Bobthe4th

Khris Davis in ahead of Trout.....

Only 1.5 out of the wildcard positions though - all that money they spent on the bullpen might pay off in the playoffs!

Centre backs are very, very valuable. All the big teams spend millions on anyone who either shows promise or had a bit of success in the relevant league. De Ligt is arguably better than Davidson Sanchez, his CB partner for Ajax who was sold to Spurs last season for C$70 million. Another year for De Ligt as first choice for Ajax will also do him wonders for his development - the worst thing for him would be being on the bench for a team like Barcelona. Just look at Yerry Mina - great World Cup but now at Everton after a year of not playing for Barca. Next year a 20 year old De Ligt with 2 seasons of first choice behind him has a chance of starting for a big team in Spain, England or Italy. I think a team like Roma would be perfect for him.

Haha that's entirely my point - in a sport like baseball based on repeatable situations that have limited variations you can have relevant advanced stats that definitely show that player X is better than player Y. It doesn't work for sports like football. Advanced stats in sports like football have limited applications when looking at specific things. For example - medical sports science teams are prevalent now, advising when a player is in the "red zone" - i.e. more susceptible to injury - by reviewing things like a player's distance covered, reduction in speed etc.

By far the best way to evaluate football players is by watching them live. When you go to or watch on tv a Barcelona game and watch Lionel Messi you’ll notice that he has a free role. He’ll walk around the pitch saving energy, sometimes jogging into space. When he gets the ball, he’ll often pass it without dribbling. But sometimes he’ll get the ball and suddenly accelerate, using his insane ball control to beat a couple of defenders and cause panic in the defence. He also has wonderful creative vision, and his passing and finishing ability is elite, he’ll make passes and score goals that are unbelievable. Because the defence know this, they’ll often assign at least one guy to man mark him, and always be quick to close Messi down. This of course creates space for other Barca players. In this way, you could look at stats for a game showing that Messi didn’t run much, didn’t score or make an assist. You could then look at stats like pass completion percentage and shots on target. But you’d need to watch the game to see his true impact. Did he create space by tying up defenders? Did his passing create anything? Were shots close to going in or easy saves? So many variables. Obviously Messi is an outlier - he scores 60 goals a season, you don’t need to watch him play to realise he’s a great player. But the same theory applies to lesser players. And as I said in my previous post, there often isn’t a definitive “player X does this so therefore they are good” when assessing players who aren’t primarily goal scorers.

You have Opta stats that are used by a lot of teams, showing things like distance ran, where on the pitch passes are made etc that can be moderately useful. But because different tactics and positions exist there’s no foolproof way to build a winning team. It can help you to identify suitable players if you have a preferred system though. Your fullback might be attacking and run up and down the wing all day - he’ll create chances but leave you exposed to counter attacks. Danny Rose - good or liability? Your defensive midfielder might sit in front of the defence and only play short passes within his own half, but he gives protection to the defence. Eric Dier - important player or not creative enough? Your playmaker might not run much or get back on defence, but when he gets the ball the energy saved let’s him use a burst of pace (and skill) to beat his man and create a chance. Mesut Ozil - genius or lazy?

Advanced stats in football are basically useless, there are too many variables. It’s one of the reasons football is so popular - you can have favourite players, and debates about who is better, without there being a definitive answer.

The transfer window is shut, it opens in January but it’s rare big transfers happen then. If Ajax are competing for the Dutch league then they’ll wait until next summer to cash in, so that they can sign a replacement.

Listening to this interview it sounds like it’s a mental thing rather than a debilitating physical injury. I guess it could be some sort of rare undiagnosed thing though. Brett Lawrie Interview

I do think baseball should try to market personalities a bit more, it’s just difficult when every team plays every day. You don’t get time to reflect, or anticipation for the next game. Baseball is a game of repetition over a long grinding season, it emphasises stats much more than individual moments.

It’s difficult to build up any marketing when Trout doesn’t stand out personality wise, and you only really appreciate how much better he is than everyone else when looking at a spreadsheet. Having the highest WAR every year just isn’t sexy. TBF if the Angels start winning, together with the Ohtani effect of increased media attention, Trout should become more celebrated outside of baseball circles.

I defended the move at the time - it seemed obvious that although Desmond was initially going to play 1B that they’d make space for him elsewhere (e.g. trading an OF). Nope - turns out they really are sticking with him at 1B when he has put up wRC+ of 70 & 78 so far!

The Champions League 1st round groups started today. The first goal scored - Messi, who ends up with a hat-trick. Barcelona will be desperate to break Real Madrid’s recent dominance this year. Despite winning La Liga in 3 of the last 4 seasons, 3 quarter final exits in a row for Barca is as unprecedented as Real’s 3 wins in a row.

Yeah, although I think they’ll try to trade Pillar and acquire a veteran replacement (on a short term deal who could then be traded when Alford is ready), I’d prefer to simply keep Pillar. Pillar doesn’t have much trade value anyway so it doesn’t really matter if we keep him until he’s done. One thing about all the young players is that they will all still have options (except Pompey) so no urgency to move them, or put them all on the 25 man.

Neither Pompey or Alford getting a September call suggests they aren't in the immediate plans for the 25 man to open next year. Pompey probably gets DFA and only stays if he clears waivers. Alford stays at AAA to rebound from this year, and potentially gets a call up mid season. I think we'll probably acquire a veteran on a short term contract. Smith Jr could also be a candidate for additional outfield depth if Pillar is traded / Hernandez becomes a part time DH.

Is Giles going to be traded this offseason?

Love it, the Yankees fans are so entitled.

They literally did though......

Ohtani and the Trout go back to back for the first time!

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Yeah exactly.

Yeah true. FWIW I was wanting to trade JD if he didn't sign an extension last offseason, but would I have pulled the trigger on a Flaherty trade? That's a tough one, maybe if the 2nd piece was Grichuk instead of a lottery ticket. Who's to say Merryweather doesn't end up having a better career than Flaherty anyway, Atkins seems to like him from his quotes on "impacting the 25 man next year".

I think it’s fair to assume that Shatkins didn’t think it was a fair deal for JD at the time. They assumed that he can be traded at the deadline for a similar if not better deal (like Machado was). Yeah it looks bad now Flaherty has broken out, and JD got injured, but how high was Flaherty on anyone’s list preseason? He looked like possibly a mid rotation starter. Again, would have been a good return now he’s broken out, but not exactly a can’t miss no brainer deal at the time.