MLB FanHouse Q&A: Bill Jamesby
Tom KrasovicFiled under: Red Sox, Sports Business and Media
Baseball scholar Bill James has written a new book,
The Bill James Gold Mine 2010. FanHouse's Tom Krasovic recently interviewed James, the
Red Sox senior advisor for baseball operations. Here is an excerpt:
FanHouse: How confident are you in the advanced defensive metrics relative to the offensive metrics?
James: Well ... they're not the same. We have a long history with batting statistics, which gives us an intuitive footing for making projections based on them. Let's say that a hitter has a breakthrough year, like
Garrett Jones last year with the
Pirates or
Billy Butler with the
Royals. You kind of know intuitively how likely that is to be real, and you can build on that with research. But with defensive metrics, you don't know intuitively what to make of
Franklin Gutierrez' numbers ... somebody has a good year or a bad one, you don't have the same sort of frame of reference to build on it. We're gaining confidence, but it's not the same.
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Mets Thought Jason Bay a Better Health Risk Than John Lackeyby
Josh AlperFiled under: Mets, Red Sox
Of the many reasons why the Mets have spent most of the last two years being mocked, teased and generally pitied by much of the baseball world, none may loom larger than their sketchy history when it comes to player health. They've misdiagnosed, mistreated and guessed wrong about almost every ache and pain that's come their way so it stands to reason that they'd be skittish about acquiring players of questionable fitness.
That's why some eyebrows were raised when they signed
Jason Bay as a free agent this offseason. Bay came to New York with a stamp of disapproval about the state of his knees from the Red Sox. Given the investment the Mets made, people were wondering why they didn't chase
John Lackey to bolster the rotation instead. The answer, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI, is that they thought Lackey was
a bigger health risk.
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Nomar Didn't Need Title to Capture Boston's Heartby
Andrew JohnsonFiled under: Red Sox, MLB Transactions
The 14-year-old hidden away in a corner of my brain is counting down the days to
Nomar Garciaparra's Hall of Fame induction ceremony, unable to envision a scenario where he doesn't become an all-time great.
He can not fathom Garciaparra playing his home games at Wrigley Field or Chavez Ravine, much less imagine him as a reserve infielder, pinch-hitter or part of a first base platoon.
He also can't imagine the
Red Sox winning the World Series, especially with an Expos castoff starting at shortstop.
He can, at least, wrap his head around what took place in Fort Myers, Fla., Wednesday -- Nomar throwing out the first pitch before a cheering crowd at a spring training game after retiring as a Red Sox.
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Rings the Thing for Cameron, Beltre With Red Soxby
John HickeyFiled under: Red Sox, Spring Training
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston general manager Theo Epstein made what were, for him, a couple of unusual moves this winter.
He signed a couple of high-priced free agents to short-term contracts.
Adrian Beltre was enticed away from Seattle for one year and $10 million with a player option for a second year at $5 million. Instead of returning to Milwaukee,
Mike Cameron headed to the Northeast for two years and $15.5 million.
Recent history for the
Red Sox's management is to bring players up from a productive farm system -
Jon Lester (2002 draft),
Jonathan Papelbon (2003),
Dustin Pedroia (2004) and
Jacoby Ellsbury (2005) - or sign free agents to expensive and longer-term contracts, including right-handed pitcher
John Lackey (five years, $82.5 million) this winter.
The fact is that neither Cameron nor Beltre thought they'd be in Boston this season, and yet for both it is a perhaps their last, best chance to play for a World Series title.
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Garciaparra Goes Home to Retireby
John HickeyFiled under: Red Sox, Sports Business and Media
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Although it's a tough job market generally, it's apparently not so bad for All-Star shortstops.
Nomar Garciaparra, who spent most of his career with the
Boston Red Sox, signed a one-day minor league contract with Boston on Wednesday, then retired, bringing to a close a 14-year career. Moments later it was announced that he's joining ESPN as a commentator.
That's two jobs in one day. Not bad. But for Garciaparra and the
Red Sox, it seemed important that he retire as a member of the Boston organization, and not just because it's Boston's policy that players who have their numbers retired must have finished their career with the Red Sox.
"I always had a dream," Garciaparra said. "This is where I started. Once I got to the big leagues, playing in front of these (Red Sox) fans, I always felt that connection. I always wanted this to be the last uniform I put on."
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Earlier this week, 
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