How can an actual MLB manager continue to justify playing time for Mar

[Balta1701]

You read my mind. I was just thinking the same thing. I think it's basically the decline of newspapers. Because of budget cuts, nobody has a "controversial" columnist anymore, one who would just attack the situation and harp on it every single day. The TV guys don't have a forum, really, their sportscasts are too short. That would leave Stoney to tell the truth on it or Darrin Jackson and they can't do that for obvious reasons

Somebody should at least write a feature story on Kotsay, however, and get different takes on his suckiness. I dont read the papers online every day; has anybody written a Kotsay piece lately? Or one on what the Sox are going to do when Teahen comes back at least?

Unless this is just a soxtalk phenonemon, it would be worth the media discussing it.

I dunno about the "lack of controversial columnists" angle. Seems like there have been plenty of controversial sports media personalities in Chicago over the last few years...the problem I see is that the most notorious of them flat out sucked at life.

[ThunderBolt]

The answer is that Ozzie isn't your average baseball manager. He's a leader of men who chooses men he can lead, regardless of whether they're good or bad at baseball. Ozzie puts some of the worst lineups ever constructed out on the field, strategy is not his forte.

[Milkman delivers]

I almost regret posting what I just did about Kotsay's xBABIP and his new projected numbers.

 

You know somebody's just going to put that to use in a bad way...

 

First thing I thought was "Why did he even bother to do that?"

[ThunderBolt]

First thing I thought was "Why did he even bother to do that?"

That was a lot of work just to say, "Yeah, the guy really does suck." It's still good research though.

Edited August 4, 2010 by Thunderbolt

[Milkman delivers]

I'm so sick of hearing these excuses about Sox players who are underachievers. No one is ever held resonsible for anything in this organization. Whe a hitter struggles, it's either mental issues or they're too valuable to get released.

 

And it sucks.

[iamshack]

It doesn't seem like the media has taken Ozzie to task on his (over)use of Kotsay whatsoever. Why is that?

You know why? Because our baseball media guys have always been about 15 years behind the times. They don't even realize how bad he is because they probably don't even look at statistics. They've always just deferred to whatever the manager says or the GM says and that is that.

 

If Ozzie says Mark is a good ballplayer, then Phil Rogers writes that he is just unlucky. Cowley will tweet some smartass joke about it, but he'll never outwardly question Ozzie with actual numbers.

 

I don't know why one of the media outlets can't just hire one sharp kid who understands at least some advanced metrics and can present a reasonably intelligent case to the fans of this City.

[chw42]

That was a lot of work just to say, "Yeah, the guy really does suck." It's still good research though.

 

I made a mistake, I'm trying to incorporate this whole projection system into one application and I did something wrong with the home runs.

 

But it appears that he's really supposed to hit .258 with a .339 OBP.

 

And it turns out his new OPS that is corrected is actually .732.

 

So he's even crappier.

Edited August 4, 2010 by chw42

[Balta1701]

I don't know why one of the media outlets can't just hire one sharp kid who understands at least some advanced metrics and can present a reasonably intelligent case to the fans of this City.

There's this blogger over at Soxnet.net who seems ok at it...

[iamshack]

There's this blogger over at Soxnet.net who seems ok at it...

I wish he would use a different shade of green so I don't have to strain to read his "sarcasm."

[Balta1701]

I wish he would use a different shade of green so I don't have to strain to read his "sarcasm."

The other shade of green we have really doesn't look green to him.

[iamshack]

The other shade of green we have really doesn't look green to him.

Much better.

 

I didn't know he was colorblind.

[MattZakrowski]

With my newly programmed xBABIP calculator

 

Sharing is caring. Just saying...

[chw42]

Sharing is caring. Just saying...

 

It's not a standalone app yet.

 

I'm working on it, it'll calculate an expected BABIP and then based off that, it will spit out a expected AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS.

 

Maybe I'll port this onto C and make an .exe when I have time.

 

FWIW, it is only good for certain types of players, like guys who have really low BABIPs.

Edited August 4, 2010 by chw42

[Jordan4life_2007]

It's not a standalone app yet.

 

I'm working on it, it'll calculate an expected BABIP and then based off that, it will spit out a expected AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS.

 

Maybe I'll port this onto C and make an .exe when I have time.

 

FWIW, it is only good for certain types of players, like guys who have really low BABIPs.

 

Are you a member at fangraphs? If not you should be.

[chw42]

Are you a member at fangraphs? If not you should be.

 

Yes I'm a registered member.

[LittleHurt05]

Kotsay had an OPS of .384 in April and .504 in July. Freddy Garcia has a career OPS of .434. Just sayin.

[chw42]

Kotsay had an OPS of .384 in April and .504 in July. Freddy Garcia has a career OPS of .434. Just sayin.

 

 

Such a joke he is.

 

Apparently, Carlos Quentin would have a .937 OPS if he wasn't unlucky like Mr. Kotsay, according to my "What IF?" calculator.

 

I don't see people complaining about Quentin being "unlucky".

Edited August 4, 2010 by chw42

[knightni]

It's not that there has to be a whipping boy. If there were no crappy players on this team, nobody would be complaining. We'd all be happy happy joy joy and I think almost everybody would want that.

 

I don't know how you can't complain about Mark Kotsay. He sucks at hitting and he's is DHing the most games on this team.

 

Chris Rongey brought this point up on the post game show, how there always seems to be one guy the Sox fans hate...well...let's run down this list.

 

2010 Mark Kotsay

2009 Dewayne Wise

2008 Javier Vazquez

2007 Darin Erstad

2006 Rob Mackowiak

 

3, if not 4, of the past 5 most hated people on this team are terrible baseball players. Kotsay is a even worse version of Darin Erstad. Ozzie keeps running this guy out there even though he hasn't proven he could hit in the past 4 months.

 

Don't blame the fans for pointing weaknesses out, blame the players for not performing and blame Ozzie for trotting him out there.

 

 

He probably read my thread.

[Balta1701]

 

Such a joke he is.

 

Apparently, Carlos Quentin would have a .937 OPS if he wasn't unlucky like Mr. Kotsay, according to my "What IF?" calculator.

 

I don't see people complaining about Quentin being "unlucky".

That is starting to tell me that there isn't really a whole lot to this improving numbers from luck thing. If you asked me who had hit more balls hard that hadn't been hits, I'd have actually said Kotsay. When Quentin hits the ball hard, he gets hit. I can say Kotsay's hit it to the track a few times, but some of that is just that he isn't strong enough to hit it out. Quentin hits it out when he hits it hard.

 

Edit: for example, Carlos just hit a ball that I think cleared a full section of about 25 rows of people in the LF at Comerica.

[caulfield12]

Maybe it's the American Idol problem.

 

Really big celebrities don't feel comfortable criticizing because they might get booed or criticized themselves for being critical.

 

OTOH, you feel your position is a bit more tenuous if you're in Rongey's job...part of it is simply you're forced into a position where you're "representing" the organizational viewpoint because of the nature of criticism in the post-game shows is quite over the top.

 

In all honesty, it's a pretty cool job that 98% of Sox fans would love...and I'm sure were I in that position, I would do everything I could to protect it, too. It's just human nature. I remember looking back at the tape of a broadcast I did (color) of our minor league team and I actually said "we pride ourselves on our concecessions."

 

When you're pretty close to the team and the players, it becomes very difficult to be objective. You have the choice to go the Stone and Skip Caray route and be out there with your criticism, or you protect your relationships at all costs and always "have their backs." The clubhouse is a close-knit community...it's even harder to get respect if you don't have a background as a former MLB player, at least a minor leaguer. I've seen quite a few people who didn't know where to draw the line because they wanted to feel like they were "part of the team," where it's almost that "in the bunker" mentality of taking it personally when your "friends" are being criticized, especially when you perceive it to be unfair or overly biased.

 

In the end, it's easier to be "loved" than feared, so to speak. Writers like Cowley and Mariotti have gone out of there way to be critical, and it has resulted in a cut off in access or makes it much harder to do their jobs. Someone like Gonzales, who's with the team everyday, it's very very rare that he would be the type to write a negative/hit job on Mark Kotsay. Rogers can be more critical as a baseball writer and not a beat writer, but he's not as respected because he really doesn't have a finger on the pulse of the organization.

 

Maybe it's because Brian Anderson (2006) and Beckham (2010) were cockier, and their situations were each quite different from Kotsay's, but I think it's just harder for a writer to blast someone who's failing...rather than simply underachieving. Everyone can see that it's the end of Mark's career, and he would be DFA'ed by 25 teams, it's just that he has played a role with our team, we're in first place, so the perception is that it would be cruel or heartless not to let him stay with the team...the closest thing I can remember is the controversy over Josh Paul/Chad Bradford sticking over Mark Johnson in the 2000 post-season.

 

And I don't remember much being written about Wise, Erstad and Mackowiak either...it was obvious they were being overexposed or not the correct fits for how Ozzie was trying to use them. If nothing else, it was more of an instigation to look at possible controversies between KW and Ozzie, as we've seen the ongoing DH discussion for seemingly a year now, yet no solution in sight.

 

Finally, I think many of the players/clubhouse people look at all the SABR and Roto League stuff, anything but the most basic statistics (now including OPS) with a bit of disdain...it's like the age old argument in Moneyball between Grady Fuson and Beane's lieutenants. I used to really be a "stats geek" and it's funny, the older I get, the more I rely on observation with baseball and the more I resist being told I'm wrong about a player because of their UZR number or something a bit esoterically-derived (although I certainly can understand the desire to quantify defense).

Edited August 5, 2010 by caulfield12

[Balta1701]

And I don't remember much being written about Wise, Erstad and Mackowiak either...it was obvious they were being overexposed or not the correct fits for how Ozzie was trying to use them. If nothing else, it was more of an instigation to look at possible controversies between KW and Ozzie, as we've seen the ongoing DH discussion for seemingly a year now, yet no solution in sight.

I remember more than 1 article written about how bad Mack was in CF...there was a reason why the press asked him about whether he was comfortable in CF and he gave that answer about how he wasn't comfortable out there.

 

Wise was so out of place that the fans were booing him in the 2nd home game of the season or something like that. The press couldn't ignore that the leadoff guy was being booed before april 7.

[justBLAZE]

With Mark Teahen getting close to a return to the major-league roster the White Sox are faced with a decision. Do they demote Brent Lillibridge or Dayan Viciedo to make room for Teahen?

 

For being such young players, both Lillibridge and Viciedo have been surprisingly effective coming off the bench. Lillibridge gives the White Sox coverage at second base, though, making a Viciedo demotion the most likely.

Manager Ozzie Guillen was asked that with Mark Kotsay still in the midst of some back luck and a .214 batting average entering play Wednesday, if Viciedo might get some time at DH.

 

“I kind of worry I don’t want to overexpose this kid and we are winning,” Guillen said. “It would be different if we were desperate to look for something. Every time Viciedo is at the plate, he’s very dangerous. I think this guy has a chance to be a good one. In the meanwhile, we are going to pick spots for him to play.”

 

A roster with Teahen and Omar Vizquel playing at third base could mean even less playing time for Viciedo, especially if Guillen doesn’t want to overexpose his young slugger as a DH.

 

Teahen saw his first action in the field Tuesday on his rehab assignment. He played five innings and got one chance on defense.

 

 

From ESPN

 

I'm feeling sick to my stomach

Edited August 5, 2010 by justBLAZE

[knightni]

Ozzie does hate rookies.

[ThunderBolt]

From ESPN

 

I'm feeling sick to my stomach

Sutcliffe says that Kotsay controls the clubhouse. I imagine that means he has blackmail on all of them.

[Wanne]

Sutcliffe says that Kotsay controls the clubhouse. I imagine that means he has blackmail on all of them.

 

He probably shares naked pictures of his wife...