Johhny Damon: Will I play 162 games? Probably not. But I've learned how to keep my body healthy
Manny Ramirez: Lets do it (looking at Damon). You play 100 and I play 62. Thats all we gotta do
Zing!
Showing posts with label Manny Ramirez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manny Ramirez. Show all posts
Quick Thoughts On Manny To The White Sox
While I agree with DME that the most cost effective decision for the White Sox was to sign Jim Thome at the beginning of the year. As a Sox fan, I like the White Sox acquiring Manny Ramirez from the Dodgers for just the remainder of Manny's contract. Even though the White Sox are not a big market team like their North Side Chicago counterparts or the Yankees or Red Sox, that hasn't stopped them from spending. And as a fan, I don't care how much the price tag costs for these players. Sure more money for the players could mean a higher ticket price for me, but I only go to 3-4 White Sox games a year and I pay for the cheap-o seats anyways (and those prices don't bother me as much. Maybe it's gone up from the past couple of years, But I don't really care). At the end of the day, all I care about is the product on the field. Case in point- Alex Rios. Would I like a player of his caliber to come cheaper, of course. Do I mind that he's getting paid a crap ton but is also awesome? Not at all. As long as my players perform.And Manny can perform.
Quietly, Manny has a triple slash line of .312/.407/.508 which is good for a .392 wOBA and a .915 OPS. He's walking at exactly his career average (13.6%) and striking out a tick under his career average (21.9% career, 19.6% in 2010). Sure his home runs are way down this year (he only has 8 on the year) and he has an ISO and SLG below his career marks, his 2010 ISO and SLG are still nothing to sneeze at (.196 and .508 respectively). Plus, Manny's only played in 67 games amassing only 236 plate appearance. You know what's also a way to not get a lot of home runs and classic counting stats, not play a whole lot. PLUS, Manny is going from pitcher friendly Dodger Stadium to homer friendly Comiskey.
And of course, Manny will be infinitely better than Mark Kotsay (.303 wOBA, .696 OPS) and somewhat better than Andruw Jones (.353 wOBA, .803 OPS).
I do think this is too little too late, getting Manny for one month isn't the magic antidote to give the White Sox a playoff birth, and his contract is still vastly expensive.
But with that being said, I do like having Manny on the South Side and I like this move a lot.
Facts of Life: Kenny Williams' Big Mistake
The White Sox decided to experiment with their DH spot in 2010. Instead of re-signing a prodigious slugger with great on base skills (Jim Thome), Kenny Williams instead decided Mark Kotsay was awesome (he is not) and that the DH should exist for the alternative purposes of resting the fielders (some of whom -- specifically Quentin -- should not be playing defense in the firse place). Comically enough, Ozzie Guillen blames Thome for no longer being a White Sox. Quote Guillen:
The White Sox, after tonight's win against Cleveland, sit four games behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central Standings. Jim Thome, who makes a measly $1.5 million this season, has accrued +2.4 WAR for the Twins while Mark Kotsay, who has the exact same salary as Thome this season, has produced -0.6 WAR for the White Sox.
In a vacuum, a re-signing of Thome by the White Sox would give the South Siders a +3.0 WAR swing in the AL Central Standings. Note, however, that Thome has only accrued 279 PA this season while splitting DH duties with Jason Kubel. Of course, Thome's been platooned, which may exaggerate his bottom line, but any potential non-platoon "regression" would surely be offset by the additional playing time he would have seen with the White Sox. Let's just leave the WAR at +2.4 and call it even.
The White Sox do not play in a vacuum, however. Thome, in not re-signing with the White Sox, signed a deal with the Twins. Hence, in a Thome-on-the-Sox-over-Kotsay theoretical situation, you have to not only add +3.0 WAR to the White Sox 2010 win total, but also subtract 2.4 WAR from the Twins' 2010 win total. That turns a 4.0 game lead by the Twins in the AL Central into a 1.5 game lead by the White Sox.
Still think it is OK to be sarcastic, Ozzie? It gets worse.
Not only are the White Sox sitting 4.0 games behind the Twins in the AL Central standings, but they have found themselves ultimately in need of a hitting DH (turns out burning Mark Kotsay's bat was not enough of a move at the July trade deadline. Maybe the White Sox should have tried burning Kotsay's contract (and Mark Teahen's, while they were at it) instead).
Unable to procure either Adam Dunn or Lance Berkman, the White Sox claimed Manny Ramirez from the Dodgers in exchange for salary relief. Without question, the Manny move is an upgrade for the White Sox. Whereas Manny is projected by ZiPS to hit .290/.398/.533 (.399 wOBA) for the rest of the season, Kotsay was only pegged to hit .244/.313/.384 (.305 wOBA) down the stretch. Dave Cameron sees this difference as worth around +1.0 WAR for the White Sox. Unfortunately for the White Sox, however, they are four games behind the Twins (thus, they have three more wins to make up somehow) and Thome has a wOBA of .413 on the season (with a projected wOBA of .370 down the stretch).
Per MLB Trade Rumors, 31 games of "salary relief" means $3.8 million. That figure is more than 2.5 times what Thome will make all season and almost $1 million more than Kotsay and Thome's salaries combined.
Then, of course, you need to consider that Manny is Manny and you never know quite what you are going to get with him. He might try and get pregnant again or invoke his alleged "do not play" clause during day games. In another chapter in the "Manny Being Manny" saga, Manny took the early flight to Cleveland from L.A. this morning and was at Progressive Field in time to play ball, but did not in the White Sox starting lineup. Manny told reporters that he felt like he was 25 again, but he could not play because, as TBO speculates, he woke up to early that day. Ozzie Guillen's comments after the game seem to confirm this speculation.
To summarize, the White Sox are not in first place this year because they decided that subpar offensive production from the DH position was acceptable so long as they could rest Alex Rios' and Juan Pierre's knees every so often and find a way to work Mark Kotsay's mighty bat into the lineup. Had the White Sox just not give Kotsay a bat to burn to begin with, the Sox would be at least a half game closer in the AL Central Standings. Because the White Sox gave Kotsay said bat, they are now paying 2.5 times the money it would have cost them to keep Thome all season for just 31 games (scratch that, 30 games, as Manny did not play Tuesday) of Mannywood. Talk about "fail."
I wonder if the White Sox will sell re-branded Manny dreadlock caps left over from his time in L.A.
Jim Thome made the decision to leave to the Dodgers," Guillen said initially about the August 2009 deal. "He made that decision to himself, all right.Though Ozzie Guillen has sarcastically accepted the blame for the Thome non-signing, he and G.M. Kenny Williams owe a genuine apology to White Sox fans. Here is why.
The White Sox, after tonight's win against Cleveland, sit four games behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central Standings. Jim Thome, who makes a measly $1.5 million this season, has accrued +2.4 WAR for the Twins while Mark Kotsay, who has the exact same salary as Thome this season, has produced -0.6 WAR for the White Sox.
In a vacuum, a re-signing of Thome by the White Sox would give the South Siders a +3.0 WAR swing in the AL Central Standings. Note, however, that Thome has only accrued 279 PA this season while splitting DH duties with Jason Kubel. Of course, Thome's been platooned, which may exaggerate his bottom line, but any potential non-platoon "regression" would surely be offset by the additional playing time he would have seen with the White Sox. Let's just leave the WAR at +2.4 and call it even.
The White Sox do not play in a vacuum, however. Thome, in not re-signing with the White Sox, signed a deal with the Twins. Hence, in a Thome-on-the-Sox-over-Kotsay theoretical situation, you have to not only add +3.0 WAR to the White Sox 2010 win total, but also subtract 2.4 WAR from the Twins' 2010 win total. That turns a 4.0 game lead by the Twins in the AL Central into a 1.5 game lead by the White Sox.
Still think it is OK to be sarcastic, Ozzie? It gets worse.
Not only are the White Sox sitting 4.0 games behind the Twins in the AL Central standings, but they have found themselves ultimately in need of a hitting DH (turns out burning Mark Kotsay's bat was not enough of a move at the July trade deadline. Maybe the White Sox should have tried burning Kotsay's contract (and Mark Teahen's, while they were at it) instead).
Unable to procure either Adam Dunn or Lance Berkman, the White Sox claimed Manny Ramirez from the Dodgers in exchange for salary relief. Without question, the Manny move is an upgrade for the White Sox. Whereas Manny is projected by ZiPS to hit .290/.398/.533 (.399 wOBA) for the rest of the season, Kotsay was only pegged to hit .244/.313/.384 (.305 wOBA) down the stretch. Dave Cameron sees this difference as worth around +1.0 WAR for the White Sox. Unfortunately for the White Sox, however, they are four games behind the Twins (thus, they have three more wins to make up somehow) and Thome has a wOBA of .413 on the season (with a projected wOBA of .370 down the stretch).
Per MLB Trade Rumors, 31 games of "salary relief" means $3.8 million. That figure is more than 2.5 times what Thome will make all season and almost $1 million more than Kotsay and Thome's salaries combined.
Then, of course, you need to consider that Manny is Manny and you never know quite what you are going to get with him. He might try and get pregnant again or invoke his alleged "do not play" clause during day games. In another chapter in the "Manny Being Manny" saga, Manny took the early flight to Cleveland from L.A. this morning and was at Progressive Field in time to play ball, but did not in the White Sox starting lineup. Manny told reporters that he felt like he was 25 again, but he could not play because, as TBO speculates, he woke up to early that day. Ozzie Guillen's comments after the game seem to confirm this speculation.
To summarize, the White Sox are not in first place this year because they decided that subpar offensive production from the DH position was acceptable so long as they could rest Alex Rios' and Juan Pierre's knees every so often and find a way to work Mark Kotsay's mighty bat into the lineup. Had the White Sox just not give Kotsay a bat to burn to begin with, the Sox would be at least a half game closer in the AL Central Standings. Because the White Sox gave Kotsay said bat, they are now paying 2.5 times the money it would have cost them to keep Thome all season for just 31 games (scratch that, 30 games, as Manny did not play Tuesday) of Mannywood. Talk about "fail."
I wonder if the White Sox will sell re-branded Manny dreadlock caps left over from his time in L.A.
Manny being Manny
After being hit on the wrist by Homer Bailey the night before, Manny was scratched from last night's lineup as a precautionary measure. And yet, he managed to hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth inning -- on Manny Bobblehead giveaway night of all nights (check out Manny's opinions on the bobblehead here).
Classic Manny being Manny, right? Not just the comments with regards to his bobblehead, but also his incredible clutchiness. Last night marked the 22nd Grand Slam of Manny's career, 2nd all-time behind Lou Gehrig (23) on the career leader board. Only a handful of right-handed hitters -- Albert Pujols, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Roger Hornsby -- come to mind as being in Ramirez's class of talent. Only nine hitters in the history of baseball have a career OPS above 1.000; Pujols and Ramirez are the only two active players on that list and while Pujols is utterly great, he is still in the prime of his career and nowhere near the "decline" phase, while Manny is more likely than not facing the final contacts of his illustrious career. Sustaining those kind of numbers over 17 seasons is no easy feat (not even Todd Helton, whose played at Coors Field, much pre-humidor, his entire career can rival Ramirez's numbers).
In 174 ABs this season, Ramirez has a triple slash line of .348/.475/.681 (1.155 OPS) with 11 HR, 32 R, 37 RBI and 33 BB. Last year with the Dodgers, Ramirez hit .396/.489/..743 (1.232 OPS) with 36 R, 53 RBI, 17 HR in 222 PAs. Pretty consistent, no? At 37, Ramirez has shown no signs of slowing down (perhaps because of steroids) due to age.
You may think his outrageous 2009 numbers are bound to regress, but a lot of signs indicate otherwise. Take a look:
Classic Manny being Manny, right? Not just the comments with regards to his bobblehead, but also his incredible clutchiness. Last night marked the 22nd Grand Slam of Manny's career, 2nd all-time behind Lou Gehrig (23) on the career leader board. Only a handful of right-handed hitters -- Albert Pujols, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Roger Hornsby -- come to mind as being in Ramirez's class of talent. Only nine hitters in the history of baseball have a career OPS above 1.000; Pujols and Ramirez are the only two active players on that list and while Pujols is utterly great, he is still in the prime of his career and nowhere near the "decline" phase, while Manny is more likely than not facing the final contacts of his illustrious career. Sustaining those kind of numbers over 17 seasons is no easy feat (not even Todd Helton, whose played at Coors Field, much pre-humidor, his entire career can rival Ramirez's numbers).
In 174 ABs this season, Ramirez has a triple slash line of .348/.475/.681 (1.155 OPS) with 11 HR, 32 R, 37 RBI and 33 BB. Last year with the Dodgers, Ramirez hit .396/.489/..743 (1.232 OPS) with 36 R, 53 RBI, 17 HR in 222 PAs. Pretty consistent, no? At 37, Ramirez has shown no signs of slowing down (perhaps because of steroids) due to age.
You may think his outrageous 2009 numbers are bound to regress, but a lot of signs indicate otherwise. Take a look:
- Manny has a career 22.5 LD%; this season, his LD% is 22.8%. A rough xBABIP metric is .120+LD%. Thus, a player with a .225 LD rate would likely have a .345 BABIP.
- Speaking of BABIP, Manny's career BABIP and speed score are respectively .345 and 3.0. This season, those numbers respectively clock in at .369 and 2.6, again, respectively.
- Manny's has a career .270 ISO (despite a horrible season in 2007, where he posted a .199 ISO over 569 PAs [6.2% of his career]); this season, that figure sits at .314.
- Manny's career HR/FB rate is 21.9%; this season, Manny is hitting more FBs than last year and is sporting a 21.3% HR/FB rate.
- Manny's HRs this season average 410.5 FT in distance; the league average home run this season is under 400 FT in distance.
- Manny's K rate is down almost 2.6 points (11.8%) this season against his career rate.
Should Manny Be An All-Star?
If the fans vote him in- ABSOLUTELY
This argument is just absurd. The rules clearly state that if a player gets voted in, he will start. Manny's suspension ends BEFORE the All-Star break which means he will be playing regular season games before the All-Star game. He will play in regular season games before and after his suspension. He has played in regular season games before the fans started voting for him. Therefore, he if the fans vote him in, he should play.
Now, does he deserve to go?- absolutely not. He has played in so few games to be considered valuable and have a large enough sample size for his stats to really count. There are many other OF that are more deserving than Manny and Manny really has no business at the 2009 All Star game. The only way Manny should and will play, is if he gets voted in.
Many times I take an opinion on a side and respect the other side. But in this instance, if you believe that Manny shouldn't play, even if he gets voted in, you are flat out wrong. There is no other side and this is not even a debate.
This argument is just absurd. The rules clearly state that if a player gets voted in, he will start. Manny's suspension ends BEFORE the All-Star break which means he will be playing regular season games before the All-Star game. He will play in regular season games before and after his suspension. He has played in regular season games before the fans started voting for him. Therefore, he if the fans vote him in, he should play.
Now, does he deserve to go?- absolutely not. He has played in so few games to be considered valuable and have a large enough sample size for his stats to really count. There are many other OF that are more deserving than Manny and Manny really has no business at the 2009 All Star game. The only way Manny should and will play, is if he gets voted in.
Many times I take an opinion on a side and respect the other side. But in this instance, if you believe that Manny shouldn't play, even if he gets voted in, you are flat out wrong. There is no other side and this is not even a debate.
Who needs Manny?
Last season, Andre Ethier claimed that Manny as lineup protection enabled him to see better pitches. The unquestionable demi-gods over at Baseball Prospectus claim otherwise. If the Dodgers do the smart thing and put Kemp in the batting order where he belongs (certainly not #7 in the order, behind Russell "most overrated catcher ever" Martin and James "overrated piece of shit who wishes he was Derrek Lee and proved so by hitting into 25 GIDP last season" Loney), their offense should be fine. If you don't believe me, compare the runs created projection (using Juan Pierre's 2008 batting line) with an efficient post-Manny lineup (5.05 runs per game) compared to the Dodger's Manny-infused lineup (5.65 runs per game). Sure, the team loses about one-half a run per game without Manny's power/on base in the offensive picture, but that can easily be compensated if you expect James Loney and Russell Martin to each slug above .310 this season and more efficiently organize the lineup card.
Funny Fact: The Dodgers batted Juan Pierre 9th last night, behind the pitcher Randy Wolf. According to ESPN, Juan Pierre has batted in the 9th spot more than any other player on the team, including everyone on the pitching staff.
Funny Fact: The Dodgers batted Juan Pierre 9th last night, behind the pitcher Randy Wolf. According to ESPN, Juan Pierre has batted in the 9th spot more than any other player on the team, including everyone on the pitching staff.
In Defense Of Steroids: Manny Ramirez Edition
You can read my original post defending steroid usage in baseball here
Now if anyone had turned on their T.V. in the past few hours, I'm sure they are well aware that one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Manny Ramirez, has tested positive for steroids. Now I was all for giving players a free pass in the court of public opinion if you used steroids before 2003. I understand that EVERYBODY seemingly was doing it and if all these people around you are doing something, it's extremely hard for you to resist temptation. Again, I don't excuse their actions 100%, but I can see where their coming from. If parents don't tell their middle schooler or high schooler about the dangers of underage drinking and drug usage, then you shouldn't get mad when they get arrested one night with a DUI. Same thing here. These players weren't warned about the dangers of what they were doing and saw no negative consequences for their action until years later.
But those consequences did come. A handful of sluggers linked to steroids were summoned to Congress to testify. They vehemently denied all allegation. After that, the public never forgave those athletes for what they had done. This materialized in the fact that Mark McGuire has never come close to becoming a Hall of Famer. So after that, why do players still use steroids. Braves prospect Jordan Schaffer used steroids in the minor leagues last year, but he did it to earn a spot on a major league roster. But Manny Ramirez? The guy was great all throughout his career. Even if he did use steroids to put up all those good numbers, it's silly to continue usage.
Manny just signed a two year deal with the Dodgers. A big factor Manny signed in LA was because, really, no other team wanted him. Manny put up great numbers in the past two months of baseball to warrant big contracts from clubs. But no other teams would bite. So when Manny did sign a two year deal, and probably would have ended his career soon after that. So why still use steroids? Even if he sucks the next two years, it wouldn't matter but I can't imagine him going to another team anyway (at least not for the money he wanted) and he still would get his money no matter his performance. A-Rod can sort of cop out and use the expectation/ big contract card, but Manny can't (although granted he hasn't). Frankly, after the steroid policy is baseball was set in place, I can not excuse anyone, especially Manny's actions.
Now I still contend Manny should be in the Hall of Fame. Even if he used steroids his entire career in the MLB, he still had great plate recognition and a great swing. And although he might not have hit as many HRs as he did, he still would have had a shit ton under his belt. Not only that, but I'm sure the vast majority if pitchers were juicing too. If a juiced hitter hits a HR off of a juiced pitcher, isn't that still the same and if neither did steroids? Now I know I'm going to unfortunately have to hear a lot about this on ESPN over the next couples weeks (hell if ManRam's contract negotiations lasted months, I can't imagine where this is going...), but please ESPN, for the love of Jesus, stop promogulating steroid usage!!!
Now if anyone had turned on their T.V. in the past few hours, I'm sure they are well aware that one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Manny Ramirez, has tested positive for steroids. Now I was all for giving players a free pass in the court of public opinion if you used steroids before 2003. I understand that EVERYBODY seemingly was doing it and if all these people around you are doing something, it's extremely hard for you to resist temptation. Again, I don't excuse their actions 100%, but I can see where their coming from. If parents don't tell their middle schooler or high schooler about the dangers of underage drinking and drug usage, then you shouldn't get mad when they get arrested one night with a DUI. Same thing here. These players weren't warned about the dangers of what they were doing and saw no negative consequences for their action until years later.
But those consequences did come. A handful of sluggers linked to steroids were summoned to Congress to testify. They vehemently denied all allegation. After that, the public never forgave those athletes for what they had done. This materialized in the fact that Mark McGuire has never come close to becoming a Hall of Famer. So after that, why do players still use steroids. Braves prospect Jordan Schaffer used steroids in the minor leagues last year, but he did it to earn a spot on a major league roster. But Manny Ramirez? The guy was great all throughout his career. Even if he did use steroids to put up all those good numbers, it's silly to continue usage.
Manny just signed a two year deal with the Dodgers. A big factor Manny signed in LA was because, really, no other team wanted him. Manny put up great numbers in the past two months of baseball to warrant big contracts from clubs. But no other teams would bite. So when Manny did sign a two year deal, and probably would have ended his career soon after that. So why still use steroids? Even if he sucks the next two years, it wouldn't matter but I can't imagine him going to another team anyway (at least not for the money he wanted) and he still would get his money no matter his performance. A-Rod can sort of cop out and use the expectation/ big contract card, but Manny can't (although granted he hasn't). Frankly, after the steroid policy is baseball was set in place, I can not excuse anyone, especially Manny's actions.
Now I still contend Manny should be in the Hall of Fame. Even if he used steroids his entire career in the MLB, he still had great plate recognition and a great swing. And although he might not have hit as many HRs as he did, he still would have had a shit ton under his belt. Not only that, but I'm sure the vast majority if pitchers were juicing too. If a juiced hitter hits a HR off of a juiced pitcher, isn't that still the same and if neither did steroids? Now I know I'm going to unfortunately have to hear a lot about this on ESPN over the next couples weeks (hell if ManRam's contract negotiations lasted months, I can't imagine where this is going...), but please ESPN, for the love of Jesus, stop promogulating steroid usage!!!
Manny Ramirez Suspended 50 Games For Drug Policy Violation
Manny was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for performance enhancing substances.
Quote Manny:
:(
Quote Manny:
“Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me,” Ramirez said in a statement issued by the players’ union.There goes my and I'm sure many of your fantasy leagues. Good luck next year (especially if you started Bronson Arroyo last night).
Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.”
:(
