Yanks Sign Bartolo Colon: Is it me, or is it Getting Really Fat in Here?

Unable to add significant money to their payroll after being spurned by Cliff Lee, the Yankees have decided to add significant weight to their roster, first by signing the David Copperfield of burrito eating, and now announcing a minor league deal for pitcher Bartolo Colon. Colon, a 37 year-old who hasn't played in the majors since 2009, will make $900,000 if he makes the major league roster out of spring training.

The Yankees Latest Off-Season Acquisitions

Yeah, I get that it's low-risk, but for the Yankees anything less than $10 million annually is low-risk. Not too mention if you're going to go low-risk, generally you do so with the caveat they're also "high reward." Colon is not high reward, he's high risk of heart disease.

How slimming can pinstripes be?

When you knee yourself in the gut with every pitch, it's time to try a carrot

Out of Baseball for nearly 2 years, Bartolo found another profession that suited him
(I like when Google image searches yield results like this)

So the underwhelming Yankee off-season continues and it's fair to say that if Andy Pettitte doesn't come back this rotation could be a real train wreck. I'm looking at you, A.J. Burnett.

More Delightful Random Baseball For Your Reading Pleasure...

The Mets are keeping R.A. Dickey around for another 2 years. I can smell the fear in Philly now.

Word is the A's are interested in Chone Figgins.

Last week, Keith Law put out his list of the top prospects in baseball. Angels Outfielder Mike Trout was number 1, Yankees catcher Jesus Montero was number 4. The first met on the list was 3rd baseman Wilmer Flores, at number 48. Here are his top ten prospects in both the Yankee and Met organizations:


New York Yankees
1. Jesus Montero, C (4)
2. Manny Banuelos, LHP (12)
3. Gary Sanchez, C (68)
4. Dellin Betances, RHP (73)
5. Andrew Brackman, RHP (88)
6. Austin Romine, C
7. Graham Stoneburner, RHP
8. Slade Heathcott, OF
9. Hector Noesi, RHP
10. Adam Warren, RHP

New York Mets
1. Wilmer Flores, SS/3B (48)
2. Matt Harvey, RHP (83)
3. Reese Havens, 2B
4. Cesar Puello, OF
5. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
6. Darrell Ceciliani, CF
7. Lucas Duda, 1B
8. Aderlin Rodriguez, 3B
9. Juan Urbina, LHP
10. Jeurys Familia, RHP

Blue Jays Attempt to Make Me Look Dumb, Fail Because They're Canadian

(xenophobic title FTW!)


Anyway, a few days ago I wrote that the Blue Jays swindled the Angels by convincing them to take their super expensive albatross and give them a potentially useful piece in catcher Mike Napoli. However, Napoli's stay above the border didn't last long, as the Jays shipped him off to Texas to for reliever Frank Francisco.

Now truth be told, The Blue Jays do have a very promising young catcher in J.P. Arencibia, but he's only had 35 ML at-bats, so although giving him the opportunity to shine is the right move, having a good back-up catcher (one who can hit a bit, sorry Jose Molina) is probably a good idea too. On top of that, Napoli has played some 1st base and can DH in the AL. Obviously the Blue Jays didn't see it this way, or they did and were just blown away by the unquestioned POWER OF MIDDLE RELIEF PITCHING!

Yes, Francisco is a pretty good relief pitcher, with great strike-out rates, but that's all he is; he's never thrown more than 63 innings in a season, spends tons of time on the DL, couldn't hold onto the closer's role last season and oh by the way is a complete psychopath who threw a chair into a crowd during a baseball brawl a few years ago.



Also parents--or future parents--if your last name is Francisco, don't name your kid Frank; it just sounds really stupid and will lead to obvious anger management problems for the little one. Bottom line, I disagree with the Blue Jays making this move, because a catcher with some value is almost always more valuable than a reliever with some value. Besides that, if they really didn't have a place long-term for Napoli, the Jays could have always built his value and traded him to a team in contention that has a need at that position. Remember he does have power, has shown an ability to reach base consistently at times, and is under control for the next 2 seasons.

But, it appears Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos had a real hard on for Frankie Franc for some time. Ahab caught his surly, marginally impressive white whale. Huzzah!

More Delightful Random Baseball For Your Reading Pleasure...

Fangraphs seems more optimistic about this deal than I am. I think they've been drinking before noon again.

Here's a death match between two horrible baseball deals: The Vernon Wells trade against the Barry Zito contract. Pitting these two against each other is like something out of a Bum Fights video.

Oh Jesus, the Yankees signed Bartolo Colon. This little gem will get it's own post later on, I'm sure. Brace yourself for fat jokes.

Wandy Rodriguez got a nice contract extension from the Astros.

Stat Spotlight: wOBA

I see this one a lot, and I'll try to make it as easy as possible to comprehend. Weighted On-Base Average or wOBA is an enhancement of OPS, a stat that combines slugging and on-base percentage. It's comprehensive, in that is takes into account the complete hitting experience much in the same way OPS does. The problem with OPS, as I understand it, is that it weighs SLG and OBP equally, when in reality they are not equal (getting on-base is more important). Thus Tom Tango invented wOBA which is scaled in the same way OBP is scaled (so a good wOBA looks like a good OBP). League average for wOBA is around .335.

Here's a practical example of wOBA and it's usefulness from a 2008 Fangraphs article, featuring superstar Hanley Ramirez and not superstar Ryan Ludwick:

let’s look at Ryan Ludwick versus Hanley Ramirez. Ludwick had a .966 OPS versus a .940 OPS for Ramirez – not a huge difference, but one most people would consider significant. If you put a lot of stock in OPS, you’d probably argue that Ludwick had a better offensive season.

However, Ramirez actually had a slightly higher wOBA, .403 to .401. This is due to the fact that Ramirez posted a .400/.540 line compared to Ludwick’s .375/.591 mark. Ramirez’s 25 point advantage in OBP was slightly more valuable than Ludwick’s 51 point advantage in SLG, and wOBA reflects this.

So from now on I'll try and use wOBA more often. All encompassing stats=good.

More Delightful Random Baseball For Your Reading Pleasure...

Jason Hammel Signed a 2-year deal with the Rockies.

Almost perfect but not even league average pitcher Armando Galarraga is heading to the Diamondbacks.

Yesterday we mocked the foolish trade the Angels made in acquiring Vernon Wells. Here's an article by Dave Cameron at Fangraphs about what he would have to do earn that contract of his.

Not much else, just one of those days.

Weekend Round-Up: Angels Trade for Terrible Contract

(Yeah I know, some of this didn't happen over the weekend. But I wasn't writing about it, so it's like it didn't happen until the weekend--I am that powerful) The Angels went into the off-season with some money to burn, hoping they could sign a big bat or maybe get in on Cliff Lee, although that was always a long shot. At one point, they fancied themselves the front-runner to land third baseman Adrian Beltre, but they whiffed. All dressed up and nowhere to go, the Angels turned their attention to the trade market, found a suitable trade partner in Toronto and landed Vernon Wells. On the surface, a player like Wells sounds good for the Angels. He rebounded nicely in 2010 from some down years in the power department, hitting 31 home runs and Slugging .515 with an ISO score of .242. But everyone in Toronto had a surge in power last year, and for a slugging right hander Wells never offered much in the on-base department (career .329 OBP). So as a hitter he's limited, but what about his defense? Once a slightly above average fielder, Wells has had well below average UZR scores the last 3 seasons in center, and at age 32, those scores probably won't get better anytime soon. Couple that with the presence of Peter Bourjos and Wells seems to be fixing for a permanent move to a corner outfield spot, where his bat no longer profiles as above average. Ok, Ok so he's isn't all-star caliber, but a useful player for the right pri....OH MY GOD HE'S OWED $86 MILLION OVER THE NEXT 4 SEASONS! 86 million, for a player who showed obvious decline before last season, covering his ages 32-35 seasons. Gulp.

In return, the Blue Jays received C Mike Napoli and OF Juan Rivera. In Rivera, the Jays acquire an overpaid (5.25 Mill. for 2011) 4th outfielder who shows marginal to bad defensive skills with a little bit of pop. Mostly a salary dump on the part of the Angels, laughable considering the contract they added. Napoli is a different story. Toronto will have control of him for 2 more seasons at varying arbitration prices (this year he's asked for $6.1 million, the Angels countered with $5.3 mill so he'll get something in that window). Even if Napoli wins his arbitration case, the combined salaries of the 2 players Toronto received will still be nearly $12 million less than what they would have paid Wells in 2011. Napoli has played in parts of 5 seasons at the major league level, but has only recorded more than 500 plate appearances once, in 2010. Sporadic play makes assessment a bit harder, but Napoli has consistently shown good power for a catcher and solid on-base skills, even if he only hits around .250. His worst season was last year, when he only had a .316 on-base percentage but maintained good power with a .233 ISO. Perhaps the increased workload negatively affected performance, something that wouldn't be as big a concern going forward. Napoli is only 29, isn't too expensive and is an upgrade over "all-star" John Buck. Win for the Blue Jays.

Apparently Mike Scioscia didn't really love Mike Napoli.

More Delightful Random Baseball For Your Reading Pleasure...

The Rays have reunited Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. Platoon's are fine in a pinch for positional players, but carrying 2 guys around to platoon DH, without much of a defensive return seems like overkill. Yeah, Damon can still run down balls in the corner outfield, but my god his arm is terrible.

Royals signed Billy Butler to a 4 year extension. This is a good move for The Royals, especially with the crop of talented you guys it has in the farm system. The Royals could become contenders for the AL central by 2013.

Yanks Hope Advances in Time Travel Will Vindicate Andruw Jones Signing

I joked about this a few days ago, but the bloated corpse of Andruw Jones is officially Bronx bound. I mock Andruw, and rightly so, considering what he once was (a guy who hit 51 home runs in a season) and what he is now (fat). A brief history lesson: Jones slept through his contract year with the Braves in 2007, posting a .222/.311/.413 line, but still managed to trick the Dodgers--with what I can only assume were funhouse mirrors--into giving him a nice 2 year, $36 million dollar contract that off-season. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Jones' parlor tricks never translated to on the field success, and after a year of .158/.256/.249 The Dodgers dumped him.

His greatest trick was when he'd make the whole burrito disappear
Since then Jones has been a part-time player, never registering more than 331 plate appearances in a season, with mixed results. No, he's not as bad as he was in L.A., and he showed he still has some pop (.255 ISO in 2010). But he'll probably never hit for an average above .240 again, and his splits suggest he's more effective against lefties than righties. On defense, Jones is a shell of his former self, but isn't so run down that he's a liability. Once one of the best center fielders in the game (UZR score one year of 26, that's pretty awesome) Jones' UZR has dropped to around league average, and is even more tenuous considering his propensity to not work out.

At this point, Andruw Jones is best suited for the role he'll have with the Yankees, a 4th outfielder, assuming he tries hard, which is not a guarantee. This deal won't end up being a home-run for the Yankees, as the Andruw Jones of 2006 isn't coming back, and the effortless play in the outfield he was once known for now will come across more lackadaisical than anything when he isn't running balls down in the gaps. For $2 million, the Yankees aren't taking much of a financial risk, and if you can overlook a lot for some extra pop, you may enjoy Andruw. But don't be surprised if he doesn't finish the year in the Bronx.

Bleacher Report has the Andruw Jones Guide to Ruining a Career.

More Delightful Random Baseball For Your Reading Pleasure...

The Rays are talking to Johnny Damon about being their DH. Yeah, he can still get on-base some, but there isn't much else going on there.

Manny Ramirez and Vlad Guerrero may have homes soon too. I should have named this column, "The Barely Walking Dead." Really, these guys are only suited for DH roles at this point. If only there were an article discussing these remaining DH options....Huzzah!

Who is the most valuable player in baseball? Fangraphs seeks answers. The answer isn't exactly shocking, but the exclusion of Yuniesky Betancourt from the discussion was!

Remember when that player kicked that catcher pre-fight with the pitcher? Does that make sense? well, here's a link with a video of it.

Yankee Icon Carl Pavano Re-signs With Twins

The Twins reaches a 2-year, $16.5 million deal with Carl Pavano, he of the hipster mustache movement and a notable former bust with the Yankees. Funnily enough, word is the Yankees were in on Pavano before this deal was made, which should tell you a little something about the possibility of Sergio Mitre being a 5th starter in the AL East. Assuming health (HA!) the deal is, well, what it is: about $8 million annually for an innings eating sinkerballer who projects to have an ERA and FIP a little above 4. A front of the rotation ace he is not, but you can certainly do worse than Pavano, and since the Twins should find themselves in contention for the Central crown this season, bringing Pavano back is a fine move. There is obvious risk here for the Twins beyond the fact that Pavano can injury himself answering the phone. He just turned 35 and will be 36 when the contract expires, hardly a pitcher's peak performance years (generally speaking). The Twins have done a fabulous job of growing into a mid-market team from a small market club, and their recent expansion of payroll is admirable. But the Twins aren't the Yankees, and if Pavano goes down tomorrow with an infected naval ring piercing and doesn't return for 2 seasons-as he is capable of doing- the Twins will not have the budget flexibility to replace him to the tune of $8 million annually.

Fangraphs compares Pavano to Jake Westbrook, and how they're basically the same thing. It is interesting that conventional wisdom said Pavano would land the bigger deal based on nothing in particular.

More Delightful Random Baseball For Your Reading Pleasure...

The Yankee bullpen is quite expensive. If the idea is to compensate for not having a 4th or 5th starter by shortening games to 6 innings, color me skeptical. 3 situational lefties, who may face 2 batters or less with each appearance, making a total of $9.2 million? Who is your bullpen innings eater, Joba?

The Dodgers show how not to create a platoon.

The Padres signed Chad Qualls, and in related news this blog struggled with whether or not that was actual news worthy of posting.

Happy belated birthday to the mustache Carl Pavano's mustache wishes it could be, but can't because true mustache greatness is not born of irony.

Mike Pelfrey is your 2011 Mets opening day starter. If Pelfrey were on the Phillies his start would be skipped till mid-April due to the early season schedule. Just sayin'.

Here's a look at the 2011 MLB Draft's first round order. As of now, the name to know is Anthony Rendon.

Autonomy is to Brian Cashman as Sanity is to Milton Bradley

Apparently, Brian Cashman didn't think highly of the move his organization made by signing Rafael Soriano. Cashman made this clear to the media, at the press conference announcing the signing.
Well, that's just super. Word is the Yankee front office believed it has a duty, passed down from God himself, to spend copious amounts of money every off-season regardless of talent, history or common sense. If any other team in baseball pulled a move like this, a tar and feathering at a public forum would be in order.

In other news, board game tycoon turned psychotic DH Milton Bradley was arrested for making threats towards an unidentified woman. Craig Calcaterra looks into whether or not the Mariners can void Bradley's contract, here. Unless this story turns out to be false, I think it's become quite clear that Bradley just isn't psychologically capable of handling a position on a major league roster.

More Randomness...

Royals pitcher Gil Meche is calling it quits after more shoulder troubles. Meche had some talent but injuries and inconsistency stunted any chance of real stardom. That being said, Gil got paid and big-time. Baseball has this funny economic cycle that sees it's "marquee" free agents get paid anywhere from a ton of money to a shit ton of money, depending on the year. Meche had 2 things working for him when he signed that deal; he hit the market at the right time and he was a marginal starter who was relatively young and had potential without the actual history of success. Often times those who fit that profile receive deals beyond their worth (cough::JARET WRIGHT::cough). Anyway, good for Gil.

Here's a nice article about the faultiness of ERA. And you can supplement that with MY post about FIP from last season. Come on, you know you want to...

Hardball Times has 5 winning moves of the off-season. My favorite part of the article: Yunieksy Betancourt's name in the title of number 4 put in parenthesis, then he isn't even discussed in the trade evaluation. The guy is a glorified sandbag.

What? A Relaunch? At a Time Like This?

Yes. New season, new commitment to write as much as possible before flaming out. Huzzah! So very many things have happened since the last post: Giants win the World Series, Cliff Lee goes back to Philly, The Red Sox retooled and the Yankees are hot on the trail of Andruw Jones (the sound of one hand clapping).

In the coming weeks, posts will remain sporadic until spring training, when God willing we'll be able to put together previews for each division (gotta wait till the rosters are at least semi-formed before that can happen). So until our own content is available, enjoy other people's content, through the magic of the internet!

Apparently, Brian Cashman didn't care much for the Rafael Soriano deal. 35 million for a set-up man is only reasonable in Yankeeland, and even then it's not reasonable. In signing Soriano, the Yankees also surrendered their first round draft pick to the Rays, who have a pretty good history of turning those picks into valuable pieces.

Joey Votto got a nice extension from the Reds. The deal will cover him through his age 30 season, encompassing what is generally considered a player's peak years.

Albert Pujols has set a deadline for his contract extension. If a new deal isn't in place by spring training, Pujols says he'll test free agency next winter.

The Mets are on the verge of signing Chris Young. Reclamation projects like this make sense for the Mets right now; they have a spacious ballpark that can yield positive results for a fly ball pitcher like Young and if they can keep him healthy, he could become trade bait by July.

Fangraphs asks, What is Tom Gorzellany? The answer: confusing, like an original movie idea from Christopher Nolan.

Here's a video of Carlos Pena signing a taco for a fan. You are a better person for watching it.

Who will be this year's Jose Bautista? Lewie Pollis has a suggestion.