In another episode of "useless moves by Kenny Williams," the White Sox GM has traded two young prospects with potential -- RP Jon Link (great stuff, poor control) and SP John Ely (average-slightly above average "stuff", above average control) -- for the infamous Juan Pierre. The Sox, perpetually in search of "the prototypical lead-off man" (circa 1942), have finally found their man and can say sayonara to that old, shitty and greedy player known as Scotty Pods, who wants a ridiculous $5-7 mil per for 2-3 seasons...or have they?
Scotty Pods is a career .720 OPS hitter. Juan Pierre's career OPS? .720.
Scotty Pods is 33 years old. Juan Pierre? 32 years old.
Scotty Pods had the 39th weakest arm (-2.1 runs) in the OF amongst all OFs given 400+ PAs. Juan Pierre's ranking? 41st to last (-1.9 runs).
Scotty Pods' career speed score? 7.1. Juan Pierre? 7.3.
On that same topic, Scotty Pods has a career stolen base success rate of 76.7% (286/373). Juan Pierre? 74.8% (459/614).
Sure, Juan Pierre has been worth +33.5 Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAR) --one half of which came in 2002 -- against Scotty Pods' career -8.0 FRAR, but Pods is nonetheless a somewhat averageish defender. It's also worth noting that Pods has hit 3x as many HR in 1/2 as many career PAs (in fact, Juan Pierre has exactly one home runs in his last 1,606 PAs).
And because baseball fans love irrelevant, bizarre and situational stats, I will also point out that both Juan Pierre (.910) and Scotty Pods (.905) had almost identical OPS's in their respective teams World Series bids.
What's the point? Juan Pierre is not much of an upgrade over Scotty Pods. The Sox are saying no to Scotty Pods' 2 year, $10-14 million demands in favor of a player with slightly better defense and equally crappy offense for $10 million for two season plus a pair of prospects. It just seems like the Sox, if that hell bent on acquiring a shitty OF to play lead off, could have just resigned Pods at approximately the same monetary cost without the waste of prospects. It's not exactly like the White Sox are overwhelmed with quality prospects (I see a lonely Tyler Flowers and overrated Jordan Danks, but who else remains?). I wonder if Kenny Williams noticed that Mike Cameron was available until a couple of days ago. Maybe he just wanted another overpaid outfielder to keep Alex Rios company/distract the fans from the terrible Alex Rios acquisition.
Oh, well. That's Kenny Williams for you.
Showing posts with label Scott Podsednik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Podsednik. Show all posts
The White Sox free agents
The White Sox have two big free agents. They are leadoff man Scott Podsednik, and the aging Jermaine Dye. The White Sox are probably going to cut ties with Jermaine Dye because his bat seems to be slowing down and he struggled down the stretch last season. He was a anchor of the team for the past 5 years, but his career looks to be going on the downslide. Jermaine Dye batted .250, 340 on base percentage, 27 homeruns, 81 RBI’s, in 503 at-bats. His numbers were solid, but he struggled after June where he batted .329. In July he batted 245, followed by an August of .189 and a September and October of .175. Thus, he seemed to be on a drastic decline.
Scott Podsednik did well leading off for the White Sox this past season. His career seemed over after being released from the Rockeis before the season started, but Williams brought him back for a second chance. Podsednik took advantage of the second chance and did well leading off with a .304 average, 30 stolen bases, 75 runs scored, in 537 at-bats. Scott Podsednik is not a great leadoff man or a great player, but he is a good cheap option to leadoff. He does have speed and can steal bases. He wouldn’t be my first choice, but if the White Sox can’t sign a Chone Figgins or get someone better, he would be a good option on a low priced one year contract. I think they will bring him back for one more year.
They Sox have many other options this off season. The Sox are interesting on what they will do this off season. They have a lot of versatility and options with their infield and outfield. The Sox made it clear they want to use the DH to rotate starters and give players a rest. They also have prospects they may give a chance, and players why may switch positions. Thus, it is hard to predict what they will do this off-season because they have so many options.
Scott Podsednik did well leading off for the White Sox this past season. His career seemed over after being released from the Rockeis before the season started, but Williams brought him back for a second chance. Podsednik took advantage of the second chance and did well leading off with a .304 average, 30 stolen bases, 75 runs scored, in 537 at-bats. Scott Podsednik is not a great leadoff man or a great player, but he is a good cheap option to leadoff. He does have speed and can steal bases. He wouldn’t be my first choice, but if the White Sox can’t sign a Chone Figgins or get someone better, he would be a good option on a low priced one year contract. I think they will bring him back for one more year.
They Sox have many other options this off season. The Sox are interesting on what they will do this off season. They have a lot of versatility and options with their infield and outfield. The Sox made it clear they want to use the DH to rotate starters and give players a rest. They also have prospects they may give a chance, and players why may switch positions. Thus, it is hard to predict what they will do this off-season because they have so many options.
The New Found Scott Podsednik Power
This year, Scotty Pods has 3 HRs is only 53 games, which is an impressive feat for him. The last time he hit 3 HRs was in 2006 over the span of 153 games. And over the course of five seasons playing in home run friendly parks such as The Cell and Coors, he hasn't shown this kind of power. This year he has a SLG of .406 and an OPS of .770. Now this obviously doesn't sound that impressive but when you take into account Pods has never has a SLG over .400 and an OPS over .740 since 2004, I think this new found power is worth noting. Besides the obvious answer of steroids and PEDs, I think he should find out where this power has come from.
The first thing I looked at was LD%, to see if he's just smoking more balls (yes I realise how funny this sounds) this year. And as it turns out, this year is the lowest LD% of his career. Yet, he's hitting about the same amount of ground balls but more fly balls. And it is probably the spike in fly ball percentage that is causing his high HR/FB. So this seems to tell me his home runs are mainly luck. Considering he's only hit 3 HR and not in the double digits, means on three individual pitches, Scotty Pods just happened to hit it far.
But yet he's never done that before. So then I looked and his plate discipline and I was surprised at what I found. Scott Podsednik is making a lot of contact with the ball. Obviously this explains his .311 BA, but the rate at which he's making contact is very surprising. The rate at which he makes contact at pitches within the strike zone in up 12.7% from his average, the rate at which he makes contact with pitches out of the strike zone is up 2.8%. This makes his contact rates this year 86.8% and 96.2% respectively. Pods is also swinging at more pitches within the strike zone which is boding well for him.
So what do I think is the final verdict? Well, personally, I think it's just luck. He's making more contact with the ball which is helping his chances of the ball going out of the infield and also leaving the yard, but the fact Pods has 3 HR this year is just luck. The more times you hit the ball means the chances that you can hit a home run goes up. His really low LD% and his higher than average contact rates scares me as a White Sox fan, but hey, I'm happy with everything he's given me this year. Now if only he wouldn't get picked off so fucking much and not get caught stealing every other fucking time.... but that's for another post
The first thing I looked at was LD%, to see if he's just smoking more balls (yes I realise how funny this sounds) this year. And as it turns out, this year is the lowest LD% of his career. Yet, he's hitting about the same amount of ground balls but more fly balls. And it is probably the spike in fly ball percentage that is causing his high HR/FB. So this seems to tell me his home runs are mainly luck. Considering he's only hit 3 HR and not in the double digits, means on three individual pitches, Scotty Pods just happened to hit it far.
But yet he's never done that before. So then I looked and his plate discipline and I was surprised at what I found. Scott Podsednik is making a lot of contact with the ball. Obviously this explains his .311 BA, but the rate at which he's making contact is very surprising. The rate at which he makes contact at pitches within the strike zone in up 12.7% from his average, the rate at which he makes contact with pitches out of the strike zone is up 2.8%. This makes his contact rates this year 86.8% and 96.2% respectively. Pods is also swinging at more pitches within the strike zone which is boding well for him.
So what do I think is the final verdict? Well, personally, I think it's just luck. He's making more contact with the ball which is helping his chances of the ball going out of the infield and also leaving the yard, but the fact Pods has 3 HR this year is just luck. The more times you hit the ball means the chances that you can hit a home run goes up. His really low LD% and his higher than average contact rates scares me as a White Sox fan, but hey, I'm happy with everything he's given me this year. Now if only he wouldn't get picked off so fucking much and not get caught stealing every other fucking time.... but that's for another post
Why Do White Sox Fans Like Scott Podsednik?
Well the answer to this is easy, he's batting (right now because he just got out) .287. Two days ago he was batting .297. Him batting close to .300 is the reason Sox fan love Scotty Pods right now (that and his boyish good looks)
People are still stupid and look at batting average and immediately assuming he's a good player. This upsets so me much! Well not really, but it is still is a bit frustrating to hear people raving about Scotty Pods right now. His career BA is about .270 so that BA is going to go down. But batting average is a meaningless stat, OBP is the one that matters. Scotty Pods' right now is .333. That's terrible, especially for a lead off hitter. Now Pods has never had a good OBP, yet people loved him in the past and that still boggles my mind.
To add insult to injury, the other "skill" Pods has in base stealing. He has a career 71% success rate in stealing bases which is decently good, but that dropped a bit when he came to Chicago. This year he has four stolen bases. But he has been caught three times. That's a 57% SB% this year.
This year Scotty Pods is stealing too much which is hurting the team, his OBP is pretty low (especially for a lead off hitter), and had a OPS+ of 79. Those are terrible terrible numbers, yet White Sox fan still like Scotty Pods.
However, he still is valuable to the team. First of all, Pods has actually been above average defensively posting a 9.6 and 13.2 UZR/150 at LF and CF respectively (although he does have a -3.2 UZR/150 at RF but he only started at right twice and once as a defensive replacement). Secondly, he's better than the other outfielders the Sox have. He's not better than Jermaine Dye and a healthy Carlos Quentin, but he is better than Dewayne Wise and Brian Anderson. So as I previously stated, he may not be good, but he's the best player the ChiSox have right now. And that fact is very disheartening to a White Sox fan such as myself.
So I can see why fans in Chicago are buzzing about Pods during his stint on this 2009 team, but I think these fans need to take what Podsednik is doing right now with a grain of salt.
People are still stupid and look at batting average and immediately assuming he's a good player. This upsets so me much! Well not really, but it is still is a bit frustrating to hear people raving about Scotty Pods right now. His career BA is about .270 so that BA is going to go down. But batting average is a meaningless stat, OBP is the one that matters. Scotty Pods' right now is .333. That's terrible, especially for a lead off hitter. Now Pods has never had a good OBP, yet people loved him in the past and that still boggles my mind.
To add insult to injury, the other "skill" Pods has in base stealing. He has a career 71% success rate in stealing bases which is decently good, but that dropped a bit when he came to Chicago. This year he has four stolen bases. But he has been caught three times. That's a 57% SB% this year.
This year Scotty Pods is stealing too much which is hurting the team, his OBP is pretty low (especially for a lead off hitter), and had a OPS+ of 79. Those are terrible terrible numbers, yet White Sox fan still like Scotty Pods.
However, he still is valuable to the team. First of all, Pods has actually been above average defensively posting a 9.6 and 13.2 UZR/150 at LF and CF respectively (although he does have a -3.2 UZR/150 at RF but he only started at right twice and once as a defensive replacement). Secondly, he's better than the other outfielders the Sox have. He's not better than Jermaine Dye and a healthy Carlos Quentin, but he is better than Dewayne Wise and Brian Anderson. So as I previously stated, he may not be good, but he's the best player the ChiSox have right now. And that fact is very disheartening to a White Sox fan such as myself.
So I can see why fans in Chicago are buzzing about Pods during his stint on this 2009 team, but I think these fans need to take what Podsednik is doing right now with a grain of salt.
Why Isn't Brian Anderson Playing CF!?
Today, the great offensive OF duo of Scotty Pods and Brian Anderson are playing today because the White Sox have absolutely no depth at OF. But Pods is playing center today, even though Brian Anderson (who's playing RF today) is playing as well. What!? Anderson is by far the better defender and the only reason he should ever be playing is because if his defense first! CF is a fairly hard defensive position and a position Anderson has always played! The only reason Pods ever played CF is because Anderson was on the DL! Pods have normally played LF so him playing RF should be a lot easier than playing CF!
Stupid fucking Ozzie.
Stupid fucking Ozzie.
It's Scotty Pods, Mercy!
News came across the wire overnight that the White Sox signed Scott Podsednik to a minor league deal. Scotty Pods is becoming the new Roberto Alomar. The affection of Kenny Williams eye, such that he will always have a job, regardless how low the OPB or little outfield range.
This brings up three points:
1) If Williams is looking for an extra centerfielder, with the (un)fortunate injury to Dewayne Wise, why not sign Kenny Lofton instead? I know that he is more expencive, but he is also much better. At the age of 40, he stole bases at a 77% clip.
2) Why do the White Sox hate Brian Anderson? He has the speed and he has gold glove potential, the only thing holding him back is a propencity to strike out. But Joe Crede used to strike out and Alexei ramirez used to strike out and both those players got all the playing time in the world to flourish. The Sox must know something I do not.
3) The Sox called up Jerry Owens to be the backup centerfielder, but knowing the luck of Anderson, Owens will most likely receive the majority of the playing time. If that happens, then there's no order to the universe and Anderson should just go find himself a playmate a drift into the horizon.
Did i mention Podsednik is married to a playmate?
This brings up three points:
1) If Williams is looking for an extra centerfielder, with the (un)fortunate injury to Dewayne Wise, why not sign Kenny Lofton instead? I know that he is more expencive, but he is also much better. At the age of 40, he stole bases at a 77% clip.
2) Why do the White Sox hate Brian Anderson? He has the speed and he has gold glove potential, the only thing holding him back is a propencity to strike out. But Joe Crede used to strike out and Alexei ramirez used to strike out and both those players got all the playing time in the world to flourish. The Sox must know something I do not.
3) The Sox called up Jerry Owens to be the backup centerfielder, but knowing the luck of Anderson, Owens will most likely receive the majority of the playing time. If that happens, then there's no order to the universe and Anderson should just go find himself a playmate a drift into the horizon.
Did i mention Podsednik is married to a playmate?
