My god...I think a friendship of mine just ended over Alex Gordon because I pointed out how his defensive numbers went from +18 to -5 and I got back "I watch him play he's a great fielder those numbers don't mean shit"

Why do people still refuse to acknowledge advanced stats?

You should probably refrain from talking sports with your friends

I should, I know some real morons....

So who is this Josh Dye fella? 23rd round pick last year and from the look of it he seems to be a bullpen arm. Is he someone that is a lifetime reliever? Hehasreally good numbers in A+

You don’t understand tanking do you?

I've had this conversation many times, most recently about Albert Almora. He's "earned" a reputation for being an elite defensive CFer but even in his one good year defensively in 2018 it wasn't "elite" level good. So when I break down all the advanced stats and say he doesn't make enough of these plays and doesnt have the range to make these plays that the truly elite defenders make they always bring up the eye test and how statcast cant measure game conditions like wind, sun, etc...

I always answer that bullshit with, "Statcast also doesnt measure human bias. My eye tells me that Usain Bolt doesn't look like he's running fast, but find me someone who's faster."

I have yet to get a response to that.

We are only 5 pitchers and 4 position players away from being competitive.

One thing to consider with defensive metrics: one-year samples can be weird and unreliable.

Gordon’s sprint speed dropping probably is an indicator his defense has slipped, but DRS can be a bit volatile.

Brett Phillips, fun with numbers (and a smallish sample):

June-Aug Numbers

.279/.404/.616
13 HR, 11 SB, 28 XBH, 40 BB

That’s a pace that would put him at
34, 29, 74, 105 in 500 ABs/605 PAs

^ even with the crazy ball at AAA this year (which is the MLB ball), that’s exciting stuff. With his defense, if Phillips can be a
.250/.360/.500 player who swipes 20+ bags, you’re talking a real potential star-level contributor (4+ WAR).

Hope we see him at MLB soon.

Yea that friend of mine thinks they aren't calling Phillips up next year either because Gordon is coming back.

Yeah. I don’t see that. I think Gordon is retiring. Even if he doesn’t, Gordon could play 1B or more of a UTIL role.

Phillips most recent HR was off A.J. Puk of the A’s, a top 50 prospect who is left handed and throws in the high 90s.

Just had a conversation with a source I trust with 100% confidence. Sounds like the the Royals had agreed to trade Ian Kennedy to Atlanta for Joey Wentz. Wentz apparently may have even known about it. Glass refused to eat the money necessary on Kennedy’s contract. So that sucks.

https://twitter.com/RoyalsFarm/statu...038931968?s=19

Not surprised, the Royals refuse to eat money all the time, hence Billy Hamilton still being here.

I actually defended Glass for a while after the World Series. When people called him cheap I'd argue that he spent enough on payroll when it matters. No more. Assuming this information is correct I probably need to deflect much of my constant disdain for Moore back towards Glass. Kind of hard to compete when you're dealing with a significant handicap from ownership.

Owners might choose to eat contracts all the time...but I'm amazed at the entitlement that exists that basically expects them to do so. In the same way I don't concern myself with what the payroll is (not my money), I could care less if an owner wants to eat money or not (again...not my money). His money, his choice. Apparently, he'd rather have the player at the agreed contract. I'm OK with that. It's not like Kennedy has been a worthless player with no advantage for a developing team - I'd rather Keller's games get closed out than watching Zimmer or Staumont or Barlow blow saves for him.

And obviously Glass is willing to eat money...he's OK'd the DFA of multiple players, both in the past and this year....including Owings, Duda, Gore, Peralta and Boxberger - might not amount to the dollars they're spending on Kennedy, but it's simply not the worst thing in the world to keep the player (Kennedy), despite the bad contract.