of 5 BRAR in 2005, when Bonds only accumulated 42 ABs). Over the same time frame, Manny Ramirez accumulated a BRAR of 615 runs. There is literally no comparison -- especially considering that Manny played full, healthy seasons in each of those years. Manny's best season was last year, when he batted 80 runs above the replacement level. His second best season was back in Cleveland a decade ago, when he posted a 79 BRAR. By comparison, Barry Bonds -- his 2005 season removed from the equation -- posted an average BRAR of 84.7 per season (Manny Ramirez has a seasonal BRAR average of 63.5).

Finally, Heyman states that Manny could have brought less controversy along with him than Barry Bonds. Going back to the drawn out Dodgers negotiations, I'd like to postulate that rejecting a $45 million, two-year deal (especially when no one else is bidding for you) amidst an economic recession is about as insensitive and controversial as something can be barring the use of PEDs.

Jon H.

Jon Heyman's says the darndest things. Let me quote you this gem-of-an-analysis about the "#2 player" on the market, Bobby Abreu (who, by the way, at the declining age of 35 is not nearly as good of a prospective signing as the in-his-prime-at-the-age-of-29-and-hitting-40-home-runs-a-season Adam Dunn -- especially since they both have comparably terrible defense in the outfield at the corners).

He is one of three players in history with a .400 on-base percentage, 300 steals and 200 home runs (Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson are the others) and one of three with 100 RBIs in each of the last three years Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols are the others),

Bobby Abreu is also at least twice as old as each of those other two players and his three-year peripheral trends clearly show that his offensive and defensive skills are quickly on the decline. But hey, who gives a fuck. Let's give him $48 million over 3 years because he batted behind Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter for the last 3 years.

yet for some reason Raul Ibanez, whose numbers aren't even in Abreu's ballpark, was the more popular pick this winter.

Two bad signings clearly cancel each other out in the name of fiscal fairness. However, it's the next bit of analysis by Heyman that I really love and sparked me to write this mini-rant:

Ibanez signed for $31.5 million over three years with Abreu's former Phillies team, but Abreu would do well to get $20 million for two right now. Ibanez scored points for his deserved rep as a great guy and a clubhouse leader, but Abreu certainly isn't a negative influence in any way. The two perceived knocks on him are minor (that he's interested in stats and fears the wall) and shouldn't preclude anyone from signing him.

So, in other words, Bobby Abreu's two flaws -- which are precluding him from signing a big contract -- are:
1) he doesn't like getting injured (and isn't Aaron Rowand) and
2) he likes to statistically perform well in a game of statistics?

It's not the declining trends in UZR/150, BB/9, HR/AB or even the fact that he's thirty-fucking-five. It's because he hates being injured and focuses his performance on the statically relevant parts of the game. Ughhhhhh.

My brain hurts.