Reddy

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 05:17 PM) With the pen he had last year, I can hardly fault him for wanting to use Chris Sale in that situation. yup. decisions don't exist in a vacuum.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 04:25 PM) The one problem with this, and I am a Robin fan, is it does favor managers that don't really have guys who are established. In other words, Robertson is going to have a much longer hook if he all of a sudden sucks this year. Duke is going to have to suck longer than the guys last year before losing his role. It's easier to yank a Belisario than a $14 million a year Robertson. But the numbers do suggest all the complaining about Robin and the bullpen last year was silly. He did what he could. Sometimes you actually have to have guys who can get outs on the mound. For once, we agree completely. That's why this year will be much more interesting, and a better true indicator of his skill as a manager.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 02:59 PM) Thanks. The graphs makes sense. I guess my beef would be he stuck with guys way too long as the graph shows. Maybe so. But the point is that he did better than any other manager in baseball in this regard last year. So if you're going to be critical of his bullpen management that's fine, but there was truly no better alternative in 2014. He was the best. The jury's out on these metrics over a long period of time - no one's done that analysis yet - but my whole thing is that I'd prefer to give RV the benefit of the doubt since 1) he's actually been much better than he's gotten credit for and 2) that he's yet to have a good team to manage. That changes this year. I'm very interested to see what he does with a good team. I don't think he deserves a 20th ranking, given his bullpen management was better than everyone else's, and that's a huge percentage of the job.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 03:32 PM) None of them will top Miracle (that's Disney, right?) but I still think this one looks promising. I still like Remember the Titans the best

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 02:25 PM) Anyone planning on seeing the running movie? McFarland or whatever? I'm a bit tired of disney underdog sports movies...

to compare, Buck Showalter (considered a great manager - especially last year), was trash with bullpen management. He used Evan Meek as if he were a top-tier reliever almost all season long, based purely on a solid spring training, even though he was the WORST reliever on the O's. It took Showalter almost 2/3 of the season to realize it. Yikes.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 01:56 PM) Please do explain, including the X and Y values. X axis is 27-game blocks, so 1 is thru 27 games, 2 is thru 54, etc, up through 162 games. Y axis is leverage of the situation when the player is put into the game. At the beginning of the season, Belly wasn't the closer, became the closer (so he goes up on the graph - higher leverage) because he was pitching well, then as he sucked, he was removed from those high lev positions as Petricka gained ground. Essentially, all of the lines on the graph coincide with that pitchers' performance last year. As they did better, or worse, they were put in higher or lower leverage situations respectively. If you don't trust that I'm just telling you what the article says, I guess you could look through the splits for each of those pitchers and compare the splits to the graph, but I can save you the time and tell you that it matches pretty damn closely. Again, it doesn't matter whether you were critical during or after the season, or both, because you'd actually be statistically wrong regardless.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 11:39 AM) I will happily take this but at this point I'd have to say the Pads take the cake. Too bad they play in a stadium that makes baseball as interesting as cricket. The Pads, to me, equal the Marlins or Blue Jays of the last few years. Buy everyone on the market, trade for all the over-the-hill big names, and watch em blow up.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 02:35 PM) If I could see the data perhaps I'd change my tune. But from the quote you used that indicated 20/20 hindsight (aka season ending) I was critical all season long. I do not think he did what was best even though what he has was pretty much a load of trash. Would you like me to explain this graphic or do you understand what it shows? EDIT: Oh, and before you get off on the title of the graph, it's the name of the article, in which RV and the Sox are the "good example" of bullpen management, compared to Fredi Gonzalez's terrible management of the bullpen.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 02:27 PM) The analysis that I can't see???? ahhh I see, I misinterpreted your last post. It's subscriber only, huh? Ok well essentially the data shows that Robin was exceptionally good at riding the hot hand, playing his (crappy) relievers in the best spots to maximize their success, and didn't simply play the guys with the highest salaries and track records. (Belly + Lindstrom) A lot of managers fall into that trap - you just don't watch their games as religiously as the Sox. Given your position on riding hot hitters, you should applaud RV for his bullpen use of riding the hot pitchers, and instead of continuing to ride someone when they're playing poorly because of their track record, he made changes when needed.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 02:23 PM) I can't read it all, but that said I was critical during the season, not just post. it doesn't matter when you were critical, the statistical analysis says you were wrong, and the RV was one of the best in the league at managing his bullpen.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 02:23 PM) And on the converse side, I don't care who is hot in front of him, or how cold he isn't, I wouldn't have missed a chance to put Ron Kittle out there against Bert Blyleven. absolutely

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 02:18 PM) Take a guy like Paul Konerko. I don't care how hot he was, I wouldn't send him out there against Tim Wakefield. Not only couldn't he hit the guy, it seems like every time he tried, he ended up in a two week slump afterwards. That's the kicker. Why would you put your hot hitter in against someone he struggles against? Why would you want to ruin the rhythm or confidence he's currently riding by an 0-4 game?

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 09:41 AM) Nothing super specific comes to mind. His handling of pitchers in game was pretty awful. He seemed to never really have a handle on that with that. He's also be prone to taking a hot guy out of the lineup because that guy wasn't a regular. I'm hoping he improves a ton this year. We'll see. I'm glad you said that, because actually, his bullpen management has been some of the best in all of baseball To see the actual statistical facts, check out the article. RV did as well as he could've last year with the bullpen we had. Perfect Hindsight and Bullpen Management - Baseball Prospectus

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 16, 2015 -> 09:22 AM) I'd not have Robin ranked as high as he is. I'd also rank Sandberg ahead of him quite easily. I'd love to have a replacement for him ASAP. If we start out like 2-6 please Jerry, can him and bring in somebody to manage the club. We have a shot this year. Question Can you be specific about what you think Robin does poorly?

QUOTE (woods of ypres @ Feb 16, 2015 -> 01:42 PM) I posted with Brett on a different forum. This is all your going to get out of him. If you prove him wrong, he'll just reply with "sigh". Ooooh I'm gonna start gunning for that "sigh" #newlifegoal

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 05:08 PM) ??? The jury's still out. Collapse in 2012, but the Tigers had the better team. Borderline lost the team in 2013, then kept them competitive for most of last season. He could be rated anywhere from 16th-27th and most fans wouldn't have a strong opinion on it either way. He hasn't had a single GOOD team in his tenure here.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 04:31 PM) I can honestly say I'm not a big fan of Ventura at all. Think he's ranked a bit high but this year will really show his true ability, IMO. I will truly never understand this.

Wrong /post padding

Haha so... uhhh... My flight home to NYC from Charlotte was canceled, but I actually ALSO had a flight to LA booked for today that was booked by my job back when I was dating a girl in LA and was going to go see her after this gig. When we broke up, I bought this new flight. So... I... Well. I'm using that flight to LA and I'm going to be staying with my ex for two days before flying home after the storm on miles. My original flight was refunded, so it's a net win. And I get Valentines Day Ex Sex. Talk about an unEXpected win!

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 14, 2015 -> 11:56 AM) That's like having a wet dream of the girl who would be coveted if she lost 25 pounds... I am not ripping you though, this is interesting.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 14, 2015 -> 12:21 PM) reminds me of that baseball movie, with J Beal, Freddie Prince Jr, where the cf'er has a thing for a certain type of ladies and stood up and proclaimed it at a bar. i remember it for Beals in a bikini in the beginning and what a magnificent but she has...... Biel, Prinze, butt. I'd fify but I'm lazy.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 14, 2015 -> 12:03 PM) i really don't trust reviews to be an index of watching movies. but it does seem to have a great potential to be a very good movie. Roger Moore James Bond camp meets Kick-Ass, meets Quentin Tarantino, with a bad guy played by Samuel L Jackson who lisps heavily and is terrified of blood. It's perfect. Haha

Kingsman! Holy lord was that some good s***.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 04:58 PM) Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 4h4 hours ago White Sox will have 64 players in big league camp at outset 65 if you include Cole Hamels. They won't have to trade anyone for him. That's the best part.